Advice on PC build for NAS type machine

[Vorlon99]

Hi All,

I would like some advice re the following please

I would like to build a PC that can sit on the network as a file server/Nas.
Ideally I would like to be able to gradually add more drives over time to extend capacity; so, a large case with plenty of space for drives.

Maybe Linux based, with appropriate drivers/apps to support RAID 5 maybe?
What mobo, CPU, memory, PSU etc is required.

can all this be achieved with free OS & Apps? Can it be configured in a way that the average smart TV will be able to access it directly to play movies etc?

Thanks in advance.

[DDY]

How many hard drives do you plan to install?

If you drop the requirement for RAID, which I think isn't worth the effort for a regular NAS appliance, take a look at the HP Microserver and Dell PowerEdge T20, nothing comes close to these in terms of value and they can make an extremely capable NAS.

http://www.serversplus.com/servers/t...svdel-t203692p

http://www.ebuyer.com/722189-hpe-pro...er-819185-421?

I'm not too hot on media streaming servers, but I keep hearing about the greatness of the Plex server - which can run on* and stream to pretty much anything, I'm sure there are other good options to choose from.

EDIT: Needs an OS to run on, Linux is one option.

[DanceswithUnix]

Not used it, but the usual reply to a question like this is http://www.freenas.org/

Instead of standard RAID 5, that uses a next gen filesystem called ZFS which is a very good thing.

Ideally you want something with error corrected ram to run that, which if you are OK with 4 drives that HP microserver again is the standard answer to these sorts of questions.

http://www.ebuyer.com/722189-hpe-pro...ver-819185-421

[Spreadie]

How many hard drives do you plan to install?

If you drop the requirement for RAID, which I think isn't worth the effort for a regular NAS appliance, take a look at the HP Microserver and Dell PowerEdge T20, nothing comes close to these in terms of value and they can make an extremely capable NAS.

http://www.serversplus.com/servers/t...svdel-t203692p

http://www.ebuyer.com/722189-hpe-pro...er-819185-421?

I'm not too hot on media streaming servers, but I keep hearing about the greatness of the Plex server - which can run on* and stream to pretty much anything, I'm sure there are other good options to choose from.

EDIT: Needs an OS to run on, Linux is one option.

I have Plex running on my Microserver, feeding a Now TV box with Plex sideloaded - works a treat! Even the standard G1610T dual core Celeron will significantly outpace the AMD Turion II Neos in the G7 Microservers.

[Vorlon99]

Nice... thanks guys, plenty to work from there