What's a good NAS and server system under CAD$900 (USD$658)?

I am currently using an old laptop (circa 2015) with a 250GB SSD in it, and 4GB of RAM. It runs Fedora 39 Server, and only hosts a Jellyfin instance through Docker right now (though I want to use Nextcloud later too). There is only 15GB of storage left on it, and the CPU is constantly overloaded (due to forced transcoding). I happen to have a lot of 500GB 3.5" HDDs laying around, and I want to use them in RAID 5. What hardware would be good for having 4 HDDs, and running Jellyfin and Nextcloud in Docker? I’m okay with either having just a 4-bay NAS (as long as it can handle transcoding (MKV 480p -> MP4)), or having a 4-bay NAS and a server/computer/NUC. I only have a budget of CAD$900 (USD$658 as of writing), but I am willing to go to CAD$1000 if absolutely necessary.

acockworkorange,

500GB HDDs? If you don’t need hot swap, with your budget, buy new ones. Transcoding is solved by using any modern-ish Intel CPU. I built one for $230 using a used office desktop and three 4TB HDDs plus a small used NVMe for TrueNAS.

Look at the 3 minute mark for transcoding accelerated CPUs: youtu.be/WCDmHljsinY

merthyr1831, (edited )

idk what resolution you use for streaming but my raspberry pi 4B runs plex at 1080p just fine as long as it isnt using x265/AV1 (but on jellyfin you might be able to use the Pi’s GPU for transcoding).

I use nextcloud too but it’s a tiny bit slower than I’d like, but that’s likely a wifi issue i think.

Literally any PC on Amazon for $200 CAD, then add your own SSD. I’d say 8GB of RAM but that’s just for cache, youll rarely go over 4 in general use.

That, or a raspberry pi 4B/5 which runs you about $150 once you get a case, power supply, powered USB dock for sticking SSDs into (just for safety since technically the pi’s USB ports cant handle certain SSDs power reqs.) and then stick SSDs into that.

Use dietpi (dietpi.com) for setting up your services and it’ll run nice and smooth for anything not H265, which might be annoying but Plex and possibly jellyfin let you transcode stuff in the background which is nice.

someonesmall,

Get a mainboard and CPU supporting ECC ram. Combine it with ZFS as the file system. With this setup you are safe from bitrot.

possiblylinux127,

Get a old used desktop from eBay. Use either Intel QuickSync (Intel integrated) or a dedicated GPU.

Additionally, use a LTS and keep good backups. Fedora Server shouldn’t be used for anything actively depended apon. You could move to Rocky Linux, Debian or something else.

Appoxo,
@Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Currently ugreen has released some nas systems that seem powerful but have yet to be shipped (reviews are out though).

qaz, (edited )

You could get one of those cheap N100 boards and a couple refurbished enterprise HDD’s. Board costs about 150, case & PSU another 150, which leaves you with enough to buy 2 10ish TB drives, a boot drive and some additional RAM. Power usage should be pretty decent.

Another option is going with a second hand Mini PC and a DAS. I went with this myself because it’s the cheapest and easiest option. It cost me about €150 combined (excluding the cost of the 2 drives I had laying around), and it has served me well for the past year. The CPU is a bit weak (i5-6500T) and it doesn’t have a lot of RAM (8GiB), but it handles the 30ish docker containers and video transcoding (single stream) well.

I’ve also bought an old proliant micro server and I wouldn’t really recommend it. It uses a lot of power and it was kind of a pain to get running. I’m planning on installing a HBA adapter and using it as a backup system.

helenslunch,

My recommendation would be building a Jonsbo NAS. They’re relatively affordable. You probably also want a mobile CPU for better efficiency. I don’t recommend ARM as it will greatly limit the variety of software you can run on it. Erying and CWWK/Topton make ITX mobos with mobile CPUs. These are Chinese brands but I don’t really see anyone else making them.

The cheapest and easiest thing to do would be to just use an old standard desktop computer case that can hold a few HDDs.

possiblylinux127,

Additionally ARM is mostly a miss when it comes to transcoding.

realbadat,

For lots of services that require little CPU and ram, I use tiny/mini/micro PCs, bought used. I get them for anywhere from $100-$400, and usually all I do is drop in an SSD. That includes Linux VMs when I’m testing distros or deployment on a distro, since 32gb ram on the host is more than enough to leave 4-8gb ram to the VM.

For some heavier applications, I also have a 4RU case stacked with drives, which I use as a third NAS (VM with drives passed through), large DBs, etc. Its just a 1700x with 64GB ram, and that’s plenty.

