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Need NAS Enclosure recommendation
40hz:
You forgot the most obvious: FreeNAS - UPnP and DLNA since 2007
-4wd (June 25, 2009, 01:22 AM)
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@4wd -you're absolutely right. I did forget. Doh! ;D
FreeNAS an excellent choice if you don't need all the multimedia bells & whistles. FreeNAS works well with Geexbox too!
Build yourself an inexpensive, energy efficient ITX-based server and you'd be good as gold. Once it's set up you could even disable onboard video since you'll be administrating it through the web interface.
BTW: If you have an old PC floating around, you might consider installing and testing on that prior to committing to a new build. No point spending money until you know whether or not you actually like it. That's what I'd do.
8)
Innuendo:
Stay away from Western Digital in this regard. Nearly every external storage device they have made has been a 'hard drive death trap' plagued by inadequate cooling. I won't even go into the bone-headed move they pulled off when one of the 'features' of their device was it decided for you what types of files could be shared over the internet for fear of copyright violations.
Carol nailed it, though. For stand-alone appliances you can't go wrong with Synology if they are in your price range. They have a very active user community where lots of functionality is being added to Synology devices by very talented modders.
Josh sounds like he wants a device he can just tuck away in a corner somewhere and forget so I won't go into the build-your-own solutions.
4wd:
FreeNAS an excellent choice if you don't need all the multimedia bells & whistles. FreeNAS works well with Geexbox too!
Build yourself an inexpensive, energy efficient ITX-based server and you'd be good as gold. Once it's set up you could even disable onboard video since you'll be administrating it through the web interface.
-40hz (June 25, 2009, 07:27 AM)
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I'd agree with this - Mini-ITX based server will have more grunt and flexibility than almost any off-the-shelf NAS solution for SOHO application - and it will still cost less.
eg.
Atom based Mini-ITX ~$65 @ Newegg
2GB of RAM ~$20
4 port SATA PCI ~$20
Case + PSU free (If you can't find a case for nothing, you ain't looking hard enough :) )
FreeNAS free
2GB Flash drive ~$10 (To install and run FreeNAS from)
Which only leaves your HDDs which you have to buy anyway - so for ~$115 you end up with a very flexible 0 - 6 disk NAS server, the equivalent price of many single disk dedicated NAS hardware devices.
I've seen a build that consisted of a VIA EPIA Mini-ITX board coupled with an SATA 4 port PCI card and a Addonics 5SA disk array housed in a Shuttle XPC size case running FreeNAS off a CompactFlash card - very nice and very portable.
40hz:
@4wd - Nice build! w00t! :Thmbsup: :Thmbsup:
I was going to spec one as an example, but you beat me to it - along with the price point I came up with. (My configuration came in at $138!)
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@Josh - If you do build something like this, get over the natural tendency to try to cram everything into the smallest enclosure possible. Especially if it's a server that's going to be tucked out of sight behind a desk somewhere.
A decent quality mid-tower gives you the best bang for the buck, along with more airspace around your hot components. Recycling is also an option. Take the savings and invest in a better quality power supply if you have extra cash left over.
Small enclosures build up a lot of heat once you put a CPU and some hard drives in them. They're generally harder to work with, and cost a lot more to purchase.
Most of the power supplies that ship with small box enclosures also lack the capacity needed for multiple hard drives. So if you're planning to install more than one HD, start thinking outside the 'little' box.
Be sure to tally up the power requirements of each component in your build. Then do the math to get a correctly sized PS. You'll also want to factor in some additional capacity since your server will probably be left on 24/7. In situations like that, you never want to run your PS at near-100% load. Giving yourself an additional 20-30% will improve stability, increase operational life, and reduce generated heat. If the power supply has a variable speed fan, those lower temperatures will also result in quieter operation.
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Another alternative to building from scratch is to look into some of the remarkably inexpensive "bare-bones" computer kits. Do a Google search on barebones computer to get and idea of what's available.
4wd:
Be sure to tally up the power requirements of each component in your build. Then do the math to get a correctly sized PS. -40hz (June 28, 2009, 12:30 PM)
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Or let someone else do the math: eXtreme Power Supply Calculator
Why burn out your braincells ? :P
Using the combo above plus 4 Green SATA HDDs gives a system power figure of 68W, (which I'd say is pretty close), and it will be less because there will be no keyboard/mouse connected normally.
So a 150W PSU is ample and will actually not be running at peak efficiency since it's well under %80 load all the time.
Once it's set up you could even disable onboard video since you'll be administrating it through the web interface.
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I'm not sure it would actually honour the setting if it detects no video card installed since you need some way to display the BIOS if you need to and the only way if it did allow it would be to reset the CMOS and lose all your settings.
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