I don't know anything about that cooler, sorry. For a NAS you wan't something quiet - it isn't going to be stressed. I run a Scythe Mini Ninja cooler and was running it without a fan (E1500 Celeron) until the summer heatwave when I put a silent 80mm fan on it, just in case. The CM case, the motherboard and any of the PSU's we have been discussing in this thread are all mutually compatible.
Thanks... it's gonna be put in a spare bedroom so doesn't really matter about noise. I'll probably stick with the stock cooler and upgrade if the cpu temp gets too high... I trust I can view them using the webgui Now I just need to decide if 3TB is enough..
How ever much storage you put in, it'll eventually not be enough The stock CPU cooler should be fine, most of the time the processor won't be doing much anyway.
Second that, I am just backing up a load of files to my freenas unit and the cpu (Sempron 140) hasn't gone over 20% usage yet
Thanks.. I'm getting the celeron so it doesn't hang all the time and to keep up with the RAID5 calculations. Also if ever needed I could convert it into a low power windows pc without much effort.. seems a good balance between power efficiency and long term use
Not sure if you have already placed your order for parts but scan also do the usb header port thing. Save you having to buy it from Craplins
what do we think? this is pretty much final... but I still might lose a hard drive :/ Will probably be ordering tomorrow... it doesn't make a difference when between now and then because it will still arrive on tuesday I'm thinking of losing the rsync and going with acronis true image, or windows backup... it just seems easier. Also, for the purposes of loading it up with stuff for the first time, can freenas be directly wired to a computer and still work?? thanks
Spec looks good although you might want to check out Dino PC. I haven't used them before I am looking to spec a second freenas unit and found the link in another post. Regarding the hard drives, if you have set it up in Raid 5 it is very difficult to add more disks to the array (according to the freenas forums) so prob best to err on the side of caution and get as many as you can! For your syncing, I can recommend Allway Sync, again, following the advice on some other posts. Its free, can sync to multiple locations and you can automate it. I tried the free trial of Acronis but didnt get on with it although it is considered the daddy of backups. I have just finished loading my stuff on to my box for the first time and it took about 24hrs to copy over 1TB of data (this was by connecting an HD via e-sata to the freenas box) not sure if you can connect directly to another computer but it gives you an idea of timescales.
Check out the today only page, they have a twin pack of the HDD you chose but they work out a bit cheaper. It's only a couple of quid, but every little helps, likes the TV ad says.
about the hard drives.. that's what i'm thinking The only way of adding another disk is moving all the data off, reformatting, then moving it back on... the problem is I don't have 3TB of storage in the entire house to move it onto! Best use up all of those SATA ports... about Dino... I customised a simple one.. but I don't want 2GB of ram or those power hungry hdds, or a 500W PSU... it doesn't go any lower. think i'll stick with Scan.. also building it counts for CAS hours, courtesy of the IB I'm slightly concerned about the initial transfer.. as we have 85Mbit homeplugs. Might need to get out the black&decker and buy a few of these
@dancingbear84 i know it says only one per customer... but I just tried adding it to basket then changing the quantity to 2... and it seemed to not bother. Did I just cheat the system?? :S It saves me £14.60 overall... which is like getting 28% off a hard drive. worth it imo
Good spot. Scan didn't sell them when I got mine at Maplins (a while ago now), cheers for letting us know. Build choices look good. Note that the Windows 7 Home Premium Backup application will not allow you to back up across a network, it is restricted in the Home Premium version to local hard drives, including USB or eSata only. It is also probably the slowest backup applciation on the face of the earth and does not have a synchronise funtionality. Agreed on the point about extended a RAID 5 array, it can be a real pain. I too have heard good things about Allway Sync but I haven't tried it yet. Could be well worth a look. Like mentioned above, extending a RAID 5 array can be a pain. There is another option that we have touched upon earlier in this thread. Buy four 2TB drives and run them in in RAID 1 (mirroring). You can add another couple of drives at a later date when you need more storage and you won't have to back up your existing data to other drives to do so - you will however need to buy another SATA controller such as this as you will have already used all four on that motherboard. As you inferred in your table of cost/GB, it will cost you more but you should factor this against the expected growth in your storage requirements. Just a thought.
One per customer... create another user account at Scan with another e-mail, then use the free delivery with Scan and Bit-Tech. It is not cheating the system, merely manipulating it to your advantage!
Thanks fingers, that's an interesting thought. I just had a little argument with the bill payer.. so will probably go for shorter term. I can't really see myself ever needing 6TB, when you consider most homes have less than 1 (albeit not backed up) :/ Considering off the top of my head I can only think of a use for ~3TB of storage, I think 4TB is pushing it :/ Also to buy 4 2TB would cost almost £300, but would only get me 4TB, whereas for just over £90 less I can actually get more storage. Its quite confusing... I've just noticed the RAM has gone out of stock which is REALLY annoying... will probably wait to order when it comes back in. Or I could steal two 256MB 4200U sticks of an old mobo and take advantage of the HDD offer :/ Thanks for making me aware of all the options
@dancingbear84 haha thanks... i'll wait until the RAM comes back in stock - have sent scan an email asking roughly when
woop woop just ordered Had a few back and forth emails with scan support (they replied each time within 30 seconds) and got a few pieces of advice - namely slightly faster RAM and a slightly faster CPU (something to to with an FSB ration of 1:1 ). I also asked them a direct question about buying two of the HDD offer, and they said it was fine!.. so in total the entire thing turned out £5 cheaper, plus it meant I didn't have to wait for anything to come into stock Thanks to everyone who posted... will add some pics when it's built
Good luck, You have just prompted me to start looking at building one now... Either thant or a mini ITX WHS machine... hmmm all I will need is a CPU and mobo, memory, case, PSU, and plenty of HDD's and I'm there. on second thoughts I will finish my primary machine first.
Until the next gen WHS comes out do NOT use the old one. It's a complete pile of shite and cannot handle things going wrong. It's fine if it never loses a disk but if it suffers file duplication issues it doesn't know what to do about it.
