Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Still The Best?

Posted on 12 Oct 2023 📧 Subscribe
Contents hide
1 Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Your Ideal DiY NAS Case?
2 Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Quick Conclusion
2.1 Jonsbo N2 NAS Enclosure Specifications
3 Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Packaging
4 Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Design
5 Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Internal Structure
6 The Jonsbo N2 versus Jonsbo N3 NAS Case
7 Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Conclusion and Verdict
8 Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Your Ideal DiY NAS Case?

Choosing the best case for your NAS DiY project can be tough! When users are looking for NAS enclosures, where functionality intertwines with design, Jonsbo presents its N2 NAS Case, a harmonious blend of aesthetic appeal, storage proficiency, and space-conscious engineering. This review delves deep into the various facets of the Jonsbo N2, from its meticulously crafted packaging to its innovative design and internal structure. As we unpack its features, we’ll explore the significance of the subtle ‘jonsbo’ and ‘N2’ branding, the protective elements that guard the device during transit, and the nuances of its contemporary design that makes it stand out in a saturated market. Moreover, our exploration into its internal structure will reveal the efficiency with which it caters to the demands of compact motherboard designs while ensuring optimal performance. Whether you’re a seasoned tech enthusiast or someone on the hunt for a reliable NAS enclosure, this review aims to provide a comprehensive insight into what the Jonsbo N2 NAS Case brings to the table.

Interested in Building a NAS with the Jonsbo N2 NAS Case? Use the resources below to make it easier:

Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Quick Conclusion

The Jonsbo N2 NAS Case exemplifies how aesthetic appeal and functionality can coalesce. From the outset, its thoughtful packaging and accessory provisions showcase Jonsbo’s user-centric approach. The modern design, with its impressive storage capacity within a compact frame, promises efficiency without compromising on performance. While there are minor areas for improvement, like the choice of top panel screws or the lack of SATA cables, they’re overshadowed by the product’s overall excellence. For those seeking a reliable NAS enclosure that blends form with function, the N2 stands as a top contender. In the N2, Jonsbo has set a commendable standard for NAS cases.

Jonsbo N2 + TopTon Intel n5105 Celeron / Pentium n6005 Build (+$35)

  • Jonsbo N2 Case ￡74.04 – Check Amazon HERE – Check AliExpress HERE
  • Topton N5105 + 128GB NVMe + 4GB RAM ￡193.48 – Check Amazon HERE – Check AliExpress HERE
  • SATA 6 Connector ￡4.19 – Check Amazon HERE – Check AliExpress HERE
  • 400W SFX PSU ￡24.36 – Check Amazon HERE – Check AliExpress HERE

￡264.64 (128GB M.2 NVMe + 4GB RAM + 400W PSU)

(Optional/Swap) If you want to save some money:

  • Topton N5105 (NO EXTRAS) ￡159.82 – Check Amazon HERE – Check AliExpress HERE
  • Cheaper 250W SFX PSU ￡13.15 – Check Amazon HERE – Check AliExpress HERE
  • (needed for cheaper PSU) SATA to Molex Adapter ￡0.78 – Check Amazon HERE – Check AliExpress HERE

￡247.47 (no M.2 NVMe and Cheap PSU)

Note, you need an SSD for TrueNAS OS (USB for UnRAID)

Jonsbo N2 NAS Enclosure Specifications

For those evaluating the Jonsbo N2 NAS Case, understanding its specifications is crucial. The following list provides a straightforward overview of the design, materials, and features of the N2, enabling a clear assessment of its capabilities and potential fit for various applications. Dive in to get a detailed picture of what the Jonsbo N2 offers.

  • Model: N2 Black / N2 White
  • Dimension: 222.5mm(W) x 222.5mm(D) x 224mm(H)
  • Material:
    • External cover: 2.0mm Aluminum alloy
    • Internal Structure: 1mm Steel
  • Drive Bay: 2.5SSD1 / 3.5HDD5
  • Motherboard: ITX
  • PCI Expansion Slot: 1 x Low profile single slot
  • Front I/O Port: 1*USB3.0 / USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C + Audio+Mic (Headset+mic combined)
  • PSU Support: SFX ≤150mm
  • Max. CPU Cooler Height: ≤65mm
  • Max. Display Card Length: ≤197mm long (Low profile)
  • Cooling System: 12015mm fan*1 (built-in)
  • Weight: Net 2.9kg

Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Packaging

When the Jonsbo N2 NAS enclosure arrives at your doorstep, the first thing that you’re likely to notice is its relatively unassuming shipping box. While it might not be extravagant, the presence of the ‘jonsbo’ branding alongside the specific ‘N2’ logos lends an air of professionalism and assures you of the product’s authenticity.

Once you open this exterior, you’re immediately greeted by the sturdy protection of a dense, black foam. Not merely a filler, this foam has been carefully designed to envelop and shield the device from the rigors of transportation. It’s a testament to Jonsbo’s dedication to deliver their product without the blemishes and damages that can sometimes plague electronic goods, especially when you consider how many cheaper NAS enclosures neglect this critical aspect.

Inside this protective cocoon, you’re presented with a trio of items: the main attraction, the Jonsbo NAS, a user-friendly instruction manual, and an additional box that promises a range of useful accessories.

Diving into this accessory box is akin to a mini treasure hunt. It’s generously filled with an array of tools and components: screws designed specifically for the storage mediums, rubber handles that promise easy handling of trays, versatile cable ties for neat organization, and an extra alan key, a clear indication that the company anticipates and caters to the user’s needs, especially when it comes to potential adjustments to the NAS case panels.

The instruction manual, while concise, is printed on a generously-sized A3 sheet, providing a clear yet brief overview of the setup. And for those who crave a more detailed guide, Jonsbo hasn’t left them wanting; a thorough online guide awaits those eager for an in-depth installation walkthrough. That said, it still skips over a lot of the finer points and you have to dig into the website to get real useful information really.

Summarizing the packaging, Jonsbo strikes a balance between simplicity and efficiency. Their focus on protective packaging is commendable, ensuring the NAS arrives in pristine condition, ready for setup.

Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Design

The Jonsbo N2 NAS Case has managed to carve a niche for itself. Its blend of a sleek, modern aesthetic, combined with an impressive storage capability and a surprisingly space-saving design, has garnered it significant attention.

The NAS doesn’t just look good; it’s built for functionality. The generous ventilation is a testament to this, with perforations adorning almost every side. These are not mere design elements; they ensure a flow of air that complements the active cooling system, helping to maintain optimal temperatures for the device’s smooth operation.

Particularly, the upper panels showcase an extensive network of ventilation, indicative of the company’s commitment to ensuring that heat doesn’t become an issue, even during intensive operations.

The base of the Jonsbo N2 Case has a full-sized rubber panel to dissipate the vibration of the system when it operates. This is very different to the usual individual rubber feet found on other cases. It would be interesting to compare the vibration benefits of the N2 case vs the airflow/vent benefits of the system having a few mm clearance from the table.

One of the standout features is the easily detachable front panel, affixed with magnets for user convenience. When removed, it provides unhindered access to the primary SATA storage areas, a boon for those who frequently need to make adjustments or check their storage components.

