NAS Drive recommendation 8TB +
- Thread starter lawnpot
- Start date
Act as data store for my home - family pics/videos/documents
be able to play to TV directly from the device - will be keeping it under the TV cabinet so aesthetics may play a part but not too worried if it a mid tower case
stream to 3-5 devices - phone/tablet/laptop
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i wanted to add more use cases to this machine but i think it might be better in a separate machine it was more to be able to run 2-5 VM's for my own learning as and when required
A suggestion as your usage scenario seems similiar to mine....
Keep the NAS AWAY from the TV... I built a 3200G system for the TV which is smaller and quieter than the NAS will ever be, it is almost silent and sits under the TV with no problem. Also, if using a PC on a TV, this is awesome...
https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/wireless-touch-keyboard-k400-plus
Get the biggest case you can for the NAS, you will be thankful when you can stick 8 or 10 HDD's in the same case as your needs grow and stick it somewhere it will not be seen/heard.
Everyone has their own needs/wants of course, but that was my thoughts having gone through the same questions as yourself.
thank you, so for NAS i was going for Fractal R5 or similar, i don't get the 3200G system, did you meant
3200G for media playback into TV and being fed from NAS, can you also provide part recommendations (motherboard, cpu, ram, powersupply) for both these
NAS and 3200G please?
I quite like the wireless keyboard that looks like a must have
I use an R5 and find it a great "Workhorse" of a NAS case. Definitely recommend putting an extra fan in the front for 2 x intakes. I also converted the top 51/4 bays so they now hold 2 x HDDs so the system is now running 10 x 3.5" HDD.
Not a single problem with cooling. Plenty of room inside for airflow too. The R5 being primary built to suppress noise does a great job and is still able to maintain an acceptable temp, even with 10 HDD's. I found the stock exhaust fan to be more than adequate.
Personally, if building a NAS, you ideally want that to be its primary task, I would not be wanting to use such a system as a regular client machine for various reasons.
The reason I mention a second rig for use under the TV is that although many prefer to use TV Apps and smart sticks for accessing services and Plex etc, there is nearly always a compromise. I found running a full blown, albeit nothing too fancy PC, there was little compromise, albeit no remote control but that keyboard/touchpad helps in that regard. I have Parsec installed so use it for the more casual games streaming from the main PC for couch co-op etc.
As you suggest though, yes, the NAS hosts the content and other devices simply connect to it.
Regarding the PC specs for the client on the TV, I built mine late spring, before prices went nuts. You cannot source anything for its actual worth price at the moment so not much help there I am afraid.
I just went with the 3200G as it had an iGPU which was capable, MATX case (fits nicely with the TV) and not as cramped as a ITX build which is also more expensive. When looking for MATX boards, look for 4 DIMM slots to give yourself an easier upgrade path and also a few PCIe slots just incase. Some MATX boards at the lower price points are BARE.. some only have 1 chassis fan header which is pants. For the most part though, you do not need anything flash, standard MATX case of your choosing, Standard MATX board, 8GB RAM (If your just using Windows and watching stuff from the server, 8GB is fine to start with) and a SSD of your choosing. The system is mostly using soo little power, your cannot hear it, I would say it is almost inaudible. Get the PSU AFTER you have chose your case as some MATX cases use none ATX PSU's. Personally, go with a case which supports ATX PSU's, it just makes things easier and cheaper
The 3400G has a much better iGPU but for me, if I want to play games on it, I would just put the money towards a GPU.. but that was not the purpose of the build anyway.
Alternatively, get a ROKU box but what is the fun in that
Not a single problem with cooling. Plenty of room inside for airflow too. The R5 being primary built to suppress noise does a great job and is still able to maintain an acceptable temp, even with 10 HDD's. I found the stock exhaust fan to be more than adequate.
Personally, if building a NAS, you ideally want that to be its primary task, I would not be wanting to use such a system as a regular client machine for various reasons.
The reason I mention a second rig for use under the TV is that although many prefer to use TV Apps and smart sticks for accessing services and Plex etc, there is nearly always a compromise. I found running a full blown, albeit nothing too fancy PC, there was little compromise, albeit no remote control but that keyboard/touchpad helps in that regard. I have Parsec installed so use it for the more casual games streaming from the main PC for couch co-op etc.
As you suggest though, yes, the NAS hosts the content and other devices simply connect to it.
Regarding the PC specs for the client on the TV, I built mine late spring, before prices went nuts. You cannot source anything for its actual worth price at the moment so not much help there I am afraid.
I just went with the 3200G as it had an iGPU which was capable, MATX case (fits nicely with the TV) and not as cramped as a ITX build which is also more expensive. When looking for MATX boards, look for 4 DIMM slots to give yourself an easier upgrade path and also a few PCIe slots just incase. Some MATX boards at the lower price points are BARE.. some only have 1 chassis fan header which is pants. For the most part though, you do not need anything flash, standard MATX case of your choosing, Standard MATX board, 8GB RAM (If your just using Windows and watching stuff from the server, 8GB is fine to start with) and a SSD of your choosing. The system is mostly using soo little power, your cannot hear it, I would say it is almost inaudible. Get the PSU AFTER you have chose your case as some MATX cases use none ATX PSU's. Personally, go with a case which supports ATX PSU's, it just makes things easier and cheaper
The 3400G has a much better iGPU but for me, if I want to play games on it, I would just put the money towards a GPU.. but that was not the purpose of the build anyway.
