Hi all,

I'm thinking of building a NAS (network access storage) aka Home Server. I know that I could get one for around RM500 (Dlink barebone) or RM600 (Buffalo with 1TB). But I would like to build a new one from scratch based on off the shelf parts. Anybody has done this? I'm thinking of building a low power one if I could source a low power PSU too.

What I've in my mind:

1. HTPC/miniATX casing - Silverstone SG05/LianLi V351 - Any other case that can take more than 2 3.5" HD?
2. Atom based mobo - Is there anything that can take more than 2 SATAs?
3. Low power PSU - Anyone know where I could source 150W PSU? - a bit of confusion here.. if I put in 350W and my rig only need probably 100W, will I wasted energy here?

On the sw side, I'm thinking of putting Debian/Lenny.. shouldn't be a problem there with SAMBA, and torrent thing..

All suggestions are welcomed.

This post has been edited by wiraone: Oct 14 2009, 09:26 AM

1. check here.. http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=772833&hl=
can put 2 HDD and 2 unit 5.25"(such as DVD-RW) device

2. if we talk about intel little falls mobo..it only can support 2 sata and 1 ide drive..but u can throw in PCI SATA controller to put more HDD..

3. u can get any PSU actually..since new model PSU work by supply and demand concept..it only suck in the amount needed from ur electric socket..(take 80% efficiency,if u use 100W..it will only use 125W from ur wall socket..)so u will not waste energy..definitely not and most PSU become highly efficient at 40-70% load..

This post has been edited by serigala: Oct 14 2009, 09:59 AM

Thanks Serigala, yah.. the case you posted seems to be a nice one too.. and I believe most Atom based mobo could take a PCI card (let me know if I'm wrong here).. will try to list up what are needed before putting order(s)..

On the PSU, I misunderstood .. I thought when I saw 350W .. it will suck out 350W from the wall plug .. now since my understanding has been corrected, I'll try to find a silent one.. one that is just silent enough and can be put on top of my office desk.

Consider using OpenSolaris instead of Debian. ZFS is a really awesome filesystem, once you use it you can't stop lovin it.

Thanks wkkay, I have not touch opensolaris yet.. my affair with sun ended when I graduated from U long time ago.. hee..hee.. will take a look at ZFS and see ..

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Added on October 14, 2009, 12:18 pmHey, it seems that FreeNAS has ZFS support already.. but wondering, I don't think I'm going for a RAID setup .. will ZFS outperform ext3/journaling?

This post has been edited by wiraone: Oct 14 2009, 12:18 PM

FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD. FreeBSD's ZFS support is simply not stable. There are documented cases of spontaneous reboots, which I have experienced myself.

On top of that, I have experienced reproducible corruption errors with ZFS on FreeBSD's RAIDZ2 and a 16TB array. The same file was found corrupt after a scrub. When restored, and re-scrubbed, the file was found corrupted again. This persisted despite recreating the zpool. The same server has been reinstalled with Solaris 05/08 and has been operational without corruption for more than a year.

So personally, I won't run ZFS on FreeBSD for awhile. But YMMV, and I do think that FreeNAS will be a good way for you to get started because it comes with everything you need

On performance, you can find benchmarks comparing ext3 and ZFS. But putting that aside, on paper ZFS offers real benefits where it comes to reliability:

1) Ensure through checksumming that data on the disk/bus is not corrupt (RAM corruption will still screw you)
2) Easily take snapshots. Consider it a layer of backup.
3) Ensure that you do not have RAID write holes, which happens when the system loses power and you don't have battery-backed HW RAID.

yes it can..1 PCi slot is available..since i use intel little falls 2(atom dual core) as my torrent Rig..

Ok, done with my setup .. finally chosen the following:

1. AOpen G326 casing (couldn't find G325 and XBOQ doesn't have black colour), the G326 comes with 400W PS and 12cm fan. I thought it will be a small unit but it is not, it is huge. Does not come with fan .. but it has vent on both sides.

2. Intel D945GCLF2 with Atom dual core + 1GB DDR/800Mhz RAM. The mobo comes with a tiny fan on the Atom heatsink.

3. Ubuntu Server 9.04 for the OS .. tempted to try others but I think I'll stick with Debian based Linux for now. Right now, it still has keyboard/monitor connected to it but will later on running headless. I've chosen webmin over ebox for web admin.. no RAID for now .. the HD capacity is 1TB + 250GB from two SATA HDs.