My 2025 NAS: I build my 60TB, 20Gbps, SSD-Cached, Xeon, ITX System for $1,165 USD inc Drives!
This build I've been planning for some time, and will be my NAS for the next 3 years hopefully, as I scale up over time from 60TB to 100TB. It's just for large video files and backups, I don't use a media server or anything like that, however, I may end up moving a few Docker containers to it such as Home Assistant, Pi-Hole, minica, Unbound, and Unifi.
🔧 Build Info
OS: TrueNAS Scale 24.04
Case: Jonsbo N2 Black ITX
Power Supply: SilverStone SX500 Modular
Motherboard: Jginyue X99i
CPU: Xeon E5-2630 V3 (8C/12T)
RAM: 8GB DDR4 ECC (will upgrade to 32GB)
Network Card: Dual 10Gbps X520-DA2 (Bridged)
OS SSD: 120GB WD M.2 SATA
Cache SSD: 1.6TB Intel DC S3510 (L2ARC)
HDDs: 3x 20TB WD Ultrastar HC560 (ZRAID1)
📓 Technicalities & Notes
Now to be clear; I recorded this in two parts, and as mentioned the RAM and heatsink had not arrive yet. The heatsink massacre was just to get me through, even though it does make it much less effective. The first part of the video was also before I had then purchased the SFX PSU, which was my mistake as I thought a slimline PSU would fit.
I didn't pay for the RAM, CPU or a few parts, but I have put links to equivalent parts below. Normally a NAS is also priced without the drives, in which case it is $471.65 AUD ($299.64 USD), but I do advertise this as 60TB, so I thought it best to include the costs.
I ended up buying a new heatsink, and a 19-pin USB type-C front panel adapter. All the parts are listed below, and may be affiliate links.
It has no iGPU, but boots without it. I just added in a GPU to install TrueNAS Scale. I used 24.04, as 24.10 has a pile of issues at the moment.
If enough people ask, I'll do a second video about setting up TrueNAS to show how it's all done. Likely with a new build just so it's "from scratch".
📊 Performance
Testing, as you'll see at the end of the video, shows me getting 1.06GB/s when it hits RAM cache (ZFS ARC), peaks of 899MB/s when it hits the SSD cache (L2ARC), and an un-cached performance of 475-515MB/s otherwise. That variation appears to be based on where the data on the drives is of course. The 10Gbps NIC port maxed out at 9.973Gbps, which I am very happy with and gives me up to 1.25GB/s if I upgrade the RAM. I won't be using it in LACP, but bridged ,with one port going to my core switch, and the other straight to my desktop. I get 0.311ms latency on average from 10 samples.
For those that bring it up; I know WD Purples are surveillance drives; as I say they came from an NVR, but my NAS is for these videos and overall my interest in videography, so it's usually large consistent reads and writes of 50-500GB BRAW and H264/H265 files.
📦 Parts List (Amazon Links are Affiliate)
TrueNAS Scale: https://www.truenas.com/truenas-scale/
Case: https://geni.us/xc1z
CPU: https://geni.us/IBhO
RAM: https://geni.us/GXJD
Mainboard: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10050...
HDDs: https://geni.us/EAtQG
SATA Cables: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10050...
Boot SSD: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10050...
NIC: https://geni.us/mBtqa
SSD: https://geni.us/RlSy
Cooler: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10050...
PSU: https://geni.us/qCTQwmW
USB-C: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10050...
💰 Costs Breakdown
(As mentioned in the video, I got a lot from AliExpress or other stores)
Case: $155.99 AUD
Mobo: $142.69 AUD
Cooler: $16.29 AUD
USB Splitter: $14.89 AUD
NIC: $22.79 AUD
Drives: $1,278.48 AUD
Cache SSD: $85 AUD
PSU: $119 AUD
OS SSD: Free
RAM: Free
CPU: Free
Initial Spend: $1,165.86 USD ($1,835.13 AUD)
Drive Credit: $762.36 USD ($1,200 AUD, selling my existing NAS drives for the upgrade)
Total Cost: $403.50 USD ($635.13 AUD)
🔗 Reddit Discussion: / 2025_nas_build_jonsbo_xeon_20gbps_60tb_onl...
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📚 Chapters
00:00 Intro and overview of the 100TB NAS build
00:48 Case overview - Jonsbo N2
01:54 Motherboard specs and features
03:38 RAM specifications
04:33 Network card - Intel X520-DA2
05:16 CPU options
05:42 SSD for cache
06:15 Hard drives - 20TB Western Digital
07:58 Total cost breakdown
09:17 Beginning the build
10:38 Compatibility issues with CPU and RAM
11:41 Front USB-C connector issues
12:16 Taking a break
13:13 Return with new compatible components
14:28 Custom heat sink modification
16:04 Fan mounting solution
17:33 SATA connector spacing issues
19:33 Final assembly and conclusion
🎵 Music: "Exit the Premises" by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0) http://incompetech.com
#Platima #Homelab #TrueNAS