I came real close to buying a Synology 918+ this week but now I'm ALL IN for the OMV solution (and I might add - MORE EXCITED than with the 918+ purchase anticipation). I've searched the forums but can't really get zeroed in on answers for a direction to proceed. So here goes. Please offer some advice. I'd really appreciate it. I've built my last three computers but with this NAS situation it seems to be a slightly different mindset versus going for the gusto of a rockin' PC.
My OMV needs per our home's current status:
- File / document sharing in a 2 person household
- 3 PC's, 1 laptop, 2 tablets, 2 cell phones, HDHomeRun tuner, OTA antenna, Samsung 46" HDTV (might get a 4K in a few years), large multi function printer, 16 port switch, ASUS RT-N66U running Shibby Tomato firmware
- Eventual Plex serving for photos and minimal videos / DVR / VERY minimal transcoding
- Minimal SOHO needs for storing data
- RAID for redundancy (of which I know nothing about how to do) (plan on deploying 3 each WD Red 3TB drives)
- Will be (and currently am) doing external hard drive backups and running GoodSync for synchronization
- Remote access to files and the NAS
- Maybe VPN or OpenVPN ( I don't know much about that either) (nothing to hide, just don't like the idea of ISP's butting in on my day)
- I think that's about all I might be requiring/utilizing regarding OMV; keeping in mind I'll more than likely learn more great features about OMV as time goes on
My assumed Hardware needs:
- As far as I've gotten is possibly zeroing in on a Fractal Node 304 or 804; very open to other ideas
- Would definitely like to go Quad Core (just because I like power; I'm not a fan of Celeron) (uncertain on AMD vs Intel) (Probably can figure this one out once I'm advised on an AMD or Intel motherboard)
- Stumped on motherboard (ECC or Non ECC, multiple SATA connections for 6 to 8 drives max; probably a separate SATA card????, on board vs card graphics????, etc. etc)
- Quad Core / Motherboard / RAM / etc. would like to be as energy efficient as possible
- All connections are hardwired Ethernet in our house; don't like WiFi even though we have an ASUS RT-N66U running Shibby Tomato firmware
- Stumped on cooler requirements
- Stumped on ECC or non ECC (this subject I've heard talked about for years; I want stability and reliability doesn't matter if ECC or non ECC)
- I guess I need just a plain 'ol PSU, nothing fancy I guess
So, anyway that's all I can think of for now. I am not trying to get the forum to build my NAS - I can do that just fine - I would just like to do this build correctly and not learn from mistakes. I'm a little more stressed in life than I was 5 years ago. Surfing the OMV forums gave me some information on hardware but yet I can see TONS of hours trying to determine good combinations. That's why I'm asking for some help. Thank you for your time. Hopefully in the future once I become more of a savvy OMV operator I'll be able to help out someone in my same situation.