this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2024
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Rather than a NAS, consider building an Unraid server, I built my first one from old hardware that I repurposed, my current one is a little more sophisticated but not over the top.
Unraid can be setup as an automated media server with all the ARRs running to manage your library.
Os use casaos, tippi, cosmos, or any of the free alternatives that don't absolutely leech you and work just as well with minimal config
Good to know, I have some learning to do now.
+1 for Unraid, setup is super easy and being able to mix different size disks is pretty awesome. Their Docker catalog is nice but I try to avoid spinning too much up on my NAS itself- its CPU is a hand-me-down from one of my old gaming PCs.
If you don't mind me asking, what are the specs on your machine and about how much did it cost to get started.
My initial setup was an old i3-6100, 500 GB nvme drive cache, and 4x8TB drives from my old NAS. The only extra costs were for the nvme drive, I had an old case as well, and a basic Unraid license, which was $50 I think. Lots of setup guides available, SpaceinvaderOne's YouTube channel is a good start.
As long as you don't need any heavy transcoding of media files for Emby/Plex/Jellyfin this spec is fine as a starter.
My current server is an i5-11400, Gigabyte Z590 board and I added 2 14TB drives which meant I had to upgrade my Unraid licence. I also needed a PCI board to cope with the extra sata ports and I got a nice Fractal Node 304 case so it is sitting below my TV. The drives were schucked external drives so not super expensive, total cost about $800 I think. Unraid uses parity disk(s) rather than Raid, one of the 14TB discs is setup as my parity which means my array is 46TB. The onboard UHD Graphics on the i5 can handle transcoding ok.
I run Sonaar/Radaar/Readaar/Lidaar for media, with Prowlaar managing usenet and torrent connections via sabnzbd and deluge, via a VPN.
I just built a similar setup. Same case, i5 10th Gen 6-core, ASRock itx/tb3 board, 32gb ddr4 3600 ram, 1tb nvme for cache, and 3x16tb drives from goharddrive on eBay. Whole setup cost around $1100 but it'll run all the *arr containers and jellyfin and I'll have 32tb usable storage. Coming from an rpi4 with a single external 10tb drive... This is a big upgrade. So excited!
Your case has probably got enough spare space that the airflow is good, with all my drive slots filled up I was finding that the temps were getting high, especially during a parity check with everything stressed. So I updated to Noctua PVM fans and used the Dynamix fan control plugin that keeps things nice and cool.
What I love is that with 6 bays, you can potentially get 100 TB usable in that tiny little package if you go for 20TB drives, and you can add them over time, something you could not do with a NAS. The Unraid USP.
Awesome. I'll watch some videos and that's probably the way I'll go.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
SpaceinvaderOne
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.