Is this a good deal for a server to use as a NAS?

[stonewall]

Reading the guidelines, this post didn't seem appropriate for the wanted/for sale section.

For £850 someone offered me a 1U server with

8 x 2.5" SAS enterprise 2.4tb hard drives
2 x 3.8tb SAS enterprise SSDs
128gb 2666mhz ram (4x32)
iLO
Gold Xeon series 1 scalable (with space for one more), raid smart array controller, 2 hot swappable PSUs,.

My home NAS is a box I built myself from a HP Z440 with Xeon 2690v4, 32gb ram, 4 x 4tb SAS 3 1/2" enterprise drives, with a couple of spares in the cupboard, and an 800gb SAS SSD for booting, HP 740P raid card with 8gb memory and battery backup, 10gb ethernet. All the components cost me under £250 about a year to a year and a half ago. It works and isn't noisy, but it is a bit tight for space now.

I was considering buying the server, selling the existing NAS, in whole or parts, to offset the cost of this replacement server. Or I could sell the new server in parts, use the 128gb ram in my 5820 (the ram is compatible), and hold onto my profits until prices drop. The 8 x 8gb sticks in my 5820 cost £200 4x what I paid in 2024. I could even buy a bigger box for my existing NAS and add more of the 4K SAS 3 1/2".

It feels uncomfortable holding onto parts that are expensive now, when AI could see a ton of hardware dumped onto the market in the near future, crushing prices.

 

[BoredSysadmin]

I assume you have free electricity? I won't touch 2.5" HDDs with a 3-meter pole. It would be much better to run a much newer PC with 4x 3.5 HDD drives setup, and you'd get much more storage and a much smaller electrical bill. Most NAS servers don't need much CPU.

 

[etorix]

Any answer has to take account of your storage needs and of the use of the NAS (pure storage, or apps on top?).

But you do NOT need a Xeon E5v4 or Scalable to manage ca. 16 TB, so my guess would be that this particular deal is not at all suited for you.

 

[BoredSysadmin]

Here are a few desktops on eBay UK.
Both with cpu just as powerful as Intel Xeon Gold 5115 (my guess on cpu of the server you mention)

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www.ebay.co.uk

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/206240247094 - this one has AMD Ryzen™ 5 4600G, 16 GB RAM, and a 512 GB SSD - or at least this is what it had when it was sold.

If you can't put two HDDs inside, then an inexpensive external 5 or 10 gig USB DAS would do the trick for you.

 

[kapone]

Most NAS servers functions don't need much CPU.

There.

Why? Because...in 2026 it is hard to find to find a NAS OS/software that can't do more. Take Truenas as an e.g., one of the more popular ones.

- You could literally setup a SMB setup with NAS functions, private cloud, VPN, hosting, source control, HR functions, etc etc...all on a single server.
- From a home perspective, you could easily run a full smart home with backups from all your devices, and family sharing and ...

So, a "NAS" is a bit of a grey area when it comes to how much hardware to throw at it. My truenas server on an 8 core ancient e5-2667 v2, runs the NAS part and ~60 containers doing all sorts of things. None of them by themselves take up too much horsepower, but they're there, running, when needed.

 

[BoredSysadmin]

There.

Why? Because...in 2026 it is hard to find to find a NAS OS/software that can't do more. Take Truenas as an e.g., one of the more popular ones.

- You could literally setup a SMB setup with NAS functions, private cloud, VPN, hosting, source control, HR functions, etc etc...all on a single server.
- From a home perspective, you could easily run a full smart home with backups from all your devices, and family sharing and ...

So, a "NAS" is a bit of a grey area when it comes to how much hardware to throw at it. My truenas server on an 8 core ancient e5-2667 v2, runs the NAS part and ~60 containers doing all sorts of things. None of them by themselves take up too much horsepower, but they're there, running, when needed.

Fair nuff. Technically, you're correct. My home NAS is also hosting a slew of different functions, some of them are somewhat CPU/GPU needy, but as I said, a modern AMD pc desktop would be just as fast while sipping 1/3 of the electricity (or less)

 

[stonewall]

Will non-ECC ram be an issue for a NAS? I use a Xeon for my existing NAS just because of ECC.

 

[TrevorH]

I would really expect an HP 1U server with 4x32GB DDR4 installed to be using ECC RAM. The cheapest 4x32GB DDR4 2666MHz on Ebay UK is currently £350 so the rest of the components need to add up to £500 to be worthwhile. Also, a 1U server is going to be noisy so you won't want to sit next to it all day. Or even for more than about 10 minutes at a time.

