Help me Build a Super Low Cost 4TB NAS :)

thanks maxinc!

your right about the mobo Poof,
know you were, you convinced me,,,
might as well pay the extra $13 and have built-in 2 xtra SATA ports...
rather then paying $30 later on for a SATA CONTROLLER card that has 2 SATA ports....
so im with these so far
[CPU] AMD Sempron 2.7GHz AM3 45W Single-Core ($37 + $0)
[RAM] Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR3 1066Mhz ($13 + $10)
[MOBO] BIOSTAR A770E3 AM3 ATX ($60 + $0)
[PSU] CORSAIR CX430 430W ATX12V Active PFC ($45 + $4 - $20 MIR)

now the second case link i cant view,,, :/
http://www.greytech.com/ShopItem.aspx?Se...D=45869208

Link was bad and is now out of stock. New link:

http://pccyber.com/?v=product&i=CC-CM-RC-590-KKN1-GP

maxinc Wrote:Never use PCI SATA controllers. PCI has limited bus speed and will make your system dead slow once you connect enough drives. Get something with at least one PCI-E 4x slot which can accommodate an additional 8 SATA ports. PCI-E 1x controllers would only give you 2 extra ports.

Is this 100% true? There are some good PCI SATA controllers available... such as the Promise TX4. I would look to see what is compatible with your NAS system as well... some OSes can be picky about hardware.

At any rate. I think the Promise TX4s are nice and can offer a good 4-port SATA controller on PCI. Using it for ZFS seems to be successful for many people. Plus, you can grab them cheap on eBay.

I understand that basically makes the PCI your bottleneck... but at 113MB/s (or whatever you stated was the theoretical max) you should be fine. GigE maxes out around the same speed. So if you would get a super-fast PCI controller then your speed will be limited by network anyhow (unless we are talking internal transfer speed and access, which is usually not a big deal in a dedicated NAS).

Any other thoughts?!

poofyhairguy Wrote:I say AMD. My NASes are Intel, but that is only because they are built out of leftover hackintosh parts.

I have an AMD single-core in my NAS. Works great! Passive cooling in an Antec 300.

so i can understand better,
when looking for a NAS CASE, i need?

External 5.25" Drive Bays 9

External 3.5" Drive Bays 1 (Exposed; converted from one 5.25 inch drive bay)

Internal 3.5" Drive Bays 4 (Hidden; from one 4-in-3 Device Module included)

Expansion Slots 7

??

bmcclure937 Wrote:Is this 100% true? There are some good PCI SATA controllers available... such as the Promise TX4. I would look to see what is compatible with your NAS system as well... some OSes can be picky about hardware.

At any rate. I think the Promise TX4s are nice and can offer a good 4-port SATA controller on PCI. Using it for ZFS seems to be successful for many people. Plus, you can grab them cheap on eBay.

I understand that basically makes the PCI your bottleneck... but at 113MB/s (or whatever you stated was the theoretical max) you should be fine. GigE maxes out around the same speed. So if you would get a super-fast PCI controller then your speed will be limited by network anyhow (unless we are talking internal transfer speed and access, which is usually not a big deal in a dedicated NAS). Any other thoughts?!

PCI controller is fine as long as there is only one drive reading or writing on the PCI bus. During parity check for example, when all 4 drives are reading data simultaneously, their combined bandwidth can not exceed 133MB/s which results in an effective theoretical read speed of 133 / 4 = 33.4MB/s which is more like 22-24MB/s in real life. Combine that with a 2TB drive and you may have to wait a long time for a routine parity check. It gets even worse if you have 2 of these installed on the system.

like what about this one
COOLER MASTER Elite 310 RC-310-BKR2-GP Black with blue front panel Steel Body / ABS plastic front bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply

eskro Wrote:so i can understand better,
when looking for a NAS CASE, i need?

External 5.25" Drive Bays 9

External 3.5" Drive Bays 1 (Exposed; converted from one 5.25 inch drive bay)

Internal 3.5" Drive Bays 4 (Hidden; from one 4-in-3 Device Module included)

Expansion Slots 7

??

Seeing the rate at which my storage requirements grow, I tend to look at cases with lots of 5.25" slots available since I can use 4 in 3 cages to fit 4 drives into 3 x 5.25" bays. This strategy if more future proof but it requires spending some extra cash on something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6817993002

For the scope of your project, I think the Antec 300 is the better choice for keeping costs low, while the CM seems a bit more expandable.

eskro Wrote:like what about this one
COOLER MASTER Elite 310 RC-310-BKR2-GP Black with blue front panel Steel Body / ABS plastic front bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply

I would expect some cooling challenges with this particular case.

maxinc Wrote:PCI controller is fine as long as there is only one drive reading or writing on the PCI bus. During parity check for example, when all 4 drives are reading data simultaneously, their combined bandwidth can not exceed 133MB/s which results in an effective theoretical read speed of 133 / 4 = 33.4MB/s which is more like 22-24MB/s in real life. Combine that with a 2TB drive and you may have to wait a long time for a routine parity check. It gets even worse if you have 2 of these installed on the system.

Good point. I am curious though... is it possible that the SATA controller has onboard circuitry to help with performance. Since they have to know that PCI would be a bottleneck.

ok lets hold on for sec,,, my Head is spinning,,,

#1.
is it that bad to use a PC Case that includes its own PSU?
it could help with keeping things Low Cost...
but since a Server Runs 24/7, i guess,
what exactly why i need a very good PSU right?


#2.
since my Mobo has 6 sata ports by default,
i should select a 6x3.5" internal drive bay Case?
or
a case with at least 2x3.5" internal drive bay + 3x5.25" External Drive Bay + 4-in-3 Module Cage?

thx