I wanna get a NAS for backing up my files and maybe storing some shows and movies I have downloaded. Is it worth it to get a purpose built NAS or is slapping FreeNAS on a used optiplex easy enough? Also is there a big difference in power draw?
I wanna get a NAS for backing up my files and maybe storing some shows and movies I have downloaded. Is it worth it to get a purpose built NAS or is slapping FreeNAS on a used optiplex easy enough? Also is there a big difference in power draw?
Tbh building your own NAS by using a old pc is the way to go. NAS boxes are just really low power pcs.
Honestly powerdraw is a pretty big consideration for me cuz I don't really want a device that'll be on 24/7 to add a lot to the bill
Power draw is mostly going to be about your PSU and drives. The drives are a sunk cost, so you'd want to compare the cost of a low-draw or modular PSU to the commodity NAS.
Don't worry about power draw if the PC you are going to use is 3-4 years old or so. My AMD Ryzen NAS system with 6 WD Red 4 GB drives only pulls 120-140 watts max but idles under 100w. The only reason you should be getting a dedicated NAS or a mini PC with a NAS enclosure is because of space not power. Modern chipsets and CPUs are very power efficient.
A similar dedicated Synology NAS box pulls 80-90 watts. You are only saving $5-10 a year.
You could try undervolting/underclocking the cpu. It can do wonders for power draw.
Oh that's something I hadn't considered, thanks for the idea
:)