Hi,

I am looking for building a NAS with used hardware, mostly for media, because my current Dell 7050 only has a 500gb hdd and I am tired of running low on space constantly.

I have a few questions:

  • I am currently running containers for Jellyfin, Radarr and Sonarr, if I buy a new machine for NAS, it makes sense to migrate every media-related container to the NAS drive, correct? The Dell machine I have has a 7th gen Intel CPU, that is able to transcode H265 perfectly, which is a big bonus. So if I end up moving it, the machine I buy needs to do the same, I suppose.
  • If so, then I guess using TrueNAS is not the way to go, and instead use a simple debian or ubuntu server distro for simple sharing?
  • If TrueNAS is the answer, then I should aim for ECC ram. If that’s the case, I am not aware of cheap/budget workstations that have ECC ram, but if you have recommendations for one, great;
  • If you think I should instead buy something with an i3/i5/i7 or Ryzen processor, what kind of machines would you recommend?
  • I was looking to find something for around 150/200€, excluding hard drives. Not sure if that is possible.

Thank you.

  • The Hobbyist
    4•1 year ago

    If the only issue is running out of disk space, why not just buy a larger hard drive to replace the 500GB with?

    Also, ECC is always helpful, whether you run truenas or not, but in no way is it a requirement for truenas more than for any other OS. If you want to read more about it, click here for Jim Slater’s blog (a fantastic ZFS resource).

    • @[email protected]OP
      1•1 year ago

      Because the Dell 7050 is a micro computer with only a 2.5 HDD slot. I would like to have at least 4.

      • @[email protected]
        1•1 year ago

        What about just getting used ATX/mATX MBO for your socket? And any mid/high tower pc case would suit your needs. Not sure can you use PSU from dell, but even if you have to buy one its still cheaper than full pc build

        • @[email protected]OP
          1•1 year ago

          I don’t think it would be much cheaper. Because it’s a micro PC, with an external power supply, I’d rather keep that one as is and then just buy a new machine.

          For example, I saw a Dell Precision T3620 Intel Xeon E3-1245V5 with ECC memory for about 160€, and it looks like it may do the job more than adequately.