NAS Home Server Advice Needed

[kmac]

Planning of building a NAS home server. Considered the Tranquil Barebones 2 systems and really like it.

Wondering if I can build something similar. Don't need the hot swap drive bays as I won't be removing the drives very often. (When would hot swap drive bays come in handy in a home office environment?)

Uses - Need to house NAS as back-up in case of drive failure. NAS mainly for pictures and music (ripped from CD). Must be ultra-quiet.

Case: Lian Li PC-Q07 http://www.xcase.co.uk/Lian-li-PC-Q0...ian-pc-q07.htm
PSU: Seasonic 1U 250W 80+ http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=12015
Optical Drive: To load O/S


Undecided on

Motherboard
CPU
Heatsink
Memmory
HDDs - need some silent, fast low power ones Samsung F3 1TB x 2 Plus 500GB for OS etc

Ideally want to go for on-board graphics. Will need a Mini-ITX board I guess but I have no experience of these boards.

CPUwise considering Sempron but open to suggestions

[s_kinton]

For music and pictures you could probably use an Atom 330 bundle; ultra quiet and few if any fans. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-...X-Atom-330-CPU

What OS are you planning to use on the NAS? FreeNAS, FreeBCD, Ubuntu Server or WHS?

I use that Seasonic PSU in my main HTPC and its very quiet.

[kmac]

Was thinking of FreeNAS

[kmac]

That bundle looks good, would probably need more that two SATA ports though. Guess I could use the PCI slot for a SATA raid controller

[b0redom]

Be careful with FreeNAS and hardware compatibility, it's no where near as big as OpenFiler.

[chadders]

HP ML110 G5 just under £200, worth considering, if only you may want it do "a bit more" later on?

There's the E2160 option, but in hindsight I'd have plumped for the AMD Opteron which has virtualisation.

Not that I'd also suggest I have the original 1gb RAM from mine going spare...!

[kmac]

HP looks good value at £185. Not sure you could home build one for that money.

[chadders]

T'was my exact same thoughts, it's VERY noisy on loading (BIOS then first part of O/S) after that it's a nice low hum.

Be aware, I bought the E2160 and the built-in RAID only does 0, 1 and 10, 4 x SATA for HDD, 1 x CD (may be DVD I'll have to check) with 1 x 5.25" bay free. Drive swapping, case opening, etc is very tidy.

You can of course opt for the E2160 and keep an eye open for a better CPU for later virtualisation or find an Opteron one.

Any questions, as an owner just drop me a PM.

[nimbu]

I purchased one of the ML110 G5 for work for a VM box. Nice unit, but yes on boot up it sounds like a plane (and then some) taking off!

[kmac]

hehe...noise eh. Good. Was looking for a reason to build my own

[kmac]

Looks like supply of mini-ITX boards has dried up. Shipments due 23 Feb in most cases ( must be a large container ship on the way from Taiwan)

[s_kinton]

Its worth considering a cheap uATX build too. Chuck in an Intel E3200 and a uATX board and you're looking at around £74 - not bad compared to the Atom bundle at £69 ish. Alot more horsepower and scope for upgrades. Bigger in size of course, but may be a better solution overall.

[Maccer101]

I run a FreeNas NAS, see my sig. I use a VIA based mini itx board that I got second hand from ebay for £40-50, very low power and pretty quiet too. Mine runs really well and idles around 24watts and never goes over 30watts. I'm very happy with this setup as FreeNas has a very low overhead so I was able to underclock the CPU by half and it still never goes above 30% usage. The PSU is total overkill but I got it for a good deal and its is very efficient

[kmac]

I have discounted Atom as an option as I want to have some reserve CPU power.

What applications are Via CPUs used for typically?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would consider the following bits:

Jetway JNC62K AM2+ GeForce 8200 Mainboard ~ £96 excluding postage

http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=12081

OR

ZOTAC GeForce 8200-ITX ~ £101 excluding postage

http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=12419

AMD Athlon II X2 235e 45W ~ £52

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AMD-A...che-45W-Retail

[kmac]

Okay did some brief research on the Via and definately a contender. Will have to look for suitable mobos