I’m pretty new to self-hosting, and the NAS I’m using right now has been a pain since the moment I bought it. The Synology DS220+ just doesn’t have enough CPU power for my needs, and I’ve recently used up all the disk space I installed, so I’m looking for a new server.
Unfortunately, all the options I’ve found online prioritize storage space over CPU, and I haven’t had much luck finding anything that fits my needs.
Requirements: CPU: Intel Core i3 or higher, but preferably Core i5 GPU: Not needed RAM: max 64 GB, min 16 GB Storage: max 32 TB, min 10 TB Network: 10 GB SPF+ Price: max 6K CAD, preferred 3K CAD
I’m hoping to run TrueNAS Scale with Plex and Nextcloud installed, and my media library isn’t likely to get larger than 5 TB, so CPU is really the main limiter of my current NAS.
As an example of something almost perfect: The TrueNAS mini X+ and R varieties would work excellently, but don’t meet the CPU requirement. I wanted to look at the other systems on offer from TrueNAS, but they don’t list out CPU specs for anything more advanced than the Mini line.
Of the Lenovo stuff, since it was one of the few websites with a filterable picker, the ThinkSystem SR630 V2 was the closest of fitting my requirements. It comes short on the CPU, though, and is verging on the price limit too. I also don’t need 12 TB of RAM, or 1.2 PB of storage.
What do you use? Can you recommend any websites I can go to find something that fits my needs better?
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Some good ideas on this site if you are interested in building your own https://forums.serverbuilds.net/t/guide-nas-killer-6-0-ddr4-is-finally-cheap/13956
Ha I came here to suggest the nas killer too. I built the nas killer 3 and it’s been running great for years.
Thank you! I’ll check it out, it seems to have quite a few good suggestions.
I’ve been considering moving to this build in particular for lower power usage and heat output, but they have some other dual socket builds if you want more cpu power.
I was going to post the same link, I generally take inspiration from that forum and then adapt with what I can find on eBay etc for cheap. The prices they give are for US eBay and not always suitable to EU eBay.
I’ve just finished my new NAS using Unraid OS and some info from the forum.
- Jonsbo N3 case
- Gigabyte Z590i Vision D motherboard
- Intel i5 10400T
- 2x16Gb DDR4 2666 (basic corsair)
- LSI 9207-8i HBA in IT-Mode
- An old 128Gb M2 SSD
- 8x6Tb HGST SAS drives
- Corsair SF600 PSU
It took me more than 6 months to find all the parts at a correct price but I was not in a rush.
It’s 2.5Gbe and not 10Gb SFP but you get the idea. The cost was really low (lower than 1000) because I already had the HDDs from an older server. It should be around 1500€ max with the disks.
The real downside of doing that is the time it takes but it’s also a kind of pleasure to hunt for parts and one day assemble them all.
I really like that little case. I have a fractal xl r2 right now and it’s a monster.
Yeah I love it. It’s one of the only itx case with 8 hdds and a SAS backplate.
Honestly it was the hardest part to find, I waited for months before having an auction on one.
I’m in the process of divorcing my one giant server into separate nas and compute-only machines, I was going to leave the big one as the nas and maybe swap out its guts for something more power efficient than the dual socket beast since it will only need to handle storage now, but it might be easier to sell as a whole and do an all new itx build 🤔
My wallet is gonna hate me.
I feel you. This ITX build is replacing a giant supermicro dual everything beast. I just kept its HDDs and moved everything to the Unraid ITX + some docker running on a M2 MacMini that is always on anyway.
I said to myself that I’ll resell the supermicro on auctions but still haven’t started to disassemble it.
Fun fact about divorce. A cute Jonsbo N3 with big Noctua fans is way more for peace and love at home than a 20Kg Supermicro chassis.
The idea of shipping something like that just makes me not want to do anything at all lol. It’s like a chicken and egg problem. Maybe if I could find someone local to buy it, then I would do the new build. But then I’d have no nas for that in between time. Hmmmm.
