ultra low budget sub 300€ build, will it FreeNAS?

[NeoFromMatrix]

I'm currently searching for a new NAS for a small voluntary organisation.

What will it be used for?
* about 200GB of files currently, most of them photos and pdfs
* file sharing and automatic synchronization(maybe Syncthing) for multiple people (up to 5)
* ftps server
* automatic snapshots
* maybe OpenVPN server

We are quite cost limited and I'm trying to find a comparable FreeNAS hardware for some commercial NAS systems like;

* Qnap TS231P2-1G 244€ https://geizhals.at/qnap-turbo-station-ts-231p2-1g-a1671490.html
* Qnap TS231P2-4G 313€ (same model, but 4GB instead of 1GB RAM)
* Qnap TS251A-2G 270€ https://geizhals.at/qnap-turbo-station-ts-251a-2g-a1495724.html?hloc=at


So my setup would look like

CPU: Intel G4400 - 48€
Mainboard: MSI H110M ECO - 58€
RAM: 1x Adata 8GB DDR4-2133 - 72€
Powersupply: Seasonic ECO-430 - 42€
Case: Sharkoon MA-A1000 - 35€
Additional: Artic F12 TC cooler - 5€
Disks: 2x 2TB WD Green - existing, will be in mirror

currently not included: USB boot drive

I'm looking at 267€ total, maybe I can strech out limit to 350€.

But besides that we need to set up a robust non cloud backup solution, which has priority above better hardware (e.g. two raspberries which sync the data over rsync and make a borg snapshot and another manual one, all off-site).
This is also the reason why I will not upgrade to "true" nas grade disks, as a proper backup has a higher value to us.

What do you guys and gals think about this setup?

 

[Benc]

There will be other with more experience but I'd recommend you HP microserver gen8 with Celeron g1610 cpu. Add another 4 or 8gb ram and you'll have much more reliable setup for about same money.

 

[wblock]

I have reservations about the motherboard/memory and drives. Less with the power supply, but I'm not familiar with that model of Seasonic.

The motherboard: if you have to go with a desktop-type motherboard, I'd much rather have a Gigabyte with an Intel network interface on-board than one from MSI or Asus. But it would be better to go with a motherboard that supports ECC RAM.

The drives: WD Reds are not significantly more expensive than the Greens, and they are meant for this type of use. Some people use desktop-type drives like the Greens without problems. Some have problems with either reliability or the drives not acting as expected in a NAS (spin-down or power saving features or error retry behavior).

One of the server deals that are regularly posted here would be better. It might actually be cheaper than the system you have posted. I'd recommend Dell, but many are fond of the discounted HP server systems.

 

[Inxsible]

Another option would be to buy used HP ML10. Here are some options in the US. Don't know if they would be available in the EU or whether these would ship to EU

Used -- $250 -- Xeon E3-1220V2, 32GB RAM (you might want to confirm the CPU with the seller)
New (cosmetic issues) -- $320 -- Xeon E3-1220V2, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD
New (open box) -- $450 -- Xeon E3-1225V5, 4GB RAM


You might have to add at least another 4GB of RAM in the last option to get to minimum FreeNAS requirements, so you should add that cost as well.

 

[NeoFromMatrix]

There will be other with more experience but I'd recommend you HP microserver gen8 with Celeron g1610 cpu. Add another 4 or 8gb ram and you'll have much more reliable setup for about same money.

I also thought about this. The base model costs currently 200€ where I live, so this might even be the cheapest option. I've seen that the gen10 is out, but I assume the usage of an AMD processor and questionable RAID controller in the gen10 would make this the worse choice?

I'd much rather have a Gigabyte with an Intel network interface on-board than one from MSI or Asus. But it would be better to go with a motherboard that supports ECC RAM.

The MSI H110 ECO has Intel® i219V Gigabit ethernet
I would like to go with a supermicro mobo or something similar, but the price is just too high for those.
ASRock B250M Pro4 for 79€ or ASRock B250M-HDV for 68€ could work.
But then the RAM would also cost about 100€ (8GB), so I end up with at least +38€. I need to think about this, but I plan more or less to run without ECC.

The drives: WD Reds are not significantly more expensive than the Greens, and they are meant for this type of use. Some people use desktop-type drives like the Greens without problems. Some have problems with either reliability or the drives not acting as expected in a NAS (spin-down or power saving features or error retry behavior).

I already have the two greens and don't have a reason to buy new ones. If I would buy new, I would definately go for the red ones.

Thanks so far, currently the HP Microserver Gen8 looks quite interesting. I'd rather buy something new than used.

 

[SweetAndLow]

They cheapest system you can build is a Dell T20, Lenovo TS140 or HP ML10. Add some memory and disks and you are off to the races. You can not build something as good for the same price or less.

 

[NeoFromMatrix]

They cheapest system you can build is a Dell T20, Lenovo TS140 or HP ML10. Add some memory and disks and you are off to the races. You can not build something as good for the same price or less.

I can't find the first and second new, but I could get my hands on the HP ML10 for 300€, thanks for the suggestion, I'll take this into consideration.