Build? Buy? HALP.

[kronik]

My environment:

1x HTPC
1x MacBook Pro
2x Laptops
1x PowerBook

Wireless-N DD-WRT routers.

Purpose of device:

1 - Redundancy
2 - Backup all PCs, preferably with iterative imaging. TimeMachine compatibility.
3 - Media Server - 1080P / iTunes / etc.
4 - Print Server?
5 - BitTorrent?

I've been eyeing the QNAP TS-509 Pro with the intention of putting 2TB drives in it, RAID 5. I've no idea what would provide similar performance, capability, etc. regarding hardware. If I were to build it, I'd like to stick with a form factor similar to a pre-built NAS (read: small). I briefly considered WHS but I'm not sure that will fit what I need.

Ideas?

 

[thiggins]

I think WHS would work for you.

Getting a small DIY NAS is the toughest part. Cases to get a small form factor are relatively expensive.

The 509 Pro uses a Intel Celeron M 420 1.6GHz and 1 GB of RAM. Intel Atom or AMD Geode won't do it.

 

[stangri]

I'd like to follow up on this.

I was considering buying a 4+ bay NAS as I'm nearing capacity limits on my DNS-323 and (more importantly), the DNS-323 is painfully slow for me (just browsing but also simultaneous reading/writing).

I've researched the most known brands and the 4+ bay NAS devices cost in excess of $400.

That lead me to thinking to just building a server with the quick-swap backplane instead. I found a small HTPC-sized case by Thermaltake which has 3x5.25" external bays where I could fit 4-in-3 backplane case. So getting the high-end components I think I can build the whole box for approximately $450-$550 and slap on any server OS I like to do the proper RAID or whatever.

What would be the advantage of buying the underpowered pre-built device at about same price then?

 

[thiggins]

The advantage is an easier to use admin interface and having everything debugged. But if you're comfortable with Linux distros, go for it.

 

[stangri]

Well, there's the FreeNAS.

 

[thiggins]

Well, there's the FreeNAS.

It's not bad. But nowhere near as easy to use as any of the commercial NASes.

 

[PowerMAC]

I'd like to follow up on this.

I was considering buying a 4+ bay NAS as I'm nearing capacity limits on my DNS-323 and (more importantly), the DNS-323 is painfully slow for me (just browsing but also simultaneous reading/writing).

I've researched the most known brands and the 4+ bay NAS devices cost in excess of $400.

That lead me to thinking to just building a server with the quick-swap backplane instead. I found a small HTPC-sized case by Thermaltake which has 3x5.25" external bays where I could fit 4-in-3 backplane case. So getting the high-end components I think I can build the whole box for approximately $450-$550 and slap on any server OS I like to do the proper RAID or whatever.

What would be the advantage of buying the underpowered pre-built device at about same price then?

Generally speaking the electricity bill of the commercial NAS devices is a lot lower than servers that are home built.

 

[PowerMAC]

My environment:

1x HTPC
1x MacBook Pro
2x Laptops
1x PowerBook

Wireless-N DD-WRT routers.

Purpose of device:

1 - Redundancy
2 - Backup all PCs, preferably with iterative imaging. TimeMachine compatibility.
3 - Media Server - 1080P / iTunes / etc.
4 - Print Server?
5 - BitTorrent?

I've been eyeing the QNAP TS-509 Pro with the intention of putting 2TB drives in it, RAID 5. I've no idea what would provide similar performance, capability, etc. regarding hardware. If I were to build it, I'd like to stick with a form factor similar to a pre-built NAS (read: small). I briefly considered WHS but I'm not sure that will fit what I need.

Ideas?

Most excellent choice that ts509 pro, I have one myself. Highly recommended.

 

[00Roush]

Generally speaking the electricity bill of the commercial NAS devices is a lot lower than servers that are home built.

Well I don't think it is that large of a difference. It really depends on what parts are in the home built server.

For example... My server currently pulls around 100 watts at idle with 3 drives spinning. It is uses an older Opteron 165 cpu and also has a low end video card. By removing the video card and enabling Cool N Quiet I have brought this down to around 65 watts at idle. My main pc has a Athlon X2 5400+ CPU with a AMD 790GX based motherboard and idles at around 55 watts. This is with 2 hard drives, Cool N Quiet enabled, and using the integrated video. With Cool N Quiet disabled it is about 60 watts at idle. Most of the newer CPUs seem to have a bit better power consumption than these older cpus (especially Intel CPUs) so I believe with a newer setup something in the 40 watt range would be possible at idle.

The latest SNB review of the the TS-509 Pro has it idling at around 50 watts with the drives spun down. Some of the other reviews of the more powerful multi drive NASes seem to have idle numbers that are in the 30 watt range.

My point is that I believe a home built NAS with some recent hardware would most likely have idle power consumption that is within 20 watts of a commercial NAS. In many cases I think it could be within 10 watts. According to my math using 15 cents per kilowatt hour it would cost an extra $26.28 for 20 watts for a whole year. So I don't think the cost difference would be as large as one might think.

00Roush