The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/AF4Q on 2025-01-31 11:25:56.
I currently have a 2 bay Synology NAS (with 2x 8TB Drives) which I want to upgrade. My main usage is Plex streaming to my Apple TV, torrents downloads, some not so critical data storage and TimeMachine backups for my Macs. The main reason for upgrading is that I need more storage and future expandability. I also looked at 4-bay Synology NASes (DS923+ and DS423+) but both of them lack something or the other. DS423+ is very barebones but works well with Plex, whereas the DS923+ is feature rich but has AMD CPUs which isnt really future proof for a NAS Devices (as my knowledge so far).
So I am looking into building my own custom box. I majorly need recommendations for following things:
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Case: Which one to buy? My NAS sits in my lounge so I would prefer that it looks nice and isnt too big. I am currently looking at Jonsbo N4 and Fractal Design Node 804. I wouldn't really need more than 4-6 drives as you can always put in high capacity drives once you run out of space.
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Which motherboard to get? I dont really need the latest or greatest but it should be Intel and should have 4-6 SATA ports. 2.5gig or 10gig NIC would be a huge plus but I cant really find any such board. Another option is to get any mATX board and pop in a HBA card for extra SATA ports and a 2.5/10gig NIC.
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Lastly budget. I wouldnt want this custom build to cost more than the DS923+ or DS423+.
Thanks.