Rolling your own NAS

I saw your article on RAID, Build your own or turnkey. As a photographer I have a storage problem; each image I take is 12 Mb, PhotoShop files are not far from 50Mb each. DVD storage is cumbersome. I thought of building a RAID system. The Yellow Box gives 2 TB but I could build a box with 2.8 TB for less money. The main feature I would like is to be able to turn on the box for a short time (to back, daily or weekly) saving power and to increasing drive longevity. It would be ideal if the box could turn itself on and off with a schedule. I have built computers before so the hardware is not too intimidating. The problem is I don't know Linux at all, just Windows. Has Linux NAS software become easy enough for a complete newcomer work with it? Is there a "how to" guide like PC Mechanic's guides?
-- Bob Hall

While Windows is an option, several of the Linux offerings are easy to implement. Since you have built some of your own computers in the past, that should make the process of rolling your own NAS a little bit easier. While you can buy and have found at least one ready to go NAS commercial appliance, there isn't a reason you cant do it on your own.

About a year ago, I built a 1TB RAID 5 NAS Appliance using FreeNAS. I deliberately picked a no-name bare-bones system from one of the national mail-order companies. After a little bit of research, I found a source for an older RAID controller using IDE hard drives. There are newer controllers that can use the SATA type drives but my goal for this was to build something for as few dollars as possible. I then found a source for 250GB IDE drivers for less than $60 a piece including shipping. It took my longer to get the hardware assembled than it did to get the NAS software installed.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

I saw your article on RAID, Build your own or turnkey. As a photographer I have a storage problem; each image I take is 12 Mb, PhotoShop files are not far from 50Mb each. DVD storage is cumbersome. I thought of building a RAID system. The Yellow Box gives 2 TB but I could build a box with 2.8 TB for less money. The main feature I would like is to be able to turn on the box for a short time (to back, daily or weekly) saving power and to increasing drive longevity. It would be ideal if the box could turn itself on and off with a schedule. I have built computers before so the hardware is not too intimidating. The problem is I don't know Linux at all, just Windows. Has Linux NAS software become easy enough for a complete newcomer work with it? Is there a "how to" guide like PC Mechanic's guides?
-- Bob Hall

While Windows is an option, several of the Linux offerings are easy to implement. Since you have built some of your own computers in the past, that should make the process of rolling your own NAS a little bit easier. While you can buy and have found at least one ready to go NAS commercial appliance, there isn't a reason you cant do it on your own.

About a year ago, I built a 1TB RAID 5 NAS Appliance using FreeNAS. I deliberately picked a no-name bare-bones system from one of the national mail-order companies. After a little bit of research, I found a source for an older RAID controller using IDE hard drives. There are newer controllers that can use the SATA type drives but my goal for this was to build something for as few dollars as possible. I then found a source for 250GB IDE drivers for less than $60 a piece including shipping. It took my longer to get the hardware assembled than it did to get the NAS software installed.

I have tried several of the other NAS distros. Here is what you can expect: Most of them are downloadable ISOs and some can even be run from the CD, leaving maximum space available on the drive system for storage. Not a big deal but a nice idea. You have the option of either booting from a floppy or USB drive to get the OS up and running. If you want to try several of the NAS distros and want to use RAID, check the supported hardware list to see if your RAID controller will work. I ran into one of the distros I wanted to try and found out that it didnt support the RAID controller I had installed.

To keep backup time to a minimum, getting one of the distros that supports a gigabit network card would be nice. There are several gigabit switches that can be had for a reasonable price. To help automate the backup process, there are several backup programs that run from the client side that can help streamline this process. You will find that most of the Linux NAS distros can be up and running just a few minutes, so not being able to have an automated method of automatically starting up and shutting down the NAS box should be a big inconvenience. This should be doable but may take a little scripting that make take some help from the support forums for the Distro that you are trying to use. If you cant find one of the distros that has this feature, you might be able to use a timer to do this but I wouldnt recommend this.