Celeron Built NAS vs WD My Cloud / Synology

[Khawk]

New to NAS building/software but have built a few PCs.

Have a question regarding the best route to take for stability/reliability/useability.

Deciding between building an inexpensive NAS (~$200) with FreeNAS or purchasing a "cloud" external drive.

If I build I would like to limit to something like the following:
PSU – Corsair CX430 $15.99 (Newegg)

CPU – Celeron G1840 $34.99 (Microcenter)

MoBo – ASRock B85M – ITX $49.99 (Newegg)

GSkill NS 4GB $20.99 (Newegg)

500 GB – 1 TB harddrive ~$40.00

Thermaltake Core V1 $29.99 (Newegg)

If I purchase I am thinking WD or Synology
$150+HD(s)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FWURI8K/?tag=ozlp-20
or
$125 total
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VNJ8E2I/?tag=ozlp-20

This would be for basic use / file sharing between 2 PCs + 2 HTPCs (Linux). Minimal to no video streaming.

Remote access would be nice but not required.

I am leaning Synology + 1TB HD.

Thoughts?

 

[cyberjock]

My thoughts should be obvious. If you read the recommended thread you'd find you aren't buying much of anything we recommend. So you shouldn't be surprised when I say I don't recommend the build.

 

[Khawk]

Maybe I should rephrase my question to ... would it be more beneficial to build a system based off minimum requirements or purchase Synology / WD?

 

[cyberjock]

Maybe I should rephrase my question to ... would it be more beneficial to build a system based off minimum requirements or purchase Synology / WD?

That depends on you. I, personally, would never go with Synology. I love ZFS. I love jails, I couldn't go with something as basic as a Synology. So the real question is "do you think YOU will benefit from FreeNAS over a Synology?"

 

[gpsguy]

Why would you buy 4GB of RAM for an OS that needs a minimum of 8GB RAM? 8GB is the bare minimum - whether you have a 20GB drive or a 500GB drive.

If you look around you can find some budget servers (Dell, Lenovo) for under $225, usually with 4GB of ECC RAM. Add another 8GB and you've met the minimum specs. They don't have all the bells & whistles that a SuperMicro might have, but if you only need 4 drives or less, it might be a solution.

 

[solarisguy]

Also..., how would you protect your data?????

Disks (SSD and mechanical ones) do fail from time to time. Usually, when we need them the most!