Completed DIY Networked Attached Storage

[sswilson]

Figured I'd throw this in here since it is essentially a PC server build.

Looking to build a media server that can be accessed through client apps on either Firestick and/or Google TV (need to be native apps available in their respective stores, I don't want to side-load and have to play whack-a-mole with firmware updates). Haven't decided yet, but it sounds like Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin will probably be what I'm looking for. I'm also leaning heavily towards unraid mainly for ease of use and a large community of help tutorials.






edit: Hardware completed 29 Mar

• 3X 10TB Ironwolf Pro
• 1X 10TB Ironwolf
• 2X 8TB WD EZAZ
• 2X 1TB WD SN850 NVMe (Mirrored Cache)
• Topton 1X10G, 2Xi226-V, Intel i3 N305, 6XSata 3.0 Motherboard
• 32GB Crucial DDR5 4800
• Seasonic Focus GX-550
• Fractal Node 304 case
• Cheesy 6 drive sata cable bundle.
• Cyberpower EC850LCD 850VA/510W UPS (1hr+ backup for a clean shutdown in case of power failure)

 

[sswilson]

First step was determining what kind of storage space I was going to want......

How big is your NAS?

I'm considering building myself a media server/NAS and really have no idea what kind of specs I should be looking to build. Without getting too deep into the weeds of what content is going to be on it, what kind of total storage numbers are folks running? So far I'm considering doing a DIY in...

hardwarecanucks.com

Didn't receive a definitive answer (impossible since I'm the one who will have to define what kind of usage I'm going to have, and whether or not I'm going to be a hoarder) but I'm leaning towards 20TB+ being a good starting point.

With that in mind, I've ordered a 22TB Ironwolf Pro to use as my parity drive and am in discussions to source 4X used 10TB ironwolf drives from a member. The plan is to use 3X10TB for a 30TB array and have a single 10TB spare. My thinking on the oversized parity drive is that it will allow me to replace the 10TB drives with much larger ones when the time comes (either failure, or requiring more space).

 

[naugrim]

I went with Jellyfin server, i used to run emby but their 10 second ad for emby premier started to get on my nerves. Jellyfin is a fork of emby before emby closed their source (if I'm not mistaken) . It's maybe not as polished as Emby, but not having the occasional 10 second ad before playing a video is well worth the tradeoff in my opinion.

 

[sswilson]

Hasn't shipped yet, but the mainboard is going to be a Topton N305 mitx board w/ 2X2.5G intel + 1X10G Marvel Nics. The board sports 6X Sata ports, but (presumably because of the 10G Nic) no open PCIe slot. I've also ordered a 32GB mem stick and a 1TB WD SN850X to use as the cache drive. (Major overkill on the NVMe as the board only does gen 3X1, but I wanted a quality drive with dram).

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007287947062.html

The board + memory came out somewhere around $405 after coupons + coins, but we'll have to see what customs has to say about what kind of duties they may or may not apply to it.

Edit: Might as well mention in this post that the USB stick for unraid will be a 64GB Kingston DataTraveler Exoda.

 

[sswilson]

Storage confirmed. New 22TB Ironwolf Pro ordered for Pairity drive, and 4 used Ironwolf 10TB drives on the way.

Not sure If I'm going to keep 1 out of the array as a spare or just throw it into the array for 40TB total instead of 30TB.

 

[Shadowmeph]

I have always wanted to put together something like this, going to be following

 

[sswilson]

Hrmmmm...... slowly running into feature creep..... looks like I might be able to incorporate a DVD into the server hardware and access it through docker?

 

[JD]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007287947062.html
The board + memory came out somewhere around $405 after coupons + coins, but we'll have to see what customs has to say about what kind of duties they may or may not apply to it.

Yeah I wonder if any tariffs will apply. Even Canada's relations with China seem a bit iffy lately. But your posts had me perusing AliExpress last night and I had found this same board. I have no need for it really, but it is interesting enough that I might have to buy one depending how it goes for you lol

 

[sswilson]

Yeah I wonder if any tariffs will apply. Even Canada's relations with China seem a bit iffy lately. But your posts had me perusing AliExpress last night and I had found this same board. I have no need for it really, but it is interesting enough that I might have to buy one depending how it goes for you lol

Quick perusal of posts suggests that the marvel nic stands a good chance of being unraid plug/play. I'm assuming if I want to use the 10G for my internal network I'd need one of the SFP+ to RJ45 copper adapters plugged into my enterprise POE switch?

 

[JD]

I'm assuming if I want to use the 10G for my internal network I'd need one of the SFP+ to RJ45 copper adapters plugged into my enterprise POE switch?

I suspected you were going to go down the 10G rabbit hole

My latest purchase was this one: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CJCH2DT3, which seems to work fine and runs a bit cooler than my other ones. Using one at 10G to my QNAP and another at 5G to my desktop.