DIY: Home UBUNTU NAS Server
Table of Contents
Introduction #
Back in 2003, I used to connect my computer to my old 32’ TV—those huge and heavy TVs—to watch content from the internet. At that time, eMule was dominating the P2P community (can’t talk about USENET, right? :}). Then, in 2008, I decided to build a better HTPC (Home Theater PC). It was a fully dedicated computer connected to my TV, equipped with a good motherboard, VGA, and soundboard—a solid computer with gaming capabilities. It served me well, but it was a huge black box below my TV, a bit noisy, but it did the job.
Earlier this year, I acquired a 2TB Lacie Network Space 2, a simple NAS Server, and a WD Plus Live. The WD PLUS LIVE is essentially a small computer with an operating system to play back videos and music. It has no storage, so you need to plug in a thumb drive, external hard drive, or connect it to the network to access shared files. In my case, files are stored on the Network Space 2 connected to the router. When I bought the WD, I was impressed with the image quality and its ability to play heavy files without any issues. I recently watched the Band of Brothers series, co-directed by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, in FULL HD 1920×1080. The files were about 7GB per episode of 50-60 minutes, and I played them over the network without a hitch.
Unfortunately, my Lacie NAS stopped working due to a file system problem, although the hard drive was still functioning well. There is a way to reformat the Lacie’s file system, but it’s quite a hassle. That’s when I decided to build a real NAS Server, running UBUNTU, using the Network Space’s hard drive and another 1TB drive I had lying around. I based my NAS on the DIY $200 PC from Paul Stamatiou. I don’t even know if he still has his own NAS, but I’m really enjoying mine.
Hardware #
For the hardware, I ended up with a fanless MiniITX motherboard Intel D510MO, which has an Atom processor, Gigabit ethernet (all my home network is Gigabit, so it does make a difference). I am also using a 2GB 800Mhz Kingston RAM memory, and both two SATA connectors. The MOBO has up to seven 2.0 USB and one mini PCI Express, in case I want to add more SATA drives in the future.
As I told before, I am using a 2TB HD from my old NAS, and also a 1TB HD that I had, so ≈ 3TB, good enough for now… for now!
Power supply, well, just got a regular one, but another good solution would be a tiny power supply, for example the picoPSU.
Building the case #
As the MOBO is fanless, I don’t think it would be a good idea to let it locked in a box somewhere in my apartment, so I decided to build a acrylic case and leave the sides open for air circulation.
You just need to get a drill, make some holes and you are done.
Software #
O/S #
For installing it, you could use an USB stick with ubuntu on it, and set to install from the stick, and you are good to go.
When UBUNTU was installed, internet started working right away and there was no extra driver needed, just what I like about this distro.
You may want to update the packs from your server. I like using the Terminal, you can do it simply by typing: