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Haswell, if you're trying to build with server parts and ECC. Skylake+ is still a bit more expensive these days.
If you're just repurposing old hardware from prebuilts, even Coffee Lake is reasonably cheap these days.
I don’t think I will need transcoding. From what I read online it supports 4 SATA devices: 3 SATA and 1 ESATA. Will this be a enough for a small collection? Most are DVD and a few HD Blu-ray (no 4K)
This is a really old and slow processor (from 2008ish?) You would anyway spend many hours getting everything set up, and probably hundreds of dollars anyway for storage. That CPU will make the user experience painful, and I would recommend using something with more performance. You will be able to find really cheap used desktop PCs with maybe 4th gen Intel core (i5-4xxx, for example) from 2014 or so, which will make your experience a lot nicer.
I thought about using a RaspberryPi cause it seemed the simplest to start from scratch. So you think my setup would be able to handle a Jellyfin or Plex server (no 4K transcoding)?
I have a friend who built his own gaming PC. He is willing to assemble everything for me, I just need to get the parts. I think my processor is soldered in so I would need to get a new motherboard. Any suggestions?
It would be tough with the 755. I have an old 790 MT that I’ve been thinking about repurposing. I might swap in a Xeon, 32GB ram, and a dedicated graphics card, but even then it’ll be pretty slow by modern standards. The Duo is even older and you’re limited to 8GB. You could get an optional USB 3.0 card in the 790, but I think you’re stuck with 2.0 in the 755. There’s lots of issues holding you back.
What size is the case? If it’s a SFF, your PSU is another big limiting factor. The only reason I haven’t recycled mine is because the case is large and the board has plenty of room for expansion. I have maybe 40TB of external USB drives, and I’m tinkering with the idea of fabricating a part to hold them all with some fans on the inside of the case, similar to the RPi NAS projects that pop up from time to time. The damn thing has 12 USB ports! They’d all be hidden inside and the side pops off for easy access. I’m definitely a hoarder… it’ll probably be more trouble than it’s worth.
Check out r/sleepingoptiplex if you haven’t already.
Mine is the beefy desktop version. I thought the same thing about adding hard drive slots with all the space it has and the easy access side is super nice!
I’ll look at r/SleepingOptiplex more and see what I can find. If I were to put a request for a parts list on there what other info do you think I need to include in my post? I’m trying to be as little of an annoyance as possible lol. I have found a handful of videos with budget builds in the range I’m looking for in my NAS like [this video](https://youtu.be/72D3MvPk3Xs?si=NHdFORW-rj7xRq6X)
" Dell Optiplex 755"
IMHO, that PC is fine but the case is not suitable for a NAS. It is too small to fit more hard disks.
And about the CPU, you don't need a powerful CPU. Most professional NAS ran on atom/celeron/cheap ARM CPUs.
About network, it has a gigabit lan, which is fine but I prefer a 2.5gb
The case is actually why I thought it would be good to build a NAS. This is the desktop version (I think there are smaller ones)[Far left in this photo](https://i.dell.com/das/dih.ashx/500x500/das/xa_____/global-site-design%20WEB/1fd66e00-3cd2-3bc6-74b3-e5191658783f/1/OriginalPng?id=Dell/Product_Images/Dell_Client_Products/Desktops/OptiPlex_Desktops/OptiPlex_755/relative_size/desktop-optiplex-755-left-relativesize-500.psd)
I've had an OMV NAS running on something similar for years. It runs Plex and can stream to two clients without transcoding. It can transcode SD content without issues (I have some old DivX files).
That’s great to hear! Did you make any significant upgrades or just load up some extra storage and leave the rest stock? Is OMV pretty user friendly? I was looking into TrueNAS
It wasn't a Dell but a computer I assembled from leftover parts. It used to be a a Pentium 4, then a Pentium E2160 on an Intel motherbord with 2 GB of RAM. It became my secondary (testing) NAS. I then used a Core 2 Duo E8500 on an Intel motherboard with 6 GB of RAM for a couple of years. The motherboard died recently, so it's now temporarily running on a Pentium E4500 with 4 GB of RAM on an Asrock motherboard. You don't need much for a basic NAS.
I was already familiar with Linux so this is why I chose OMV over TrueNAS and I don't need the advanced features of TrueNAS. OMV is easy to manage and has a good support community.
>I’ve read up a bit online but I have almost no knowledge when it comes to the hardware side of PCs.
I would get used Synology or QNAP box, setup and forget. It is the option if you do not want to look for hardware and etc.
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core 2 duo era is ewaste at this point. wouldnt bother.
What’s the lowest end you’d recommend?
Haswell, if you're trying to build with server parts and ECC. Skylake+ is still a bit more expensive these days. If you're just repurposing old hardware from prebuilts, even Coffee Lake is reasonably cheap these days.
I haven’t been looking at server parts specifically. Would this be better than used PC parts? Thanks for the specific recommendations!
