So I have 6 1.5TB drives but now I need somewhere to put them. I could of coarse buy a normal PC case and stick them in there but that's boring and normal. I'm wanting to build some sort of custom case that's unique and effective. Does anyone have any ideas for a custom NAS box? Looking for ideas and tips before I jump into the project.
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Home built NAS
- Thread starter _Mikie_
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Check out this enclosure. http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MjQ1Mw==
Saw one the other day at my supplier and it looks quite funky.
Saw one the other day at my supplier and it looks quite funky.
LanBoy air = SUPER expensive for a NAS.
I use a CoolerMaster Elite 360 as my NAS box - got a converter for a 5.25 bay to 3.5 so I could have 3 x 3.5" HDDs (currently 3 x 1.5TBs). I'd recommend a different case if you wanted more than 3 drives tho
For software: http://freenas.org
What about one of these: http://www.zapsonline.com/38856-lian-li-pc-q08-blue-led-fan-mini-itx-black-case-frch-lq08bn.html
I see in the specs it has space for 6 x 3.5" HDDs??
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You should take a look at this: http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2010/10/20/home-data-storage-for-70-tb/
Off-The-Chart
Expert Member
just ordered that exact same one for my own NAS.
would have gone with a lower version like the PC-Q07 but the limited drives would have made its expansion restricted.
well building a custom case is cool and all, but then make sure you have the time and patience to achieve it.
for this kind of thing I would just stick to the conventional cube/rectangle design for the case and focus ofc on your drive space and cooling.
unskinnybob
Expert Member
Freenas is a fit for purpose compilation. FreeBSD is the operating system, probably missing alot of the binaries you need in order to use the Unix box as a NAS.
Several reasons:
FreeBSD is a fully fledged OS with GUI and everything and multiple gigs in size. FreeNAS is only 100MB and runs from a flash-drive. On boot the 100MB image is extracted to memory and runs directly from memory.
FreeBSD doesn't have any type of interface for the various storage related tasks. FreeNAS provides a GUI where you can do almost everything storage related directly from the WUI.
FreeBSD contains many, many modules you won't use in a NAS. FreeNAS only loads the essential kernel modules, even basic kernel modules are excluded when they aren't required.
And to clarify:
FreeNAS 7.xx is based on FreeBSD 7.2 and 7.3
FreeNAS 8.xx is based on NetBSD 8.xxxx
FreeNAS 8 is a COMPLETE rewrite of the entire FreeNAS system but it is still in testing (RC1 was released a couple of days ago). For now I'd stick with FreeNAS v7.xxx until v8 is released and maybe even wait for a second release.
Hardware wise, I would recommend this:
Motherboard: Intel Burrage Flat P67 (Extreme Series), P67BG
CPU: Intel Core i3 2100T (low power CPU)
RAM: 4GB minimum but the more the merrier. (don't skimp on RAM, a NAS caches in memory, so it will use everything you have)
PSU: Corsair CX430 430w
Case: Cooler Master Centurion 590
Flash-Drive: At least a 2GB or larger flash-drive for the OS
Hard-drives: Any hard-drive but at least 3 of them so you can use RAIDz.
That setup is specially selected for several reason:
1) It uses an Intel Network card (very important)
2) It uses Intel SATA controller (well supported)
3) It uses a low power CPU (a NAS doesn't need a too powerful CPU and it runs 24/7 so it should be low power)
4) The case has 9 5.25" bays (You can install 9 3.5" hard-drives, although you need 5.25" -> 3.5" converters)
5) The case allows 3x 120mm fans to be installed in the front for ventilation of the hard-drives
6) The hard-drives have sufficient space between them to allow for good ventilation
7) You need at LEAST 4GB of RAM for RAIDz to work well
FreeBSD is a fully fledged OS with GUI and everything and multiple gigs in size. FreeNAS is only 100MB and runs from a flash-drive. On boot the 100MB image is extracted to memory and runs directly from memory.
FreeBSD doesn't have any type of interface for the various storage related tasks. FreeNAS provides a GUI where you can do almost everything storage related directly from the WUI.
FreeBSD contains many, many modules you won't use in a NAS. FreeNAS only loads the essential kernel modules, even basic kernel modules are excluded when they aren't required.
And to clarify:
FreeNAS 7.xx is based on FreeBSD 7.2 and 7.3
FreeNAS 8.xx is based on NetBSD 8.xxxx
FreeNAS 8 is a COMPLETE rewrite of the entire FreeNAS system but it is still in testing (RC1 was released a couple of days ago). For now I'd stick with FreeNAS v7.xxx until v8 is released and maybe even wait for a second release.
