First NAS - Parts selection advice

  • Hello Everyone !


    Here my adventure begins building my first Nas.
    Our need is basically :


    [*]Obviously saving files and securing local and remote access (I'm a photographer, she's a Graphic designer, we've approximately 20Tb of DATA for now only for archives)
    [*]Sharing files with our clients
    [*]Receiving files from our clients
    [*]Using it as a media center, Plex, that some friend will use too to stream and to drop files
    [*]Probably being able to launch a couple of VMs to test different browsers versions and so on
    [*]Probably being able to launch a VM as a backup machine in case our first AND secondary computers got stolen or broken
    [/list]
    I picked different parts as following, knowing my budget would be around 800€ w/out the HD (we already have 4x10Tb Ironwolves + some other RED drives btwn 4 and 2TB)


    Part List :


    CPU : AMD Ryzen 5 3600
    Motherboard : Asus B450M-A
    RAM : G.Skills Ripjaws V Black DDR4 2x8Gb 3200MHz CAS16
    GPU : Asus GeForce GT710 1Gb Passive
    System SSD : Intel 760P Series M.2 - 128Gb
    Case : Fractal Design Node 804 Black Window
    Power : Seasonic FOCUS Plus 550 Gold



    What would be your opinion on this ?
    The CPU Cooler would be the one delivered with the CPU.
    The Fans would be (for now ?) the 3 fans delivered with the case (1x120mm Silent Series R2 fan 1000RPM at front, 2 at the back).


    We plan to have a minimum of 6 hard drives for now, and we'll extend it to 8 to 10 (but we'll need a PCI-E to SATA board extension at some point as the Motherboard only have 6 SATA connectors).


    Thanks for your help !


    Cheers from France,
    Jonathan

    ---


    Geeky photographer, brand new to the Open Source & NAS world, much to learn, few to share but happy to !

    • Offizieller Beitrag

    Only issue I see, is the NIC on the motherboard. I personally loathe Realtek NIC's, but my experience not withstanding, someone posted a thread the other day they were having a lot of probs with the 8111. Not sure if they were solved or not


    Edit:. Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 issue with samba file transfer.

  • Hello KM0201, thanks for your reply!
    I didn't see this feed, indeed.


    It's actually really difficult to find an AMD MB in micro-ATX format (for the case I've choosen) not using the Realtek 8111.... It seems my reseller don't have any.


    My guess would be going through a series of tests prior any other use, with every kind of files, and see how it goes.
    Worst case scenario would be adding on top a PCIE Ethernet and bypassing the MB's one.


    I'll join the other feed just to see what other infos I can gather round there!


    Thanks again

    ---


    Geeky photographer, brand new to the Open Source & NAS world, much to learn, few to share but happy to !

    • Offizieller Beitrag

    It really is difficult.. Most AMD boards seem to have Realtek NIC's. Occasionally, you'll find them with Atheros NIC's (which I've also had good luck with), but as you mentioned a majority of the time, they are Realtek. I'm actually running a Celeron on an Intel board, and it has an 88xx Realtek NIC (major pain in the neck). I struggled w/ fixing this thing for almost 2yrs. The strange thing is sometimes it worked great, other times I'd have been better off using dial up if I could connect at all. The inconsistency is what made it so hard to troubleshoot. I literally tried every driver, tweak, etc.. that I saw recommended... no joy. I finally got so frustrated with it I ordered an Intel card.. and it has been 100% flawless.


    When I do my next build, I won't even consider a board with a Realtek NIC, or if there's just no other option (as seems to be the case for you)... I'll just calculate in the cost of a decent Intel NIC. Most micro ATX boards have 2-3 PCI-e's.. and you mentioned at some point in the future possibly needing a SATA card, and then the GPU.. so just make sure you factor that in to your plans.


    There's folks who will tell me my paranoia with Realtek is unwarranted with newer kernels, and it may be but I'm done with them.


    One other comment, your chassis.... I had the Node 304.. Excellent case. I really liked it. But it's BIG. Only reason I'm not still using it is because I really wanted Hotswap.


    Good luck

  • hey !


    Thanks for your long and detailed answer!
    Indeed the AMD boards do have 2 PCIe and 1 PCIe x16.
    One additional SATA board and one Intel NIC shall find a correct space on the board.
    Obviously, if I keep the AMD way, could it be a 2400G, a 2700 or a 3600, it'll have to be a Realtek, but as said, if so need to add an Intel NIC for 40 or 100€, I'll.
    It's not a project for fun and I'd rather make this work properly and not fight for months.
    I value my time and it's not worth loosing 2 years on a driver for me.
    I don't need 10GBe, as no equipment will follow in our home office and there's no added value to us, it's mainly an archival NAS with Plex & VM capacity. We don't deal with huge databases but with rather smaller files (under 100Mb mainly).


    Regarding the 304/804, I'll have a look to the exact dimensions, I know the 804 is big but I definitely have the space in my office to leave it there and make it breathe.


    Cheers from France !

    ---


    Geeky photographer, brand new to the Open Source & NAS world, much to learn, few to share but happy to !

  • Thanks everyone for your help.
    I finally simplified and lowered my budget to build a simpler NAS for archival/file sharing and Plex purpose.


    Attached the setup, as you'll see, less risky, Intel NIC on MB.
    MB with only 4 SATA ports but will add two PCIe 4xSATA boards.


    Will be delivered by Monday !


    Cheers to all !

  • I dont understand why use an i5 or ryzen builds for a NAS, understanding the NAS concept (share files), just go for the cheapest cpu!!

    except u r going to virtualice with proxmox, i didnt see why.

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