ok, heres my hail mary on this whole NAS on a dime (more like on a dollar now) project. Please remember; im just looking for a passable grade, not a straight A+ cum laude. God knows that wont happen unless I put atleast a grand on the table ;)
Take 2 on the config;
CPU : Intel i3-6100 *
RAM : Corsair ValueSelect CMV16GX4M1A2133C15 1x16Gb *
MOBO : ASRock Rack C236 WSI
HDD :
Pool1 : 2 x WD Green 3Tb ** + 2x
WD Red 3Tb (Raid1Z)
Pool2 : 2 x WD Green 1Tb ** (Mirrored)
SSD : Team Group L3 EVO 120GB (Boot pool)
PSU : Corsair CX450M
Case : Fractal Design Node 304
Cooler : Shuriken Rev. B
* Bought/buying secondhand.
** Already in stock.
Then, some deliberation on these parts;
CPU : This one is a good step up from the G4400 I originally slated, because it bumps up the clockspeed, adds more cache, and provides hyperthreading (though apparently freeBSD doesnt care?). Anyway, It was 45 bucks, 9 months used, still in store warranty, so I figured it was a good deal.
RAM : I'm gonna get an earfull, I already know it, but hear me out first. :p Yes, its basic birch DDR4 non ECC, but, BUT... its temporary. I deliberately chose a single stick of 16Gb for easier reselling, until I can either afford the ghastly expensive ECC stuff, or the prices of DDR4 come down a little again (They are UP there currently!

) Theres also some confusion going on with a friend of mine; do I, or do I NOT want registered ECC? Because if I do, there's this to consider;
Kingston 16Gb Registered ECC. Otherwise there just aren't any affordable options right now and ill have to coast on regular peasant RAM for the time being.
MOBO : Its an asrock rack. Not the most ideal one, I know, but atleast its not a discoball all-flash-no-bang +/-100 euro one. It looks like its got the goods where it matters; Supports ECC (there it is), has a whopping 8 SATA ports allowing for full 6xHDD cage saturation (id have to sacrifice one for the boot drive otherwise), ample USB3.0 ports, and its got a pair of Intel NICs so freeBSD will play nice. I'll just have to pretend the audio bit isnt there.
HDD : Bit of a hodgepodge, for now. I already have two WD Green 3Tb and two WD green 1Tb loafing about. I intend to flash tweak them so they spinup quicker and can somewhat keep up with the pair of WD red 3Tb I intend to buy. I hope to ride out this config until the 6Tb drives have come down in price enough to swap out all HDDs for a fresh 6x6Tb Raidz2 down the road. Also, I doubt ill ever consider running a NAS with more drives than this.
SSD : I had to throw in a little SSD because Flash drives are rather unreliable. This one was cheap and the reviews I could find were alright enough for what it has to do, so there you have it.
PSU : Originally I had a cheap Intertec one planned, but I decided I should atleast go with a decent brand if I go cheap. Corsair has been a reliable horse in my stable for a while now, so im betting on it again. Is 450w enough?
Case : Its compact and well designed, as im used to from Fractal. Holds six normal 3.5" drives. The Node 804 has been mentioned, but its too bulky for the space I have reserved for it. It holds all the stuff I want, and has a good front to back airflow across the drives, which sounds like gravy to me.
Cooler : In all honesty I just grabbed a cheap one with good reviews. Its flat so it wont get in the way of the HDD cables, big fan so its quiet. Cant do worse than stock, and is probably way overkill for a stock speed 51W CPU. :D
So there you have it. I tried. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please share them. But if at all possible,
please avoid more expensive suggestions, im already well beyond what I wanted to spend as it is now.
