Hardware suggestions for NAS/File server

[stangri]

I'm looking for an advice from the hardware gurus on what should I get for the NAS box I'm thinking of building. In case I'd need to run some Mac apps there I'd like to keep my options of installing SL open.

 

I need the MB which would be as small as possible (the smaller case I can get the better), and ideally it should have:

1. support for intel dual-core CPUs

2. 6x or more 3.0Gbps (or better) SATA ports

3. At least 1x 1000 Ethernet port

4. Preferably integrated video

5. Preferably built-in WiFi-N module

6. Core 2 Duo or iCore CPU compatible

 

Is there a motherboard which would have all these working OOB on the vanilla SL install (well, plus some EFI module)? I've read a few topics on the Gigabyte MBs, but some of them had remarks that well, built-in ethernet is not working or something else is not working, so I'm just trying to figure out what's the best I can get.

 

Besides the MB I also need an advice on which case to get, since I'll be using it as file server I'd really like to have an option of easily adding hard drives, however I want as small of a case as possible.

 

I've looked at the 4-in-3 enclosures (which take 3 5.25" slots and turn them into the 4x HDD tray/trayless HDD enclosures), but most of the cases having 3x 5.25" slots are huge. I'm looking for something smaller which would have the Mac Pro-style slide-in HDD slots -- ideally 6, but at least 4 with an option to mount the system HDD somewhere else.

[Zaap]

Seems to me you might be better served with a dedicated pre-built NAS box with the features you want, and then just building a cheap Hackintosh for 'occasionally running Mac apps'. Otherwise, it seems to me what you want and what currently exists don't really seem to jibe for one machine. I don't think a small, OSX-compatible motherboard exists with the feature set you want. Smaller than mATX, I seriously doubt. Probably the closest would be a newer i5 mATX OSX-compatible board, but I have to say, for mainly a NAS box, IMHO an i5 would be gross overkill.

 

Also, not sure I understand the need for Wifi, if you're primarily using gigabit ethernet.

 

If not a dedicated NAS, then personally I'd go the opposite way- get an ATX board that's cheap/compatible enough to make it worthwhile as a NAS, and put it into a rack-mounted server chassis with plenty of room for storage expansion. Put it in a closet somewhere with a set-it-and-forget-it type of OS like clarkconnect Linux, Openfiler, or FreeNAS. Small case + lots of hard drives just doesn't really jibe.

[stangri]

Seems to me you might be better served with a dedicated pre-built NAS box with the features you want, and then just building a cheap Hackintosh for 'occasionally running Mac apps'.

I have one of these "pre-built dedicated NAS boxes" and from my experience the ones which are fast enough for me would cost more than a hackintosh. Also, not all these boxes are available bare and if they come with HDDs already inside it adds quite a lot to the already hefty price-tag.

 

but I have to say, for mainly a NAS box, IMHO an i5 would be gross overkill.

It might be, but I don't want to go with Atom for compatibility reasons and anything slower might not be enough. On top of it, I will be running the server there which does realtime video conversion so i5 would be just fine.

 

If not a dedicated NAS, then personally I'd go the opposite way- get an ATX board that's cheap/compatible enough to make it worthwhile as a NAS, and put it into a rack-mounted server chassis with plenty of room for storage expansion. Put it in a closet somewhere with a set-it-and-forget-it type of OS like clarkconnect Linux, Openfiler, or FreeNAS. Small case + lots of hard drives just doesn't really jibe.

Thanks for the link it certainly looks like a nice case, however the rackable cases take alot of room if you don't have a stack for them (and I don't). They certainly take more floor space than any tower.

[Zaap]

Sounds like an i5/P55 system would probably be the way to go then. I'm not sure about the exact boards, as I haven't built anything i5/i7 for Hackintosh yet, but I know there's some nice mATX designs with at least 6 SATA ports. Possibly since it's mainly for a NAS, you might get away with non QE-CI supported onboard video- for me the concept of a NAS box is for it to be headless and merely remote into it when needed. Or just spring for a cheap graphic card if no onboard. Fully working Ethernet/Wifi if you need it can always be added with PCI cards.

 

I'm sure there are some working P55-based build lists and guides around here.

