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Would this make a good NAS???

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col-p-todd   10-23-2008 at 04:13:58 PM

I,m building a NAS that will run windows home server but i,m not 100% sure if there components are the best for the task.
Here are the specs:

Intel E8400
Zalman 9700NT
Asus HD4350 Silence
Asus Maximus II Formula P45
OCZ HPC Edition 2GB (DDR2 1066)
Zalman ZM750-HP
4X WD 500GB GP Hard drives
Zalman GT-1000-B
Logitech Cordless Wave
Windows Home Server

Looking mainly at the CPU, RAM and MOBO would this enough to have a Good NAS? Or might a different components do a better job like for instance a Q8200 CPU?

I,m not to Familiar with NAS systems and what components would bottleneck a NAS system. So any input would be appreciated.

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qwertycopter   10-23-2008 at 05:01:00 PM
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I think you're describing a home theater PC, not a NAS. A NAS is simply a low-spec box with lots of storage which is available on your network. If you're just looking to get some network storage, then the parts you listed are extremely overkill.

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col-p-todd   10-23-2008 at 05:44:10 PM
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Well I,m looking at the Asus mobo because it is one of the few mobo,s that have more than 8 ports and i,m not going to be using a raid controller. I,ll be using a low power 4350 GPU since it's the cheapest & low power gpu that ATI has to offer. The PSU is way to big i know but I want a zalman psu and that is the only one that has enough sata connectors. as for the cpu I was looking at the E7300 but the 8400 is only 30 more.

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hardwarekid9756   10-23-2008 at 05:58:07 PM
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Pentium 805D. Great Proc, do everything you'd need it to do. $64 shipped for the CPU:
http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=711

MSI P43 chip with 8 SATA ports, $84.99 before shippng:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130185

Radeon HD2400 GFX, $29.99 before shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102800

pqi TURBO Memory, $28.99 before shipping 2x1GB PC 6400:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820141064

Now just populate case, HDD and CPU cooler. That'll serve NAS without a hitch and not break the bank.



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col-p-todd   10-23-2008 at 06:18:03 PM
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Would you notice any difference using a E7300 or a E8400 with a NAS? Or would a has never even need that much power when in use, like say writing large files to the NAS?

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hardwarekid9756   10-23-2008 at 06:55:29 PM
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Some would argue that the Intel Atom processor is overkill for an NAS...

Message quoted 1 times
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col-p-todd   10-23-2008 at 07:11:44 PM
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Would this also be the case if you don,t have a raid controller? From what i read a read controller offloads the cpu and since i will nog be using a raid conrtoller i figure that i might need a better cpu.

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chunkymonster   10-23-2008 at 07:36:11 PM
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To the OP, check out FreeNAS and Openfiler as opposed to running Windows Home Server. Their hardwre requirements are bare minimum and they are just as if not more powerful and flexible than WHS; plus they are FREE!

Actually with the specs you've spelled out, you'd be better off using that hardware to run a linux distro and then create VM's for your firewall, router, and NAS; and still have resources left over for F@H.

hardwarekid9756 wrote :

Some would argue that the Intel Atom processor is overkill for
an NAS...


Agreed, and I would argue that Windows Home Server is a waste of money especially in light of free, more powerful, and more flexible alternatives like Openfiler and FreeNAS.

Actually, a Atom based machine running FreeNAS off a Compact Flash card with a quality RAID controller card would make an excellent NAS. Unfortunately, the only Atom procs i've seen are integrated into mini-ITX mobos with no PCI-express or PCI-X slots for the RAID controller.

------------------------------ ASRock X58 Extreme - Core i7 920 - 6GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1600 - Sapphire 4890 2GB - Creative Xtreme Gamer - 4-80GB WD in RAID0 on HighPoint RR 2310 as OS drive - 1-320GB WD scratch drive - Corsair CMPSU 750TX - HAF 932 - Hanns-G 281DPB @ 1900x1200
 Reply to chunkymonster
thegamerfour   10-23-2008 at 07:59:33 PM
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If you're committed to using WHS, take a look at HP's solution. They have two models:

HP MediaSmart Server EX470:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/product [...] -205728275

HP MediaSmart Server EX475:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/product [...] -205728275

