down_shift Posted July 5, 2014 #1 Posted July 5, 2014 Hey guys new here. I am a 5 year Windows Home Server user. It's time to upgrade the resident NAS. I am piecing together a new system as I want to migrate everything slowly off the current setup. Taking the precaution so I don't lose any data. It's another excuse to upgrade hardware as well! My question is- Does Xpenology require a boat load of memory, processor, bus etc? I haven't found much info on the software. It seems it works as fast as the slowest harddrive. The memory would be useful for running Apps? Should I go for 8GB or 16GB of ram? Does XPEnology rely heavily on the processor? Which processor? Intel Celoron G1840 2.8Ghz LGA 1150 -$40 Intel Pentium G3240 3.10GHz LGA 1150 -$50 Intel Core i3-4150 3.4GHz LGA 1150 -$100 Intel Core i3-4360 3.7 GHz LGA 1150 -$140 Excited to get started!
rdm Posted July 5, 2014 #2 Posted July 5, 2014 Hi down_shift, I recently took the plunge and installed xpenology on my htpc (see my sig for hardware specs). The installation is fairly easy. So my first recommendation is to try a test installation on the hardware you already have, if possible. I tested out the DSM 5.0 on my gaming rig (Intel i7-3770K CPU, MSI z77 MPower Motherboard, a HDD, and a USB stick) prior to deploying it on the current machine. It will allow you to get a feel for the DSM 5.0 and the specific uses you might have for it. After my initial testing, I realized that DSM 5.0 was very efficient. It doesn't need a of lot memory or cpu power. If you are planning on using plex to transcode, I think that may require extra processing power (I have not tried this yet). I use a Celeron G1610 and I barely see cpu utilization greater than 50% (most of the time much less). Also, I have 8 GB of memory and I think even that may be overkill. More than half is free, and the majority of the rest is being used as cache. I currently have SABnzbd and Sickbeard installed and running. I also have been using DownloadStation (and the chrome plugin) for torrents and general downloads initiated from my browser. I would recommend getting the Celeron G1840, and saving money on the cpu. You can then spend money on a motherboard that has all the features you want depending on your needs (i.e. dual NIC, more onboard SATA ports, mini-itx form factor, etc.). Another solution to consider is the low power quad-core celeron J1900 boards (like the ASRock Q1900-ITX). It seems like those are working well now.
Schnapps Posted July 5, 2014 #3 Posted July 5, 2014 You'll need lots of SATA connectors, a low power x86_64 CPU and max 2GB of RAM (I just changed my GA-E350 with an Q1900-ITX) and just imagine that it consumes 38W/h in full load comparing it with the former board which used to consume 58W. For a NAS that's always powered, you need to be silent, cheap and full of TBs When thinking of costs, have in mind the "always on"factor Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
down_shift Posted July 5, 2014 Author #4 Posted July 5, 2014 I have decided On a 6port sata mitx mobo with 4x4Tb drives and a h60 water cooler. All fits in a very small mitx box. Just want to know if I should go ahead with 16gb of ram to max out the system or 8gb. As well as getting a cheaper celeron processor or getting the i3. Looks like both run at 53w. So I assume it will be more with hard drives spinning? I will be running apps like sickbeard. And plex.
manfriday Posted July 5, 2014 #5 Posted July 5, 2014 I was a WHS user too, welcome to what should have been. ZOTAC Atom Dual-Core 1.6GHz/MCP7A-ION/DVI&HDMI/A&V&GbE/Mini ITX Motherboard IONITX-G-E with 2GB RAM barely breaks a sweat, GIGe network moves data at around 65MBs easily. 5x2TB(soon to be 4x2) + 1x3TB(soon to be 2x3TB) drives plus a 4port PCI-E card, the mobo only has 4xSATA. This tiny rig has not been found wanting for anything. Adding drives pushes CPU to about 50% during rebuild/recalc for about 5hours. it was a $60 mobo/CPU combo, use your $$ for storage. It is on24x7.
down_shift Posted July 5, 2014 Author #6 Posted July 5, 2014 Manfriday. That seems like a good alternative if it has lower power consumption. Were you able to fit a expansion sata card in a small microatx cube case?
Schnapps Posted July 5, 2014 #7 Posted July 5, 2014 Dude, that's overkill! Go for max 2GB ram and a smaller CPU Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
manfriday Posted July 6, 2014 #8 Posted July 6, 2014 This is one of the two cards I use: IO Crest 2 Port SATA III PCI-Express x1 Card (SY-PEX40039) The other is a 4 port. both came with mini bracket for smaller case. I use tower cases to accommodate HDD's original build had 4X1TB WD RED 2.5 drives. Very low power and very reliable (at least for me)
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