IBM Xyratex NAS - opinion?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › IBM Xyratex NAS - opinion?

HenryNZ

55 posts

Master Geek

#248386 24-Mar-2019 07:48

I am in the market for my first ever NAS. I have been looking at the usual suspects like Synology and QNAP, but good ones do not come cheap. Recently I saw a IBM NAS on trademe: it has a server grade intel CPU, 8GB RAM and 12 x 1TB drives and runs FreeNAS. Although the model number is not on the listing, it appears to be a Xyratex unit. Specification wise it seems too good to be true. So apart from the noise issue (which will not be a problem for me where I intend to put it), what is the catch?

In general, for the same money, is it better to buy a new but lower spec model (say a Synology 216se), or is it better to buy an older but higher spec model second hand?

Use case will be mainly storage / back up and would be a bonus if I can run plex and serve iTunes from it.

Mark

1653 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 555

#2204075 24-Mar-2019 08:10

Looks line it is just a repurposed XIV mode with FreeNAS installed.
FreeNAS may or may not have support for all the hardware in it.
Plus power use is likely to be high .. and noisy.

BarTender

3629 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2572

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2204408 24-Mar-2019 20:22

I would just buy a proper NAS as they will be much lower power than even a SFF PC. Which you can get off trademe for $50. Or do the SFF PC Path and load it with 3/4 disks. And then use freenas or unraid.

HenryNZ

55 posts

Master Geek

#2204415 24-Mar-2019 20:58

Thank you for the advice. I will skip the IBM XVI unit and back to the look out for a dedicated NAS.

Still not sure if I should go for a new lower spec model or an old but higher spec model second hand.

cyril7

9073 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2499

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#2204510 24-Mar-2019 22:58

If you do not require transcoding from your plex streams then the smaller arm units are fine

BarTender

3629 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2572

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2204575 25-Mar-2019 10:07

I think you are talking about this listing??

https://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/external-storage/external-hard-drives/listing-1997756325.htm

It's noisy and not suitable for room.

Yeah, it looks exactly like the HP server I purchased. You will need a full depth rack to hold it and it will be heavy.

Would go perfect under my house if I wanted to spend $400, but whenever I power on my server under the house which is below the kitchen my wife notices it is on.

HenryNZ

55 posts

Master Geek

#2204669 25-Mar-2019 13:07

Gee that is loud. I thought it might be ok to have it in the garage but not at that noise level

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

cddt

1965 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1904

#2214549 10-Apr-2019 18:03

I know it's a couple of weeks late but I thought I'd throw my two cents in in case you're still looking for a NAS or server.

Checking the CPU shows that it is from the DDR2 era. Anything that old is guaranteed to be noisy and power hungry. If the power supply and disks are "original" they're likely to be towards the end of their life. I would worry that they would fail any day. Given the age of the components, they're definitely asking too much money for something that could die tomorrow.

As a bit of a benchmark, I recently picked up a Xeon X3440 on a SuperMicro board with 32 GB DDR3 ECC memory and a newish PSU (no HDD) for $200. Still old, but suitable to add some new drives to.

If you're looking for a pure NAS - not a general purpose server - then I would go with a pre-built (e.g. Synology, QNAP). It will do one job (serve files), do it well, and do it without using too much power. You can find these second hand too.