sam9s NAS Project! powered by Unraid!!

[manny9]

Thanks man, I read in one of lime technology forum that its better go with intel chipset rather AMD...did u come across any such thing?

 

[sam9s]

Hi Sam, thanks for inspiring me to build a unRaid NAS, this thread is very informative. Though I have technical background never ventured DYI but now I think its time i get my hands dirty I already have a synology 4 bay NAS which I am using for my personal stuff. Now I'm thinking of building a NAS for my media alone.

I do lot of bluray iso rips for my PCH and I need a scalable . Please do suggest best components, meanwhile I am reading all about DIY. I was thinking of 15 bay case with 3GB RAM and a Mobo with gigabit bit in....

I would like to build a 15 bay unRaid NAS with a good looking case. Since I don't have wired network at my home I have to place this NAS in living room close to my PCH hence it needs to look nice. Do let me know your inputs......though i might take time to build this, I am sure building it

Thanks , sure will look into thermaltake cases. I really wanted Lian Li cabinets though they are expensive but its not available in India. Ebay has couple of models which are not that good. I really liked the cases used by Lime Technologies for their prototype builds.

You are always welcome. 15 Bay NAS case, hard to find, but I did mention Antec 1200 on the first page of my thread. Can take 20 HDD. Ofcourse question of availability is there, but try by all means.

CM 690 is a regular desktop case, but it damm good I am using CM 690 as my regular desktop, and its rock solid. So if all fails yes one can go for this one as its readily available in India.

BTW which synology NAS do you have, hows the experience. ironic to your situation, I am also planning to built my second NAS but this time I am venturing in to a ready built NAS, for the novelty and to learn something new. There are few other factors as well that I will discuses in the thread i will open when I have my other NAS.

I am also planning to get one from Synology, a small 2 Bay unit. Probably Synology DS 212J. What do you have to say about this ....

Also I would recommend if at all its possible to get server grade hardware for the DIY NAS, its gonna be a long term worth investment. PSU should be of utmost quality if you are at all planning to run NAS 24x7. All coming from my personal experience, ...... that I will also discuses in detail when I open the new NAS thread.


@ Haisaikat, I's stay clear from Zebronics unless, price is a major concern.
Thermaltake M9 is way better or CM 690 or Antec 1200 if you can manage to arrange one and ofcourse price is not an issue.

PS :: Antec 1200 is available on Flipkart but price is way more than what its on Amazon or newegg.

 

[manny9]

Thanks Sam, I gonna keep bugging you still I finish this build

Yeah I looked at Antec 1200, loved it. But in two minds now. First the price and second the availability. Flip Kart has discontinued it and I found guy from Bangalore in ebay for 12,499.00. Tempting but I think i will start with CM 690 II Advanced for now and who knows maybe the next build would be bigger

So you think CM 690 II Advanced good enough for my build? Since you are using it how is the noise level of the fans, since I am planning this in the living room I'm worried about the sound during night time movie watching...I did some reading and ppl said 19 dB should be fine...what do u think from your experience? i liked CM690 since it has SATA-x dock and that should help me transfer files faster....will this work with unraid?

Synology is awesome, I have Synology DiskStation 4-Bay Network Attached Storage DS411+ (Black) and its rock solid. Its been close to 2 yrs and (touch wood) never ran into any issues whatsoever. They keep updating their firmware with new features and their DSM interface is superb. I use this server for my personal stuff, pics, videos etc., they have wonderful iphone and android apps...I would highly recommend synology NAS...

Sure will do. I want to stick with intel motherboard and processor and cost is not an issue. Can you please recommend? I have been reading lime tech forum for the last 3 days and still not able to make up my mind. I thinking at least 6 SATA connectivity and 2 pcie X16 , just in case if i want to use this gear with some other OS which needs a display....but two pcie is not a deal breaker, always I can change the MB...I still reading and going through the forums do share your inputs....

 

[dheerajjotwani]

For 6 disks consider n36l hp microserver. its a proven platform for unraid. I am using with debian though.

from my cdma s3...

 

[haisaikat]

Check the price of antec 1200 case from hdigital lifestyle bangalore branch, they are thermaltake dealers and their contact is on thermaltake india website but they keep antec and ship. They might give you a deal.

Thermaltake M9 is becoming hard to find. V6 is also with sata dock on top

Sent from my Galaxy Pro Duos via Tapatalk

 

[manny9]

@dheerajjotwani , thanks. My plan is run a 10 bay server, will n36l scale to 10 bay?

Thanks, will check and update you guys...

 

[musicbee]

Thanks man, I read in one of lime technology forum that its better go with intel chipset rather AMD...did u come across any such thing?

