Newbie with hardware questions

[amnuts]

Hi there!

I have had a simple HTPC running pretty much constantly for the last 10 years, maybe longer.  It wasn't much - started out as just a box under the TV with a few DVDs of mine I converted, and grew to all the DVDs, then BluRays, etc., and along the way became headless and the kids streaming from it more and more as they grew up.

Unfortunately, the box gave up the ghost on me a couple days ago, and I thought this might be the time I can finally persuade the wife (read: get permission from  ) that we should update to a more robust NAS-type system, with plenty of room to grow the storage, and maybe start backing up our PCs to it, all the photos and videos from our phones, as well as it continuing to be a streaming system.

Now, never having setup/bought/built a proper NAS device before, I headed to the NAS Compares Youtube channel to try to absorb some info about what to do... and, my goodness, there was a lot of info there!  Kinda made my head spin, tbh.  But what I came away with (rightly or wrongly), was that building my own was probably going to hit that sweet spot of still doing what I want, but maybe saving a few quid... or maybe I really liked the video with the Jonsbo N2 and N3 and just wanted to build one using that case?  

So here's the main things I want:


* Lots of drive potential so that I can easily add drives as I go (and can afford to)
* The ability to use different sized drives so I can add ones (even small ones) that I might be able to get my hands on around the house
* Emby server (like Plex) with hardware transcoding
* Supports potentially four people on the local network viewing files/stream media at the same time, and maybe a couple people remotely
* Can have docker containers running (eg, Emby, but also maybe a web server like nginx, PHP, Go, Python, so that I can run some sites/apps I'm working on, photo viewers, vpn server, or anything else that grabs the fancy)
* Be pretty forward thinking - would love to just set it up the once, and other than adding more storage if I want/need, just have it do its thing for the next 10+ years like my old HTPC

From the videos I saw, it seems like UnRAID would be a good choice for the software, and I was going to go for the Jonsbo N3.  I have a couple 6TB drives now, and would like to get them added without losing any data, so would probably set up the server first with a larger drive, copy everything to it and go from there adding the 6TB drives, and then a second large drive for the parity drive... with thought that I can then go to, say, six data drives and two parity drives.

But I find it hard to really pick hardware, and although the nascompares.com/guide/recommended-jonsbo-n3-nas-builds-for-300-500-1000 page was helpful, a lot of the prices were not as cheap as they once were?

So playing around a bit on PCPartPicker, this is what I came up with; is it totally bonkers, over the top, and I don't need anything like that at all?

Case: Jonsbo N3 (8 bays or longevity)
PSU: CoolerMaster V750 SFX (I've had some really cheap PSUs in the past burn out, but also didn't want to throw hugh amounts of cash here)
Mobo: ROG Strix B760-I (gives me two M.2 slots and 4 SATA 6Gb, and DDR5)
CPU: i5 14600K (QuickSync for hardware transcoding and iGPU)
Cooler: Noctura NH-D9L (Seemed reasonable for the CPU?)
RAM: Crucial Pro DDR5 (I know it's not ECC, but figured the DDR5 offers a little bit of extra protection built-in)
Extra SATA adapter: M.2 to SATA3.0 Adapter Card (as the mobo only has 4 ports and I want to eventually be able to use all 8 slots)
Cache drive: Crucial P3 Plus SSD 1TB M.2
HDD: 2 Seagate Ironwolf Pro's @ 16TB (one as parity, one to go as data to compliment the two 6TB drives I have)
OS: UnRAID Unleashed (figure after a year, I can either extend the license or upgrade to the lifetime one)

All in all that's about £1300, which is honestly more than I wanted to spend, but figure if it lasts my like my HTPC did, then it's only like £100/year, which makes it a lot easier to swallow.  

But being someone that's only put together desktop PCs before, maybe I'm looking at this all wrong and maybe I'm not watching enough of the videos!  But that being said; any thoughts on that list?

Many thanks!

[ed]

You’re definitely on the right track, and it’s great to see you putting in the research before diving in. The Jonsbo N3 + UnRAID combo is a solid choice for long-term flexibility, and your build is mostly well thought out. A few thoughts:

CPU Choice (i5-14600K) – Great for QuickSync hardware transcoding with Emby, but it might be overkill. If you want to save a bit, the i5-13500 or i5-13400 still have QuickSync but run cooler and use less power. Since UnRAID isn’t CPU-intensive, the 14600K might be more than you need.

Motherboard (ROG Strix B760-I) – While it has two M.2 slots, only 4 SATA ports is going to be limiting long-term. Since you want 8 drives, you’ll need that M.2 to SATA adapter, but it might be better to just go with a board that has 6 or more SATA ports natively. Something like the ASUS PRIME B760M-A or ASRock B760M Pro RS would be a better fit for a NAS.

RAM (Crucial DDR5, Non-ECC) – ECC isn’t a must for UnRAID, but if you want long-term stability, some Intel B760 boards do support ECC with certain DDR5 modules (even though Intel doesn’t officially push it). Worth checking if you want a bit of extra protection.

Storage Strategy – Your parity-first approach is smart. Adding the 16TB data drive first, then migrating your 6TB drives before adding parity is the best way to avoid data loss. UnRAID makes this pretty easy, but just be sure to double-check drive assignments before adding parity.

Power Supply (CoolerMaster V750 SFX) – Solid choice, but SFX power supplies can run loud under load. If the case allows, an ATX PSU with a larger fan (like a Corsair RM750e) would be quieter and run cooler.

Budget Consideration – If £1300 feels steep, swapping to an i5-13500 + a B760M board with more SATA could shave off a bit without impacting performance.

Final Thoughts: Your approach makes sense, and this setup should last a good 10+ years, just like your HTPC. If you’re comfortable tweaking things a little for better SATA expandability and lower power draw, you’ll have an even better long-term system.

[amnuts]

Many thanks for your reply, Ed, I really appreciate it!

They are some great suggestions, but I think my choice of case might ne limiting my ability to use the suggested motherboards and PSU? The motherboards looks great, but are mATX - the Jonsbo N3 page says it takes ITX. Same for the PSU; I would have wanted an ATX one, but the Jonsbo site says PSU support is for SFX≤105mm.

Great to know about the CPU - I'll look into that!

Again, I really appreciate your feedback, and you've definitely given me more confidence I'm on the right track to my first NAS server! :-D