Alternatively, get a ROKU box but what is the fun in that
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NAS means 24/7 operation using atx board with high powered parts are going to show up on electricity bills.
NAS boxes you can buy are typically intel celeron or pentium low power CPU with iGPU. They typically operate at 10w or less. Total system draw around 25w-50w at wall (depend on the drives you have)
this compared with a 3200G is night and day. A standard build will result in at least 25-30w idle with working load sitting around 60-100w depend on your drives.
I wouldnt go down the route of using MATX board. Definitely use ITX board and get cases that support hot swap drives (with SATA pice back pane). If you are concerned about amount of drives you can fit into an ITX board then you can get an old dell PERC raid card and connect a bucket of drives to that.
If you use Plex then AMD hardwares are not supported in their transcoding.
NAS boxes you can buy are typically intel celeron or pentium low power CPU with iGPU. They typically operate at 10w or less. Total system draw around 25w-50w at wall (depend on the drives you have)
this compared with a 3200G is night and day. A standard build will result in at least 25-30w idle with working load sitting around 60-100w depend on your drives.
I wouldnt go down the route of using MATX board. Definitely use ITX board and get cases that support hot swap drives (with SATA pice back pane). If you are concerned about amount of drives you can fit into an ITX board then you can get an old dell PERC raid card and connect a bucket of drives to that.
If you use Plex then AMD hardwares are not supported in their transcoding.
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We are talking about two different systems, not using MATX in the NAS.
You seem to have got your knickers in a bunch
Buying a "NAS BOX" is also inherently more expensive and RESTRICTIVE.
Nobody mentioned "High powered" parts. Any modern CPU is efficient at low frequencies.
As for hot swap drive bays/back panes, They are not "essential" in any way shape or form. I have no problem removing a sata and power cable and removing a drive. Sure, you maybe have a few more cables but thermals are not affected so what is the problem?
Suggesting things like that and "hot swap" support is not the best advice, the money wasted can go towards much better components.
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How much you looking at for the R5?
3200G vs 8th/9th celeron is big difference.
One is rated 65w TDP
One is rated 10w TDP
matx board is bigger and more dimm slots more features etc thus consumes even more power.
for a basic network storage solution you don’t need any of those features thus power consumption unless you want to have some gaming capabilities.
One is rated 65w TDP
One is rated 10w TDP
matx board is bigger and more dimm slots more features etc thus consumes even more power.
for a basic network storage solution you don’t need any of those features thus power consumption unless you want to have some gaming capabilities.
thanks so i am after explicit list of parts recommendation, reading on forums there are so many options and they all may be right based on OP specific requirements. gathering them I have built partslist below but still want to check if I am on the right track
NAS : G5400, Asrock H370MITXac, 16gb 2400mhz Crucial
or shall I go with latest G6400 or 8th/9th generation
the other PC I may got for a AMD one but want to do NAS first
check out my build documented in here. you can use ITX NAS cases instead of the NUC sized i used.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/foru...d-nuc-sized-plex-server-with-3-5hdd.18910253/
You didn’t use a NUC sized case, you used an ITX board in an ITX case and then discovered you couldn’t fit things in it and bolted a fan to the top blowing in and disconnected it. That’s not something I would call a shining example of what to build. Also the power draw difference between an ITX and MATX or ATX board is negligible, extra dim slots etc. only really use power when occupied. Factor in the small tax and you’ll generally pay more at retail for ITX than MATX or ATX like for like, saving a few watts will take decades to break even, let alone actually ‘save’ you anything. In fact you’d save more by using an appropriate and efficient PSU rather than something overly high powered and inefficient - as you did with the PICO.
TDP is a really, really poor indicator of real world power usage, that and Intel/AMD calculate TDP in different ways and Intel are wildly in a grate vs actual power draw. If you are doing HW transcoding (requires Emby Premium/Plex Pass, costs £100ish for lifetime), then yes, Intel wins thanks to the iGPU being supported and actually decent for this, but OS choice is also important (Windows sucks). If you are running other services, AMD brings a lot to the party in terms of performance. Remember, no reasonable person will transcode 4K locally, it’ll look worse than proper 1080p and as a lot of 4K is HDR, it’ll look washed out/awful.
Op, are you planning on using anything like Plex/Emby/JellyFin to manage your media? Have you paid for hardware encoding on the former two and/or explored your client’s capabilities? The latter has HW transcoding for free, but client support is still more limited. If not, then HW transcoding is a moot point and I would consider AMD again.
Case wise the R5 And XL are pretty decent, you can add an extra cage and run some 5.25” to 3.5” backplanes, ignore hot-swap, it’s largely pointless in this application and an H200/310 flashed to IT mode + UnRAID or a *NAS derivative is a much better plan than a PERC, hardware RAID is generally not going to leave you in a happy place, just like RAID5. Another case option is the NZXT H200.