Networking Noob Looking To Build Router/NAS Combo

Total networking noob. I’m looking to build a system that will function as a router and NAS. I may use it for some Plex functionality transcoding from time to time too but it’s not the highest priority. I have an old system that’s been gathering dust (see specs below) that I could use but I’m not sure if it’d just be better to do a new build from a speed/energy efficiency standpoint. I don’t have Gigabit internet at the moment (not available in my area but may be coming soon). I don’t mind using the old hardware but I’m not looking to add obstacles to the project. Would love to get someone else’s take on the matter.

* CPU: Intel - Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
* Motherboard: MSI - Z97-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard 
* Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory 
* Video Card: MSI GTX 1080 SEA HAWK X
* Case: Corsair - 760T White ATX Full Tower Case 
* Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold ATX Power Supply

Router / NAS combo is not a good idea. Separate your router into a second physical machine. You can get capable open source home routers that allow you to install whatever you want on them for something like $50-$75. This will save you a TON of headaches from a security perspective.

That build is more than capable for what you want to do, but it is consuming a ton of power. I would at least look into spending $500 on a more modern system. Your current system is looking at an idle power of somewhere around 50W-70W, an AM4 5600G system idles at around 30W-45W.

Every watt you save on a 24/7 system amounts to 8,76 kWh saved per year, so if you pay $0.15 / kWh that’s over a dollar saved per W per year.

In the end, you do you of course, if this isn’t an issue for you go right ahead, just wanted to point out a couple of common pitfalls. :slight_smile:

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While plenty of people use a single physical machine and virtualize these two functions I have never been a fan of this approach. My personal recommendation is two have two separate machines with bare metal installation of TrueNAS and OPNSense.

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My vote for 2 separate systems as well!

  1. If the router gets compromised you don’t also compromise your data on the nas or vice versa.

  2. As your learning some new things here 2 machines ie easier to troubleshoot problem on one system at a time and not having to figure out witch setting in witch system is causing the whole system to crash and burn!

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Thanks @wertigon @TeamTux I think these are all fair points.

I was thinking I should remove the GPU for energy usage purposes. If it looks like I’ll use the existing system that’ll be my first move.

The NAS was less important for my purpose so I’ll start when setting up the router and look into TrueNAS sometime down the road.

Thanks so much!

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Also thanks to @thetazman…new users so I could only mention 2 users in a comment at a time.

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The gpu would be better suited for the nas if your using it as a media server to trans code the video files.

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No worries! We’re all here to help out!

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Ha. Me over here paying $0.75/kwh some parts of the day :cry:

But yes, I like router to be its own device. Less potential issues that way. But if you really want to you can run them both as a VM on the same machine.

Will also be one to recommend separate devices. Would suck to lose both networking and storage simultaneously in one unlucky event… The NAS would probably contain fresh configuration backup for the router.