# Home Lab Building a custom NAS and home server from scratch. Documents the entire journey: researching parts, choosing TrueNAS over Synology, configuring storage, and lessons learned. If you're considering a home lab or want to understand what's involved in owning your own infrastructure, start here. ## Highlights Most referenced resources in this collection: - [[ZFS (Zettabyte File System)]] (5 unique files) - Core filesystem technology - [[Do Not Monolith NAS & Server]] (5 unique files) - Architecture philosophy for separating concerns - [[Plex Media Server]] (4 unique files) - Media streaming platform - [[3-2-1-1-0 Backup Strategy​]] (4 unique files) - Data protection approach - [[Synology NAS Build]] (4 unique files) - Initial commercial NAS exploration - [[Making TrueNAS Available Outside Local Network NOTES]] (3 unique files) - Remote access configuration ## Build Journey I initially set out to build a NAS, so I bought a Synology chassis. I ended up returning it and planning my own build. Over time, it turned into a more more powerful server. I'm no expert, but looking back, I think I did many things right: - ECC memory - TrueNAS SCALE - RAIDZ2 - 6x Enterprise grade HDDs - NIC that supports 2.5 and 5 GbE and auto negotiation - Spacious chassis with good airflow - Outstanding PSU Very balanced. Very high-quality. Although not cheap, I get something close to server level reliability (in features, not scale). The total cost was ~$2,500 (~$3,000 if you include GPU I already owned)—and dozens of hours of research. For comparison, TrueNAS makes a storage product with the same specs for "Home lab / small office and SMB applications" for $4,850. It includes arguably worse HDDs (this is debatable), the NIC does not support auto negotiation of intermittent speeds, has 1 fewer PCIe slot, and obviously no GPU. However, it does have IPMI, is more energy efficient, and comes with support. Granted, it was not designed to be a "server" with many Docker containers. The following notes are some helpful links + notes I took along the way (listed in chronological order). ## Forums - https://forums.truenas.com/ ⭐ - https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/ - https://forum.level1techs.com/ ⭐ - https://forums.unraid.net/ - [[Summary of the aforementioned forums]] - Forum comparison and notes ## Helpful Links - https://www.storagereview.com/review/seagate-exos-x20-20tb-enterprise-hdd-review - [Server guidelines](file:///home/ethan/Downloads/Hardware%202021%20R2a.pdf) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boKmZKTKXHc - https://dfederm.com/building-a-nas-and-media-server-for-under-500/#parts-summary - [Reddit build](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FunRAID%2Fcomments%2Fwpooe1%2Ffractal_design_node_804_build%2F&psig=AOvVaw3SOpvi_MOY1lafHznZp47X&ust=1731879602877000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBcQjhxqFwoTCIi8x7Xo4YkDFQAAAAAdAAAAABBK) ## Notes - [[Synology NAS Build]] - [[Custom NAS Potential Parts (sketch)]] - [[3-2-1-1-0 Backup Strategy​]] - [[SMR vs CMR Drives]] - [[RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks)]] - [[Do Not Monolith NAS & Server]] - [[Best Operating Systems for Home Lab, Server, and NAS Setups]] - [[Self Hosted Software]] - [[Adding More SATA to Mobo]] - [[ECC Memory]] - [[ECC Memory w Ryzen]] - [[GPU or no GPU for home server]] - [[Notes on Asrock X570M Pro4]] - [[VMs vs Containers]] - [[Custom NAS Components]] ($812) - [[Alternative Professional Custom NAS Build]] ($1,050) - [[Sequential vs Random HDD Read and Write]] - [[Synology DS1522+ vs Custom NAS]] - [[Custom NAS Specifications]] ← final parts list - [[ZFS (Zettabyte File System)]] - [[BTRFS vs ZFS]] - Filesystem comparison - [[TrueNAS SCALE]] - [[Making TrueNAS Available Outside Local Network NOTES]] - Remote access setup - [[Access App ixVolumes on TrueNAS SCALE 24.10]] - Volume access configuration - [[How to Create TrueNAS SMB Shares]] - SMB share configuration - [[Accessing TrueNAS Shares (Share) with Linux Clients]] - Linux client access setup - [[Moving Files to SMB Shares]] - File transfer to SMB shares - [[How to Test TrueNAS SCALE Network & Drive Speed]] - Performance testing - [[Hard Drive Burn-in Testing]] - [[Gigabyte MC12-LE0]] (do not buy), [B550D4M](https://usm.channelonline.com/warehousedirect/storesite/Products/overview/M023269270) ([product page](https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=B550D4M#Specifications)) is better - [[Network Interface Card (NIC)]] - [[Testing NAS Build and NIC Notes]] - [[SATA HBA Notes]] - [[Why My Server Runs Containers not VMs]] - [[Plex Media Server]] - Media streaming platform setup > My general approach is either "have a support contract" or "use generic hardware and software"