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hardwarekid9756   10-23-2008 at 08:43:17 PM
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HP solutions are about a 10-15% premium over a home-brew, but you do get (at least) a 1-yr HP warranty, which means no stupid RMAs and shipping. Very nice-looking too, clean. The cases (i've been inside one) aren't very clean (poor cabling/airflow) but they're plucky little things, and they integrate seamlessly with other HP computers. If it has QuickPlay, the HP software, it'll even populate auto-magically. They're very nice, TBH. However, you'll notice the 512mb of ram and the low-grade sempron. If you were doing a huge multi-workstation file atmosphere, you may want more CPU/RAM, but with 1-3pc's attaching at 1Gbps (or fractions of that depending on your hubs, NICs and cables) you'll use a fraction of even an Atom processor. Most NAS and SANs on the market that come in preclosed jobbies run RISC processors and FPGAs. Even if you're using software RAID, a cheapo-weepo celeron would suffice more than enough for 1-3 pcs. It MIGHT see a little action beyond, but then you'd have to have like 3-5pcs accessing the NAS simultaneously and saturating the entire LAN bandwidth on the system at the same time. AKA never gonna happen in a home environment. The reason you see huge servers with powerful Xeons and boatloads of RAM in business-end NAS/SAN, it's because they've got dozens to hundreds of workstations copying files all the time every time, splaying files across 3-5NICs and generally just getting their butt kicked.

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qwertycopter   10-23-2008 at 08:58:38 PM
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NAS System requirements are very low.. you're going about this all wrong.

CPU - Choose a sub-$100 chip, it doesn't even need to be dual core for a NAS.

Cooler - Use the stock cooler. I don't understand why you would need a giant aftermarket cooler.


Video Card - There's no need, get a cheap motherboard with onboard video. With a NAS, generally, you build it, put it on the network, and forget it. Everything is accessed over the network.. you probably won't even have a monitor hooked up to it.

Motherboard - The only thing of value here is RAID capability. You said you won't use RAID, so don't spend a lot of money here either. If you are going with a RAID, then you would do a lot better to buy a quality RAID controller.

RAM - Anything will work. Really. So don't spend a lot.

Power supply - How about an inexpensive Antec Earthwatts? You're not powering a giant graphics card so your power requirements are very low.

Hard Drives - I would recommend the WD or Seagate 640GB drives.. great GB/$, 2 platters, quiet, fast

Case - Maybe you're heartset on the Zalman, but in my experience a NAS sits in the closet somewhere out of sight and functions as a storage device. I'm not sure why you want to pretty it up.

It sounds like you want to overclock, which would be next to worthless in terms of performance. Really, a good NAS (using FreeNAS or similar) can be built for $450 + the cost of hard drives, maybe less.

The point is you're spending way too much money in your build.

Reply to qwertycopter
huydnguyen   10-23-2008 at 09:26:37 PM
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I just built a NAS with the following, some parts maybe over kill but now I have a decent part that is running linux and I can do more then just use it as a basic NAS, its now a mini server that i can try other things on..

Here are my specs and costs in CAD dollars:

Case $188 - ES34069 4 Hot-Swap HDDs Mini Server Chassis - http://usa.chenbro.com/corporatesi [...] ?serno=100

Mobo + CPU $88 - Intel BOXD945GCLF2 MINI-ITX DDR2 945GC Dual Core Atom 1PCI Motherboard - http://www.intel.com/products/desk [...] erview.htm

RAID Controller $125 - Highpoint 1740 4 Port PCI - http://www.highpoint-tech.com/USA/rr1740.htm#top

Chenbro PCI riser $22

2GB RAM $33 - Crucial Rendition Memory

80 2.5" SATA Laptop Drive - Had this lying around - used to install OS only

4 SATA2 1TB Seagate $118 each - http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/p [...] a_7200.11/

The setup is nice since the case allows for the 2.5" drive for the OS and the 4 hotswap 3.5" drives to be maintained seperately, so I can rebuild the OS at anypoint without having to rebuild/lose my data on the Array. You can also add a slim cd-rom to the case...

I have it running headless with Mandriva 2009 Server Kernel and its awesome... I use webmin to manage the NAS from my other computers.

I highly recommend checking out the case as you can build the NAS to your specs, being only $188 Canadian its not a bed little case...

Cheers....

Reply to huydnguyen
col-p-todd   10-23-2008 at 10:41:36 PM
- 0 +

Thanks for the help guys, I see that I need to over the specs again. I,m thinking about a G45 with a E2200 or a 4850e or the new 5050e with a 780g. I will still go for the case as I just love that case and the NAS will be in sight of my desk. I was thinking about a zalman 9700NT because i need the NAS to be almost silent and the stock coolers are always pretty loud.

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