Hi! I’ve never built a NAS before and only one custom gaming PC, so I’d love if any of you more experienced folks could take a look at my parts selection and possibly suggest better options.

Of course first my use cases:

  • Nextcloud
  • Immich
  • Jellyfin
  • Possibly more, similar to the above

Planning on using Truenas with a Raidz (1? - 1 disk failure tolerance) and running most of my stuff in Docker containers. The amount of users will likely stay at or below 3, certainly at or below 5, so it doesn’t need to handle that much.

Here’s my parts list:

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 4650G
    • iGPU, power efficient, AM4 so cheaper, performant enough (I think)
  • Case: Jonsbo N3
    • This is the component I started with, since I really like the form factor. It did limit my choice on motherboards heavily though.
  • Motherboard: Gigabyte A520I AC
    • I was trying to go for one with ECC memory support, but at least on pcpartpicker I struggled to find ones at this form factor supporting it. However from reading through Forum threads ECC isn’t critically important for a more “casual” build like mine, just a nice-to-have.
  • Memory: Found about 16GB of DDR4 in my old pc, they worked before so I didn’t bother looking at them in detail
    • Cheap
  • Storage:
    • OS: Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280
      • Where I live the 500GB version is actually more expensive
    • Cache: Samsung 870 Evo 500 GB
      • Cheap enough, although if I can combine this with the OS drive, then even better
    • Primary Storage: 4x Seagate IronWolf Pro 8TB (ST8000NT001)
      • I have to admit, I can’t recall why I settled on these. 8TB seemed good for price-to-size and I didn’t want the server ones despite them actually being cheaper because they’re extremely loud apparently, but why Pro and not non-pro and why this exact model… I can’t recall, I just remember having a headache that afternoon TwT

I realize I left out the cooler and psu as I don’t think they’re particularly relevant here, I can deal with those myself. Price-wise, I am going by German prices and parts availability. On any of the parts listed, or if I forgot anything else though, I would love advice on the quality of my decision and how to improve it, thanks <3

  • CatLikeLemming@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
    1·
    15 hours ago

    Is noise the most important prio? Would you spend money for this goal?

    Not the most important, but it is an important factor. If I am not losing much otherwise, I’d like to keep it not louder than say, an idling fridge. I would spend some more for quieter drives and fans, since those are the biggest noise concerns.

    How about power usage?

    Absolutely important, power prices here are some of the highest globally.

    How about price limitations?

    I’d very much like to stay below 2000€, preferably below 1750€. Currently it’s coming out at around 1600€.

    When looking at harddisks, there is that performance issue called “CMR or SMR” (google it). Your ST8000NT001 seem fine performance-wise as the use CMR.

    Yup, took that into account, but nonetheless thanks for mentioning it!

    If you need really quiet ones, then maybe you want “desktop” harddisks. But many of them use SMR which limits their performance.

    Doesn’t need to be super quiet, just not disruptive, I’m planning on having the NAS in the hallway.

    Most guides recommend Raidz2 currently. Do you use backups?

    Raidz2 means there are two entire “unused” drives which would be quite painful for my budget. I am planning on renting around 1TB of rsync storage and throwing things like Immich’s data on there. This is fine to me since I’d prefer one backup off-site anyways. Any of my jellyfin stuff can always be redownloaded as long as I keep a list of what I got somewhere else. Oh also I’m planning on getting all four drives at different stores and/or different times (at least a week or two in between) to reduce the chance of them failing all at once.

    When buying SSDs, check for the “TBW” spec.

    Noted

    • Zwuzelmaus@feddit.orgEnglish
      2·
      10 hours ago

      So I have looked up your board and CPU specs.

      The board is probably Ok. Regarding the CPU, I found some alternatives:

      5750GE with better specs in everything, especially 8 cores 16 threads, lower TDP of 35W and just a little higher price, or

      5700G also at higher specs, equal TDP of 65W and half the price.

      My own personal choice is something different and harder to find (only on aliexpress so far): itx board with a preinstalled 5825U at 8 cores and TDP of 15W.

      • CatLikeLemming@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
        1·
        10 hours ago

        Very helpful, thank you! The CPU choice has had to be remade anyways as I have mentioned in other places in this thread.

        Looking at the 5750GE it seems to be OEM-only, so I’m not sure where to reputably get my hands on that.

        The 5700G looks very intriguing, it’s only barely more expensive compared to the last price of the 4650G I saw. If I find nothing else, I’ll probably go with that one then.

        I am still concerned about wattage though, I struggled to find any regular CPUs with a notably lower TDP than 65W - although I’d honestly be most intrigued by what it draws at idle-ish, because if it’s like a <5W difference there I wouldn’t bother… but of course idle changes depending on the system so not like that can be properly listed anywhere.

        Do you potentially also have any Intel suggestions? Other people here mentioned an AMD iGPU might cause problems with Jellyfin.