admin at lctn.org wrote: > I am looking at putting together a homemade NAS unit, with around 1.5 to 2 > Tb of hard drive space. Is there a recommended software and hardware > configuration that others are using to do the same? > > i think it depends on how involved you want to be in the process. the frenas and openfilers are great quick hits, but if you want the flexibility of doing something else down the road with that server, you might be better off running a linux distro with samba. you didn't mention AD tie in, or any other authentication needs, so i won't go there. if price is an issue, linux software raid really does the trick - just make sure you have mdamd configure to alert you when a drive fails. i've been using linux software raid in my home file servers for 8+ years, works great, and the performance is very acceptable. i see about a 5% cpu hit and that is it. my 1TB (5 x 250gb pata, raid-5) nas is full and i'm looking at building my next one. i'll be going sata this time with 500gb drives this time - but will be sticking with software raid. the hot swap enclosures are nice but will add $200-500 depending on the one you choose. if it is business critical and you can't afford downtime, its worth it as is a hot spare drive. my 2 cents!