Building a NAS/home server

Hardware Build a PC
1

After having thought about buying a nas for awhile, a thought dawned on me, why not build one myself?

So i have considered building some sort of NAS based on mini-ITX

i have a 300GB WD VelociRaptor laying around, that i intend to use as the system disk, and two 2TB WD disk i intend to use for storage. i'll probably add two more harddrives at some point.

I've considered using this case: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=480&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=64&g=spec

I intend to use the NAS/Home server for storage for my movies/tv series, and maybe for hosting  a minecraft, terraria or some other game server that i might want to run.

Thing is, i have no idea whatsoever about what hardware one would put in such a device, or what OS to run, so i've come here seeking advice from people that i hope have more knowledge on the subject than I.

2

you want a ton of SATA 3.0 ports and a full ATX motherboard not MITX, but cpu and GPU and RAM dont matter at all, and you want a high quality PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138366 has 8 SATA 6GB/S ports

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113283

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313081

i would also go to a cheaper case like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146075 with 8 or more internal HDD slots

 

3

Is there any performance increase with 7200RPM harddrives on SATA-600 compared to SATA-300, if not i see no real reason to go for a full ATX motherboard, when i can get an M-ITX Motherboard with 2xSATA-600 and 4xSATA-300

I don't realy want to have a midi tower standing around so i'd much prefer the M-ITX, and isn't 520W a little much for just running a bunch of hardrives

The M-ITX motherboard i've found is this http://www.asus.dk/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8H77I/ and i've considered pairing it with a low power core I3

4

if you want wireless (that what everone's using nowadays anyway) then you probably wont see a benefit from fast drives or sata 6, becuase you'll be limited by the connection

that motherboard looks perfectly good

i can't speak on how much power you need, but to my knowlage hdd's use a decent amout of juice 

5

whats your budget?

6

if your going Mini-ITX id definitley suggest you get a Fractal Design Node 304, its an awesome little case and holds up to 6 3.5" Hard Drives

7

yea i was thinking of that and this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112339&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID= 

 

8

My build so far:

Motherboard: http://www.asus.dk/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8H77I/

CPU: I3 3220 or I3 3220T

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2 x 8 GB 1600MHz

Case: Fractal Design Node 304 or LIAN LI PC-Q25B

Question now is, what PSU should i get, according to http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/ i need around 200W if i'm to run five harddrives i guess it would be best to have atleast a 250W psu for some headroom.

Final question would be, what OS would you recommend to run ?

9

I'd just get one of those corsair 500 watt PSU i saw them for like $40