Wanting to build a NAS

Hello,

As the title says I am looking to build a NAS to put into my network. I can hold my own when it comes to working on computers and networks but am by no means a pro. I am looking to use some of the parts I have just kicking around to create a low power consuming machine. Let me start with what I currently have then I'll move into what I want to accomplish.

Currently I have a X6 W7x64 system with 8 GB memory and 7 HD's installed. I have 4 other computers around the house that are all networked together (hardlined) and they all use the main X6 system for storage. That way all my documents, vids, pics, etc are accessible from any of the machines. Most are W7 OS's but a couple are still XP. So in a sense my main computer is working as a NAS right now. The problem is that W7 does not RAID the drives nicely and the thing is power hungry. While I do use flexraid for data security (makes one drive a parity).

What I would like to do is take all the hardware I have laying around and build a low energy consuming machine that I can leave on in my basement. Something that when no computer is calling to it will go to sleep and use almost no power. At the same time it needs to be strong enough to stream bluray movies to the other machines. Really not more than two machines would be calling to it at the same time and only one movie at a time. I was thinking an OS like FreeNAS or something that I can have data security while utilizing the increase in bandwidth of having lots of drives. It also needs to be easy to just add or remove drives as I get them fairly frequently.

So let me tell you what I have kicking around and if someone can please tell me how to accomplish this it would be greatly appreciated.

Processors:
3.0 celeron D
2.6 celeron D
2.53 celeron D
1.2 celeron
1.8 AMD Sempron
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz

Memory:
DDR2 PC-6400 800 MHrz 2X2GB
DDR2 PC-6400 800 MHrz 2X1GB
1xKingston ValueRAM 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)
2x512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)
PC2-5300 667MHz DDR2 2x1GB
As well as various PC-100,133, and 2700 and probably some other stuff.

MB:
FOXCoNN MB with only 2 SATA ports and 2 ATA ports. Currently has the Celeron%20D%20325%20-%20RK80546RE061256%20-%20NE80546RE061256%20%28BX80546RE2533C%29.html]2.53 celeron D[/url]

I also have one PCI card that has two 1.5 SATA ports on it.

HD:
ST980811AS
WD10EADS-00L5B1
WD10EARS
WD2500KS-00MJB0
WD5000KS-00MNB0
WD400
80 GB SATA HDS728080PLA380
Samsung sv12030N ATA
ST3200822A ATA
wd 500gb caviar blue
maxtor 541DX 20 GB ATA
maxtor diamondmax plus 40 GB ATA
and several other ATA drives just kicking around I'm sure.

I have several 20 pin PSU and maybe even one or two 20+4's. I have one very large ATX case as well as another that takes two micro boards. Both of which I am sure I can fit lots of drives and parts in. I also have a couple of other micro and full ATX cases laying around but most are those Dell cases that split in half and I don't like to use them.

I have seen RAID card but most are costly and don't have enough ports. I also saw something that took one port on on the MB and split it into 5. Not sure how well this would work and with what OS though. I have not seen any MB's that are just loaded with drive ports. I would think there is some kind of a need for this out there though.

So how can I make this work with buying as little as possible and spending next to nothing?

Thank you in advance!

That's a lot to read. How about you setup a basic computer and give it a lot of disk space, then create some shares?

I found this thing but am not sure how it works. Also a little on the pricy side. Any thoughts?

Dell Perc 6i Raid Card

From what I can tell it can take up to 32 HD's. They are SATA but with some adapters they can work with all my drives. I think