Move from Synology to DIY

dsgnr

dsgnr

dsgnr

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Hi guys, I need a bit of advice if I can.

I currently have a 2-bay Synology DS214+ which I use to for backing up multiple computers as well as nightly crons from my local development Intel NUC, as well as 6 production servers (I am a web developer). Unfortunately, the Synology has proven very difficult to work with in regards to when I need to SSH in to the box. Not sure why, it's just not reliable for cron and SSH in my experience.

Therefore, I am looking at creating my own NAS type solution where I can install something like Debian, set up shares for my local computers and give me better customisation of what I can do inside the CLI.

So far, I think I would like to go for the Fractal Node 304 due to it not being too much bigger than my Synology DS214+, whilst having the ability for 6 3.5" drives.

The trouble I am having is choosing a motherboard/CPU to use. There is so much choice and I am not sure what I need! This is mainly a time machine backup device, the odd streaming (no transcoding) to a OSMC enabled Raspberry Pi, but mostly cron rsync jobs nightly of around 10-15GB per night from my servers.

I would like to use either a RAID 1 or RAID 5 with this setup so I am not sure whether I'll need to buy a RAID controller, or whether the motherboard will be able to cope with this. I currently have 2x 4TB WD Reds, but would like to max this out at 6 x 4TB WD Reds eventually.

I am yet to find a motherboard that can both fit this case, and have 6 drives attached.

Thought this was the best place to ask for some help in choosing.

Thanks,
Dan
 
Devrij said:
Depending on whether you plan to have a dedicated gpu in there (I'm assuming you won't if it's just for backups) you could always just put a pci express expansion card in there.
Click to expand...

Most of the time I'll be just SSH'ing into the box just the occasional VNC but hardly ever so I don't think a GPU is necessary.

I was looking at SATA controllers but wasn't sure whether this was the same as a RAID controller itself?

Also, it looks as though that case will support 2 PCIe cards so I could add a graphics card or an ethernet adapter later if needed.

I'm just not sure what sort of spec board/cpu to get to be honest
 
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Thanks

So far, I've come across this:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...cket-1151-ddr4-itx-motherboard-mb-687-as.html

I will put an i3 in but not sure if this motherboard is any good? I realise it's cheap.

I've noticed it only has one PCIe slot. I've not found a mini ITX board with two slots despite the Fractal Node 304 having two expansion slots. Any thoughts on this?

I would like to add a NIC and hardware RAID eventually so two expansion slots would be perfect.

Unless I upgrade the MIni ITX board to something better when I eventually save for a RAID card.

Any advice would be great as this is my first DIY box.

I am a systems engineer but usually get the other guys to spec the rack servers. I just build it and make the it all work for the customers needs lol
 
What sort of processors do support ECC memory?

Power consumption, I know it'll be more but not sure how much yet lol

Noise, I plan on getting the quietest fans I can. I find the WD Reds I have in the synology quite loud anyway so I doubt that'll change too much with the right fans in place?
 
Thank you for your suggestion - to be honest, I kinda want to build it myself just to say I've done it. And So I can upgrade, swap etc stuff later if needed.

On that note, any recommendations for a super quiet (and efficient) modular PSU for an i3 skyline with 16GB (maybe 32GB) ram and onboard graphics?

I know there are loads, but not sure about any quiet ones
 
So far, I've found this for my mini ITX box which supports ECC memory:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...1151-ddr4-mini-itx-motherboard-mb-536-gi.html

Obviously I'd like the cheaper Mobo but if I have to use ECC then I have no choice. By the way, why is ECC memory necessary?

I'd prefer dual Ethernet ports as I'm planning to eventually buy a hardware RAID card and obviously ItX boards only have one expansion slot so unfortunately, I can't go down the dedicated NIC route :( if they did ATX boards that fit in the Fractal Node 304 or other small stealthy box then I may change to an ATX so I could have more expansion slots

Then I was gonna go for an i3 skylake

I haven't yet decided on a PSU but I'd like it to be modular and as quiet as possible so I'm not sure with this one yet.

This is going to be headless and idle most of the time he seems why I want it to be efficient.

Any ideas how much power this will use based on experience?
 
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Ah right okay. I need to be careful when it says ECC support then.

Thanks everyone so far

I'm thinking either a BeQuiet or Corsair PSU. Just need it to be as quiet as possible and the Corsairs run fanless most of the time apparently which is good news for me!

Apart from what the mobo can accept, does it have any impact over performance? Say a £50 one vs a £120 one with the same socket etc? That's what my main issue is - making the right choice haha.
 
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