Jonsbo has innovated with the SATA bays. Instead of the traditional setup, they’ve incorporated combined data and power connectors, all streamlined on a single, organized back board. This board’s reverse is equally impressive, housing the necessary SATA connectors and a duo of molex connectors, ensuring ample power distribution across all storage areas.

Moving away from the norm, Jonsbo introduces a unique mechanism for the drives. Instead of the common trays, drives are secured with screwable plugs and accompanied by rubber pull handles.

While this system might mitigate potential vibrations, there’s a distinct tactile feedback when pulling out the drives – a sensation that some might find slightly off-putting, especially given the importance of careful handling during drive extraction.

Frontal connectivity options are robust, with dual USB ports catering to both Type A and C preferences. Additionally, versatile audio input/output ports promise seamless audio connectivity.

At the rear, a detachable cooling fan is secured, promising easy maintenance. This fan, proudly bearing the Jonsbo branding, draws its power directly from the primary SATA storage bay board.

A point to note for potential users is the absence of SATA cables in the package. This necessitates an additional purchase, and angular SATA cables come highly recommended due to the spatial constraints behind the rear fan. These cables, once acquired, have a dedicated path through a discreet cavity atop the case.

SFX PSUs find a perfect match in the Jonsbo N2, which has even dedicated a removable rear plate to facilitate easy PSU access. The design intricacies extend to the plate, which latches onto the PSU as it’s integrated into the system.

Cabling within the NAS requires a meticulous approach, given the compact spaces. But with some forethought, one can achieve a neat setup that maximizes airflow and accessibility.

In its entirety, the Jonsbo N2 NAS Case stands as a testament to robust engineering and thoughtful design. Each component and facet feels deliberate, ensuring a seamless user experience. Some minor points of contention, like the choice of screws for the top panel, exist, but they are overshadowed by the overall excellence of the product.

Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Internal Structure

Upon removing the top panel, one is presented with a vast expanse ready to house the motherboard. The case is designed with M-ITX motherboards in mind, some of the most compact and efficient motherboards available today.

However, this compactness comes with its own set of considerations. The height restriction means that only CPU coolers below 60mm are compatible, and the width constraint limits the type of PCIe cards one can install.

Given that M-ITX boards inherently come with a single PCIe slot, the Jonsbo N2’s design mirrors this with one PCIe slot. The compact design means one has to be extra careful with cable management, especially when considering the access to SATA or PSU cables post motherboard installation.

After installing the motherboard, there’s a narrow but sufficient clearance for cable routing. Moreover, a dedicated 2.5” SATA niche is thoughtfully built into the side of the case, primarily aimed at housing an OS drive, showcasing Jonsbo’s commitment to optimizing every inch of space.

The Jonsbo N2 versus Jonsbo N3 NAS Case

The Jonsbo N2 and N3 NAS Cases both emerge from the reputable design pedigree of Jonsbo but cater to distinct user preferences and requirements. The N2, celebrated for its elegant contemporary aesthetics and efficient space usage, is an excellent choice for those who prefer a balance between form and utility. This compact design makes it perfect for setups with space constraints or for users who want their NAS system to have a more discrete presence.

The N3, while building on the foundational principles of the N2, showcases a series of enhancements. It boasts greater storage with its 8 SATA drive bays compared to the N2’s 5, larger CPU fan compatibility, support for heftier PCIe cards, and a dual rear fan setup for improved cooling. However, these enhancements, while beneficial for some, might be overkill for others. Larger systems generally consume more power and could introduce more noise, especially with the inclusion of an extra fan.

For users seeking a simple, efficient, and more silent NAS solution without the need for extensive expandability, the N2 might be more fitting. Its design ensures optimal performance for standard operations without the added complexities (and potential power consumption) that come with more extensive systems like the N3. Moreover, the N2’s single fan design can offer a quieter operational experience, which is a boon for users sensitive to noise or for setups in shared or quiet spaces.

Additionally, for those who do not foresee a need for extensive storage expansion or the addition of high-end PCIe cards in their NAS setup, the N2 offers a more cost-effective and straightforward solution. Its streamlined design might also be more appealing to users who appreciate minimalist aesthetics without the additional features that, while powerful, might remain underutilized.

In conclusion, while the N3 is a testament to Jonsbo’s innovative spirit and caters to those seeking advanced features, the N2 stands strong as a reliable, efficient, and minimalist choice. It’s an embodiment of the adage that sometimes, less is more, and for many, the N2 might just strike the perfect balance between performance and simplicity.

Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Conclusion and Verdict

The Jonsbo N2 NAS Case stands as a testament to how innovation, practicality, and aesthetic appeal can come together in a cohesive package. From its initial unboxing experience, marked by its protective foam shielding and the thoughtful inclusion of essential accessories, it’s evident that Jonsbo pays attention to the user’s entire journey. The N2’s modern design balances an impressive storage capacity with a compact footprint, and its meticulous ventilation ensures optimal performance even during intensive operations.

Internally, the case’s compatibility with M-ITX motherboards and its strategic design decisions highlight its commitment to space optimization and efficiency. While there are certain aspects, like the choice of screws for the top panel or the omission of SATA cables, that may seem like oversights, they are minor when weighed against the overall value and functionality of the product. In essence, the Jonsbo N2 NAS Case showcases a well-thought-out design, catering to both novice users and tech aficionados. If you’re in the market for a NAS enclosure that effortlessly merges form with function, the N2 emerges as a compelling choice. It’s clear that with the N2, Jonsbo has not only met the standard expectations for a NAS case but has indeed raised the bar.

Amazon >>>

$149 (Check Amazon HERE)

 Aliexpress >>>

$76 (Check Aliexpress HERE)
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      352 thoughts on “Jonsbo N2 NAS Case Review – Still The Best?”

