Need advice...

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Magnet

Active Member
Jan 25, 2018
200
153
43
North Florida
New to the forum but wanted to ask a question...I want a new PC-based NAS as my 8TB (5.xTB usable) QNAP is getting full and is dated with its Atom proc. I currently do Plex streaming but use a separate box to transcode.

Options:

I have a spare/older rig that might work just fine. It is i7-2600K with 16GB RAM and a decent ATX board. I am thinking something like freenas but I’d need a new case for the drives.

I have 256GB of the following ECC RAM - Samsung m393b2k70dmb-yh9 16GB 1333MHz PC3-10600R ECC Reg Quad 1.35V CL9.

I also have a Dell T610 with 6x 2TB drives that is too loud for my room. It has some of the RAM above in it and is dual 6 core. It is in rack config. I used it for a VMware lab but want to get rid of it now.

I’m thinking use the old motherboard with a new case and drives or possibly get a cheap Xeon rig that would take a lot of the RAM I already have. Xeon boards seem to be the expensive part.

I plan to sell what I don’t use in the new NAS.

I mostly store files/movies and stream then to the house. I do backups via SMB shares. I occasionally run some VMs for specific tasks.

I want to end up with 15-20TB of usable space and would like a box with decent RAM and reliable drives.

Any thoughts?
 

pricklypunter

Well-Known Member
Nov 10, 2015
1,708
515
113
Canada
Welcome to the madhouse :)

If you go for a fresh setup, something along the lines of this will get you there:

SuperMicro x9 board
E3 v2/ v3 chip, or dual chip E5 v1/ v2 with only 1 socket populated initially
64GB unbuffered ECC RAM if E3, 64-128GB registered if E5
3TB used pull or 6-8TB HGST used pull He disks, add as many as you need
2 x Intel s3500 400GB SSD's
Seasonic power supply
Which ever flavour of case you like