Parts List

Motherboard: $79.99 – Biostar A68I-350 Deluxe

For the build, I shopped around the online and local computer stores to find the best deals. I chose a Mini ITX board for this build for a couple of reasons. First, it is small; allowing us to build a NAS that doesn’t need a tower case. Second, the Biostar A68I-350 Deluxe has almost everything you need to complete your build: integrated Radeon HD 6310 graphics, gigabit Ethernet, PCI Express x16 2.0, 4 x USB 2.0, 3 x SATA 6.0Gb/s, and an AMD Fusion APU 350D onboard. The board supports up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM, more than enough for a NAS.

This motherboard has just about everything you need to get started. With the AMD Fusion APU 350D, power consumption should be at a minimum and the two Bobcat cores at 1.6GHz each should make this NAS powerful enough to handle most needs.

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Memory: $41.99 – Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1600

The products mentioned from QNAP and Thecus both ship with DDR3 RAM, the TS-669PRO with 1GB and the N5550 with 2GB. While CPU and motherboard shopping, MicroCenter had a sale on the Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00). This is two 4GB memory modules, PC3-12800, 1.5V, a CAS Latency of 9, and Latency of 9-9-9-24. This is unbuffered, Non-ECC RAM with Ballistix Head Spreaders.

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SAS RAID Controller: $154.99 – HighPoint RocketRAID 2720SGL

No NAS would be complete without the ability to connect a few hard drives. Typically, NAS run variations of Linux and provide some software RAID functionality. With Software RAID, it is easy to expand arrays. For a few extra dollars you can get a SAS card that is capable of connecting more drives than a SATA controller card and is RAID capable. With this in mind, the HighPoint RocketRAID 2720SGL 8-Port PCI Express controller card is a perfect fit. Although we will be utilizing software RAID for the build, the card is capable of RAID 0/1/5/10/50/JBOD. There are two SFF-8087 mini-SAS connectors and the card is capable of transfer rates of up to 6Gb/s . When used in conjunction with SFF-8087 breakout cables, you can connect up to four SATA drives to each of these ports. This will provide functionality for up to eight SATA hard drives on one controller. If you are a bit more adventurous, you now have the ability to purchase a SAS expander to further increase the number of drives to… … a lot of drives. Amazon is currently selling the HightPoint RocketRAID Controller for $154.99

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Cables: $37.47 – Various

In order to take advantage of the SAS controller card, the purchase of some breakout cables is a necessity. Luckily, with a quick search on Amazon, you can find some Monoprice SAS to SATA breakout cables for $11.42 each. This takes one SFF-8087 connector and transforms it into for SATA connectors. These cables are long enough (19″ or .5m) for a big chassis, yet small enough for a small build and because one single cable is capable of four SATA connections, you can easily reduce some cable clutter. $11.42 each.

To keep wire clutter down to a minimum, some StarTech SATA Power Splitters will be used where the drives are in close proximity to each other. These allow you to take one single SATA power connection from your Power Supply and provide power to four of your SATA hard drives. These cables are black, durable, and inexpensive. $7.45 each.

OS Hard Drive: $39.99 – SSD

In order to take full advantage of speed, this build will utilize an SSD for the OS drive. SSDs give you raw speed and without any moving parts and with that a certain level of comfort can be assumed. This is absolutely not a necessity as you can use any standard drive for the OS, but I had one lying around… so why not? For us, the ADATA s511 is a speedy little drive capable of sequential reads of 465MB /s. An SSD will set you back a bit on your budget, but there are always deals to be found online. (ADATA Premier Pro SP600 32GB drive can be had on Newegg right now for $39.99)

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Power Supply: $59.99 – Corsair CX Series CX600M 600 Watt ATX Modular Power Supply

Even though you do not need an expensive power supply for a build like this, there are some benefits to buying the right one. I wanted to be able to provide enough clean power to my components while eliminating as much wire clutter as I could. A modular power supply is perfect for the task, and with a $20.00 rebate at Micro Center on the Corsair CX600M Modular Power Supply who could say no? The CX600M has plenty of connectivity built-in and coupling that with an 80 PLUS Bronze certification and the modular design, you can’t go wrong for the price.

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Case: $89.99 – Fractal Design Node 304

The Fractal Node 304 is everything you look for in a case. Well designed, plenty of options, and priced perfectly. Having chosen the Mini-ITX platform, our options were limited on cases and luckily for us, Fractal had something like this in mind when the put the 304 together. The case has room for 6 internal 3.5″ drives (without any modifications). For keeping things cool, there is a 140mm fan mounted in the rear of the case and 2 x 92mm fans up front (with fan filters!), making sure fresh air is constantly cycling through your system. Its sleek black exterior, its storage capabilities, and its price makes this the perfect case for the build.

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Totals so far… $534.68

All this combined will set you back $534.68. With the grand total at just a few bucks more than the N5550, we have a NAS that can operate with more than 8 drives (if we use the included motherboard SATA connections along with the HighPoint Controller) and can be easily updated. The NAS also sports an HDMI port along with all the possibilities of loading whatever you wish as the OS. Meaning, you have a very flexible system that should perform well, look FANTASTIC, and offer more flexibility than anything you can buy for nearly the same amount of money.