Purchase and configuration of Lincstation N1 and disk drives

[Enquiries]

I retired a few months ago and finally have time, ... but no money. In this scenario, I started planning and building a home NAS based on Proxmox and OMV. Despite my background in computer programming and security, I've had no previous experience with NAS. No wonder I find your internet channel and reviews so valuable. Thank you for your excellent work from a subscriber.
I am currently in love with UnRaid and the Lincstation N1 seems like a cheap, almost ideal option, but I have some doubts:
- According to your tests, what is the maximum speed I need for M.2s/2.5s units? Is there an ideal buy for the six discs?
- Which format do you recommend? Can I have problems recovering encrypted units in a disaster scenario?
- How many discs should I configure as "cache"? What is the minimum capacity for each?
- What kind of data should I store in the cache and in the M.2 and 2.5 units?
Can you please help me solve my questions and give me some recommendations? Thanks in advance!!

[ed]

Thanks for your questions! It’s exciting that you're exploring NAS solutions like the Lincstation N1. Here are my suggestions regarding disk drives and configurations:

Recommendations for Drives
SATA Bays: For your SATA bays, I recommend using WD Red SSDs or Seagate IronWolf SSDs. Both are designed for NAS use and offer reliable performance for storage.

M.2 NVMe Slots: For the M.2 NVMe slots, consider the following options, which all have excellent durability ratings (DWPD):

Samsung 970 Pro – 0.66 DWPD
Samsung 990 Pro – 0.68 DWPD
Synology SNV3400 – 0.68 DWPD
Seagate FireCuda 510 – 0.7 DWPD
Seagate IronWolf 525 – 0.7 DWPD
Seagate FireCuda 530 – 0.7 DWPD
Seagate PS5 Game Drive – 0.7 DWPD
Seagate FireCuda 520 – 0.9 DWPD
WD Red SN700 – 1.0 DWPD
These NVMe options will provide excellent speed and reliability for your caching needs.

Additional Considerations
Cache Configuration: For optimal performance, consider using two SSDs as your cache drives to ensure quick access to frequently used data.
Data Storage: Store high-frequency access files on your cache and larger, less accessed files on the 2.5” drives.

[jacksondaniel]

I retired a few months ago and finally have time, ... but no money. In this scenario, I started planning and building a home NAS based on Proxmox and OMV. Despite my background in computer programming and security, I've had no previous experience with NAS. No wonder I find your internet channel and reviews so valuable. Thank you for your excellent work from a subscriber. google block breaker
I am currently in love with UnRaid and the Lincstation N1 seems like a cheap, almost ideal option, but I have some doubts:
- According to your tests, what is the maximum speed I need for M.2s/2.5s units? Is there an ideal buy for the six discs?
- Which format do you recommend? Can I have problems recovering encrypted units in a disaster scenario?
- How many discs should I configure as "cache"? What is the minimum capacity for each?
- What kind of data should I store in the cache and in the M.2 and 2.5 units?
Can you please help me solve my questions and give me some recommendations? Thanks in advance!!

It's great to see your enthusiasm for building a NAS with Proxmox and OMV! Here are some thoughts on your questions:
Maximum Speed for M.2/2.5" Units: For optimal performance, aim for M.2 NVMe drives with speeds around 1500 MB/s or higher. For 2.5" SATA SSDs, speeds of 500-600 MB/s are sufficient.
Drive Format: Using a RAID format like RAID 5 or RAID 6 can provide a good balance of performance and redundancy. However, be cautious with encrypted drives, as recovery can be tricky if you lose keys.
Cache Disks: Configuring 1-2 disks as cache is usually sufficient. A minimum of 250GB per cache disk should work well for most use cases.
Data Storage: Store frequently accessed files (e.g., VMs, databases) on the cache, while archiving larger files (e.g., media) on the M.2 and 2.5" units.
Hope this helps, and happy building!