Hi looking for some advice on a NAS build. I’ve built several desktop PCs but I’m totally new to the world of NAS and servers. Currently I store most of my content on my PCs 4TB hard drive and external hard drive that I have a media folder shared on my home network so when I want to stream something off my PC to iPad Pro I just enter the local network IP and login details of my PC in VLC app I’m not sure what this type of streaming is called?
Anyway, I’m nearing max capacity on these drives and wish to free up space for more Steam games so was looking into the Synology and QNAP NAS solutions, but I find it quite limiting with 2 storage bays. However, when looking for more than 2 bays the prices skyrocket and I’ve read the CPU is quite anaemic so I’m swaying towards my own NAS build.
Hardware
For starters, I have the case from a previous build it’s a Thermaltake Urban SD 1 specs are here uk_thermaltake_com/urban-sd1_html (replace _ with . ) I did like the case L1 Tech used for GamersNexus but it’s pretty expensive for my budget NAS build may upgrade to it at some point.
CPU – I wanted to go with a Ryzen CPU something like a 3200G but have read Intel are better if using Plex because of support for Quick Sync so was looking at an i3 9100. Happy to spend slightly more for a noticeable improvement
Storage – WD Red (not the SMR versions) Have also read that if I use FreeNAS to get an SSD for the OS?
RAM – Would 4GB be enough? I’ve read FreeNAS works better with 8GB and comes with the benefit of dual channel configuration.
GPU – none for now hoping the iGPU will be up to the task?
PSU – 450W? Maybe 500W. Probably fully modular.
Motherboard – None in mind just going with the cheapest that supports the CPU. Not really a crucial factor with a NAS I don’t think?
Software/OS
So as previously mentioned I’m looking at using FreeNAS although have seen the L1Tech video on FreeNAS vs Unraid but feel FreeNAS is a better fit for me. Happy to be advised otherwise though. I will say that I want to be able to set my server up and leave it to do its thing I don’t want to be doing sysadmin every day with it.
Not sure if I need Plex? I want to be able to stream video that is mostly 720p and 1080p with some 4K content to my 4K Samsung TV a Q9FN and iPad Pro but not at the same time. Not sure if it needs transcoding? Currently I plug my external hard drive into to the TV and the video files play fine and from what I understand (might be wrong) transcoding is mostly for when streaming to devices outside the network. I don’t plan on doing this type of streaming but never say never I may want to load up a video one day.
Thanks in advance for any tips/advice given.