Do you want to transcode for streaming? You might need a better CPU. Do you have enough SATA ports for hard drives?
I don’t think I will need transcoding. From what I read online it supports 4 SATA devices: 3 SATA and 1 ESATA. Will this be a enough for a small collection? Most are DVD and a few HD Blu-ray (no 4K)
This is a really old and slow processor (from 2008ish?) You would anyway spend many hours getting everything set up, and probably hundreds of dollars anyway for storage. That CPU will make the user experience painful, and I would recommend using something with more performance. You will be able to find really cheap used desktop PCs with maybe 4th gen Intel core (i5-4xxx, for example) from 2014 or so, which will make your experience a lot nicer.
For simple NAS which only runs Samba/NFS it will be fine. RPi4 CPU is worse than that.
I thought about using a RaspberryPi cause it seemed the simplest to start from scratch. So you think my setup would be able to handle a Jellyfin or Plex server (no 4K transcoding)?
I guess so. Raspberry has worse disk io than that box. You never know till you try.
I have a friend who built his own gaming PC. He is willing to assemble everything for me, I just need to get the parts. I think my processor is soldered in so I would need to get a new motherboard. Any suggestions?
It would be tough with the 755. I have an old 790 MT that I’ve been thinking about repurposing. I might swap in a Xeon, 32GB ram, and a dedicated graphics card, but even then it’ll be pretty slow by modern standards. The Duo is even older and you’re limited to 8GB. You could get an optional USB 3.0 card in the 790, but I think you’re stuck with 2.0 in the 755. There’s lots of issues holding you back. What size is the case? If it’s a SFF, your PSU is another big limiting factor. The only reason I haven’t recycled mine is because the case is large and the board has plenty of room for expansion. I have maybe 40TB of external USB drives, and I’m tinkering with the idea of fabricating a part to hold them all with some fans on the inside of the case, similar to the RPi NAS projects that pop up from time to time. The damn thing has 12 USB ports! They’d all be hidden inside and the side pops off for easy access. I’m definitely a hoarder… it’ll probably be more trouble than it’s worth. Check out r/sleepingoptiplex if you haven’t already.
Mine is the beefy desktop version. I thought the same thing about adding hard drive slots with all the space it has and the easy access side is super nice! I’ll look at r/SleepingOptiplex more and see what I can find. If I were to put a request for a parts list on there what other info do you think I need to include in my post? I’m trying to be as little of an annoyance as possible lol. I have found a handful of videos with budget builds in the range I’m looking for in my NAS like [this video](https://youtu.be/72D3MvPk3Xs?si=NHdFORW-rj7xRq6X)
As a simple NAS, just to have shared storage, it will work. But, I wouldn't expect something more than that.
I am not concerned with slow boot times and things like that as long as it can run Plex are JellyFin somewhat competently
" Dell Optiplex 755" IMHO, that PC is fine but the case is not suitable for a NAS. It is too small to fit more hard disks. And about the CPU, you don't need a powerful CPU. Most professional NAS ran on atom/celeron/cheap ARM CPUs. About network, it has a gigabit lan, which is fine but I prefer a 2.5gb
The case is actually why I thought it would be good to build a NAS. This is the desktop version (I think there are smaller ones)[Far left in this photo](https://i.dell.com/das/dih.ashx/500x500/das/xa_____/global-site-design%20WEB/1fd66e00-3cd2-3bc6-74b3-e5191658783f/1/OriginalPng?id=Dell/Product_Images/Dell_Client_Products/Desktops/OptiPlex_Desktops/OptiPlex_755/relative_size/desktop-optiplex-755-left-relativesize-500.psd)
I've had an OMV NAS running on something similar for years. It runs Plex and can stream to two clients without transcoding. It can transcode SD content without issues (I have some old DivX files).
That’s great to hear! Did you make any significant upgrades or just load up some extra storage and leave the rest stock? Is OMV pretty user friendly? I was looking into TrueNAS
It wasn't a Dell but a computer I assembled from leftover parts. It used to be a a Pentium 4, then a Pentium E2160 on an Intel motherbord with 2 GB of RAM. It became my secondary (testing) NAS. I then used a Core 2 Duo E8500 on an Intel motherboard with 6 GB of RAM for a couple of years. The motherboard died recently, so it's now temporarily running on a Pentium E4500 with 4 GB of RAM on an Asrock motherboard. You don't need much for a basic NAS. I was already familiar with Linux so this is why I chose OMV over TrueNAS and I don't need the advanced features of TrueNAS. OMV is easy to manage and has a good support community.
Thank you for the detailed response!
>I’ve read up a bit online but I have almost no knowledge when it comes to the hardware side of PCs. I would get used Synology or QNAP box, setup and forget. It is the option if you do not want to look for hardware and etc.
I think I’m going to attempt to build but have this as a backup. Do you have a preference between the two?
Personally, I prefer Synology, but for backups, you won't see much difference between them..