      1. you deserve a like and sub
        give this man a like
        ????????????????????????????????????????????
        it’s rare to find legend people nowadays
        Thanks man that was super helpful
        ❤
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      3. Wow. another great video. Thanks so much for all the excellent content. I’ve been gearing up to replace my old Dell PowerEdge r510 12-HDD server. It’s such a noise generator and power hog. I wonder if you could maybe do a video that focuses on daisy-chaining servers for more space. I don’t want to manage multiple Unraid instances. What I’d like to do is set up one server and then attach multiple SANs as my library grows.
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      4. Thaks a lot for this! It made building my N2 NAS a breeze. Different motherboard, different power supply, but this video is an excellent resource in any case.
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      7. I’d like to hear how loud is the N3 case. The bottom fans (2 of them) are 100mm, compared with the N2 which has a single 120mm fan. The top fans look to be 80mm (or smaller). Won’t these get loud? Also, can you use a fanless PSU (e.g. SeaSonic SS-400FL2)?
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      8. Hello, thank you very much for the video, the truth is that I am very good at the topic of NAS, I usually pay for Google Drive but I am already spending 350 dollars a year, and I have seen or am considering the option of a NAS but I wanted to ask you something very specifically, I hope you can help me: Let’s see if the NAS is useful for what I want: we have photographers throughout the country of Colombia but each photographer is in a different city, I want to assign them a user and an amount of space and that they can only enter their space and with your user and they cannot see what others do, is that possible? Ty so much for your time
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      9. Great experiments! May I ask What’s the power consumption of this DIY NAS? Also if we don’t mind put the power block into the case, can I use my old pc regular power block to power up this DIY NAS? Many thanks!
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      11. In the days of lore, way back, when Drobo first appeared and later all the little NAS boxen were born; I decided that they were too expensive and way under-powered. Then I found a way to build my own home lab NAS, one where I could host containers as well as serve shares, etc. This predates Unraid and TrueNAS. Many pros were building rackmount 4U servers but then came along some very well suited m-ITX server boards. Supermicro, Asrock, Gigabyte, etc. The first build utilized Joyent’s fork of OpenSolaris and their base image called SmartOS, providing ZFS, Zones, networking, etc. in a private cloud. Then Linux became capable of the same (Joyent was bought by Samsung and development slowed). I switched to Ubuntu Server with LXD to manage native containers and VM’s and Microk8s for Kubernetes. I was even able to import my zpool. But now I am thinking I may switch to TrueNAS Scale and build a 3rd generation NAS with a Jonsbo NAS case. Newer m-ITX boards have come a long way. The advent of those M.2 PCIe SATA adapters, will free up the 16x PCIe slot allowing for dual 10GbE network card. Ultimately, home builds can be built for less but if you put a bit more power into the build, you get a lot more out of it. However, you will end up being more expensive but your NAS will be more of a home lab server.
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      15. I have the same NAS case, and I’m curious about your hard drives’ behavior. Mine are always active and noisy, even when not in use. Do you experience the same issue with your setup?
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      17. Would you make an episode about what’s better? UnRAID or TrueNAS? What gives more possibilities? What is updated more often? And what, in general, will be a better solution?
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      19. Great article, thanks.
        This case is designed for ITX mainboard.
        I have one of the smallest m-ATX mainboard (Asrock H310CM-DVS). The size is : 19.1*18.8cm , this is 2.1cm and 1.8cm more than the ITX format.
        I see there’s some free space around the mainboard, would it fit ?
        If nit would not fit out of the box, drilling new holes for the cables would be an option ?
        Thanks

        Reply

        1. The Jonsbo N2 is indeed designed for ITX motherboards, with dimensions of 222.5mm x 222.5mm x 224mm. Your Asrock H310CM-DVS mATX motherboard, with dimensions of 191mm x 188mm, is slightly larger than an ITX board, but it might still fit in the case with some caveats.

          Here’s a breakdown of the available space and potential challenges:

          Width: The motherboard’s 191mm width is within the case’s 222.5mm width, leaving 31.5mm of space on both sides. This should be enough for cable management, but tight spaces can make it trickier.
          Height: The motherboard’s 188mm height is closer to the case’s 224mm height. You’ll have 36mm of space at the top, but keep in mind potential clearance issues with CPU coolers and the top panel. Double-check the cooler height restrictions (≤ 65mm) and measure the total height of your CPU and cooler combination.
          Mounting holes: The main concern is that the motherboard mounting holes might not align with the standoffs in the N2 case, which are designed for ITX boards. Drilling new holes is not recommended as it can compromise the structural integrity of the case and void the warranty.
          Possible solutions:

          Carefully measure your motherboard and components: Ensure all components, including the CPU cooler, fit within the case’s dimensions with enough clearance for airflow and cable management.
          Consider alternative mATX cases: If your motherboard doesn’t fit comfortably in the N2, explore other mATX cases with more space or better compatibility for mATX boards.
          Opt for an ITX board: If you’re set on the N2 case, consider switching to a compatible ITX motherboard. This might require some adjustments to your build plan, but it ensures better fit and compatibility.

          Reply

          1. Let me clarify my thoughts : my goal was not to drill new holes for the mainboard itself, but for the cables to go down to the drives. Spaces between holes on ITX mainboards and m-ATX mainboards are strictly the same. So I won’t have 31.5mm on both sides.
            If the board is exactly in the middle of the case, I can easily guess how much left space I’ll have. But is it exactly in the middle ?
            For the length it seems the the little PCB for the power button, usb ports…leaves less space on the front, so the 224mm of the case won’t probably be fully usable.
            If someone could mesure what’s left on the right (on the pci side) of the motherboard and on the back (that corresponds to the front of the case), that would definitely help me

            Reply

      21. Thanks for the great info. 
        I have just built my home made NAS based on this tutorial with Unraid and it is spinning away happily on my table.
        I deviated slightly by going with the Node 304 case which I purchased locally from eBuyer for £74 delivered and the same board with 4 GB memory and the 128 GB NVME from Amazon for £151. With the saving I also added a 10 Gbe PCI card from Ali Express for £71 and a Hisource 4 port 2.5 Gbe + 2 10 Gbe uplink ports for for £29 from Ali Express
        I have to admit that getting the 10 Gbe link working with Unraid (!***!) was a bit stressful, but everything now works as it should.
        Onwards and upwards and thanks again.
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      26. Anyone using jonsbo n3, the height clerance is 298mm, does this include the bottom rubber stand. Would like to know the rubber can be unscrew out to make it lower than 298mm.
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      27. Thank you so much for this detailed video. I used it for my own Jonsbo N2 build and it was so helpful with the step-by-step instructions and guidance on the gotchas. It saved me so much time to pre-plan. Excellent video!
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      31. Hey, as this vid is 4 months old, I just wanted to ask if the mobo is holding out good? I’ve been considering it myself, just wondering if theres anything you found out later that someone looking to buy one may want to know before making a decision. Cheers for the good vid ????
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      36. HI, Great vid! I must have watched this a few times now, and am currently building my own. Currently unable to track down the pdf for the header pin layout. Did you ever add the link in for that?
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      45. This video is really well done. I have been trying to give an answer to this question for four years now. The problem is summarized at the end of the video. My time costs much more than what I save by building it myself “from scratch”. But on the other hand I am too stingy , and I like to build things myself. Frustration.
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      47. I’ve got a fractal Node 304 running a socket 2011-3 xeon, 64gb ram, and all 6 internal 3.5″ slots populated. I wish I’d have known that the Jonsbo N3 was either a thing or going to be a thing before I put this thing together. I had to get very creative with the SATA power and data connectors in the 304 to keep from running them into my Noctua fan on the cpu cooler. And even with a fully modular PSU the cramped space makes me hate it. There’s decent airflow between the drives and towards the CPU fan but.. that gives time for the drives to heat the air on the way to the CPU. Not sure if that’s a big deal or not but the thing is running well enough.

