Parts suggestions?

[anishppatel]

I need suggestions for parts for a NAS that I would like to build. I need the NAS to do the following:

1. Stream media files including 1080p mkv files that can be 10gb plus
2. Download such media files using torrents and newsgroups
3. store my important documents

- I would like the NAS to be energy efficient but fast enough to stream 1080p files.
- I do not want to spend too much on it but it has to be reliable because it is backing up all of my important files.
- Since I will have important documents on the NAS i was thinking of going with a RAID 10 configuration. I have read that it will both back up my drive and make the NAS faster (don't know if this is an overkill). As such i was planning to use 4 - 1tb drives.
- The only bottle neck i see in my system is the Cat5e wire that is in my house. I was thinking about adding a dual gigabyte Ethernet adapter in case i am downloading a media file and watching a 1080p mkv file at the same time. If needed, i can run two cat6 cables between the NAS and my gigabyte router.

- The only thing i have decided on is my case which is the Rosewill Challenger and FreeNas. I want room for expand-ability.

I know this is lot of information, but i just don't want to waste my money on the wrong parts.

Thanks

 

[wkearney99]

If you've got decent 1gbe network cards and switches there's not much pointin adding a second interface. 2 interfaces does not automatically double performance. Software has to understand about using multiple connections and a simple streamer isn't. Same with file sharing. 10gbe interfaces are getting cheaper every day, as are the network switches.

If all you're doing is streaming you're not going to overwhelm a single gb connection. Just make sure you're not using wireless or a 10/100 network switch.

Remember, RAID is not backup. RAID is redundancy and reliability. The idea is it can keep things running if/when a drive fails. It does nothing to guarantee the data is safe. For that you use separate backup media or an online service.