My DIY $140 NAS Build - The Perfect Solution?

After going over all the options, I decided building a custom NAS out of an old server was the best way for me to solve my photo and video storage issues. Come along with me as I walk you through the process of building this old machine into a cost effective, expandable NAS.

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0:00 - My Problem
1:01 - Option 1: External Drives
2:54 - Option 2: Pre-Built RAID
5:07 - Option 3: DIY NAS
5:43 - Step 1: Acquire Hardware
7:41 - Step 2: Assemble the Server
8:10 - Step 3: Set Up Software
11:26 - Step 4: Backup
12:22 - Final Setup
13:23 - Overview

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[marklewus]

i’m running a DS 920+ which is a 4 bay Synology NAS. it’s set up for raid 5 with 18TB drives, so 54TB (50TiB) available. I would like to move to a 6 bay or 8 bay but I haven’t yet decided whether to buy or build. Your video was helpful, thanks.

[aLlbLck]

I'm pretty sure you will soon want to try the Plex Media server on your NAS 😅. I got a I5-10500T for very cheap so I decided to build a NAS around it, keeping in mind I might want to upgrade to an Intel 11th Gen processor in future.

[hcuofpn]

I'm running a HP Proliant Microserver Gen 8 with truenas scale it's running 4 hard drives in raid 5 all good.

[frhwebmaster]

Is that a SuperMicro 2U Server? Which model did you acquire?

[Shawn_White]

You should look into LTO tapes. LTO-8 can store 30 TB on a single tape at a cost of around $0.002/gb and they are designed for archival storage as well.

The main barrier is the upfront cost of the tape drive which can be steep but worth it if you're doing this professionally.

[Zerrudo_]

Running truenas with 4tb wd red pro (4x). Hw; 4-bay mini itx nas with a pentium-g3240 I found for $100, then swapped in an i3-4160t cpu I got on ebay for $4. Eventually would like to scale up the storage and switch to a n100 mb for power efficiency.

[Pegaroo_]

TrueNAS has benefit over UnRaid of ZFS which has error correction and scrubs feature that can be set to run at certain intervals to verify your data
With other filesystems raid can tell you your data is corrupted on one of your drives but it can't tell you which drive has the error but with ZFS scrub it will find and correct any bit rot on your array

[shephusted]

upgrade to 2.5g for like 70 bucks - switch and a couple nic and get 230mb/s - worth it before you decide to go to 10g #mtu

[christianhorn]

good editing, woud like more talking in one go

[RaiokIncaris]

Unraid is no longer a one-time fee unless you pay $249 for a lifetime license. They had to change their license structure recently so it is no longer as cheap to get in if you wanted it for life, but they do have yearly subscriptions that aren't as expensive.

[cinemaipswich]

All storage loses its index after a while. Leaving them on the shelf will degrade your storage. HDD last more than a year, while USB drives will die within 6 months. A SATA SSD may last 9 months before the data is corrupted. Install your hardware and run or search it. View docs and photos, play music or video every few months to save your data.

[BrianThomas]

Don't forget 2 is 1 and 1 is none. Whatever you create just think you'll need to duplicate it because a NAS isn't a backup solution.

[cerveraoliver]

How much you pay for your energy? Looks like you massively understated the energy consumption cost or you get your energy from a nearby nuclear plant.
The "old server" approach is not super applicable since you NEED a basement, the noise is too loud. I prefer to go for used desktop hardware. Low energy consumption, low heat and low noise.

[tipsoh]

A very important thing that hasn't been mentioned is the fact that enterprise server components consume a lot of energy. What you save by buying this type of equipment second-hand, you quickly lose in electricity bills.

[BrianThomas]

Yeah, this video is not for the average Joe working a 9/5 trying to care for your new family. This is for the person that can drop $2, 000 to $5, 000 or more without feeling it. That's ok, because some of us have it and some of us don't.

[hxwewxm]

$140 diy with $475X6 hd thats not $140

[maselitoamazigh]

whatever u saved in hardware u will pay it 3 folds in energy costs, ddr2 systems is way too old, even a i3 6100 system which u can get for about same price would be way faster and also not be so inefficient that the energy bill would be the main cost, seriously ddr2 system, no ofense, highly highly not recommend anyone to do this

[RemxDave]

Nice video, shame about the clickbait title.

$140 + $1880 + $60 is not a $140 NAS.