First NAS build... Would like someone to overlook it!

[KrYsTaLzMeTh0d]

I am building my first nas, and wouldn't mind someone to tell me im either wasting my time and money, or if I am on the right track... My goal is to have a 2TB build for 500$...

Looking to go the micro ATX route since the motherboards for mini ITX, which I found, are so much more expensive for the sata raid... I would like to raid 5 for more data protection (... I know this is not a replacement to data backup, I already backup anything important )

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128731
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117374
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236343 (X3)

Picked the mobo because of the extensive sata III slots, for expansion of sata raid in the future, as well as the lga 1150 socket for if I ever need to beef up my cpu... but for starters, I thought the Pentium dual-core with 3.2 GHz would be a nice place to start just for getting this started... thoughts? I went for a 53W power design, which is the lowest I found for intel without spending 200$ on an i5...

I am not going with ecc mobo or memory, because this is just for my own personal use. I will be the only person accessing, at most 2 machines at a time... it will mostly be used for plex anyways... I do not think I need any error correcting, since im not on an enterprise level...

and the hdd's, im going with 3 of those for the full array in raid 5. how do the WD red compare to blue or green drives in the nas? I haven't found much evidence in reviews or to much credible evidence to steer me away from getting the cheaper drives for my data, since this will be running 24/7...

so, tear me apart, or tell me im on the right track. the total rig ive shown comes to 493$. I already have a case this is going into, and a power supply (a 300W mini ITX ps, with a 24 pin for the mobo, I am assuming this will work! )

 

[Automata]

Using onboard RAID for a file server is a very bad idea. I've experienced the pain of working with onboard RAID, and there are many stories you can read online saying the same thing. If you are going to use RAID, either do it in the OS (Windows has RAID on certain versions, or zfs or mdadm on linux) or get a proper controller (not a cheap one).

What power supply is it, exactly? A cheap power supply is going to cause you headaches in the future.

Everything else looks OK, but I'm tight on time, so you may want to wait for a few more responses. What OS are you planning on using?

 

[KrYsTaLzMeTh0d]

I have never played with RAID before, my first time... I assumed the mobo had to support it... my mistake, thanks for the input!

 

[Automata]

I have never played with RAID before, my first time... I assumed the mobo had to support it... my mistake, thanks for the input!

Onboard RAID simply means the controller is on the motherboard; similar to onboard sound, video, and networking. I haven't used onboard RAID since the P45 chipset (core2), but from what I've read, not much has improved. It is prone to not detecting the array our dropping it outright. Speaking from experience, it is huge headache and not worth the hassle.

Good hardware RAID controllers are built for failure in mind, and have the ability to rebuild arrays and recover from disk/controller failure. Onboard is simply a tacked on "feature" to sell boards.

Don't let this deter you from building a server. It takes some time for good planning, but if executed correctly, they are extremely reliable. My servers are sitting at 211 days uptime (no restart/shutdown) each.

 

[KrYsTaLzMeTh0d]

Not deterring me in any way... I just hopped onto the FreeNAS forums, was reading into ZFS... what I am gathering is I do not need a RAID controller? I can use ZFS completely within the the OS?

And to answer your question, there was a couple OS's I was looking into... the ones that jumped out were FreeNAS, Nas4Free, Amahi... I haven't gotten quite that far yet...

 

[Automata]

ZFS is on the software level. You would not need a RAID controller to use it. ZFS is very good (I use it), but it takes some knowledge to setup right.

FreeNAS and the like are good entry level operating systems if you want things to "just work". If you don't have a lot of time to tinker, or simply don't want to deal with the small details, they are a good option. If you want something custom, they may not work for you.

If you don't need the system up and running right now, play with your options. Worst case scenario is you wipe the system and start over.

 

[KrYsTaLzMeTh0d]

This is my first server, so to tinker and get it right would be fun... what os would you recommend?

EDIT

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6PW2FB0228

Here is my ps I have

 

[Automata]

This is my first server, so to tinker and get it right would be fun... what os would you recommend?

EDIT

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6PW2FB0228

Here is my ps I have

I don't see any quality reviews on the power supply, so I'd exercise caution. The power supply is not something you want to skimp on.

I'd suggest getting familiar with Linux and playing with mdadm and zfs for the disks, and samba for file sharing to other computers. I prefer CentOS, but there are many different flavors which work with zfs and the like. If you want to get real fancy, run a hypervisor like ESXi and do the file server bits in a virtual machine.

 

[KrYsTaLzMeTh0d]

So, get a decent ATX ps? What's the min wattage you would recommend for a server?

 

[Automata]

So, get a decent ATX ps? What's the min wattage you would recommend for a server?