        I’m half tempted to tear the whole thing down and stuff it into an N3. Especially with the addition of the drive status LED’s and two more SATA bays.
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      50. The price of the shipping from Aliexpress not only varies, but can make or break your budget so it should definitely not be left out. For example here are the prices as of Nov 2023:
        Jonsbo N2 (Aliexpress): $93 + $97 shipping to the US = $190
        Jonsbo N2 (Amazon): $150
        Jonsbo N2 (Newegg): $140

        Jonsbo N3 (Aliexpress): $117 + $99 shipping = $216
        Jonsbo N3 (Amazon): $170
        Jonsbo N3 (Newegg): $162

        As you can see, if you are in the US it’s a no-brainer to buy the case from Amazon/Newegg as Aliexpress offers an inferior shipping experience.
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      55. 0:09: ???? This video compares the Johnb N2 and Johnb N3 systems, highlighting seven important differences.
        3:33: ???? The video discusses the features of two ITX motherboards that support M2 mvme slots and have multiple bays for storage.
        5:58: ???? The video discusses the differences in vibration dissipation and ventilation between the N2 and N3 systems.
        9:14: ???? The N3 system has better active and passive cooling capabilities compared to the other system.
        12:12: ???? The video discusses the placement and functionality of an internal PSU in a computer case.
        15:31: ???? The video discusses the importance of CPU heat sinks and fans in dissipating heat and the limited space for expansion cards in ITX motherboards.
        18:42: ???? The Jbow N3 case offers more space and better compatibility for larger and more powerful PCI upgrades compared to the Jbow N2 case.
        Recapped using TammyAI
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      58. Can you confirm that the Asrock mobo will allow 4x+4x+4x+4x lane bifurcation? I cannot confirm it, and the HyperCard requires lane bifurcation to work. An ixt board with two onboard nvme drives plus 4 drives through pcie would be a killer compact, all flash, low power, portable nas.
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      61. Hello, first thanks for the amazing help. You have me helped to decide building my own NAS. But I have a question. I have bought a Jonsbo N3 case. But there are no cooling fans behind the case. Can you tell me which fan coolers I can use for the Jonsbo N3 case on AliExpress ? Because it was not clear in the video !!!
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      65. Just a couple notes on this as I have the same case. First if you did NOT use the angled sata cables on the backplane they won’t warranty the case. Second I found a flat dual molex adapter that saved me even more room. Between the angled sata cables (same slim blue your using with 90 degree one end), and the molex adapter I was able to replace that loud inefficient 15mm fan with the standard 25mm one. Also replaced those grates on both side with basic wire grills. Both those things got me better air flow as well as less noise.
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      70. i’m a bit disappointed, your title said you were gonna build a NAS, but you just assembled a NAS :/ (i was expecting electronic component tinkering, not computer parts tinkering…)
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      71. I have just built a TopTon board (Same version) with a Jonsbo case. One note is you can actually fit that board out with 64Gb Mem so Truenas has plenty of spare capacity. I also spec’d out a lot better power supply just for the peace of mind. Wish you had done this review earlier as I would have gone with the case you had.
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      77. I’m a little confused… Did you show the correct extra parts (Re: video ~35:00)? Of the four parts shown, it seems that I would need (1) of the parts shown (top & bottom right side parts), but nothing from the left top/bottom parts. Additionally, if I select either top or bottom right side parts then I now have (2) 20-pin connectors (one from the front panel USB and one from the adapter (top/bottom right side parts)) which now need to go to a 20-pin + 20-pin splitter (not shown on your display of parts). Unfortunately, my Topton MoBo has not arrived yet so I can’t reference what is there in order to understand what’s what with all the parts you showed. Can you provide any more clarity to this? Thank you so much and thanks, again, for making this very informative video!!!!
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      79. Investing that much time and effort probably isn’t worth it unless you have time to waste or very specific possibly high-end applications.
        Also, you may want to got get a more current ITX board + CPU for more performance and RAM in this case.
        Honestly for a simple setup like that it probably is better connecting something like a TerraMaster D5-300C or ORICO-NS500RC3 to a Raspberry Pi.
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      80. I dont think you save so much time going turn key as you have to learn the software. Easiest is take an old machine, install Nas software learn how it fits in your life. Then upgrade hardware later. As a person whos built many computers, the hardware part wasnt the issue. Learning the Truenas/Proxmox/Unraid interface probably didnt take longer than the Synology interface. Now I have a machine which can grow cheaply if needed.
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      81. Those front USB connectors are standard, USB3 and USB3.1 for the Type A and Type C connector respectively, and are found on most modern motherboards. That Topton board is made as cheaply as possible, so it only has basic USB2 connectors, which is why they wouldn’t fit.
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      83. Totally a great replacement for another orange channel. You explain everything that you had to go through and other options to tackle those issues. Great vid! It s subscribe for me bud!
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      86. I’m coming back in to re-review my overall thoughts on the N2. This past week I updated my hardware so I could utilize NVME, 10gbe and the 8500T cpu I had laying around.

        My reports – This case is not enjoyable for heat when thinking about NVME. My initial thoughts was that everything would be great. I had a proper cpu cooler and then also a heat sink for the nvme. Upon firing up everything looked great…..but then I got warnings. My NVME was getting to temps of almost 60c!

        I quickly shut the system down and pulled the shell off to make sure the heat sink was alright. Everything seemed just fine but after further thought I have always had airflow over the basic heatsink which make a bit difference.

        So what do I do?

        Luckily I had either a 140mm or 120mm BeQuiet! Silent Wings 2 fan laying around and jerry rigged it to the top shell and decided to blast the entire mobo with the airflow. CPU is sub 35c and the NVME is now sub 34c.

        Users Wanting NVME beware and reminder you HAVE to have decent airflow. The N2 simply is not great for airflow with NVME or other pcie adapters that generate any kind of heat.
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      90. I’m doing a hypothetical nas build that I’m gonna build once I have the finances, and the jonsbo cases were super interesting to me. I wanna use an intel 13th gen, the 13500 specifically, and this video convinced me to get the N3, as well as having more drive bays, the possibility for more storage later is alluring, especially given that it’s relatively not much more expensive, I think it’s a much better pick than the N2
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      91. You could also consider the Fractal Design Node 304 for a 4 bay unit which has sufficient room for a small GPU card and standard ATX power supply.
        Space is tight if you select a fairly powerful CPU and large air-cooling device. Temperatures are brilliant with 4 noctua fans.
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      93. according to Topton, the pin headers on their motherboards (N5xxx and N6xxx) is only USB 2.0, were you able to confirm/deny it? The blue ports on the mobo however are indeed 3.x
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      96. Apparently the official jonsbo line on the molex and sata power connectors on the backplane is that all 3 need to be used when all 8 bays are populated.

