I might build a NAS/media server. Would you use this???

[Kal Rubinson]

I'm going to look at some already suggested but I REALLY want to put it in a specific place where I will only have about 6.5" width for the computer. So a tower style that supports 4 standard sized 3.5" hdd's and I also have a ssd I can put in it.

One of the advantages of a NAS is that you can put it anywhere on the LAN so why do you have placement constraints? I put mine far from the music system so the noise is irrelevant.

Top priority for me is great air flow at the hdd's and quiet. I think the hard drives themselves may be a bit noisy so I'm like a case that keeps noise inside (in other words not one that's like half mesh).

Don't those two goals conflict? Great air flow without any way to get in/out?

 

[Berwhale]

I use a CoolerMaster Silencio 352 for my main PC. It's a nice case with pre-installed acoustic foam to manage the noise levels:

http://us.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/case/silencio-case/silencio-352.html

I also water cool the CPU and use very quiet Noctua fans with a digital speed controller.

Unfortunately, this case is a bit to wide for you. I think you may struggle to find a decent tower that fits in your space; a standard ATX PSU is 6" wide and cases tend to be an inch wider.

 

[SPOautos]

My impression is that noise is hard. My new build is quieter than the old one but I'm still thinking about moving it to a different room.

Well, I will have it about 15' from the listening area and hidden between a cabinet and a wall so I'm hoping it wont be very noticeable. But just trying to take as many precautions as possible. With the OS and apps on a SSD and the drives having 128MB of cashe....they may not need to spin up that often listening to music. I'm not worried about movies, because the volume is so loud itll drownd the computer out. But I often work in the living room and listen to the music pretty quiet as background noise....hopefully that wont have the drives and fans spinning much.

 

[SPOautos]

I use a CoolerMaster Silencio 352 for my main PC. It's a nice case with pre-installed acoustic foam to manage the noise levels:

http://us.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/case/silencio-case/silencio-352.html

I also water cool the CPU and use very quiet Noctua fans with a digital speed controller.

Unfortunately, this case is a bit to wide for you. I think you may struggle to find a decent tower that fits in your space; a standard ATX PSU is 6" wide and cases tend to be an inch wider.

For the right case I could fit a bit more width....the Silencio 352 is 7.8" and I can barely fit that. BUT, unfortunately it says only 3hdd and I need one that will fit 4. They make the bigger version but it's too wide.

 

[somebodyelse]

RAID/UnRAID is NOT A BACKUP. I suggest that you research this and understand the difference, before committing to build your server.

THIS!

 

[Berwhale]

For the right case I could fit a bit more width....the Silencio 352 is 7.8" and I can barely fit that. BUT, unfortunately it says only 3hdd and I need one that will fit 4. They make the bigger version but it's too wide.

You can sound proof cases yourself. I've used Akasa Paxmate for this in the past: http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?t...type_sub=Acoustic Silence Kits&model=AK-PAX-1

HDD can be noisy, the best way to reduce this is with an isolation mount, but this generally means mounting the 3.5" drives in 5.25" bays.

 

[SPOautos]

You can sound proof cases yourself. I've used Akasa Paxmate for this in the past: http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?tpl=product/product.detail.tpl&no=181&type=Accessories&type_sub=Acoustic Silence Kits&model=AK-PAX-1

HDD can be noisy, the best way to reduce this is with an isolation mount, but this generally means mounting the 3.5" drives in 5.25" bays.

Did that stuff make a big difference in the sound?

 

[Berwhale]

Did that stuff make a big difference in the sound?

It can do, yes. My main PC is usually very quiet*. There are no spinning disks in there, but there are 4x 120mm case fans, a PSU fan, 2x GFX card fans and a water pump. To really get the noise down, you have to address all the sources of noise and this can require different approaches for different frequencies and types of sound (e.g. fan noise vs mechanical vibration). This can get expensive, for example, the fans and digital controller in my case cost around £120 ($150).

*It will get significantly louder (though still relatively quiet) if I play a game and the GFX card is under heavy load, but that's what headphones are for

 

[q3cpma]

A decision - So I think I'm going to take you guys advice and look at new cases. I dont think the one I have will be able to deal with the heat of these 4 drives. I'm going to look at some already suggested but I REALLY want to put it in a specific place where I will only have about 6.5" width for the computer. So a tower style that supports 4 standard sized 3.5" hdd's and I also have a ssd I can put in it. Top priority for me is great air flow at the hdd's and quiet. I think the hard drives themselves may be a bit noisy so I'm like a case that keeps noise inside (in other words not one that's like half mesh).

Like most here, I really advocate for Fractal Design and BeQuiet. I have a Silent Base 600 and Define R4, both running some noisy drives (the older HGST He8 in my BeQuiet can scrape really loudly) and I'm happy with them; Fractal Design using steel makes it better at "damping" than BeQuiet's plastic, but the HDD cages of the later are top notch:

The only other advice I can give concerning cases is to buy one that can use 140 mm fans.

