Custom NAS

[faint545]

Hey guys, I'm currently in the very, very early stages of planning out my next build which is going to be a custom NAS system.

I've quickly gone through and did some quick research as to what are the best parts (mainly RAID controllers) and I've came up with the following list...

Custom NAS Public Wishlist

As far as I know, I have all the parts needed (please tell me if I am missing something).

I know that the majority of the custom build posts that I see pertain to gaming rigs but if anyone can shed some light on building a custom NAS (specifically, good parts and compatibility problems, etc...), I would greatly appreciate it.

My plan is to setup everything listed in that wish list and use OpenFiler as my platform to run the NAS. As far as how I am going to setup the disks goes, I plan on implementing RAID5 using a hardware RAID controller for not only the speed but scalability.

If anyone here knows of any incompatibility issues with any of the hardware I've chosen and OpenFiler, please let me know.

[Kidd]

1155 board, 1156 CPU?

[EzyStvy]

From your OpenFile link:

Recommended Specifications 64-bit 1.6GHz or higher performance processor 2GB or higher of RAM

You could probably shave $700+ dollars off your hardware list and not notice much difference... Or will you be using it as a pc too?

[glc]

A few comments:

1. The power supply is major overkill. You don't need anywhere near that much power.

Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

2. Incompatible processor.

Newegg.com - Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I32100

3. Ram is too slow.

Newegg.com - Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT25664BA1339

4. I would not recommend the use of Green drives in a NAS. I would recommend a small Blue drive or a SSD on the motherboard controller for the OS, and a set of AV-GP drives for the storage array. If you want redundancy on the OS drive, use 2 drives in RAID 1.

5. You need to confirm that the LSI card is compatible with OpenFiler. If not, Adaptec would be your best alternative to look at.

[faint545]

Didn't know WD made drives specifically for A/V uses... interesting. Anyway..

I made changes per your suggestions. I also decided to go with AMD since I decided to use an Adaptec 2244100-R card which will cost me about $200 more than the LSI. Also, a reviewer on Newegg did mention that the Adaptec card is compatible with OpenFiler.

Also I did find out that using a motherboard that supports X-Fire or SLI is a bad idea for using dedicated RAID controllers...

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=15699745

[glc]

The advantage of the AV drives is they are made to run 24/7, somewhat like their RE enterprise drives.

I'm not really up on AMD motherboards, but it seems to me you can get a board that supports DDR3, has onboard video, and only has one x16 slot for a lot cheaper than that.

There are also various Intel options in 775, 1156, and 1155.

[faint545]

Initially my criteria was to have at least 2x PCI-e slots but realistically, I will probably not come close to using the max amount of drives that 1 Adaptec card supports.

So after considering your suggestion, I swapped out the ASUS for a Gigabyte board (much cheaper, less than $100).

[Kidd]

While I haven't had trouble with a Gigabyte, MSI or even my Foxconn board, here is an ASUS mobo with free shipping:

Newegg.com - ASUS M4A78LT-M AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

I really like my MSI board in my main PC, but I've never had to RMA to them. My ASUS RMA (for a monitor) last year was very fast.