I’m pretty new to self-hosting, and the NAS I’m using right now has been a pain since the moment I bought it. The Synology DS220+ just doesn’t have enough CPU power for my needs, and I’ve recently used up all the disk space I installed, so I’m looking for a new server.
Unfortunately, all the options I’ve found online prioritize storage space over CPU, and I haven’t had much luck finding anything that fits my needs.
Requirements: CPU: Intel Core i3 or higher, but preferably Core i5 GPU: Not needed RAM: max 64 GB, min 16 GB Storage: max 32 TB, min 10 TB Network: 10 GB SPF+ Price: max 6K CAD, preferred 3K CAD
I’m hoping to run TrueNAS Scale with Plex and Nextcloud installed, and my media library isn’t likely to get larger than 5 TB, so CPU is really the main limiter of my current NAS.
As an example of something almost perfect: The TrueNAS mini X+ and R varieties would work excellently, but don’t meet the CPU requirement. I wanted to look at the other systems on offer from TrueNAS, but they don’t list out CPU specs for anything more advanced than the Mini line.
Of the Lenovo stuff, since it was one of the few websites with a filterable picker, the ThinkSystem SR630 V2 was the closest of fitting my requirements. It comes short on the CPU, though, and is verging on the price limit too. I also don’t need 12 TB of RAM, or 1.2 PB of storage.
What do you use? Can you recommend any websites I can go to find something that fits my needs better?
Have you considered just beige boxing a server yourself? My home server is a mini-ITX board from Asus running a Core i5, 32GB of RAM and a stack of SATA HDDs all stuffed in a smaller case. Nothing fancy, just hardware picked to fulfill my needs.
Limiting yourself to bespoke systems means limiting yourself to what someone else wanted to build. The main downside to building it yourself is ensuring hardware comparability with the OS/software you want to run. If you are willing to take that on, you can tailor your server to just what you want.
My home server literally was just my old desktop for the longest time. I upgraded the components in my desktop, and put them into another case and that became my server. Proxmox is based on Debian so any remotely sane hardware should be supported well, then I just virtualize everything else (including the NAS) and hardware compatibility isn’t even a concern.
My current case is a Fracal Define R4 which natively supports 7 hard drives + 3 5.25 slots so I could add hot swap bays there. If I need more storage I have an extra drive cage, and the suggestion from people online is to just zip tie it to the normal one, and that gets me 11 drives of storage. Sure it won’t look pretty, but it works, it’s cheap, and it’s scalable, and that’s all that matters.
This is the answer.
I’m currently running 2 boxes, one an old desktop with space for 8 full-size drives (which it has). The other is a Dell SFF with three 2.5" drives as a media server/testbed.
Hard to heat either one for the cost. To buy the equivalent of the SFF as a pre-built NAS, I’d have to spend $1500.
If you think about what the “S” in “NAS” is you’ll realize why they prioritize storage…
You want a general purpose server.
I would consider using your Synology for what it’s good at - storage.
My homelab has a Synology DS1618 and servers are Lenovo M90q systems. They have enough compute to get the job done, and use the Synology NFS mount for storage.
Exactly. It’s plenty useful for Network-Attached-Storage. That’s what it’s built for.
Your network needs are a bit over the top, but maybe consider the Minisforum MS-01. Small form factor, i5 or i9, up to 96G. RAM, and 2x SFP, and some low profile PCIE space if needed in the future. This is WAY more than you need for your service needs, and you can just expand your Synology disks for extra storage super easily. Saves money, and solves your problems without needing a full rack-sized server.
Thank you so much! After searching it up online, the Minisforum MS-01 seems to check off every box I’d had when I went looking.
I’ll look around to see if there is anything more suited, but for now, it seems like what I’ll end up going with.
I was here to say the same as pezhore, separating storage and compute is almost as important as separating church and state. Muck around, break things, have fun, all the while your data is safe (don’t forget offline backups though). The MS-01 is a fine looking box, but any old NUC / SFF will do for your purposes (modern AMD cpu or a graphics card if you need / want plex transcode).
Edit to add, old laptops are great compute nodes (maybe moreso from my ex corporate thinkpad laptop bias, but still)…
This is a new model they’ve released, and I’ve been looking for something similar for a certain purpose for almost a year. There isn’t much lol.
For my specific project, I ended up using a Fractal Design Ridge case, and the components that fit within because I needed a GPU. The MS-01 was JUST shy in the PCIE to make it my preferred device. Maybe have a look at the Fractal Design Ridge case and a Mini-ITX AMD build if you really want to stretch your dollar and get more performance-per-watt like I did. The cost will be about the same.
Some good ideas on this site if you are interested in building your own https://forums.serverbuilds.net/t/guide-nas-killer-6-0-ddr4-is-finally-cheap/13956
Thank you! I’ll check it out, it seems to have quite a few good suggestions.
I was going to post the same link, I generally take inspiration from that forum and then adapt with what I can find on eBay etc for cheap. The prices they give are for US eBay and not always suitable to EU eBay.
I’ve just finished my new NAS using Unraid OS and some info from the forum.
- Jonsbo N3 case
- Gigabyte Z590i Vision D motherboard
- Intel i5 10400T
- 2x16Gb DDR4 2666 (basic corsair)
- LSI 9207-8i HBA in IT-Mode
- An old 128Gb M2 SSD
- 8x6Tb HGST SAS drives
- Corsair SF600 PSU
It took me more than 6 months to find all the parts at a correct price but I was not in a rush.
It’s 2.5Gbe and not 10Gb SFP but you get the idea. The cost was really low (lower than 1000) because I already had the HDDs from an older server. It should be around 1500€ max with the disks.
The real downside of doing that is the time it takes but it’s also a kind of pleasure to hunt for parts and one day assemble them all.
I really like that little case. I have a fractal xl r2 right now and it’s a monster.
Rack mount server class machines at home generally aren’t great options. Definitely stick with tower/mini designs.
That said, for a home server a general workstation may be best. I personally have a System 76 Thelio. I added a second drive and installed proxmox with a ZFS mirrored pool.
I disagree! They can be great options, inexpensive and reliable. My current home server is a Dell r620 with xeon CPUs, 64gbs of RAM, and 2 terabytes storage in raid 5. It serves several vms, a mix of Windows and Linux. More than enough for many home set ups. Boots the os off a 16gb flash card. Cost me $185. Thing has been a tank.
I bought two short L brackets from home Depot, and have it hanging flat against the wall. It’s been fabulous.