        In terms of fans noctua nfa9 92mm will replace the jonsbo 100mm ones at the bottom, and nfa8 80mm will fit at the top.
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      98. Hi. I wanna. Hold a NAS for holding my media. No need to transcode and I’m using a Zidoo player in each of my rooms. Would the budget n2 build be ok for that. 4k rips etc
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      100. After my sick build I had to tear it all down I had to add the Noctua NH-U9S black as it just fits and is a tower design which works better with the Noctua fan Swap I did.
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      101. Am I the only one, who is not completely in line the with the choice of SFX psu for those kinds of machines? These home nas machines mostly run at idle/ with a pretty low powered cpu. 1. The PSUs are quite big and use up space that could otherwise be used for additional HDD. 2. They are often 300-400W in power. Which is quite overkill for for example a i3-12100 and 5 HDDs. I think the use of a pico PSU + good quality power brick would be a more sensible choice. What do you think?
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      102. I really like the N3 case but Mini-itx motherboards seem so limiting. I want something to last 5 years or more. I’d like to start out with something with 2.5G/1G built in networking with the ability to add a GPU on a PCIe slot later. I can only find Mini-itx boards with a single PCIe x 16 slot. However, I want the ability to upgrade to 10gb networking later. I heard that m.2 slots can be turned into 10Gbe networking but not sure if that is something I should consider. Do mini-itx with 2.5Gb builtin and 2 pcie slots exist?
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      103. The nic on the Z690M-ITX/ax is from Realtek and I heard this brand of nic has some issues especially for Truenas and some other Unix varients due to missing or buggy drivers. Is that still true? @nascompares
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      105. So I bought motherboard from Ali: N6005 and … both Jonsbo: N2 and N3. So far I have only 4x 3.5″ disks but… thinking upgrade N3 is the only option – the mobo I bought has 6 SATA ports and using M2 one can ad up to 5 more. But in N2 there is only place for 5 SATA 3.5″ disk. So if someone does not think more than 5 disks, N2 is more than enough. My complete system reports <50W on AC side - my SFX PSU is 450W - no idea why I bought such big one ;-) Of course why would you need GPU for real NAS - this mobo is not capable for anything else - just NAS. But the NAS one can build either on TrueNAS or... Debian -both will work great - btw on Debian one will have much more possibility to configure - I realised TrueNAS is superb but it is not really for anything but NAS. Much easier to go for Debian if one wants containers or so. Just my 3 cents.
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      107. Those dual 100mm fans on the N3 are so dumb. 100mm fans basically don’t exist, I don’t think Noctua makes one etc. There was plenty of room for 120mm fans on a case that size.
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      113. your antiquated selection is crap in 2023.
        Fractal Design Node 804 – Black
        MSI PRO B550M-VC WiFi ProSeries Motherboard
        Ryzen 7 5700G 8-core, 16-Thread Processor
        Thermalright AXP120-X67 WHITE ARGB Low Profile CPU Air Cooler
        Corsair VENGEANCE LPX DDR4 RAM 32GB (2x16GB) 3200MHz
        WD_BLUE SN570 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3
        IBM M5015 Array Card, Megaraid 9260-8i SATA/SAS Controller RAID 6G PCI-E x8
        INTEL Original X540-T2 Ethernet Converged Network Adaptor X540T2BLK
        8×3.5 drives, + 8x 2.5 drives & small cage
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      114. Congratulations on the 100K it is quite an accomplishment. Brilliant video. Fantastic presentation. I have a big unraid system featuring a Xeon E3 with 16 bays. but I do EVERTHIING on this. I have never regretted building my own NAS.
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      124. Beautiful build, nicely done, and I love the “on the cheap” side of things (so much, must be the Scottish in me ????) Makes me want to do this rather than get another Synology. I have the skills, but Synology just made things so “easy” that I got lazy. Thanks for the video and congrats on 100K! Here’s to the next 900K ????
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      136. I built one from used parts on eBay, for the magic price of about £187, 10 SAS 2tb drives i picked up for 80 quid, Dell H200 perc 24 quid( needed firmware changing to LSI SAS 9210-8i ), the motherboard (FM2 with 8gb of DDR 3 and 500w PSU) came to together from what someone was tipping, 64gb SSD OS disk i picked up for around 7 quid, eBay again, the only build that was new was the Mini SAS 36Pin SFF-8088 to 4 x 29Pin SFF-8482 SATA Power Cable 0.5m 20 quid, 2 x Molex to 4 SATA power cable 10 quid and a new ATX case from Amazon for around 30 quid, i manage to pick up 6 BEQUIET 120mm fans for 16 quid, i used TrueNas 12 at the time, now been updated to version13, it runs as my SMB and plex server, its on a 1Gb Lan of which i can use nearly all of the bandwidth maintaining 110MB all the time download(single user at a time), at the end of the day, i really enjoyed building it, it was fun, Im planning on building more, good stuff
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      139. I can afford to buy a branded NAS, but I prefer to go through similar to what you see in this video, not because I want to appear tech savvy, but because of the drinking involved during and after the build. I especially relish the heavy drinking involved when it fails and I have no one to blame but myself. Cheers!
        ????????
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      141. Hi. I built your big NAS build. I would have two questions:

        A) I use Samsung QVO 8 TB drives. Is there anything I have to do / setup because I use SSDs?
        B) Your amazon Link to the SATA-Port Replicator says “Tbkoly Controller Card”, if I use the link it leads to “SaiDian 1 x SATA-Port-Multiplier Controller Riser Card Adapter 6 Gbit/s 1 auf 5 Port SATA 3.0 Motherboard”, there is no Tbkoly Controller Card on Amazon. I couldn’t find one and used the replacement instead, but it didn’t work. It works perfect if only one drive is connected, the second drive does not appear. Any idea, or like a new link to a working port multiplier?
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      146. I got the same mobo (justo with the intel N6005)… there’s an internal USB port… just sayin its safer tu put the usb in ther so no one “accidentally ” pulls it out… huge mistake I made with going with a pico PSU… changed it to a 400w… no working fine… thank you for your videos! ther really helped deciding what to get!… went also with unraid
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      147. “Best Jonsbo N2 Build for Under/Around £250”
        You need a maths lesson, parts included in this comes to around £300 not £250 (based on your pricing shown)
        Also pricing is a lot higher than you stated form the sources you stated, and you use both £ and $ which is confusing /constructive criticism use one or the other
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      148. 49:16 Well I personally usually chek that 127 other things in the BIOS to make sure I don’t have to reinstall the whole system just because I changed something like SecureBoot only after I installed the OS. 🙂
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      150. Hey – nice job here. There is also the value of the learning that is in depth – you can also upgrade individual components to go with as you need. The cost of upgrading a turn key is quite a bit larger – you have about the same 2x factor I think. Interesting – worth the hour invested to watch here!
        And congratulations!
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      151. I ordered the parts for the 1.000 £ built. Thank you very much! I would have used your amazon-links (I actually did) but Amazon does not want to deliver anything to me. When I ordered, they asked me for a read-access to my bank account till the end of the year. So I had to order elsewhere. I think, you would need an amazon-alternative that is not 4 weeks away from my location.

        But anyway, great built! Looking forward to an five ssd drive nas, with 5*8 TB SSDs ????
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      153. I just built one for my friend, N6005 + 16 RAM + H6 case + 1 TB NVME SSD + 250W PSU + Unraid Plus, and spent nearly £330.

        Of course, I was building this while in China, so the shipping cost is way lower, but spent another £25 mailing it to UK.
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      155. Hey, I’ve been looking for an alternative to my NAS as mine is currently my old gamingpc, which is complete overkill and higher than ideal power consumption.

        Can I as, why this wouldn’t be good to use with TrueNAS at it seemingly fits their hardware requirements.