For most things (DNS, a few web servers, git, grafana, Prometheus, rev proxies, Jenkins, personal fdroid repo, homepage, etc) I just use the tiny/mini/micro’s. Imo, you can’t go wrong with those for your services, and a big case with spare parts and lots of drives for your NAS. Especially at the price you mentioned. Just remember you can separate your services easily, so don’t focus on getting everything in one spot, you can make your requirements (and cost) go up quickly.

friend_of_satan,

My go to for home servers for like 20 years has been used dell optiplexes. They are quite reliable, easy to find, pretty cheap, come in a few different standard physical sizes, and last a long time. The one thing they could do better at is energy efficiency. I spent a total of US $450 on the last two that I bought. I added an LSI HBA to one and it runs 4 HDDs in raidz1.

Pringles,

I use an HP microserver gen 8, which I bought second hand (300$) and upgraded with a better CPU (20$ from ebay) and extra ram (80$) and 4 2TB SSD’s (100$ per). I installed Windows server on it because I just wanted it to work in a way I’m familiar with, but a colleague of mine installed Synology OS on it. You can use the cd drive bay for the OS disk (with some tweaking). Since you already have the disks, this would fit your budget.

B0rax,

I have the gen 10 plus (with an upgraded cpu). I am very happy with that.

unwillingsomnambulist,

After seeing some of Craft Computing’s videos on YT I’m considering getting my hands on one of those cheap Erying mainboards off Aliexpress with a laptop CPU on it. Seen those as low as 140 bucks with a 13th-gen i5, just add a cooler and desktop DDR4.

foggy,

If price is the deciding factor then just build one.

Get an old i7 for dirt cheap, cram the thing with ram and storage to suit your budget.

Run something lightweight like Ubuntu Server.

psy32nd,

Or maybe a Xeon from Alibaba

possiblylinux127,

Keep in mind this could drive up your energy bill.

foggy, (edited )

It totally doesn’t

I’m running a 14th gen i9 with a 4080. It’s a power hungry boy. 1500w power supply. Generally using about 600-800w.

Running this 24/7 costs me <$10/month in electricity.

The old compaq presario with a Pentium II that probably pulled down 100w running Ubuntu server as described here made no statistically significant change in my electric bill. That is to say, it’s about as much change as being good or bad at turning off your lights when you’re not using them. It’s negligible.

ReasonablePea,

At 600 watts running continuously wouldn’t that be 432 kWh a month?

Assuming you didn’t mean you were running your gaming computer as the server.

At 100 watts that comes out to 72 kWh, in CT where I live rates are waaaay higher then what I calculate your rate to be (around 2.5 cents per kWh)

For me a 100 watt server is about ~$22 a month to run.

Are you sure your paying 2.5 cents per kWh?

foggy,

Idk what I’m paying per kwh, I am just going off my monthly bills.

There are other power fluctuates, I’m sure. I pay it no mind I just look at the bill. 🤷‍♂️

So far no bill has arrived that made me change behavior.

Edit: I’ve also never measured what my machine actually pulls down continuously/when idle. I just know that it’s components demand that range, and that I need the headroom in my power supply for spikes.

possiblylinux127,

That’s great if it works for you. However, a lot of us don’t want the bigger power bill. It also has the problem of heating everything up.

I like CPUs with lower TDPs

foggy,

No “old i7” as I suggested, is going to meaningfully increase the temp of your room if it has any cooling solution in place.

Your stubbornness around a perfectly practical solution is absurd. I won’t bother convincing you further – it’s the obvious cost effective solution.

possiblylinux127,

The problem is it isn’t cost effective with electricity. You can pick up a CPU that is more efficient.

I’m not saying your wrong but what your describing is not great for some people including myself.

Your not wrong but there are also trade offs

foggy,

It is still by far most cost effective.

Your argument amounts to nothing.

merthyr1831,

Shouldnt do so that bad. my raspberry pi 4b can do jellyfin and nextcloud without pushing 15W at full load.

x86 is inefficient, especially older models, but youll likely only push anything over 10W when actually streaming something that requires transcoding. Most of the time your home server is gonna sit idle or doing some tiny cron job that won’t really blast the CPU at all.

franglais,

I’ve been looking at getting a odroid h4 ultra as my next toy. It would suit you I think.

tyler,

forums.serverbuilds.net/t/…/13956

cyberpunk007,

Truenas core/scale, custom built (easy) but the disks will be the main costs… I think ik 2015 mine cost me 450$. Disks were 1200 :/

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