Sep 17, 2010
Hardware for a NAS
A dedicated storage for a network requires careful planning on its implementation. One of the first things to be considered is the hardware to run the storage on. I have mentioned earlier on whether to acquire a proprietary NAS device or build a system from scratch as a storage system. After researching the options I have decided to build it myself.
The reason to this is because although proprietary NAS devices are simple, straight off the box options, the number of hard disk slots are limited to the model that is acquired.
Naturally this means devices with more slots costs more.
Often too, NAS devices have Linux as their base OS with all options pre-configured. This is good but the option to actually upgrade the system is limited to manufacturer’s update and more often than not allows less customisation as compared to a built from scratch system.
Building my own NAS box will allow me to mix and match the hardware needed such as CPU, RAM, motherboard, casing and power supply. In the unfortunate event one of those components fails, it is
also easier to replace. However, taking a cue from the proprietary NAS devices, I would want to keep it as a low-powered system as much as possible as the NAS box will run 24 hours a day.
So, what have I considered as my hardware options? For starters, I am thinking to built the system based on the Atom-Mini-ITX combo. I come across the following motherboard with Atom CPU by recommendation of a work colleague.
Key Features
1. Intel® Atom™ D510
(Pineview-D) (DMI)
2. Intel® ICH9R Chipset
3. Up to 4GB single channel unbuffered,
non-ECC DDR2 667MHz SO-DIMM
4. 2x Intel 82574L Gigabit LAN
5. 6x SATA (3.0Gbps) Ports
RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 (Windows Only)
6. 1 (x4) PCI-E (in x16 slot)
7. 2 rear USB ports + 3 headers (5 ports)
+ 1 Type A connector
8. Integrated Matrox G200eW Video
9. Integrated IPMI 2.0
This motherboard seems perfect to build my system. A D510 CPU is more than adequate for the task with spares to add. 6 SATA ports allows me to add 6 hard disks(which I am planning to do!) and the built in video adapter saves me the hassle of buying a dedicated graphic card. The video adapter is a bit underpowered but as I would preferably run the system headless, this shouldn’t matter at all.
I am however stuck to choosing slower 667MHz DDR2 RAM’s though againvthis wouldn’t be a deal breaker. I would definitely get 2TB Western Digital Green hard disks as my hard disk choice. Running RAID 5 on 6 of them will give around 10 TB raw space which will dwindle to around 9 after formatting.
I am still deciding on the casing for the system. Currently deciding between this two:
