So, I currently have a Netgear ReadyNAS 314 with 1 SSD, 3 HDDs, Intel Atom D2701 and 4GB RAM, running Debian 12, and since getting it I’ve been getting more into self hosting. What I have now is primarily too weak in the CPU and RAM department, but it could also use more HDDs. I’m aiming for 5-6 3.5 HDDs, 1 Nvme, 1 2.5" SSD.

What I’m currently running:

  • Samba and NFS server

  • OpenVPN

  • Jellyseerr/Jellyfin/*arr stack

  • Pangolin

  • Dawarich

  • Immich

  • rsnapshot

  • Homepage

And it’s rather sluggish right now, and is almost filling up its 4GB of swap.

What I’d also like to be able to run/have:

  • Nextcloud

  • Transcoding (including ability to decode AV1, but preferably also encode)

  • Anything else I may want to run (working on degoogling myself)

  • ECC RAM (to prevent bitrot, I’m already running btrfs raid1 to prevent bitrot from faulty disks)

  • 1x 2.5G ethernet

If possible I’d like to have some room for upgradeability. I’m aiming for a low power build, that should be rather compact, especially not very wide unless I can find a better place in my office for it.

I’m looking at a Jonsbo N1 chassis (17cm wide) , but I’m also following a Readynas 626 (19cm wide) in an online auction. Options:

Intel N100 board

Pros: cheap, low power, quicksync with av1 decode

Cons: boards with 2.5G ethernet have to be ordered from Aliexpress and have no support and uses the JMB585 chip that prevents low power C states, limited pcie lanes, no AV1 encode, not very upgradeable (1 DIMM, soldered CPU) , no ECC, I worry it may be too slow

Intel 13100

Pros: AV1 decode, quite fast, upgradeable

Cons: No ECC, relatively expensive, no AV1 encode

AMD 8500G

Pros: AV1 enc/dec, ECC, relatively fast, upgradeable

Cons: relatively expensive, not as low power as the 13100

Readynas 626

Pros: enterprise grade HW, less DIY, ECC, may be relatively cheap

Cons: high power for its performance (roughly that of the N100), wider (19cm) than a Jonsbo N1 (17cm), not upgradeable (no CPU or mobo swap), expensive DDR4 2133 ECC UDIMM, doesn’t have M.2 but has a PCIE slot

I’d love to hear what you think about these options and whether you have other concerns that I haven’t thought about.

Edit: I just now realized that the 13100 doesn’t have AV1 encode in HW, that didn’t come until Core Ultra. And wowee, suitable mITX mobos start at 400$ here! I think AMD is the realistic choice if I want to go for AV1 HW encode…

  • link42English
    1·
    9 minutes ago

    Hi there, I have build a nice backup NAS recently:

    Supermicro X11SCL-IF 16 GB ECC RAM 2666 Intel i3 9100T M.2 512 GB System Disk 4x 8TB Ironwolf 5400 RPM Fractal Node 304 Case Be quiet Pure Power 11

    This is around 40W @the wall with all disks spinning and has Intel quicksync for decoding. My use case is mainly backup, you should consider i5 for hosting more apps on it. The processor was 30$ at eBay but is quite low power and has ECC support without being a Xeon processor. The newer generations of i3 do not have ECC ram from the spec. The board itself was 300€, but wanted ECC ram. The case is well cooled what ist most important for a system running for a long time. You should also consider N100 mini computer in addition to have more flexibility in the long run for different application demands.

    Hope this helps for decision making

  • non_burglar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    11 hours ago

    I have a jonsbo n1, do not buy it.

    1. Cooling is insufficient. Something about the case layout makes the motherboard area not get enough ventilation and the supplied fan can’t cool 5 disks, the chassis holding the disks doesn’t allow enough air through.
    2. Only room for half-height expansion card.
    3. Cable routing is abysmal, with sharp edges.
    • chellomere@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      5 hours ago

      Thanks for the advice, noted! I was attracted by the compact size, I guess it’s not realistic that it would handle 5 disks…

  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    20 hours ago

    I’m a big fan of old PC parts. My current NAS/home lab is my old PC, so a Ryzen 1700 + GTX 750 Ti. It’s overkill for what I need, doesn’t use a ton of power, and I didn’t need to pay anything for it.

    If that’s not available, I recommend second hand. Look around your local area and see what’s available, or check online at places like eBay. Be mindful of power usage for server products if that matters to you.

    My next option after that depends on what I’m looking for. A mini PC with an external drive enclosure can be really nice, and there are some reasonable ITX-esque DIY rigs with drive bays that look nice. I’ll be a lot more picky when buying new though, so I’m not going to recommend specific setups without knowing your priorities (space? Power usage? Noise?).

    ECC is nice, but not a requirement. AV1 on the CPU is nice, but you can get that on a relatively inexpensive GPU if you go that route, or you could encode everything into AV1 at rest in a bulk operation. There are lots of options, so it mostly comes down to what you have access to, your budget, and your priorities.

  • just_another_person@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    2 days ago

    First, I think you’re attacking this from the wrong angle. You’re focused on ECC memory for some reason, but that’s not going to prevent bitrot, just potentially reduce errors in transfer, or catch issues. Your filesystem of choice has more to do with degradation in storage.

    Second, you haven’t mentioned any of the boards and their storage capabilities. Do they support the correct number of drives you want to use? Do they support hot-swap, and is that even something you care about?

    Last, you want more services, and but are worried about power consumption…that’s not how that works. More services means more CPU and MEM util, which means more power usage. You can either constrain your TDP at that point by using an UNDERpowered CPU and have that tradeoff, or provide a more capable CPU and take an increased TDP. There is no third option, that’s just how it works. Pick the more capable CPU and take the power hit (really, it’s going to be minor compared to a large server), and just run the things you need to run instead of coming back in a year and wanting to flip it again.

    • chellomere@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      You’re right, I probably don’t need ECC. I’m mostly worried about bit flips in my important data, and as you say, a checksumming FS and RAID will protect against this while the data is in storage. However, it doesn’t protect against bit flips while copying data, for example copying data to backups - but there are other solutions for this, which I should consider.

      Hot swap is nice to have. I haven’t even considered that it wouldn’t be supported by a mobo, I should look into that, thanks. These are the mobos I’m considering for each option:

      N100: Topton N100 motherboard, 4x2.5G, 6xSATA, PCIE x1 https://a.aliexpress.com/_EvVv0k6

      8500G: ASRock B650I Lightning WiFi (Gigabyte A620I AX might be an option, but it has only one M.2 slot so the upgradeability is less)

      13100: ASRock Z790M-ITX Wifi

      The N100 option is cheaper and should be lower power, but as you say I worry about needing another upgrade in a year or so, and this option doesn’t offer much upgradeability so that would mean at least a new mobo and cpu. The other options could accommodate a beefier CPU if needed.