Thank you very much for the suggestion! As I mentioned in other comments, an all-flash NAS would be perfect, but unfortunately, prices here are much higher. For example, a single Samsung 990 EVO 2TB costs around 150 euros, so three of them would total ~450 euros. Adding the motherboard, RAM, PSU, and case, I’d be over the budget :(

Yeah, I saw that in the manual. My concern was whether the 4-pin onboard SATA power connector could supply enough amperage for the HDDs, especially during spin-up. However, since ASRock includes the cable in the package, it should be fine.

Thank you! How much power does your Optiplex draw when idle? Also, how many 3.5" drives can it fit?

One concern I have with repurposing old enterprise workstations is the lack of warranty. As I mentioned in another comment, if something breaks, buying new hardware means I can easily send it back for a replacement…

Yeah, an SSD-only NAS would be the dream, but as I mentioned in another comment, it’s out of my budget, one 4TB SSD costs as much as two HDDs :(

Thank you! I plan to run my web services in Docker containers, I can’t even imagine running them all in the same context, haha. That said, I don’t think I need full-fledged VMs, which is why I’m leaning toward a simpler setup without Proxmox or similar.

You’re absolutely right that RAID isn’t a backup! That’s one of the reasons I’m still unsure whether I actually need redundancy. Having RAID would be convenient for quickly replacing a failed HDD and continuing to use the data without interruption. However, this server will mostly serve as an archive, so if something fails, I can wait a few days to restore the data from a backup.

Thanks! Yes, I’ve considered second-hand hardware, especially mini PCs like the one you linked, for their low power consumption. The issue for me is that they typically only have one SATA port and no space for 3.5" HDDs (only 2.5"). As you mentioned, I could probably take the board out of the case, but can it be mounted in a standard ATX case? The board layout doesn’t seem to follow standard dimensions…

In fact, I already have a mini PC (an MSI Cubi 2 with an i3-7100) that I sometimes use. I’m sure it’s fairly power-efficient, but again, it only has room for one 2.5" HDD, which limits its usefulness for a NAS setup :(

Another concern I have with second-hand hardware is what happens if something breaks. Is there any warranty? With new hardware, I can simply send it back and get a replacement, which gives me more peace of mind.

Thank you! Yeah, the R1 is very tempting, but 14W with the HDDs spun down is a little higher than I’d ideally like. Still, it’s reassuring to hear that it’s been reliable for you.

By the way, can you tell me more about the mini UPS you mentioned? It sounds like a great addition, especially for providing backup power to both my router and the NAS.

Thank you! Yeah, I considered NUCs and mini PCs in general as well. The issue is that, like laptops, they typically support only one drive out of the box. Adding more drives often requires hacky solutions or relying on USB drives, but I’d prefer to avoid USB and stick with SATA for a more reliable setup.

Yeah, I know Proxmox can be used to run LXC containers, and admittedly having the option to run a VM if necessary could definitely be useful. I’ll give it some more thought, thanks for pointing that out!

As for the budget, yes, it includes the drives. I’m aiming to spend around €500 for everything (NAS + drives). I don’t own the drives yet, so I’ll need to buy everything from scratch.

Thank you! The R1 was actually the first option I considered, as it has all the benefits of a prebuilt NAS like Synology, plus it allows for a custom OS, which is great. I’m just a little concerned about long-term reliability. Also, is it quiet? I read that you can replace the bottom fan with a Noctua fan, but I’m not sure if it supports PWM.

Yes! I watched that video, and that solution would be almost perfect. However, an all-flash NAS is out of my budget, a single 4TB SSD (even a cheaper one) costs about the same as two HDDs :(

Thank you! When I set up the server with the old netbook I mentioned in the post, it was mainly because of the built-in UPS, which was very convenient.

However, the main issue with laptops is that they typically only support one drive at most. I know it’s possible to hack something together with splitters or external boards, but I’m not a fan of relying on a hacky solution for something like this. Plus, the server will be placed in a visible area of my house, so I need to consider aesthetics as well and go with something that looks at least somewhat nice.