Looking to convert old desktop to NAS (8 - 12bay)

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level42

New Member
Feb 22, 2017
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Ok, I am new here, and still very green. Currently, I have a working computer comprised of an Asus
P8Z77-M, an i5 CPU, 2GB of ram, power supply, and unnecessary GPU. As for drives, I will likely populate the new unit with WD REDs, as I've used these in the past and they are quite reliable. (Other suggestions welcome)

My first ever NAS, was a QNAP TS-870 Pro. I've had this thing for about 5 years now, and it's completely full. But rather then drop $2,500 into another QNAP, I think it might be a good idea to salvage some older parts I have to build my own NAS, probably FreeNAS.

What I'm looking for:

- An 8 - 12 bay chassis that is comfortably quiet. (This will be hosted and operated in my bedroom)
- Something with a backplane and hot swappable drives (To function equal to my current qnap)
- Rack mounted is fine, doesn't have to look like my QNAP, but aesthetics play a small role.
- I will likely need a RAID card, of which I know nothing about. Literally ...

I think that about covers what I'd be looking for.

I have no issues getting something used, possibly off of eBay, but consider I live in Canada, and shipping/import/duty gets EXTREMELY expensive.

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I hope I've laid everything out as clearly as possible, but if you have any questions, please let me know.

Thanks for taking the time to read through, and I look forward to any ideas/suggestions.
 

rysti32

New Member
Apr 14, 2018
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Do you need a rackmount chassis, or is a tower case okay? IME it's way easier to find a quiet tower case than modding a rackmount case to be quiet. Getting hotswap bays in a tower may be tricky, though.

How large is your CPU cooler? Will it fit into a 2U case? I wound up going with a 4U Rosewill chassis with Noctua fans after realizing that my CPU cooler would never fit into a 2U case, and trying to find a replacement that was both quiet and would fit an obsolete socket was going to be a big pain. So far it's quite quiet for me when the BIOS cooperates and doesn't just run all the fans at full-blast (still trying to debug that)

Supermicro chassis are a frequent recommendation here, but I'm not sure that it fits your needs. The problem is that the stock SMC fans are very loud, and while they have quieter replacements I wasn't able to find a source for them in Canada. Also, if you need a 4U case, from what I read your drives would have airflow problems if you leave too many drive bays empty (and a 4U SMC chassis has a lot more than 8-12 drive bays). The problem is that it's a lot easier for air to flow through the empty drive bays than populated ones, so your drives don't get the airflow they need.

Edit: Oh, and I really don't recommend using HW raid. The performance impact of SW raid is minimal these days and you're in for a world of hurt if your HW raid controller dies. If a RAID controller needs to be replaced, the only way to be guaranteed recover your data is to replace it with the exact same model, and even then a different firmware version could theoretically screw you over. If you instead use an HBA and SW raid, the drives will be readable by any hardware.
 
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level42

New Member
Feb 22, 2017
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So, here's the thing, I actually have a SuperMicro Server, that's 12 bay I believe. It's a full blown server. The issue is, I cannot turn it on due to the noise. The thing SCREAMS all the time! (If anyone know's how to shut this thing up ...)

Hence this venture to find a smaller, quieter chassis for my other existing parts.

I like the idea of rack mounted stuff, but if they're any-bit as loud as my current one, then it's a no go. Not until I can build a server room of sorts.

I like the tower chassis that @mervincm posted, but ascetically, not entirely my cup of tea.

There is also this I've been eyeing for a while: U-NAS NSC-800 NAS Server Chassis, but it will not fit my current components, as it requires a Mini-ITX board :(

I'll try and make a parts list of exactly what pieces I have.
 

TLN

Active Member
Feb 26, 2016
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There's U-NAS NSC810A that can take mATX board(and two PCI Slots). Seems like a win to me, unless you need tons of extension cards

You can find a board with SAS controller. I have one 2011-3 board with 10G and SAS. I can even put two single slot (Radeon WX) cards if I want to
 

level42

New Member
Feb 22, 2017
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I actually just noticed this U-NAS NSC810A variant ... I'm currently reading up on it. But if this fits my hardware, and my hardware will suffice for Free-Nas, and I can afford $3,000 worth in Hard drives, this might be a win.
 

mmo

Well-Known Member
Sep 17, 2016
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I actually just noticed this U-NAS NSC810A variant ... I'm currently reading up on it. But if this fits my hardware, and my hardware will suffice for Free-Nas, and I can afford $3,000 worth in Hard drives, this might be a win.
Currently BestBuy have 8tb on sale for $150 each, you can snap 8 of them to lower your HDD cost.
 

mervincm

Active Member
Jun 18, 2014
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Small and quiet don't go together, the bigger the case, the bigger the fans, the slower the RPM and the quieter it will be.
Workstation cases/fans are almost always quieter than server cases. PSUs as well.

I build an xpenology NAS from an old corsair graphite 600t and an ICYdock 5.25 to 3.5 adapter. with its multiple 200mm and 140mm fans its VERY quiet, 4 hot-swap 3.5" bays, 6 internal 3.5" bays, room for a massive CPU heatsink( again large quiet fan)

looks good enough for me :) all fans are on fan controllers at the minimum RPM. The large case even absorbs much of the drive clicking that you typically hear in the smaller NAS units (I have a Synology 1815+)