advice needed new NAS or new DIY PC

[sl789]

Hi all !

for about 6 years I had a following set-up : Dell Dimension desktop on which I run Ubuntu (dual boot with stocl WinXP) and D-link DNS-323.

Now both of them get broken (nice timing isn't it :-)

I thought I can get mid tower Corsair Obsidian 650 case with place for 6 harddrives and built new PC myself (I can reuse some parts from my old Dell Dimension) get good mobo and CPU as well as decent Vido card install new Ubuntu 11.10 and run LMS on it
in addition using it as home theater and for all other needs

Any reason if I still need of NAS ?

( I don't plan to run it 24/7 ).
I can always configure PC so it will wake-up on connection if I need to login and get something out of it remotely (before my DNS-323 run 24/7).

The only advantages I see in NAS are

1. low power if run 24/7 ( not my case)

2. Out of box solution ( I can built/install myself and there is a hell of free software under Linux which cover everything out of box NAS has even good one as QNAP which is expensive).

Cons of NAS

since it's ready solution I need to pay much more for "packaging"

Limited functionality

Do I miss something ?

[lrossouw]

My understanding is you're dealing with underpowered CPUs on most NAS so it may underperform a regular PC installation.

[aubuti]

I'm not familiar with the particular pc platform you're suggesting, but it sounds like a beast. In that case the lower power consumption advantages of the NAS aren't limited to the situation of running it 24/7. That power-saving advantage of the NAS would apply _anytime_ you wanted to run the pc to serve music when it would otherwise be asleep. What that power saving is worth to you depends on a lot of factors, including cost, how green your utility's power generation (and how much you care), etc. Using ACPI power mgmt and wake-on-LAN can help reduce the footprint of a roaring 6-bay midtower pc, but only when you're not actually using the pc for something.

That said, for running LMS I generally recommend a low power pc over a NAS. You get more processing oomph and more flexibility than you would for a comparably-priced NAS. And since you're comfortable with DIY that just tilts the scales more in the DIY PC's favor.