C.O.D. Monster Server Build – 40TB

You probably have already read our Build Your Own NAS tutorial, but for us it isn’t enough.  We, at COD, like to push the limits and with that , we require MASSIVE amounts of storage (mostly for our rather large library of uncompressed Kung-Fu movies).  Following up on our NAS tutorial, we are going to put together a Monster 40TB NAS (32.75TiB after RAID & Format) with spare parts, a few HDDs, and the knowledge we gained from our NAS Build Guide.

Much of what we are going to work with is parts we have had in our lab already to try to keep the costs down.   This will include recycled computer components, such as Motherboard, SSD, RAM, PSU, Video Card, and CPU.  We are going to use the same HighPoint RocketRAID controller we used in our build tutorial, as well as the same breakout cables.  Costs for this build are the Cables, RocketRAID Controller, and Hard Drives.

For the OS we are going with our favorite NAS OS, OpenMediaVault.  This OS has everything we need; plugins for more functionality, it has RAID expansion capabilities, it supports advanced user permissions, and the price is perfect!  Unfortunately, we didn’t have support built-in for the SAS controller we are using, but updating the kernel to one with support is easy enough.  With OpenMediaVault we have a solution for nearly everything we need.  The OS runs on Linux, which means we have the ability to install and run nearly anything we need to.  Most importantly, this server will need to serve up files to a bunch of users quickly and without issue.

There are other options on the table for the OS such as FREENAS or NAS4FREE. However, due to our requirements for advanced user access controls, we were unable to use them (although we did like NAS4FREE very much). If you are a fan of ZFS and all the things it brings to the table, and don’t require crazy user permissions… then perhaps you should look towards NAS4FREE for your build.

CODNAS (8) CODNAS (9)

About Joe D

I have always had a passion for everything computing. In early 2000, I decided to take my passion to the web. Thus, C.O.D. was born. Through the years we have made many great friends at C.O.D. and hope to continue our journey for years to come.

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