[stangri]

Can you recommend a case then? The one where I don't have to screw in HDDs but I can slide them in.

[Zaap]

Generally, a case that has lots of toolless/removable hard drive bays and good airflow, would tend to be a full-sized ATX server case, either rackmount or tower- which kind of defeats the small size requirement you want.

 

On the other hand, smaller microATX cases tend not to have much room for hard drives or added features and poor airflow- which negates stuffing a bunch of drives in them. You also need to consider a power supply that has plenty of power and connectors a lot of hard drives- that pretty much rules out all stock PSUs included with many cases.

 

I'd suggest searching for a decent microATX or ATX case with as many side-facing, toolless drive bays as possible. For example, if it's not too big, this might work.

 

As for a microATX that might fit the bill, consider this Cooler Master case. The nice thing is, it's about as small as it gets for a bunch of drive space, and the drive bays are toolless so long as the drives are mounted on the included rails. You could easily stuff four drives in the removable bays, and 1 more in the 2nd 5.25" bay. If you're not opposed to doing a bit of case mod, you could very easily fit 2, maybe 3 more drives in front of a fan in the space between the bays- for example, suspended on bungie cords. (I've used that mounting technique myself) or in an added drive bay.

 

Possibly even better, the Antec Mini P180. It has a bunch of removable drive bays, and even comes with a 5.25 to 3.5 drive bay converter to use a 5.25" bay for another hard drive. Seems like it'll fit easily 7 drives, possibly 8.

[stangri]

Thanks Zaap, despite my searches on newegg I didn't find the models you linked to and this information is invaluable!

 

Do you know any bargain-priced (below $400) pre-built system which would allow me easy HDD expansion? I've seen some Acer desktops selling for a little over $300 during sales.

[broken]

Do you know any bargain-priced (below $400) pre-built system which would allow me easy HDD expansion? I've seen some Acer desktops selling for a little over $300 during sales.

 

 

Woah....let me stop you right there. Zaap and others will agree with me on this: Don't buy a prebuilt (or any vendor built machine, Acer, Dell) if you want to run Mac OS correctly. Go ahead and just forget all about that. If you already had the machine, then thats fine. But otherwise its a waste of your time and most likely if you can even get Mac OS installed, it will be hacked up and likely unstable. Thats bad news for a desktop and doubly so for a file server. Plus I doubt most of those budget prebuilts will have more than 4 sata ports

 

 

If you look in my Sig you can see what I run for a file server. I use the always recommended Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L motherboard. Although it only has 4 SATA ports on the board, its a little OS X running champ. My NAS box runs Leopard 10.5.8 and I typically get 70 megabytes a second transfer rate across gigabit ethernet between it and my Snow Leopard Hack. I even use a low end, single core Celeron in the box as file serving doesn't really need a lot of cpu power. The box runs headless in a closet with just a power cord and ethernet cable plugged into it. I am also running SABnzbd on it (to process usenet NZB files) and Transmission for torrents. Also have iTunes set to auto launch at power up with a shared iTunes library and have Playback installed for streaming movies, music and pictures to my PS3 across gigabit. Runs all this like a champ. Plus of course I have file sharing setup with AFP for all my Macs and SMB for my girlfriends Windows box.

 

 

 

And before you ask, the reason I chose to stay with Leopard on this box is simply because going forward there likely isn't going to be any more point updates (i.e. 10.5.9) and just security updates. Less likely that somewhere down the road an update will hose up my OS X install on this box. Plus it runs very well and extremely stable and very compatible with anything you might install on it.

 

 

Earlier you mentioned wanting a smaller mobo with 6 SATA ports on it. Honestly I can't think of any mATX boards that meets that requirements that is known 100% working with OS X. If that is a requirement, there are several ATX Gigabyte boards like the UD3P (always a good choice) or the UD3R that do have 6 working sata ports on the boards.

[YanniX]

Hey broken. Can you tell me how you installed Snow Leopard on your GA-G31M-ES2L?

I am currently running 10.5.8 and everything works except restart, but i dont mind.

I use it as a media center with eyetv 310 plex itunes and also sabnzbd, best usenet client in my eyes.