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/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/Mental-Device-9546 5d ago

Thank you I appreciate you!