        I’m a bit new to all this, so please excuse me if this is a dumb question.
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      158. I *loved* this build video. So much detail, great explanation, and it is clearly a done with love for this topic. I’d be interested in a similar build video if you can find a low-cost build with drive trays rather than those off rubber-pull attachments.
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      161. It’s not just about the time spent. It’s about how much your data is worth. If you’re not thinking about things like patrol reads and notifications on disk failures. Rebuild processes for the array. Those types of things… you can end up with bit rot or data loss when not noticing hardware failures.
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      162. It’s so weird to me that JONSBO is a brand of NAS now, when fifteen years ago JONSBO was a line of table lamps at IKEA. (Rather nice ones, too!)

        (Unlike a lot of other IKEA product names, JONSBO does not appear to be a Swedish placename, but there was a 20th Century Norwegian artist named Kåre Mikkelsen Jonsborg so maybe that’s the etymology idk)
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      166. Pretty Nice Video of this build! But the most important question i have is how high is the power consumption ? Is it the same like the Qnap / Synology or is the power consumption much higher because Qnap / Synology did some optimization of their used components ?
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      168. “Sorry Captain Planet” you had a few clever comments. I have a Synology DS213 that I now realize is 10 years old but it’s all I need with 2 1TB WD Red drives in hybrid. If I had the need I’d be into building my own.
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      169. New to your channel. NASCompares and you’ve never built a NAS from scratch before?! You can build one better than any QNAP, Synology, etc. for less. As for the USB connectors from the case. They match EXACTLY what they are since one is USB 3.0 and the other is USB-C 3.2. There is nothing non-standard about them. The issue is your motherboard only has USB 2.0.
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      176. Brilliant video! This is the best tutorial and guide I’ve seen for building a fully-functional, do-it-yourself NAS. I especially appreciated the step-by-step details, and your objective, brand and device-specific recommendations, evaluations, and critiques of each of the components. The Unraid solution allowing the use of such an enormous variety and size of SATA disk drives is likewise amazing. You have motivated me to take this on myself. Thank you! Now subscribed.
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      183. Been down both paths for 20+ years. If I want to impress my peers I build my own servers. If I want to impress my family get a Synology. Played with Unraid to make hardware pass through setups with Windows XP/98 systems and 3DFX and Creative EAX cards and its an ongoing project, fraught with many many issues. They are fun projects, but you will get to the stage that other hobbies call you and a Synology is the way to go. After all, we don’t live forever and the kids will inherit them, so they need something less IT knowledge base intensive.
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      184. I’ve been looking to upgrade my Synology to a DS423+ or similar, that’s what brought me here.
        But, from what I could see, this build is just not worth the cost or hassle when I can get a pre-built unit with Synology’s DSM that is basically plug and play. Great if you want to build your own system for the hell of it, but personally I just can’t justify the time.
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      185. One recomendation I would make is using a way better power supply like an FSP or Sparkle to enhance the reliability and stability of the build (start with a good foundation) and to turn the power supply around so the vents allow the power supply to suck in cool air and the rear to exit the heat. Most newer motherboard do use the USB3 connectors provided by Jonsbo. The rest of the video is great. Congratulations to your subscriptions! Dr. Dave
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      188. Hmm way less money then i thought. Built my own stuff sense my early teens but never looked in to NAS. Now days whit all the data we have on our hands this might be a good time to start my first NAS project. Grats on 100k and thanks for the info.
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      189. What a fantastic guide! I THANK YOU!
        I’ve assembled PC last time probably 35 years ago – not many things have changed since then I can see.
        Btw why did you go with 5105 rather than 6005? No big price difference there…

        You have kept the t-shirt but you have changed the watch between the recordings – even 2 times !!! 😉
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      190. Great video as always. I was just curious about something in the £500 build with the F CPU. I’ve never used an F CPU but I always thought that it would not boot or display video without a discrete GPU or does motherboard you mentioned itself allow video output maybe through the onboard VGA/HDMI/DVI port? I apologise in advance if it was already answered in other comments or maybe the seagulls addressed it in the video!
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      197. some times i think this man live on a boat and has the greatest stabilization software on the planet because the seagulls use him ass a pit stop. good content, i have a asustor and im not fallowing the 123 or 321.
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      198. No, thank you for the fantastic video. Hope you hit 200k soon you guys deserve it. Really appreciate the thorough details My one tip would be to invest in a build mat for that poor old scratched table, helps dampen noise, stops things rolling, can be anti static or have a brand logo.
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      199. Maybe its where your from, but here in the states, I think most of us would go for a cheap, used Asrock Rack or Supermicro motherboard and cheap used CPU. Will have to jump to matx, as itx server boards are harder to find used. My truenas build is a $100 supermicro board, $35 Intel 7100, 32GB of cheap used ECC ram. Has 3 pcie slots, 1 m.2 and 8 sata ports, 2 onboard NICs and ipmi to play with. Mine is just a file server, so pretty minimal horsepower needed. Pushes 10Gbe easily. Might need something a little newer if running apps/VMs, like an 8th/9th gen Intel with more cores.
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      200. Thks Robbie buts I likes your Sabrent DS-UCTB 10-Bay USB 3.2 Enclosure (~US$350) Review a lot better or maybes the cheaper Mediasonic Probox 8 bay USB 3.0 HDD Enclosure (~US$250) ;
        Hey, I heard more from that Sea-Gull than Eddie lately (?Where’s the old Eddie-nator at?)
        Oh, justs-likes the Eddie-nator, that Sea-Gull shows-is quite enlightening 😉
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      203. When you do the N3 NAS build it would be interesting to find out if the Asrock H610M-HDV Motherboard will fit, it is an m-atx board but is only 19.7 cm x 18.8 cm so might fit and would allow use of both PCIe slots.
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      204. Congrats on 100k! This was an interesting video… I look forward to seeing you put it through it’s paces. It’s a shame that the Jonesbo case only holds five 3.5″ drives, though… if it at least held the full 6 that motherboard and cable supported, it might be more of a contender for my next upgrade dollars, once my 4-bay Synology is no longer adequate. (Doesn’t seem worth the money to upgrade and add only a single drive)
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      205. I do like these DIY Nas Video a lot. Thank you. Please more!
        How reliable is all that „crap“ from ali express anyway? I have serious doubts that the 500buck build mobo will post without a gpu. And why all that questionable stuff anyway, why not a Corsair psu and a ie msi motherboard?
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      209. The SATA cables for the Jonsbo N series cases must have right-angle plugs on one side. Don’t forget that.

        Those Topton (and other names) motherboards seem to be riddled with bugs and weirdly high idle power consumption (still low, but could be lower). Much like their pfsense appliances, they seem cheap and they have the right hardware, in theory, but it seems they have weird behaviors all around.

