Components
The Cloudmaker Build offers a perfect balance between performance and efficiency. It’s designed not only to handle high-demand media streaming and cloud services but also to remain energy efficient during continuous operation. Every component has been chosen for its reliability and ability to integrate seamlessly, allowing for future upgrades without compromise.
| Category | Part | Buy (Affiliate) |
|---|---|---|
| Mainboard | GIGABYTE B760M DS3H | Amazon* newegg* |
| CPU | Intel Core i3-14100 | Amazon* newegg* |
| RAM | Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 RAM 32GB (2x16GB) 3200MHz | Amazon* newegg* |
| Power Supply | CORSAIR CX550 | Amazon* newegg* |
| Case | Fractal Design Node 804 | Amazon* newegg* |
Storage
To ensure both speed and reliability, the Cloudmaker Build leverages a dual-drive storage solution. A 1TB NVMe SSD serves as a high-speed cache and powers Docker containers and virtual machines, providing swift access and responsive performance. Complementing this, two 14TB HDDs offer expansive data storage—one dedicated to housing your files and media, and the other reserved for parity to safeguard against drive failures. This balanced approach delivers both high-performance and robust redundancy for your home cloud setup.
| Category | Part | Best for | Buy (Affiliate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSD | Crucial P3 Plus SSD 1TB M.2 NVMe | Fast accessible storage, Docker | Amazon* newegg* |
| Hard Drives | 2x 12TB Seagate IronWolf | Bulk storage, redundant data archive | Amazon* newegg* |
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to commonly asked questions about the Cloudmaker build.
Still have a question?
If you have any other queries, feel free to ask below in the comments.
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Hello,
I was wondering if there is any way to do a RAID 5 with this setup?
Thank you
You shure can use RAID 5, but you would need a third hard drive.
If you decide to use a ZFS file system, I’d suggest a RAIDz1. It gives you more write speeds and you can still loose one HDD without loosing any data.
I already have a server to handle my docker applications, and this one will be used exclusively for storage. Should I go with the budget option?
P.S.: I’m commenting here because the reply box isn’t showing on the budget page.
Yes, if you only use it for storage, the Budget Build is sufficient. It could even handle some dockers if you later decide to do so.
If you plan to exclusively use it for storage, there are much better options. This setup if built around 12th/13th/14th gen Intel Core CPU’s, which offer a lot of power even in their i3 versions never mind i7 or i9, which comes in very useful when you use it as a home server for running multiple (heavy) VM’s, such as Windows, but a setup like this is utterly wasteful in money and resources if you’re merely looking for a storage server. Not to mention this setup lacks and is incompatible with ECC memory, and ECC RAM is a huge bonus to have for any server let alone a storage server. So if I were you I would look for a 2nd hand setup based on a 8th/9th/10th gen Intel Core i3 CPU and an ECC compatible motherboard, as the aforementioned CPU’s are compatible with it so long as the motherboard is too. Pop in 32-64 GB of DDR4 ECC RAM and you’re golden, at a fraction of the price of what this “cloudmaker” build would cost you.
Hey Pieter,
thank you for your detailed insight. You’re absolutely right — the Cloudmaker build is way more capable than a pure storage box. Its purpose is to be a storage-, media-, and Docker-server in one. If someone’s after storage only, the Budget Build with an Intel N100 is a much better choice in terms of efficiency and cost.
I agree that 8th/9th gen Intel i3 systems are still perfectly fine for storage and some media transcoding, but in my opinion they only make sense if you already have the parts or can get them very cheaply second-hand. If you’re buying new, the N100 usually offers better value, lower power consumption, and support for modern codecs like AV1 — something the 8th/9th gen chips lack — while still outperforming an i3-8100.
ECC RAM is nice to have, but not mandatory for most home setups. It’s a shame that newer Intel platforms only support it with expensive server boards, which makes it a hard sell for budget-conscious users.
Apologies if this is a silly question, but if truenas is installed to the 1TB NVME, how are you also using it as a cache? I’m under the impression that once a drive is selected to act as the boot drive, it can’t be used for other applications.
Yes, unfortunately TrueNAS needs a separate boot drive which also blocks one SATA/NVMe-port. If you choose TrueNAS as your OS, pick a cheap and small SSD from the hardware guide. It doesn‘t need to be fast and even 128GB is more than enough. It‘s just for TrueNAS to boot from. BTW: unraid also needs a separate boot drive but makes use of USB flash drives. Both have their benefits and downsides.
You don’t talk about it, but possible to install Proxmox?
Yes, Proxmox is definitely possible, however a more advanced option. Very mighty though!
Thank you for your feedback 🙂
I ordered the hardware for this configuration, choosing a 650 watt power supply, in case I integrate a dedicated graphics card. Do you recommend a CPU cooler?