ghetto-nas: Add part 1 (kinda draft.

content/posts/ghetto-nas/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+---
+title: "Ghetto NAS Part 1"
+date: "2023-08-29"
+author: "William Floyd"
+#featured_image: "media/IMG_20220126_225541.webp"
+categories: [
+    "Sys Admin",
+    "Hardware",
+    "Software"
+]
+tags: [
+    "NAS",
+    "3D Printing",
+    "Gluster"
+]
+series: ["Ghetto NAS"]
+---
+
+This is an ongoing project to build a custom NAS on the most minimal budget possible.
+
+# Use Case
+
+Storing a large (30TB+) amount of infrequently accessed data that must still be immediately accessible (primarily Jellyfin, Nextcloud), with some level of safety.
+
+Some details about my use case:
+* There will be no external network access except via a single local client mounting the drive and sharing via ZeroTier
+* There will be very few clients total
+* Most data is replaceable, though inconveniently so (media may be reacquired / restored from backups)
+* Neither latency nor throughput are very important
+
+# Bill of Materials
+
+| Quantity | Item                         | Per Unit Cost | Notes                                                                                         |
+|----------|------------------------------|---------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| 3        | Dell Wyse 3030LT Thin Client | $11           | Ebay - Fairly common, though may run out eventually - other thin clients will no doubt appear |
+| 3        | HGST 10TB He10 510           | $80           | Amazon / Ebay - Very common, can pick these up any day                                        |
+| 3        | ORICO 3.5in to USB enclosure | $25           | Amazon - Could use another, this is what I chose, does the job for me                         |
+| 5        | Ethernet Cables              | $2.5          | Amazon - $12.50 / 5 pack - Or whatever you have lying around                                  |
+| 1        | 8 Port Ethernet Switch       | $13           | Amazon - Or whatever you have lying around                                                    |
+| 0.5kg    | PLA                          | $20           | For the NAS enclosure                                                                         |
+
+# Rationale
+
+In order of importance for my use case: Price > Redundancy > Performance
+
+## Hardware
+
+### Thin Client
+You simply cannot beat a whole working Linux box for $11.
+With 2GB RAM, 4GB eMMC, 1 GbE, 1 USB 3 port, and a bundled power adapter, it does the bare minimum I need.
+
+### HDD
+Similarly, **used** enterprise drives deliver an amazing value.
+For less than $9/TB or just over $10/TB with the enclosure, these drives are the cheapest possible way to get storage right now.
+By using external enclosures we can also upgrade to larger drives in future, with minimal effort.
+No shucking required!
+
+I buy ones that have a 5 year warranty (spoiler - it's worth having!).
+
+### Networking
+1GbE is plenty enough for me, but if in future I need more speed, I can find a network switch with 10GbE uplink and scale horizontally a fair bit.
+For now, a cheap unmanaged GbE switch will do just fine.
+
+### UPS
+Not 100% required, but the peace of mind in having the whole system on a UPS is worth it.
+
+## Software
+
+### Gluster
+
+I am using Gluster to run my NAS cluster.
+This is in large part due to its very modest hardware requirements, especially memory.
+I can run my nodes with less than 50% memory utilization, and not fill my limited eMMC storage either.
+It is very easy to work with, and offers flexible redundancy configurations.
+
+#### Configuration
+
+I am using Gluster with a dispersed volume, using the native client on my main server to mount the volume.
+Dispersed lets me add clusters of bricks fairly easily, which suits my needs well.
+
+### Netdata
+
+This lets me know if/when drives get full, lets me know drive temperature from SMART data, and will email me if any hosts go offline.
+
+# Experiences so far
+
+I've been too busy to document the whole process, but I currently have a 2 x (2 + 1) array running (if I'd known I'd need 6 drives, I'd have done 1 x (4 + 2), but I didn't know at first).
+Capacity is 60TB raw, 40TB usable.
+
+## HDD Failures
+
+That 5 year warranty I mentioned?
+I've needed it twice so far - one drive died about 1 month in, and a second died 2 months in.
+To their credit, the vendor got me a return package label within one business day each time, and refunded me as soon as the return package arrived.
+For now, I continue to use these drives because the $/TB is so good, but in future I may upgrade to some larger drives in the same way to keep power costs down.
+
+## Power Draw
+
+6 x HDDs + 6 x Thin Clients + Network Switch + 12V Power Supply, draws about 40W at the wall under regular load (serving files).