        Name brand motherboards can be finicky enough. While the chinese ones are cheap, I would not put one of those in charge of my data.
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      210. the fact that we can even think of building a DIY NAS for 250$ is great, though at that budget I would really consider buying used (which I understand it was not the scope of the video), in the end CPUs, RAM, SSDs and cases do not really age, sometimes I even buy used HDDs if they don’t have a lot of hours on them and I can pick them up personally
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      212. Shame that if you live in Denmark the case costs a whopping 40 quid in shipping (same online shop as the one used in the video for the purchase) while it ships free to the UK, which in reality turns it into a 140 quid case for me = budget build is not really an option….
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      215. General advice: do not cheap out on PSUs, to some it might look like a waste of money but consider that the machine you are building has to last many years and will most probably be on 24/7 or almost, the PSU is not only in charge of powering your system but also to protect it, a short circuit or a power loss in the house can harm/kill components or even effect their lifespan if the delivered voltage (by the PSU) is unstable. Also when it comes to cheap PSUs do not trust what the label says, it is normally best to check out what the community’s suggestion is before pulling the trigger.
        Its fine to buy a 25$ PSU, but please consider the downsides, in my view my HDDs and hardware (and arguably data) are worth and extra 20$ even for my low budget.

        The video war really helpful though, will there also be a video regarding the setup (software side)? I’m still hesitant to build my own NAS mostly because I’m not sure how difficult it is to replicate various services offered by synology and qnap (like Synology Drive easily available on PC and Smartphones) and how secure it would be on something like TrueNAS and others
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      221. I watched this vid and got the Tipton, I can’t work out how to turn down the fan header which seems to run at full whack all the time which is annoying, I don’t see it in the bios only the cpu. Is there another way to control the fan header?
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      222. For a future video, I would be interested to know how that Jonsbo N2 case handles the heat of a 13th gen i3 or i5 or i7. Does it throttle badly? Does it cook the drive underneath?
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      227. I’ve built many computers over the years. For me, assembling the hardware is fairly easy, configuring the software/OS is what will be a challenge for me. I have two old synology NASes and they’re ok. I’m looking to upgrade, so having the option to build a new NAS is a good thing to have. Knowing me, I probably won’t build because the software seems like something I would have to invest time into learning (and I don’t have the time unfortunately). The detailed guide on the website is really good and I will be bookmarking it in case I change my mind.
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      231. Congrats on 100k subs! I also built a NAS/HTPC (with TrueNAS) in this case recently. For the most part, I love it and would absolutely recommend it for DIY NAS/HTPC builds.

        Regarding the not-so-quiet case fan: if your motherboard has an extra fan header, connect the fan to that instead of the drive backplane. The backplane has no speed control and runs it at 100% speed 100% of the time. But hooked into the motherboard you can set the speed in the system’s BIOS. Mine now runs very quietly while still keeping the drives at 30-45°C (depending on load).

        My only gripes with the case are:
        1/ I wish the shank (the unthreaded part) of the bolts for the drive track grommets were longer so that they could be screwed in tightly.
        2/ Why is the dust-catching mesh only on the side grills of the motherboard section but not on the top grill? It should be the opposite since the top is where most air intake will be happening and the sides would be exhaust (or they could have put mesh on all the grills). I removed the mesh from the sides of the motherboard area and hot-glued a mesh to the top.
        3/ Too many different bolt types for the exterior. One part has Phillips thumbscrews, another has small hex flat head bolts, another has Phillips truss head bolts, and still another uses the standard Phillips hex head case bolts. If those hex flat head bolts were Phillips instead, the whole case could be managed with a single Phillips screwdriver. And the truss head bolts could have just been standard case bolts.
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      234. Just to point out the metal thing you call “backplane” is actually called “i/o shield”. There’s a backplane on this case though and that’s the green board on the drive bay where you connect your drivers.

        TrueNAS would’ve worked, although it’d have complained about not enough memory. it would’ve probably been fine though.

        And congrats on 100k subscribers mate.
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      236. Actually great to see this option being shown, between an off the shelf ready to go NAS and a rack mounted NAS (but not everyone has the space for 1U, 2U or even 4U racks). I might go down this route next time.
        If you can find one get the Intel N100 board instead, for a little more money (coz it’s newer) it’s way more powerful then the N5105, I’m running pfSense on the Intel N100 as my router, but I haven’t seen a board only version on Aliexpress yet although the search is terrible, it’s just what I’d do, especially if you wanna run lots of containers or CCTV recording, the N5105 can do that just fine, coz I’m doing it on my QNAP TS–464, just thinking more longer term.
        Robbie, one thing that might be worth testing is PSU orientation and temperatures, I see you put the fan facing inwards, would be interesting to see if temps on the motherboard and in fact drives were higher or lower if the PSU was facing out through the case vents, and thinking about after seeing Gamers Nexus test a Fractal Design mini ITX case, if there’s any sound difference the orientation.
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      237. Robbie, how about a video where you give us a glimpse of your upcoming videos and open the comments to request videos. I watch a lot of your older videos as I tackle new projects and find that many are out of date due to software updates, many need clarification ( I need the Step By Step Guide For Complete Idiots type instruction), and asking questions generally gets no replies from anyone.
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      238. Nice project but some improvements are possible. For example some cable management should be in order in the space behind your fan. As it is now the cables are obstructing the airflow to the Sata backplate. And the airflow is already disputable as it is with such constructions. And by the way: that “backplate” is also known as an i/o shield.
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      240. Great video, exactly what I was looking for.
        I would like to point out a detail that was left out about the total cost, standard low budget PSUs normally have abysmal power efficiency under light load which means that the PSU could even pull double the required wattage from the wall (so, half goes to waste because of inefficiency), over a span of 5y this could add up to a substantial difference in the final price.
        (this is based on the fact that normally a NAS comes with a 12V power supply which is designed for that type of load while a standard PSU for PCs has 3V, 5V and 12V rails and the unit normally has its peak efficiency around 50-65% load)
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      242. I’ve been thinking about building a NAS myself but conflicted with platform. I want storage but also the ability to run a plex server and a small vm or two for system monitoring and other random things.
        Would a topton N6005 board suffice for this or, do I need to go with a ryzen 5700G?
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      247. Great video, and congrats on the 100K although I’m only just finding the channel now. Currently running 3x Buffalo Linkstation units on RAID 1 each and looking for something to increase my capacity/drive use efficiency and this has been a huge help. Any recommended 6x 3.5″ bay cases out there?
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      249. Great Video. I got motivated to build my own NAS, but when I checked out current prices on the recommended parts, I ended up with a $500 shopping cart on Amazon. Bummer. I guess word got out. That’s generally what happens. Still looking to keep the cost to about $250 – $300 . . .
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      250. Does any air actually flow out between the drives? I mean, that’s the point of that case fan right?

        Why would you run the OS from the USB stick? Wouldn’t it be considered better practice to use the nvme or the last sata for a small ssd?
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      255. I may have missed it, but was there a power consumption figure mentioned for this? PSU efficiency is quite important when you’re leaving something running 24/7! I was tempted to build one with a pico itx psu but daisy chaining power connectors is very frowned upon to get the necessary molex/sata connections!
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      259. Nice video, thankyou congratulations to 100k subs. I am horrified by the psu. This thing looks like fire hazard, I would not connect anything to it. Was probably the cheapest shit money could buy.
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      260. Wouldn’t it be better to put the power supply the other way around, so the fan is drawing the air through it’s dedicated grill on the NAS side? Or there was a particular reason to not do that that I haven’t noticed?
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      266. Fun! Wish I had build it like this myself last year, but that motherboard didn’t exist back then. Man, what a beautiful case. Mine is huge.