 

[etorix]

Will non-ECC ram be an issue for a NAS?

ECC never hurts, but it is strictly not required.
However, since the word "TrueNAS" has been dropped, note that the 740P RAID controiller in your current NAS is not at all suited for ZFS (and the same vetting would apply to what you are looking at: Plain HBA, no MegaRAID).

Basic questions:
How much storage?
How many users?
Any use other than storage?

I would personally NOT look at all at a mini-PC for NAS. Rather an old mid-tower workstation (Xeon E), with bays for enough 3.5" HDDs inside. NO USB. Avoid SAS if possible. Market allowing, few but large SATA drives.
If you want to keep your DDR4 RDIMM (which I can very much understand), look into second-hand X10SDV boards (or A2SDi, if you can find one).

Again, depending on your answers to the above questions…

 

[BackupProphet]

My NAS servers use plenty of CPU, there is a lot of CPU time going to, compression, decompression and networking. Some protocols that are not accelerated by your network card will also need CPU. Struggling with incast congestion, more CPU with QoS.

 

[kapone]

However, since the word "TrueNAS" has been dropped, note that the 740P RAID controiller in your current NAS is not at all suited for ZFS (and the same vetting would apply to what you are looking at: Plain HBA, no MegaRAID).

pfft. The Truenas guys can go... Hardware raid works just fine, even GREAT with ZFS. You get all the benefits of ZFS and all the benefits of modern RAID.

 

[kapone]

Will non-ECC ram be an issue for a NAS? I use a Xeon for my existing NAS just because of ECC.

It's not required but...I'd never run a file server without it. I mean..do you drive without seatbelts??

 

[kapone]

My NAS servers use plenty of CPU, there is a lot of CPU time going to, compression, decompression and networking. Some protocols that are not accelerated by your network card will also need CPU. Struggling with incast congestion, more CPU with QoS.

This is true to a large extent. I tested 40/56gb network transfers with/without RDMA.

Without RDMA - CPU usage on the Truenas end = ~27% of an 8 core CPU, with ~3GB/s throughput
With RDMA - CPU usage on the Truenas end = ~10% of an 8 core CPU, with ~4.8GB/s throughput

 

[stonewall]

Here are a few desktops on eBay UK.
Both with cpu just as powerful as Intel Xeon Gold 5115 (my guess on cpu of the server you mention)

If you can't put two HDDs inside, then an inexpensive external 5 or 10 gig USB DAS would do the trick for you.

Xeon 6152.

You got me thinking. I could transplant my HP Z440 parts into a case that will work with more drives. Searching online, I see other people have done this, eg with some of the Fractal design cases.

or, I could take the Xeon from my existing NAS, the ram, and put them into a compatible tower server from HP, Lenovo, Dell. Then I get the existing power supply/supplies, the psu(s), etc. I also have a bunch of working spare Xeons for that generation. They are cheap anyway.

ECC never hurts, but it is strictly not required.
However, since the word "TrueNAS" has been dropped, note that the 740P RAID controiller in your current NAS is not at all suited for ZFS (and the same vetting would apply to what you are looking at: Plain HBA, no MegaRAID).

Basic questions:
How much storage?
How many users?
Any use other than storage?

I would personally NOT look at all at a mini-PC for NAS. Rather an old mid-tower workstation (Xeon E), with bays for enough 3.5" HDDs inside. NO USB. Avoid SAS if possible. Market allowing, few but large SATA drives.
If you want to keep your DDR4 RDIMM (which I can very much understand), look into second-hand X10SDV boards (or A2SDi, if you can find one).

Again, depending on your answers to the above questions…

The current system does raid from that Dell PERC 740P card. It was the easiest option. It worked great, even under Ubuntu, once I downloaded the software.

I would like to add some more of the cheap 4TB 10k advanced SAS drives. Eight drives would be great. I can boot from the 800gb enterprise SAS SSD. The users are me, for backup and running some containers, playing with docker etc, plus a few other family members for streaming media.

Thanks for your questions. It gave me some other directions to look into.

I would really expect an HP 1U server with 4x32GB DDR4 installed to be using ECC RAM. The cheapest 4x32GB DDR4 2666MHz on Ebay UK is currently £350 so the rest of the components need to add up to £500 to be worthwhile. Also, a 1U server is going to be noisy so you won't want to sit next to it all day. Or even for more than about 10 minutes at a time.

