Doing a NAS box

[Mugen_the_lion]

I need storage and decided I can build something closer to what I want, then some pre-build nas. -music/pic mass storage, music streaming, storing completed school files/projects, and multiple computer backups. No videos or bluerays.

Antec Three Hundred
$60 bucks but I have seen it cheaper elsewhere

BIOSTAR TA880GU3+ AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
$80

Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W
$40

ADATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
$42

Boot drive:
Seagate Barracuda 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s
$40

2x storage drives:
Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s
$130 total

Now with the cpu do you think I can go 45w sempron, or do I need the dual core? I will be using a copy of server 2k3 for the os, I get it free from school Im looking to keep the price under $450 with the 2x storage drives.

I want it to be low-power as it will be on 24/7. I can use synctoy, to keep copys between the 2x 1.5tb.

[Nuclear Krusader]

I'd still stay away from Seagate.

What about the software?

[Mugen_the_lion]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader I'd still stay away from Seagate. What about the software?

What drives would you recommend for boot and storage. I want low-power and high reliability.

MS server 2k3 with synctoy. I get the os free with key from school. I will be installing it with a usb so I dont need the optical drive.

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by Mugen_the_lion What drives would you recommend for boot and storage. I want low-power and high reliability.

Western Digital Black for boot, and while I would still go for the Black drives for storage myself, you could probably easily go with Green drives. Performance gets dinged a bit in favor of power consumption, but it's nothing too major.

[jdeb]

Are you looking for redundancy?

[Nuclear Krusader]

Originally Posted by Force Flow Western Digital Black for boot, and while I would still go for the Black drives for storage myself, you could probably easily go with Green drives. Performance gets dinged a bit in favor of power consumption, but it's nothing too major.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I've a green which I use for backups; I would have wanted a black, but I was short in cash at the time.

[Tin]

If its just a simple NAS, an Atom motherboard will more than suffice. A very good and low cost Atom board is the Gigabyte GA-D525TUD, as it consumes little power, has 4 SATAII ports, and gigabit ethernet. I suggest FreeNAS for the OS. Its very light on hardware, and doesnt consume much disk space. Everything is done from a web GUI, much like your standard router. FreeNAS is easy to work with, and doesnt require the knowledge to configure that other UNIX based OSes do. FreeNAS can be installed and run from a USB thumb drive, compact flash, or any other flash module. The initial install of the OS is less than 100MB.

[jdeb]

ASUS ITX-220 - motherboard - mini ITX - Intel Celeron 220 - i945GC

[Preston]

Originally Posted by Mugen_the_lion I can use synctoy, to keep copys between the 2x 1.5tb.

I used Sync Toy for a while, but I found that it missed files at times. I switched to the free version of SyncBack.

It works great. The sync is right every time.

[Mugen_the_lion]

I am using the mini atx board thinking about future upgrads with more drives, later down the line. If an atom will work then I will go for the sempron.

I want to use server 2k3 so I can mess with it for school. Planning to use remote desktop to admin the nas.

Preston, thanks for the suggestion on SyncBack. Is it a free trial that will have to be re-done every 30 days?

[Mugen_the_lion]

I looked at syncback and found the freeware version.