If by chipset you mean CPU then both are well matched in terms of performance. Intel offers a bit more power but AMD will be cheaper. Also, AMD runs hotter so you will need additional cooling. Intel will run fine with fan on processor and one in cabinet and also will not get very hot (I've tested extensively with ripping Blu-rays with my 2nd Gen i7 processor running at 100% for hours continuously).

PS - I've used both previously but now I'm a stickler for Intel CPU and Mobo.

 

[dheerajjotwani]

Well read up on it. There are blokes who've added 4 3.5 and 6 2.5" drivers with an added card and a case 5.25" adapter... its fun to play though. And trust me for its size, its barely audible

from my cdma s3...

 

[manny9]

Thanks mucisbee, which mobo are you using?

 

[musicbee]

Thanks mucisbee, which mobo are you using?

Intel i7 2600K + DH67BL.

 

[haisaikat]

Also I would recommend if at all its possible to get server grade hardware for the DIY NAS, its gonna be a long term worth investment. PSU should be of utmost quality if you are at all planning to run NAS 24x7. All coming from my personal experience, ...... that I will also discuses in detail when I open the new NAS thread.

sam, any thing specific for which you want to go for a off the shelf product as compared to DIY? anything related to usage and longeveity which is a con for DIY?

 

[sam9s]

Thanks Sam, I gonna keep bugging you still I finish this build

Yeah I looked at Antec 1200, loved it. But in two minds now. First the price and second the availability. Flip Kart has discontinued it and I found guy from Bangalore in ebay for 12,499.00. Tempting but I think i will start with CM 690 II Advanced for now and who knows maybe the next build would be bigger

So you think CM 690 II Advanced good enough for my build? Since you are using it how is the noise level of the fans, since I am planning this in the living room I'm worried about the sound during night time movie watching...I did some reading and ppl said 19 dB should be fine...what do u think from your experience? i liked CM690 since it has SATA-x dock and that should help me transfer files faster....will this work with unraid?

Any regular case will work with UNRAID. 690 is solid and fans are decent as well. Cannt much comment on the noise level as I have added 3 more (low quality) fans to the same, so yes I do have clearly audible fan sound.

If you are too concerned about the sound, then you can probably get the fan changed with some high quality low db fans.

Sure will do. I want to stick with intel motherboard and processor and cost is not an issue. Can you please recommend? I have been reading lime tech forum for the last 3 days and still not able to make up my mind. I thinking at least 6 SATA connectivity and 2 pcie X16 , just in case if i want to use this gear with some other OS which needs a display....but two pcie is not a deal breaker, always I can change the MB...I still reading and going through the forums do share your inputs....

Server grade hardware is a tough cup of tea, first coz of the price, second availabilty and third, the configuration and hence the assembling might differ.

If you do decide to go for Server grade, I'd say get it assembled from a professional. Which model you wanna go for is something I would like you to research for and decide as there are loads of variants for a server grade hardware available. If you wanna stick with Intel.... then Xeon series is to go for with compatible mobo ... something like "Intel Xeon Processor L3406 (4M Cache, 2.26 GHz)" with a compatible mobo like "Intel Server Board S3420GPV".

The one I have listed is slightly old offering but quality for the price. You can opt for latest Xeon processor and Boards as well, but then price would be unnecessary high .....

For PSU I would highly recommend Single Rail 12+ PSU with min 30A for 10-15+ WD Green drives. Something like Corsair 550VX.

Regards
Sammy

 

[sam9s]

sam, any thing specific for which you want to go for a off the shelf product as compared to DIY? anything related to usage and longeveity which is a con for DIY?

Desktop grade hardware aint made for 24x7 running as simple as that. They might work they might not. Server grade hardware is made to run 24x7x365. ( there are other server advantages as well) but Longevity is what I am concerned here. Power supply is major ingredient here, if PSU goes bad it can make any hardware product go bad along with it (Mobo , RAM, Proc .. anything).

After running my NAS hardware (regular desktop) for 1.5 years almost 24x7, I have lost PSU and mobo along with it ...... where as my HTPC hardware has served me for more than 6 years now.(initially it was my main regular desktop). as it runs only when I need to watch a movie.

 

[manny9]

Thanks Sam, great inputs....My plan is run my NAS only when I watch movies, I am not planning to run for 24/7...then i think a good Desktop grade hardware should be good enough for me....still tearing my hair on mobo but at least decided to go only with intel...let me know if you have any recommendation top of your head....

 

[sam9s]

^^ yes then there should not be much of a problem, I would still recommend a good PSU.

