Has anyone here built a network attached storage box?
I've been looking at these, and all the consumer-grade products I see have problems. The commercial-grade products have really huge price tags. So I am going to build one.
I'll use http://www.nas4free.org this OS, loaded on a USB memory stick, and I want to use two of these http://www.amsestore.com/ds-356tl-5-in-3-sata-backplane-module-600mb-s/ backplanes. I will choose an appropriate RAID controller; I'm still debating SAS vs SATA but probably will buy an SAS controller then use SATA drives. I do expect the NAS will communicate via gigabit ethernet.
Now, I am looking for a case, and trying to decide on a processor and motherboard.
I don't want a full-tower case, but those backplanes will require a total of 6 5.25" bays. I would like to mount them side by side, or vertically such that the two of them together pretty much take up the entire front of the case. Does anyone have any ideas about an appropriate case? This one so far is stumping me; I don't want the size of a full tower, but it seems that only full towers have enough 5.25 bays.
As for processor and video, I figure 4 GB RAM will be adequate, and I am thinking of an embedded single board computer, perhaps based on a dual-core Atom chip. I don't know if I can go that low on the system without bottlenecking my NAS, though, so I am also considering mini-itx and mini-atx motherboards with either a celeron or an athlon. Any comments? I want enough processor horsepower but I don't need to pay for more than I will need.
My goals are these: Ten physical drives. As compact as I can make it, with that many drives in it. Lowest power usage I can achieve, without compromising performance when I need it. Low heat. No noise (probably not fanless, so "minimal noise"). I want the best performance I can get, but will trade a bit of performance for lower temps and less noise. The physical environment is a house that sits in the desert. The device will be located in an area where, in the summer, the air-conditioned temperature can approach 90 F (about 35C). This is the environment my workstation sees, and I constantly monitor my workstation's temperature. I have 6 drives in my workstation, and their temps usually stay below about 44C when it is that warm. I don't want to have to ride herd on the NAS as well if I can avoid it; if the processor isn't a beast, cooling the drives adequately should not be a problem.
Any comments or suggestions?