 

[restorer-john]

Mine was 10

10MB- you must have been rich. I was using cassette storage back in 1981 when 5MB was a big- fixed 8" HDD and cost more than a good secondhand car...

This computer was over $15k...

 

[Feanor]

I assume you have a LAN of some sort? Wireless would do, wired gigabyte ethernet is better.

In that case I would recommend a 4-bay NAS to accommodate your 6 TB drives. For your music player -- and for that matter viewing videos -- a cheap mini-PC will do the job.

https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/DS419slim

https://www.aliexpress.com/i/4000270459893.html

 

[Kal Rubinson]

10MB- you must have been rich.

Nope. It was for my lab. It had removable platter packs.

 

[Berwhale]

I remember reading the Acorn Winchester Disk Filing System User Guide in 1984 when my High School obtained one. I wrote a recursive algorithm in BBC BASIC that would have completely filled the drive with nested directories. Fortunately for me, and my teachers, I was not naughty enough to run it.

 

[SPOautos]

Like most here, I really advocate for Fractal Design and BeQuiet. I have a Silent Base 600 and Define R4, both running some noisy drives (the older HGST He8 in my BeQuiet can scrape really loudly) and I'm happy with them; Fractal Design using steel makes it better at "damping" than BeQuiet's plastic, but the HDD cages of the later are top notch:

The only other advice I can give concerning cases is to buy one that can use 140 mm fans.

I'm looking at a using one of these Factal Design cases, super nice and seem to be extremely quiet. They are too wide for my original location but I think I've decided it will be quiet enough to put in a area with more space... itll be close to the sitting area, but these are very quiet and I think will be fine. I'm looking at a maybe a Define R6. It's more than I wanted to spend, especially with no psu....but the silence is important. I need to hold 4x3.5" hdd and a ssd and would like room to add at least one more drive. It appeared like the R4 wouldnt hold enough drives.

 

[Berwhale]

Have you considered the Node 804, it has lots of drive bays...

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/node/node-804/black/

The Node 304 also might have enough for you...

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/node/node-304/Black/

All the bays appear to have vibration proof mounts, which is a nice touch.

 

[SPOautos]

Have you considered the Node 804, it has lots of drive bays...

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/node/node-804/black/

The Node 304 also might have enough for you...

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/node/node-304/Black/

All the bays appear to have vibration proof mounts, which is a nice touch.

I looked at them but I suppose I was concerned that they are not as flexible for motherboard selection.....which I probably feel that way because I have not yet picked out a mb/cpu yet. Also, the 803 is SO wide....I made more room for more width, but I'd need to measure to see if I'd have that much room.

 

[SPOautos]

Do you guys have any suggestions for motherboard/processor setup? I've really been considering what I want to do with this machine. I think for the benifit of data safety I'm going to do as little as possible on the machine directly. Initially I was thinking of making it a HTPC/NAS combination.....however after further research, I think the htpc side is going to add a lot of complexity and possible issues. So I'm going to go with a little more of a nas purpose and her a Nvidia Shield (which has Plex) for the TV work. That said, I still want the server to have a bit of muscle. Ram is so cheap I'll prob get 36Gig of Ram. I'd like to have hdmi to hook the server to my TV just in case I want to pull it up and look at something, basically using my TV like a monitor. If like that functionality to be built in to the mb so I dont have to buy a video card.

Ideas and thoughts?

 

[jhm]

Why do you need 36G of RAM if you are "going to do as little as possible on the machine directly" and it's also a "budget build" from your first post above? I think you may be fine with far less RAM.

 

[somebodyelse]

If you're still considering the Node 304 mini-itx.com's board finder will let you narrow the choice by the features you want (4 sata connectors etc.)

 

[SPOautos]

Why do you need 36G of RAM if you are "going to do as little as possible on the machine directly" and it's also a "budget build" from your first post above? I think you may be fine with far less RAM.

Well I felt like a lot of RAM and decent processor would be very helpful when moving very large amounts of data. Plus it's so cheap now a days. A lot of people have 8-16Gb of ram in a nas with pretty low performing CPU. It is budget in a way, I've been buying some stuff used, planning on grabbing a psu, dvdrw, and ssd from a prior unused computer.

The NAS I was looking at getting was a Qnap Ts-453Be which is $500 diskless. So I'm trying to come in under that but with a more capable device. With that budget I need a motherboard/CPU, ram, and case. I actually was *considering* some old Xeon E5 cpu's that you can get refurbished for $100+/- that score 10,000-15,000 on Passmark. But newer motherboards have newer features like hdmi and USB 3.1, etc.

Anyway, the budget is I'm not looking to buy a expensive gaming video card, liquid cooler, etc. But I can spend a little where itll count.