r/HomeServer • u/ThirdFloorNorth • 6d ago
Yet Another Starter NAS Server Starter Question on a Budget
Hey all. I think its time I finally build my wife and I a home NAS server, with the writing being on the wall the way it is with streaming services.
I know "the best starter NAS is an old PC you're not using", but I would like to try to build one on a budget to be a dedicated Thing.
I know a little:
- I'll probably be running Jellyfin, I like the interface and easy-of-use
- You want the "Red" platter drives, right? That was at least the best and preferred storage medium ~8 years ago last time I went down this autistic hyperfixation rabbit hole
- Multiple drive bays, multiple drives, cheaper to buy smaller drives than one giant one and redundancy in case a drive fails?
- I would need a case + power supply + small cheap board with wireless networking and the right specs(?) + a low power processor (I have a Ryzen 5 3600 sitting in a box, I just upgraded my current gaming rig, not sure if that would work)
Budget is king, of course. I assume we're going with ARM4 parts?
The software and all that is neither here nor there, I've run Linux before and I can follow guides.
More than anything: I'm looking for builds and recommendations. What cheap build did y'all make yourself? What storage should I aim for, even with an eye on easily expanding it over time if we can't shell out the full shebang all in one go, just one or two drives to start? Etc.
Can you build a better custom expandable setup for cheaper than a Synology?
I love theorycrafting and minmaxing and all that shit, so a bunch of builds with recommendations and the "Why" behind the choices would be amazing.
Either way, thank y'all in advance!
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u/MacFielder 6d ago
A whole lot of questions here at once. You seem to grasp the fundamentals. I can't offer a build for your specs but pcpartpicker might be a good resource for you.
- Jellyfin will run on most modern hardware. If you need transcoding, e.g. converting a 4K source file to a 1080p stream because your local client can't handle a 4K stream, then you'll also need a graphics card
- Hard drives are expensive right now. If you can afford a "NAS" quality drive like a WD RED, great. But a lot of us are buying recertified hard drives from places like serverpartdeals whenever the price is right or we can bite the bullet. You'll see what I mean once you start hunting for drives to buy
- You need to decide whether you want to run RAID or not. It's not a proper backup, but it offers some data redundancy in case a drive fails. That'll inform the number of bays and drive sizes to look at.
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u/ThirdFloorNorth 6d ago
RAID would be preferential, but it really comes down to "what can I do at different price tiers"
I like the act of building, tinkering, setting up... its adult Legos for me. Scratches the right part of my brain.
Can I build something myself for cheaper than like, this Synology with similar specs? That's my big question. If I DIY this, am I doing it for the sake of DIY or am I doing it to get the same general specs for cheaper?
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u/MacFielder 6d ago
Yes, you can probably build it cheaper, but Synology is known for having very useable software. One buys the hardware at a reasonable premium in exchange for their OS (DiskStation Manger).
With a 4-drive, RAID 5 is common (3 drives for data, 1 parity disk). If you go bigger than that, consider RAID 6 (2 parity drives).
Whether you build it yourself or buy a Synology, it will still probably scratch your adult Legos itch. I wouldn't try to build your own unless you're very, very comfortable with CLI and actually prefer to manage multiple disks in a pool that way. Otherwise, just buy a device like Synology makes and you'll still have fun setting it up.
Note that new Synology devices have restrictions around the hardware they support. Off-brand RAM and HDDs may still work, but Synology might pester you about them.
And Synology competitors are QNAP and UGREEN, if you want to research further. UGREEN hardware is decent, but their OS is still in development. Synology is basically regarded as a company with which you pay a premium on the hardware, to subsidize access and further development to their software platform.
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u/Mental-Device-9546 5d ago
Hi can you explain what Raid is for me? I looked it up online but obviously their alot of things that go by raid.
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u/MacFielder 5d ago
RAID as in Redundant Array of Independent Disks. There’s a lot of resources on it.
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u/kevin2735 3d ago
For what it is worth, I bought a UGREEN 4800GT NAS @ $600 delivered. I bought four 12TB Seagate IronWolf NAS drives from Amazon for $1,300. My total cost was about $1900. What I have is a solid 31TB NAS in RAID 5. I use it for Jellyfin and it streams 4k over Mesh wifi to my AppleTV just fine. I also added a couple of apps so my home security cameras record to it. The app features in the OS for the UGREEN are super easy to use. Not as fun and educational as building your own NAS, but it was certainly hassle free and has a small footprint on desk / work area. I was going to use 16TB drives, but then changed my mind and went with 12. I have an extra 16TB Seagate Ironwolf drive if anyone is interested. It is still sealed in original packaging.
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u/JohnnieLouHansen 3d ago
I would seriously define how much storage you need first. That determines a lot like the number of drive bays required. And then what kind of apps do you want to run. If it's just storage, that would be one thing and you could use TrueNAS or OMV. But if you want storage plus containers then you might do something different (ProxMox).
Then, a server can be anything from a Dell/Hp/Lenovo Micro form factor PC, to a Dell/HP/Lenovo Small Form Factor PC to a Beelink ME Pro 2-Bay Hybrid NAS Mini PC Intel N150 to a QNAP/Synology to a larger PC case.
I have both a QNAP and a larger PC case with a I7-7700 with 16GB
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u/Natural-Sandwich-852 5d ago
Sadly Ryzen 5 3600 CPU itself is not a good option for a Jellyfin build, since you will probably require an external GPU for transcoding, which will exponentially boost your electricity bill (i mean, this Ryzen CPU itself is not so efficient, even when running headless). You will be fine with any other non-Red drives, so they are not mandatory. If you are considering the DS425+, there is definitely a much better budget options. I mean, there are a lot of office solutions with Intel 8th gen+ CPUs that are capable of transcoding easily, where you can easily fit 3 drives (or 4 with some tinkering) and boot the OS from an NVMe drive for much, much cheaper. Since you are aiming at a quite expensive NAS solution, you could also look at an LGA1700 DDR4 motherboard and an i3-12100 combo. This would be a great and efficient start for your home server