        Just as you’ve described, both NAS solutions have their ups and downs. I like both. My Asustor has been nice to me. The ones I built are used to back it up.
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      275. Another great video, and congrats on the 100K subs.
        You’re gonna have to do A LOT more content with this new bad boy. Detailed setup, apps, containers etc. Can’t wait for more!!!
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      288. Thank you so mutch @Robbie and eddy for the great videos and geting to 100K you both deserve this and more @NASCompares ps how about a DIY nas with a APU 8 or more cores and 32 gig of ram or 16 gig 6 m.2 0r 6 sata ssd`s and a nic 2.5 or 5 or 10 gig so on you get what i mean then plex test it with a vm and prox mox thanks as ever Kenny
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      289. The sad thing is that buying a modular PSU and short cables, in order not to have to deal with cable management, would cost more than the entire build.

        I really would ike to see a standard to make PC builds as cable-less as possible. Think about HP and lenovo workstations, or the old Mac pro.

        Congrats on the 100K milestone.
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      290. Great video! I’d love you to do a higher spec version of this video and see what you can put together on a £1000 budget. Even if it’s just a demo of what components you’d put together on that budget without the actual build! Would be great!
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      291. It’s not the peace-of-mind that’s worth the difference in price between the home built unit and a, say, Synology unit. It’s the support you get on an off-the-shelf unit and, specifically with Synology, it’s the software suite; DSM and all the wonderful Synology packages.
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      294. So the total cost in cash terms (but not time clearly) would be in the same order as say a TERRAMASTER F4-423 at around £450. So on that basis what does your DIY approach offer over the prebuilt solution? ????????‍♂
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      297. Thanks for the video and congratulations on reaching 100k subs. Definitely a major landmark for any channel.

        I’d be very interested in how this compares to the Storaxa if that ever arrives.
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      298. Congrats!
        You’ve read my thoughts with this DIY NAS. But I had some doubts about noise level of each part (PSU fan, motherboard fan, etc.), then got tired of reading reviews for each potential part of this build… Finaly, I’ve bought terramaster and cleaned up my shopping cart at Ali. )))
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      301. Robbie, thanks a lot for doing this! I have a couple of questions: (#1) About 23:18 you stacked up all the PSU wires (of the DOA PSU) behind the fan intake guard. Are you concerned about the reduced airflow from the cabling obstruction, and if not, why not? (#2) The RMA PSU came without cables, how did you handle that? One last note, your closing comments on being time rich-money poor and the expertise needed to do all of this are GREAT! So many people just forget about all of that and it’s really important to remember. Thanks again for another very informative video.
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      303. Thanks! After being retired for 8 years from IT at a fortune 50 company, I have spent the last 6 weeks watching network and nas videos on YouTube because I got a knee replacement and have lots of time. @Nascompares is one of the better channels and to celebrate thier 100k here’s a tip. If you can afford it, you can too!
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      305. Yeah, Roll-your-own!… Here goes, DSM.7.2 with RedPill on Xeon E3-1226, 16GB Ram, 10 Sata ports (6 active now), two NVME drives) and a Four Port 2.5GB LAN. All for less than that NAS board plus its ram!. Oh, Container Manager in 7.2 is just brilliant!.
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      306. Greetings from Germany. I also discovered your channel a few months ago and subscribed. Congratulations on 100k subscribers. I like to watch your channel and it has also helped me in the decision which NAS I buy and then landed on the Synology DS 920+. Self-build is no longer an option for me. I used to assemble my PC myself, but that’s long gone. The professionals can still better assemble a system than me and it’s enough for me if I then only perform the one or other upgrade.
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      307. Congratulation for you 100k subscribers, well done.
        Just a stupid question. Why did you install the PSU with the fan pointing into the housing instead towards the housing? At least I would have installed it the other way around so that it could freely suck or blow air directly outside…
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      313. I subscribed when there were only a couple thousand subs. I thought to myself that this channel would never break 10K because NAS is such a small market. But here you are, 100K. Congrats!
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      316. Congratulations mate. I’m a recent subscriber, and I don’t watch every video (I mainly skip the ones on low-end NAS’s like the Synology 225X or whatever, as I know I’ll never get those), but you’ve provided great information and even when I feel I have a pretty different lean on a lot of things, I enjoy it nonetheless.

        And here I was expecting the 100K special would be Robbie embarking on The Great Seagull Massacre of 2023. Maybe an idea for 200K!
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      323. Congrats! Pretty soon you can slap a shiny plaque behind you, or maybe make a NAS case out of it!. A channel I run needs just 8k to hit 100k. Man is it slow going once you start watching the subscriber count 😀
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      324. This was fun…nice to see you build that in an hour ????

        Would have been nice to use a faster motherboard with more memory that can handle more complex VM duties… This seems like something you’d find in prebuilts
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      325. Congrats on 100K subscribers.
        Yeah, I can easily see 10+ hours of build time which at any reasonable hourly rate would easily add $200 to $400 dollars unless one was doing it as a learning experience and was extremely cash poor and time abundant (a student or someone laid off in a severe recession). Reminds me of the old Heath Kits for radios and other electronic devices. Even if one would do it once, would one do it twice, let alone half a dozen times? I am still puzzled by the price disparity between a laptop and a NAS. If I go to my local Target department store I can see laptops from an i7 all the way down to a Celeron. A NAS doesn’t have a large screen or a keyboard why does it cost more to manufacture than a laptop? Or the disparity between a NAS and an Apple Mac Mini. A NAS is brain dead, but has lots of storage, while an Apple Mac Mini has lots of processing power, but little storage and needs a “Time Machine” (which Apple no longer manufactures) for backup. Perhaps there is a synergistic setup between an Apple Mac Mini and a NAS. But, unless there is a new Apple product announcement Docker X86 is crippled on Apple Mac Mini with Apple Silicon (M1, M2, etc) and one is dependent on a limited and aging supply of Apple Mac Minis (which are soon going to lack security upgrades).
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      328. I get the budget objectives of this build but personally I’d want a more standardised components setup. Brand name PSU for sure (e.g. seasonic sgx-500 fully modular), a major brand ITX or matx mboard running a recent gen intel (for transcoding ability so no need for gpu) and a matching case to suit either a storage or performance server bias or both. Unraid has the flexibility for sure I have mine on a 12 year old system running backup for other devices as its main function. I was going to throw it out for ewaste otherwise but it got me thinking with the case it was in being about to hold 10 hdds. That’s often the first time you come across unraid when you wonder what do with old hardware after an upgrade.
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      332. congrats on the subs! great video. How high are the heatsinks on the mobo? I have an ye olde HP microserver with nice pro-level drive caddies that I’ve been wondering about updgrading for a while. In the microserver the proprietary size HP Mobo has 30mm high heatsinks, and is squeezed in under the drive bays at the bottom. Do any of the BKHD mobo heatsinks/connectors stick up higher than that? Might work if I can urge the microserver case to develop a new hole for the backplane.
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