[olug] DIY NAS/HTPC

[Obi-Wan]

> -          Energy
> -          Heat
> -          # disks (sata III no SAS) minimum 5 disks
> -          Noise

Proper cooling for 5+ spinning disks will not be quiet.  I'd highly
recommend separating the storage from the head unit.  Get a nice,
small, pretty, quiet head unit for the living room, and put the big,
loud, ugly NAS in the basement with a hard-wired GigE connection to
the head unit.

For drives, I recommend the Western Digital Caviar Black drives.
They're more expensive, but they have a 5 yr warranty, and they get
the best reviews on NewEgg.  I've used both Seagate's & WD's customer
support for warranty returns in the last year.  Seagate was a nightmare.
WD was a dream.  I'm not gonna touch Seagate again for a few years
because of that experience.

> -          NAS software (no WHS)

Freenas will get you ZFS, if it matterns.  I've not used any of the
dedicated NAS software myself.

-- 
Ben "Obi-Wan" Hollingsworth    obiwan at jedi.com    PrairieRimImages.com
   The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the
     Giver of all good things, so if I stand, let me stand on the
       promise that You will pull me through.  -- Rich Mullins