The 2.5" drives sell for £100 second hand. The HP 3.8tb drives cost hundreds each. Everything is so damn expensive now, except the 3.5" 4tb drives which I have in the current NAS, which are still cheap and good (ran the extended test).

Noise is a concern with the 1U unit. I never ran any such hardware before.

 

[TrevorH]

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www.bargainhardware.co.uk

 

[etorix]

Noise is a concern

Then forget about 1U. 3U/4U, filled in a checkered pattern and with attention to fans might fit.
But your best bet is with consumer-style cases, good airflow from large slow fans. And a limited number of (large) drives. Avoid 10.000 rpm screamers, go for helium-filled 3.5" HDDs.

some of the Fractal design cases

Node 304 (6 drives) is well cooled and reasonably quiet, but it requires a mini-ITX motherboard (X10SDV is a great fit!).
Node 804 (8-10 drives) is well cooled, but not quiet due to the open top.
I'm no fan of the Define cases in storage configuration; Nanoxia DeepSilence 8 Pro, if you can find it, is easier to work with and comes ready for storage, without buying extra trays.

 

[stonewall]

People have transplanted their HP Z440 motherboard into a Fractal Define case (you can buy these cases on ebay for under £50 with 8 hard drive bays. Another option is to buy a Dell/HP tower which is a contemporary of my existing CPU/RAM, has enough bays, perhaps multiple PSUs. £150-200 is enough to buy one.

Someone is trying to sell a HP Z440 NAS for £725. They only have a 128gb NVME installed, the selling point being cabling, cages, and 3D printed bays to install more. Perhaps I should just wrangle one more 3.5" drive into mine (one of my spares, or a higher capacity drive) for a bit of extra space.

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ebay.us

• Xeon E5-2650 V4, 2.9Ghz boost, 12 cores, 24 threads - loads of capacity and just 105 watts!
• 64 GB of DDR4, ECC Registered Memory
• 2x Quad NVME M2 SSD Adapter Card installed, bifurcation configured in BIOS
• 8x NVME M2 Slot
• 1x 128 GB NVME M2 SSD installed
• (can be swapped for SATA 2.5" on request)
• 5x 3.5" HDD bays - 3 into 2 drive cage in 5.25" slots, + 2x drive rails/caddy for original slots
• Power & data cabling for 3x 2.5" drives in addition to 5x3.5" and NVME = 16 total
• Space and SATA ports for additional 6x 2.5" = 22 total! Just add power splitters / SATA cables.
• PCIe Expansion: 2x PCIe3 x16, 1x PCIe3 x8, 1x PCIe2 x4, 1x PCIe2 x1 (GPU installed here)
• Other Expansion: Legacy PCI slot, 6x SATA, spare internal USB 3.0 & 2.0 headers
• LSI SAS 2008 / 2308 IT Mode SAS 6Gbps HBA & SAS-SATA Cabling
• 10GbE Dual Port SFP+ Network Adapter
• Front intake fan - HP 80 or 120mm replacement
• 2x HP or 3D printed 3.5" Drive Caddy
• Quadro NVS 310 single slot, actively cooled GPU
• 550w+ PSU, 90%+ Efficiency (80 Plus Gold/Platinum ish)
• Slimline Optical Drive

 

[BoredSysadmin]

As far as NAS goes, my 2c is bigger HDDs. but a smaller count of them. This would reduce noise and power usage. It will also reduce performance a bit, but you could gain much more with SSD caching anyway.

 

[is39]

I'd consider this only if you want to go all SSD on your NAS (so sell 2.5" HDDs);
and would use NAS for virtualization as well, otherwise it's a bit over-provisioned CPU/RAM-wise.

SAS backplane gives you choice using 2.5" SAS or SATA SSDs, which is nice;
counter-intuitively SAS enterprise SSDs are often cheaper than SATA on secondary market.

Networking depends on what you use; but i'd assume there are PCIe slots available if what server has does not fit.

Still feels a bit pricey, but we're in unusual period, so it can be phantom pains ;-)
Plus i do not know how UK market differs from US.

--igor

 

[BoredSysadmin]

counter-intuitively SAS enterprise SSDs are often cheaper than SATA on secondary market.

Well, there is some logic behind this: while SAS SSDs are generally twice as fast - not a hard rule, but most of SAS SSDs I've seen are SAS12 or 12 Gbps vs 6 Gbps on SATA SSDs, but on the other hand, Enterprises generally don't buy used hardware, and for consumers, SAS SSDs are harder to use since requires specially controllers, generally more power usage, and most importantly - require active cooling as they get quite hot.