Will my old desktop suffice for a start?

[chickendiner]

Hey everyone

A few weeks ago my raspberry pi media center started to spook around a bit and it made me look for another media storage solution.
I was looking for a preferably cheap solution, so I found FreeNAS and thought maybe I can use my old desktop that is standing around in the garage.

So today I got it out to check the hardware that is installed, but since I'm by no means a computer technician I don't really know if it will suffice.

Here is the old hardware:

• Computer: Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo P5720
• Motherboard: Fujitsu D2581 (most likely)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT
• Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO (not exactly sure which one)
• RAM: 2x 1GB (HYS64T128020HU)
• A card with 3 FireWire sockets (VT6306)
• 230W Power-supply

As far as I understand I need at least 8GB RAM, but I should be able to upgrade that, right?
And one guide said it needs a 64bit processor, Wikipedia said Intel Core 2 is 64bit based. Is that correct?

Is it possible to go with a setup like this and upgrade it along the way? If yes, what kind of RAM do I need to buy?

Thank you all for any input

 

[wblock]

Sorry, with the small power supply and DDR2 non-ECC memory, it's not a very good candidate. The most memory it can handle it 8G, but it's hard to justify spending money on DDR2 RAM at this point in time.

 

[chickendiner]

@wblock Thanks for your answer.
Do you think I can go with another NAS software? I don't have money to spend. Or should I wait and get something new? Like a TS140?

 

[chris crude]

Is it possible to run FreeNAS and do some hands on learning? Most likely, I've run a core 2 Q9450 CPU and 8GB non-ECC RAM for about 8-10 months. Should you trust any of your data to this machine? NO, that's why I am updating to proper equipment soon.

 

[wblock]

Do you think I can go with another NAS software?

Possibly. I have not personally done that, and ZFS is enough of a draw that it would be hard to settle for something else. There are machines like the Dell Precision T3500 that might be pretty good FreeNAS systems for cheap. Those will all be used ("refurbished" just means used any more), and although they support ECC, the memory included might not be ECC. I have not tried them, but it was a little tempting last week when Newegg had some for $145.

 

[brando56894]

I was looking for a preferably cheap solution, so I found FreeNAS

Hahaha, sorry but you've come to the wrong place. The average FreeNAS system costs about a grand, bare minimum probably $400. If you want a cheap NAS and don't need a flashy web GUI, just throw Linux on that PC and set things up manually, if you want a GUI, use WebMin. You could check out unRAID if you want a GUI and just want to do simple file storage using hardware that old. As it stands its not a good candidate for FreeNAS, it probably won't even install in a system with that little RAM, I know I've had problems in a VM with 4 GB RAM.

 

[chickendiner]

@brando56894 hahah yeah figured that out now as well. Thanks anyway. Maybe sometime I will get my self freeNAS-ready computer.
Now I know where to check.