You won't need a lot of wattage to run the system. With three drives, I'd be surprised if you broke 100w full tilt. Basically, pick a quality unit in the 300-500w range, which covers you in case you want to expand. I'll point a couple people in this direction for power supply suggestions.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Good ATX PSU, for a budget. It's $50 -20% on Newegg right now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438012

Great ATX PSU, $90. It has a $20MIR on Newegg right now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438053

Anything from the EVGA G2/P2/T2 will be amazing at worst.

We also have a massive sticky of recommended units in the PSU section of the site.

 

[caddi daddi]

I have been getting rid of all my low line psu's this year, have gone to almost all evga, a cheap psu, I wont mention ultra, cost me an arm and a leg and much hair pulling on my autodesk rig.

 

[KrYsTaLzMeTh0d]

Thanks. I noticed the recommended psu's are 500 watts and 550 watts. How will this affect my electric bill being on 24/7? Can a 300 watt corsair get me by?

 

[Automata]

Thanks. I noticed the recommended psu's are 500 watts and 550 watts. How will this affect my electric bill being on 24/7? Can a 300 watt corsair get me by?

This is a common misunderstanding. Power supplies do not "push" power to a system, components "pull" it from the power supply. Meaning, the system will only draw as much power as necessary. If the components only take 100w, the power supply will supply 100w, and pull a little more (due to inefficiencies) than 100w from the wall.

 

[caddi daddi]

this^^^^^^^^^

the real cost of running a psu is the same from one to the next, so shop quality, you don't need fancy for a server, you need one that won't set you house on fire.
did i mention stay away from ultra?

 

[Woomack]

I see no problem in using onboard RAID. Small Intel based servers are actually using the same onboard RAID as desktop boards. If you are using RAID 1/10 then it will work good and usually will perform better than any cheaper RAID card.
The only issue will be with RAID 5 as for that you need dedicated cache and best if also processor to work good. For RAID 5/6/50/60 good are server controllers but these are expensive.

One of the advantages of onboard Intel RAID is that it usually works on any Intel based motherboard so if motherboard dies then you can replace it at low cost. If expensive RAID controller dies then you will have a hard time to recover data on other controller or will pay a lot for a replacement card ( or wait for RMA ).

If you care about costs then maybe take a look at WD Purple. 4 of them in RAID10 will cost not much more than 3 Red in RAID 5 but for RAID 10 you won't need expensive controller and it will work faster. It's also much easier to recover if anything fails.

This is just my experience and I often work with smaller database servers and other stuff like that.

 

[Automata]

One of the advantages of onboard Intel RAID is that it usually works on any Intel based motherboard so if motherboard dies then you can replace it at low cost. If expensive RAID controller dies then you will have a hard time to recover data on other controller or will pay a lot for a replacement card ( or wait for RMA ).

I defer to you on this topic, but I've never had a board allow me to import an existing configuration, like RAID controllers do. I lost two arrays because the board "forgot" about the configuration and refused to do anything other than wipe the drives. However, like I mentioned above, my experience comes from the P45 era, so it is possible things have changed since then.

Even knowing the board will let you import configurations, I still prefer and suggest using an actual RAID controller. Battery backup for the cache is critical, and they seem to built better.

 

[KrYsTaLzMeTh0d]

Thank you all for your advice. The power explained makes a lot of sense. And thanks for the leads on my options and different drives to look into.

 

[Automata]

You're welcome. Let us know if you have any further questions!

 

[Woomack]

I defer to you on this topic, but I've never had a board allow me to import an existing configuration, like RAID controllers do. I lost two arrays because the board "forgot" about the configuration and refused to do anything other than wipe the drives. However, like I mentioned above, my experience comes from the P45 era, so it is possible things have changed since then.

Even knowing the board will let you import configurations, I still prefer and suggest using an actual RAID controller. Battery backup for the cache is critical, and they seem to built better.

My point is that for RAID 0/1/10 and non-professional usage you can use simple onboard controller without additional costs. It's still better and faster option than any cheaper RAID controller ( or even cheaper server controllers ).
RAID cards with its own cache and battery backup cost a lot. I just don't expect that anyone who wishes to set smaller NAS for home usage will spend $500 or more only for RAID controller. In this case it's better to buy external NAS like Synology or QNAP.

You can move RAID to a motherboard with the same or newer Intel chipset on all newer platforms ( X58/P55 or newer ). I was moving RAID 0/1/10 many times and in most cases all was working fine. Sometimes were problems when I was trying to move RAID to older motherboard. But again, onboard RAID is good only for RAID 0/1/10 or JBOD.