This is the beginnings of my Network Attached Storage (NAS) Project. I had this idea for a few years, but the money for it went to other things. The main purpose of this box is to provide access to my media (movies, music, etc) along with documents and such to any computer in the house. The idea is to use FreeNAS for this box, but I have found FreeNAS is somewhat lacking, so I need to hack up some of it’s code to be a little more versatile (don’t worry, changes will be submitted back to the project).
Some specific features of this system are the 3ware RAID controller (8 port) and a IPMI module which allows me to keep the system headless. The IPMI module allows me to access the system over the LAN including through the POST process. It is also manageable through a serial console connection.
Pictures of my initial build of the box:
Current configuration:
- Generic 4U rackmount box with 8 5.25″ bays (bought it on eBay a few years ago)
- Supermicro PDSME+ motherboard w/IPMI module
- Pentium D 3.2Ghz Processor
- 2GB ECC RAM
- CF reader (the system will run off of a CF card)
- Supermicro 5-drive hot swap SATA enclosure (2 of them, 10 SATA drives total)
- 3ware 9550SXU-L8 8-port SATA RAID controller
- Antec Inc TruePower Trio 650 Watt Power Supply
Current Hard Drive configuration, approx. total online disk space: 1.3TB
- RAID5: 3x Seagate Barracuda ES 500GB (ST3500630NS)
- RAID0: 2x Seagate Barracuda 300GB