Inherited PC - use as NAS?

[microchip]

@jcwillia1

In this case, grab a minimal Linux distro (any distro will do as long it offers a GUI), install it and make sure the disk(s) are using GPT partitions if they're above 2TB. I am not sure about others distros but openSUSE offers that option at install if it detects disk is above 2TB

After that, I don't think you'll need much setup before going. It's just a matter of installing MiniDLNA, setting it up, opening the firewall port the MiniDLNA uses and that's it

 

[microchip]

Consider what software for a DIY (that you can't get) that would be nearly comparable to that from Synology / QNAP.

I'm thinking of FreeNAS in case I'll use the Phenom. However I'm also thinking of turning the Phenom into a BOINC cruncher and buying a dedicated NAS. Like I said, haven't really made up my mind yet

 

[azazel1024]

If you already have a WD Mybook live...why not continue using that? Doesn't it support USB storage too?

Its likely to have better performance than the E310 at a vastly smaller foot print and power consumption.

 

[Fraoch]

I have tried FreeNAS on my pentium 4 years ago which worked very well at the time. FreeNAS is a well maintained project so would be worth trying.

Until recently, FreeNAS would have been the go-to option. But I've been researching it lately and it's taken on quite a different direction. The project has been taken over by a corporation and is focusing on high performance and enterprise applications.

It's still free to download, but it's primarily focused on speed and performance. They have implemented ZFS as a storage system and this requires HUGE amounts of RAM. Definitely not something for an old repurposed PC anymore, this requires cutting-edge hardware. 8 GB of RAM is the minimum now. Add 1 GB for each TB of storage you need. Add 5 GB if you use deduplication. Most users have 16 GB! You won't even get help on the forums if you have less than 8 GB.

With this much RAM caching, ZFS can be extremely fast, but it's not something for an older PC. You can use "UFS", but the memory requirements are still high.

The original FreeNAS code has turned into NAS4Free, but they're also using ZFS. However they're not so insistent on the 8 GB requirement. I'm thinking of NAS4Free with my somewhat older 4 GB PC.

Otherwise I'm looking into a lightweight Linux distribution, OpenMediaVault. Its needs are much more modest - 1 GB of RAM is the minimum, and it's all controlled from a web interface just like a NAS box. Its features and performance will likely match most modest commercial NAS boxes. And there is a miniDLNA plugin:

http://omv-extras.org/simple/index.php?id=plugins-stable

OpenMediaVault is based on one of the most stable and well-supported Linux distributions in existence - Debian. Debian works very well with old hardware. It's efficient and conservative.

 

[fistv]

Here is one example, a decent hp small form factor that literally will fit behind most 50 inch TV's, mine just happens to sit on the beveled back of the Panasonic plasma that I have. It runs win7pro, which means it has media center already there, has room for two hard drives I replaced the dvd drive with an internal blue ray burner, added an nvidea low profile HDMI card, logitec wireless kbd/mouse. Initially Had it plugged into one of the 4 hdmi on the tv then moved it to my Marantz av receiver at which point I found out the marantz would work with media center and dnla [168 page owners manual, sheesh]. I'm still playing with it. So $100 for the box, $60 for the nvidia low profile card, $29 for the logitec km and somewhat pricey internal BR drive I'm pretty well set, the HP BR drive, AR482AT, came with a pretty nice blue ray disc suite, worth the $150. I did add memory though, sits at 16gb, 64gb win7pro, 250gb os drive and 2tb storage drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=hp_small_form_factor-_-83-280-290-_-Product

 

[jcwillia1]

just to close the loop on this, I bought a 4TB WD My Cloud drive for $160 "recertified".

When the cost of a 4TB drive was going to be more than $100 and with the amount of negative feedback people were giving on my idea, I just decided to go with what I know which is WD's network connected drives which I have had great personal success with in the past.