Hardware wise, I would recommend this:
Motherboard: Intel Burrage Flat P67 (Extreme Series), P67BG
CPU: Intel Core i3 2100T (low power CPU)
RAM: 4GB minimum but the more the merrier. (don't skimp on RAM, a NAS caches in memory, so it will use everything you have)
PSU: Corsair CX430 430w
Case: Cooler Master Centurion 590
Flash-Drive: At least a 2GB or larger flash-drive for the OS
Hard-drives: Any hard-drive but at least 3 of them so you can use RAIDz.
That setup is specially selected for several reason:
1) It uses an Intel Network card (very important)
2) It uses Intel SATA controller (well supported)
3) It uses a low power CPU (a NAS doesn't need a too powerful CPU and it runs 24/7 so it should be low power)
4) The case has 9 5.25" bays (You can install 9 3.5" hard-drives, although you need 5.25" -> 3.5" converters)
5) The case allows 3x 120mm fans to be installed in the front for ventilation of the hard-drives
6) The hard-drives have sufficient space between them to allow for good ventilation
7) You need at LEAST 4GB of RAM for RAIDz to work well
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Do you not mean i3-2100T?
I shall be using this when I do my new NAS, thanks. I hope this applies to OP too.
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Thanks for the info. Are mini mother boards not recommended?
A Mini-ITX would work nicely as they're low-powered... BUT: FreeNAS prefers some hardware to others and you might not have enough SATA ports, PCI slots etc. Also Mini-ITX wouldn't deliver the same amount of power.
I've just put together the ultimate machine along Gnome's specs (while being conservative): R14,000
I did, thanks for correcting me. Could also substitute i5-2500T but that would be overkill based on my experience (for home setup). You should be able max out Gigabit LAN (eg. transfer speeds of ~100mb/s) on a 2100T (provided the disks are fast enough).
Hehe, hope it works well for you
Well I wouldn't because they don't usually have 6 SATA ports and if you spend that much on a storage solution you want as many SATA ports as possible and the possiblity of adding as many SATA ports as you can.
If you mean Atom or such, they lack too much in CPU department. You could run an Atom setup but it would max out at about 30mb/s. That is if they even work (they all have RealTek NIC which either don't work at all, or are much slower than Intel variants).
I've just put together the ultimate machine along Gnome's specs (while being conservative): R14,000
why so much?
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I'll give you a quick rundown haha:
Sandybridge i3-2100T
Intel P67BG Burrage
2 x Corsair 4GB DDR3-1600 CL7 (Probably unnecessary - only RAM I have)
6 x Seagate 2TB 64mb SATA6G drives
CoolerMaster Centurion 590
Corsair CX430
2 x iCYDOCK MB455SPF 5 x hot-swappable SATA drives in 5.25" bay
4 x Coolermaster 120mm double ball bearing 19.8dBa fans
CriticalConsumer
Senior Member
I would suggest also getting a proper RAID card for your NAS...
Considering that you have 6 drives, it would also be recommended to go for a case that allows for decent cooling of the internal hardware environment / drives.
Considering that you have 6 drives, it would also be recommended to go for a case that allows for decent cooling of the internal hardware environment / drives.
Ah, looks good. One tip, run the memory at standard voltages and frequencies. Overclocked RAM running 24/7 hasn't been too relaible in my own experience. So I use RAM similar to that (also what I have) but I have it running at standard voltage and SPD timings rather than XMP timings.
The iCYDOCK must be expensive I take it?
Btw. I'm using Seagate 2TB LP drives (x6) and i get around 70mb/s read/write speed, so you can safely use them (around ~R700 from Esquire per drive). I've got them directly in the NAS. I'll take a picture a bit later of my NAS and post it. Looks very clean and it's been running for months, 100% stable.
No.
RAIDz (One of the software RAID implementations available on FreeNAS) > Hardware RAID.
FreeNAS doesn't support hardware RAID.
Agreed, I would recommend at LEAST:
3x120mm in the front (over the mesh, just use thin pieces of wire to hold 3 fans in place on the front, it works excellent)
1x120mm fan in the rear.
1x120mm fan on CPU.
Anything else would be overkill. This is based on my own server running in an ambient environment of up to ~34 degree celsuis.
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Budza
Executive Member
I love these threads. Always dream of building a dream NAS machine. Backup the interwebz.
I can't afford it though, and am also not too sure what'd be worth all the effort. If it's all for personal use...
Still- I enjoy checking out your setups. Pics would be appreciated!
And shot! I assume you're the okes providing/seeding all the stuff I need
R14k worth of internet can go a looong way. I back up in the cloud
I can't afford it though, and am also not too sure what'd be worth all the effort. If it's all for personal use...
Still- I enjoy checking out your setups. Pics would be appreciated!
And shot! I assume you're the okes providing/seeding all the stuff I need
R14k worth of internet can go a looong way. I back up in the cloud