One question why do you want to built a NAS which would only be runnig for movie, that too a 10-15 BAY. ...??

A simple Media player with inbuilt HDD can server the purpose wonderfully. Somethig like WD Live HUB (that has 1 TB inbuilt hdd)

Anyway .....For desktop grade, you can pick any current gen Proc+Mobi, does not make much of a difference. AMD is as good as Intel (its a myth and only a mental blockage that one is better) specially for running a NAS (that too whcih would not run like 24x7). If you are incliend towards intel .......then get the cheapest i3, I guess its i3 2100 and compatible mobo like Intel BD82H67. With any 2 GB DDR3, RAM corsair value select is what I would recommend, and you got yourself a decent NAS....

 

[manny9]

Thanks Sam...I already have a PCH 210 with 2 TB which is full and another couple of 1 TB USB HDDs which are full as well I rent blu rays and rip them 20-25 GB size and add them to my collection, at least 2-3 TBs every year, hence the need for NAS I had two options either to get a powered USB hub and keep adding external USB HDD or build a NAS and I couldn't resist the temptation of building a NAS

 

[dheerajjotwani]

A little DIY on the side. in the pics is a coller master 4 bay hdd cage sitting atop a cooler master 350W PSU. the little pcb is a sata multiplier with 5 sata ports on board and a esata interface. The green esata to sata cable hooks into the sata port on a goflex dock and end result is a 6 hdd nas cum debian server.



from my cdma s3...

 

[musicbee]

Thanks Sam...I already have a PCH 210 with 2 TB which is full and another couple of 1 TB USB HDDs which are full as well I rent blu rays and rip them 20-25 GB size and add them to my collection, at least 2-3 TBs every year, hence the need for NAS I had two options either to get a powered USB hub and keep adding external USB HDD or build a NAS and I couldn't resist the temptation of building a NAS

I would start with reducing the size of the rips. 20-25 GB is too much. You can get excellent quality with 4-7 GB rips. Previously, I ripped all my Blu-rays at 12-15 GB but 1 year down the line was in your boat and one cannot keep adding hardware never mind external HDDs are cheap.

My solution... all the movies that don't need huge rips (i.e. don't have any SFX and honestly most movies fall in this category) I rip and burn on a DVD and these can be watched on most budget Blu-ray players that play MKV format. If you truly believe you need more quality then you can go for dual layer DVDs and at nearly 9 GB all Blu-ray rips will come out excellent. A CD/DVD wallet will hold 200 discs and occupy a lot less space. Also, easier to store/transfer and no risk of losing all movies/data like when a HDD crashes.

Play with some encoding s/w and see for yourself how good the quality is. Also, have a few DBTs with family members and see if they can see a difference between a 4 GB and a 12 GB rip. Most people will not notice any difference. I will recommend StaxRip to test things out for yourself.

PS - I still use WDTV and PS3 myself but have started moving towards DVDs in the last 3 months because of storage/backup issues. Use a quality player like Oppo with upscaling and honestly you will not find much loss in PQ.

 

[sam9s]

Thanks Sam...I already have a PCH 210 with 2 TB which is full and another couple of 1 TB USB HDDs which are full as well I rent blu rays and rip them 20-25 GB size and add them to my collection, at least 2-3 TBs every year, hence the need for NAS I had two options either to get a powered USB hub and keep adding external USB HDD or build a NAS and I couldn't resist the temptation of building a NAS

I was kinda replying in the same league as musicbee, keeping a 20-25GB rip does not make sense, that way you would keep reaching the end of you storage every now and then. I have shared a pretty decent "backup BR in MKV" guide in my sig, that would give you a decent idea as to how to rip a BD between 5-10GB which believe me gives pretty decent video quality keeping the audio intact or at the worst DTS. That way you can manage your storage in a much efficient way. For few exceptional/fav movies yes you can always keep full BD ISO like I have for Matrix, T-1 and 2 and few others. Rest are all 4-10 GB rips.

 

[manny9]

Thanks for the inputs guys, sorry was out of town and just got time to get online.

@musicbee: Been there and done that. I have tons of DVDs ripped from rented DVD before blu ray came. But nothing compares to having it in a server/HDD. All my wife has to do is to switch on PCH and movie wall comes up and she selects what she wants to see. This is really needed when my son has to eat watching his fav movie/cartoon I use YAMJ in my PCH and its really gorgeous.

Yeah I agree having it <20 GB+ is always better and I do that. Only the movie I like are in 20GB + and movies I really like are in 40GB+ with director commentary and other extras, rest all in 4-8GB MKVs...It has become like a hobby for me collecting movies and blu rays...I have close 150 blu rays with me....