Building A Linux HTPC / Storage Server With The SilverStone CS381

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Building A Linux HTPC / Storage Server With The SilverStone CS381

SilverStone recently sent over their CS381 chassis that has proven to be quite a versatile micro-ATX enclosure that can accommodate up to twelve hard drives (eight of which are hot-swappable) all while coming in at just 400 x 225 x 316mm. The SilverStone CS381 could work quite well as a Linux HTPC / DIY Steam Linux gaming living room PC or SOHO file server system with its compact size while offering immense storage potential. Here's more on the SilverStone CS381 and our build with using a Ryzen 5 3400G that is playing well under Linux with an ASUS B450 motherboard.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=28280

[bug77]

I'm still torn between buying or building a NAS for home use.
Building is more flexible and you don't have to deal with weak ARM CPUs, but the cases available are just too big compared with off the shelf solutions.

This case right here is not bad, but who needs 8+ disks at home?

[metallurge]

I'm still torn between buying or building a NAS for home use.
Building is more flexible and you don't have to deal with weak ARM CPUs, but the cases available are just too big compared with off the shelf solutions.

This case right here is not bad, but who needs 8+ disks at home?

I do. I have two computers with 16 spindles apiece at home right now. I am about to build two more, and I really probably need two more past that. This case would be nice for something like a security DVR NAS. Go with about a six disk 3TB software mdraid RAID6 or a six 3TB disc RAIDZ2 and you'd have a nice affordable fault tolerant system which is going to blow away any commercial NAS as far as performance and flexibility, as well as upgradability and, potentially, security.

[zxy_thf]

I'm still torn between buying or building a NAS for home use.
Building is more flexible and you don't have to deal with weak ARM CPUs, but the cases available are just too big compared with off the shelf solutions.

This case right here is not bad, but who needs 8+ disks at home?

If you're feeling ARM is too weak for your NAS, the ideal NAS for you probably already needs over 4 HDDs plus an OS SSD.
For potential expansions in the future it may not be a bad idea to build a system that can handle 8+ disks.

Actually I'm already regretting my previous NAS build's upgradability.

[elatllat]

USB has the best future proofing; just add another drive to lvm/zfs/btrfs/distributedFS.

[S.Pam]

Can you use 3.5" disks in this case?

[numacross]

Can you use 3.5" disks in this case?

Yes those are 3.5" trays.

[M@GOid]

I'm still torn between buying or building a NAS for home use.
Building is more flexible and you don't have to deal with weak ARM CPUs, but the cases available are just too big compared with off the shelf solutions.

This case right here is not bad, but who needs 8+ disks at home?

There is also the fixing aspect to consider. A couple months ago Gamers Nexus channel on YT was discussing about the proprietary PSU of one of their NAS. It broke and they had a lot of headache in adapting a ATX one in place.

So if you build one and down the road it need fixing outside warranty, you can do it yourself cheap and fast. Heck, even in warranty, you can use old spare parts as a stop gap until the RMA kicks in.

[wizard69]

Interesting box. I've debated building such a box for that HTPC niche but never got around to it. This sounds like the perfect box for the job though. My biggest concern with such a box is power usage, the thought of AMD in there throws up red flags in that respect.

[M@GOid]

Interesting box. I've debated building such a box for that HTPC niche but never got around to it. This sounds like the perfect box for the job though. My biggest concern with such a box is power usage, the thought of AMD in there throws up red flags in that respect.

This guy looks satisfied with the power consumption of the 3200G on his HTPC: