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+--- Thread: First home NAS (/showthread.php?tid=12353)
First home NAS - Enquiries - 10-03-2025
I'm looking at building my own first NAS. Nice and compact but home built to keep cosy down but also for the fun factor. Main use he back up from PCs and Plex, with option to sue home assistant in future.
Im thinking jonsbo N2 with a N100/N150/N305 topton board 16gb of ram (maybe 32gb), reputable brand PSU of 450 watt.
Storage I'm not sure looking for around 20-30tb as think that's more than I need but allowing headroom. Probs use ironwolf drives and a cache on an nvme.
Software I want easy to use so unraid looks like the likely option.
Keen to see if this is good as a first NAS build and any advice be great.
RE: First home NAS - ed - 10-03-2025
Great to hear you’re diving into your first home-built NAS — that Jonsbo N2 build with a Topton N100/N150/N305 board is a popular starting point and ticks the boxes for compact, fun, and affordable. Let me break it down for your use case.
CPU/Board
The N100 is fine for basic backups and Plex direct play, but if you want more headroom (especially for Docker services or Home Assistant in future), the N305 is the sweet spot. It’s still efficient, gives you a solid performance bump, and supports 32GB RAM if you decide to expand later.
RAM
16GB is a good starting point, and Unraid will be comfortable with that. If you plan to run more containers or VMs later, 32GB is a nice upgrade path.
Power Supply
450W from a reputable brand is a solid call. Your build won’t draw anywhere near that even with a handful of drives, but it ensures stability and room to grow.
Storage
For 20–30TB usable, I’d suggest 4 × 8TB or 4 × 10TB IronWolf drives to start, then expand as needed. Unraid makes expansion easy since you can add larger drives later without rebuilding everything. An NVMe cache is a smart idea — it’ll speed up writes, indexing, and your Plex/Jellyfin metadata.
Software
Unraid is a good choice for a first-timer. It’s much easier to get your head around compared to TrueNAS, and the community/docker support is excellent. You’ll find tons of guides for Plex, Jellyfin, and Home Assistant on Unraid, so you won’t be stuck.
Extra thoughts
• Keep Plex set to direct play where possible to avoid CPU-heavy transcoding. If you absolutely need transcoding, you might want a CPU with QuickSync or an iGPU, but for your current plan you’ll be fine.
• Don’t forget to budget for a parity drive in Unraid — it’s not mandatory, but highly recommended for data protection.
• The Jonsbo N2 can get warm if packed with drives, so consider adding a quality fan swap (like a Noctua) if noise is a concern.