Hi all,
as the title implies I’m new to the NAS/Server side of things. I’m looking to replace my NAS/Plex box that failed during my recent move (WD PR4100). I’ve built my own pc’s before, but never anything along these lines, I’m also new to linux/UNRAID, but happy to learn. From reading through the forums and posts I came up with the following and would like feedback on if it would fit my use case and all the parts compatible or if you would recommend alternatives.
Use case:
I want everything to be able to fit into 1 tower case or multiple small form factor options that can hide in a largish TV/Entertainment stand, I have the Fractal Design Define R5 currently and it seems like a good option.
- NAS storage - movies, photos, misc files, and documents. Room to grow here I have 6-10 TB of data currently (maybe less with some current drive failures).
- Plex - 5+ 1080P transcoded streams. Most users will be offsite, as will I during work travels when quarantine is lifted. Any 4K will be direct and only within my home separated from others.
- Cloud - cloud access nextcloud sometime in the near future, for me and family.
- Minecraft Realm - I’d like to experiment with hosting a minecraft realm with my new server.
- VM - maybe 1-2 for other recommended things or for me to learn (as I’m new).
I’m willing to put a little more time, effort, money into things now to make sure the system runs smoothly, and continuously with few to no issues outside of operator error aka me.
This is what I have put together and jumping on the NAS starter Array, pricing through amazon etc as a worst-case scenario. I will look at eBay and evga b sales etc.
| Part | Details | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case/Chasis | Fractal Designs - Define R5 (Swapping from my gaming PC) | $0.00 | Replacing R5 w/meshify C for gaming PC |
| case parts | Additional HDD Cages | $0.00 | working out plan currently on WTB channel |
| CPU | Intel i5-9400 | $149.99 | |
| CPU Cooling | Arctic Alpine 12 | $11.99 | Should I go with a freezer version? |
| Motherboard | Asus Prime Z390-P | $134.99 | Any suggestions on a decent alternative? Z390-P ~$100 on ebay |
| RAM | OLOy 32GB DDR4 2666 MHz | $59.99 | red color is cheaper right now |
| Storage | Array Starter Kit - Group Buy | $0.00 | |
| 1.2 TB 10K SAS HDD | $40.00 | Cache Drive | |
| 8x 4TB SATA Toshiba MG04ACA400N | $330.00 | Storage (# Parity) | |
| HBA 9211-8i | $20.00 | Controller Card | |
| HBA 9211-4i (included in group buy) | $0.00 | Controller Card | |
| 200 GB SSD SAS2 Drive - Samsung SM1625 | $30.00 | VM/Docker Drive | |
| OS | Unraid - Pro | $129.00 | |
| Fans | Artic P12 5 Pack | $30.99 | if needed |
| Powersupply | Thermaltake Smart 500W 80+ White | $50.99 | Will look at EVGA B Sale |
| SATA Cables | 2 Pack SATA Breakout Cables | $14.99 | |
| SAS SFF Cables | SFF-8087 to SFF-8482 Cables | $14.69 | |
| Total | $1,017.62 | ||
| Storage Spares | 300 GB 10K SAS HDD (included in group buy) | $0.00 | Part of Array Starter Kit - Group Buy |
| 2x 2TB WD Reds | $0.00 | I have an additional 2, but they are potentially failed and not repairable. | |
| 1x 8TB WD Element | $0.00 | Not shucked, using as USB back up for now |
I also have the following questions:
- How many parity drives would you recommend w/UNraid?
- What do you recommend as RAID set up? My last NAS was RAID 5, but IDK if i want to go back that route after my recent failures.
- Should I get an M2 NVME SSD for Plex metadata or is the SAS drive or SAS SSD fine?
- What am I missing any little parts, cables, etc, do you have any suggestions or things to change?
Thank you in advance for all the help so far it’s been great finding this community!
Respectfully,
Brock