Budget 0-20k Parts for a NAS/Multipurpose Server

napstersquest

napstersquest

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Need to build a tertiary machine that will be on 24x7.
Main purpose of the machine is to run TrueNAS/OpenMediaVault to self-host the following things:
  • PhotoPrism (google photos-like gallery indexing server) - multiple instances may be required for multiple users
  • Something to sync my phone's photos (like syncthing)
  • Plex (No transcoding)
  • Password manager
  • Calendar and contacts manager and other productivity tools
  • And some SMB shares for family members to dump their data
I already tried a Raspberry Pi4 with 4GB RAM and external Seagate backup hub plus 4TB drive but the pi is just too slow for the use case, even before installing the PhotoPrism instance. I guess issue might be with USB connection with the drive above anything else. I will keep that pi setup off-site and use it as backup to this server.
I already have a few parts:
  • Ryzen 5 3600
  • Noctua NH-U12S
  • 250GB NVME gen3 SSD (Crucial P2)
  • 2x8GB Crucial Ballistix 3600MHz C16
  • A few hard disks ( a couple 6 TB drives for now, might add a few and create a ZFS pool later as budget permits and I find good deals)
  • Case (Cooler Master CM Storm Scout 2 Advanced)
  • A few Noctua fans
Need suggestions to gather the rest.
Namely,
  • Motherboard (preferably with 6 or 8 SATA 6gb/s ports and 4 RAM Slots)
  • PSU (reliable and efficient preferred - may not be adding any GPU to the build for now)
I already have a Gigabyte B450 Gaming X which I am using in another build, which my sister uses for her college.
I can either,
buy a new board for the Server or​
use that one and get one for the 3200G which that PC has.​
​
Any deals/marketplace links are welcome as well.
 
I have been using the sff versions of the 1 liter Lenovo and Dell machines to a similar end. They are compact and energy efficient but have limitations with expansion. The kind of circus one has to do to achieve basic expandability. https://techenclave.com/attachments/img_20220602_180935-jpg.135606/

To replace these I am working on a similar build and shortlisted the ASRock Z690 Extreme.
12th gen for the efficiency cores. And has 2 lan ports for redundancy or even deploying your own router. Also ticks all the other requirements you mentioned. Paired even with a celeron would be sufficient for your needs and a lot more.
The only thing is it's price. My local vendor says 26k plus 3 weeks waiting just for the motherboard.

Edit: picture added
 
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Alright!

So I got a pretty sick deal on Asrock B450M Pro4 (Got it for 4500 with 25% off coupon on amazon) and decided to put it in sister's PC, use the B450 Gaming X from there and put it in the server for now. (6 SATA ports vs 4)

Also decided to go with a 650W Gold PSU (Deepcool PM650D 650 Watt 80 Plus Gold). Got it for ₹4700 locally. For SSD, Cancelled my Crucial P2 order as saw WD Blue™ SN570 NVMe™ 500GB SSD for ₹3,529.00 incl. GST, so went with that.

Going with OpenMediaVault as it will allow me to add hard disks without having to add in any sets (ZFS requirement). No RAID/Striping for now. Will have two more back ups of important data anyway. OMV is debian based so I am more familiar with commands etc if need be.
 
@napstersquest ,
I believe you might be aware of it already but if not, bit rot is a problem so in general people use zfs like file system to negate it, and as you don't want to use zfs I suggest you to enable extended attributes(user_xattr) in ext4 and compute hash for all files and store them within the file and also in a separate file. Once a month or week run a custom script to check the file hash so you know if anything changes.
I have no idea about openmediavault but if it allows use mergerFS on top of ext4 and you can extend the hdd as you see it.

Regards
 
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