Table of Contents
Introduction:
in today’s video I will be getting get hands-on building my all-in-one home server. This is a step-by-step guide where I'll show you exactly how I put all the hardware together to create a working system.
Watch the full build guide on YouTube:
YouTube Video Transcript:
Hello everyone and welcome to the channel! in todays video I will be getting get hands-on building my all-in-one home server. This is a step-by-step guide where I'll show you exactly how I put all the hardware together to create a working system.
Before I start, a quick note:
- Links to all the parts I used—along with some alternatives—are in the description box below. These are affiliate links, so a huge thank you for supporting the channel if you use them.
- While you are down there you can also find links to my previous videos if you want to know why I chose these specific components or what software I'll be running on the server.
If any of this interests you, make sure you've subscribed to the channel and hit that notification bell to be instantly notified when I upload new content.
If you have questions, drop them in the comments below. You can also find me on addictedtotech.net or on our new community Discord channel Link below or at the end of this video.
Alright if your ready, let's get building!
Jonsbo N3 Case
First up, let's talk about the case. This is the Jonsbo N3, and it's the main reason I decided to build my own server. It's incredibly sleek and compact, but the best part is that it can hold up to eight 3.5-inch drives.
The case comes with two pre-installed fans, which connect directly to the Jonsbo backplate. We'll get to that later, but it's a great feature because you don't have to connect them to your motherboard.
Inside the box, you'll find everything you need: straps and rubber washers for the drives, two Allen keys for opening the case, and some extra bolts and cable ties.
To open it up, you just need to use one of the supplied Allen keys. There are four screws in total—two on each side to undo. Once they're out, the lid lifts straight off. The lid itself is solid, made from metal, and has these nice meshed vents to help with dust. I'm really impressed with the overall build quality of the Jonsbo N3 case.
Inside, you'll see a power cable plug, which we'll connect directly to the power supply later on. You also get four additional connectors: a USB 3.0 connector for the front ports, the F_Panel for the power and LED indicators, a USB Type C and the HD Audio port for the front jack.
One of the coolest features is that it has individual LEDs for each drive, so you can see their activity and status at a glance. It's a really nice touch.
Jonsbo N3 Fans
Next, let's look at the fans. The case's lower tray holds two Jonsbo fans. I'll take them out so you can get a better look. As you can see, they both come with pre-attached metal grills for protection.
Each fan has a 3-pin connector, which means they're not PWM compatible, so you can't control their speeds.
At full speed, these fans can be pretty loud, which is why I've actually replaced them with quieter, PWM-compatible ones. If you're interested in seeing that upgrade, let me know in the comments below, and I might make a video about it.
Hardware Installation
Alright, with the case all prepped, it's time to start installing the hardware. Because the Jonsbo N3 is so compact, I highly recommend following a specific installation order to avoid any headaches later on.
PSU - Coolermaster V750 Power Supply
First up, let's unbox the Cooler Master V750 Power Supply.
Inside the box, you'll find all the usual stuff: the user guides and other leaflets, a handy bag with some cable ties and Velcro straps, and an extender bracket. We won't need that bracket, since the Jonsbo N3 case already has one built-in. Then, of course, we have all the various power cables, which I'll get into more detail on as we connect them.
And here's the main unit itself. It's got a built-in fan, a power input, and a power button. It also has all the ports we'll need to power our entire system.
Before we install it, I need to remove the four screws holding the Jonsbo N3 PSU bracket to the case. The bottom two are a little awkward, so just be aware of that.
With the case out of the way for a second, I'll go ahead and attach the bracket to the PSU using these four screws.
Now we're ready to put the PSU into the Jonsbo N3. I'll start by attaching the power cable to the PSU and I will flip the power switch to the 'on' position.
Now that everything's aligned, I'll secure the PSU inside the case with screws. This part can be a little tricky, so I'm going to start with the two bottom screws first, since they're the most difficult. I found it's helpful to use some long pliers to get the second screw aligned with the hole, which makes it much easier to screw in from there.
To finish, I'll put in the top two screws. Those are pretty simple. And just like that, our PSU is installed.
Motherboard:
Now for the ASRock Z790M-ITX Wifi motherboard.
I love that this comes with a physical user manual. A lot of manufacturers have stopped including them, but for me, there's nothing better than having a paper manual in my hands to really dig into. What do you all think about that? Let me know in the comments below.
In the box, we also have the wireless antennas, which we can connect later on once the build is finished, some extra SATA cables to attach drives to the motherboard, and the motherboard's connection plate, which we'll need for the Jonsbo case later. There's also an ASRock sticker and two M.2 screws.
Alright, let's take the motherboard out of its anti-static bag and get a closer look at the components that make up this board.
This is a Mini-ITX form factor board, which is great for our compact case. It supports 12th, 13th, and 14th Gen Intel processors.
Looking at the right side of the board, we have the Clear CMOS jumper, the F_Panel header, a front-panel USB 3.2 Type-C connector, four SATA 3 connectors, and headers for USB.
We also have the main ATX power connector, two full-sized 288-pin DDR5 DIMM slots, and the ATX 12V power connector for the CPU.
Down at the bottom, there's a single PCIe 5.0 x16 slot. Using an adapter, this can actually be split using bifurcation into two x8 lanes, which is a very cool feature.
And finally, on the side, we have all the various ports: connections for the Wi-Fi antennas, optical SPDIF out, line out and in jacks, a 2.5G LAN port, USB 3.2 Type-C and A ports, a 1G LAN port plus DisplayPort and HDMI.
Installing the Intel CPU:
Now that we've looked at the motherboard, it's time to install the CPU.
The first thing I'll do is remove this plastic protective plate from the motherboard's CPU socket. It just unclips and comes right off.
Next, I'll unbox and install the Intel Core i5-13500 CPU.
Inside the box, we have the instruction manual, a sticker, and in this top section is the processor itself. It also comes with a stock fan, but I won't be using it since I've chosen a different cooler for this build.
To install the CPU, I need to first release this CPU arm and open up the metal plate that secures the CPU to the motherboard.
Now I'll carefully remove the CPU from its plastic case. To make sure that I am putting it in the right way, I will look for a small arrow marked on the CPU and align it with the matching arrow on the motherboard's CPU socket.
When inserting the CPU, it's really important not to apply any pressure. Forcing it can bend the pins, which could damage your CPU or motherboard. Instead, just let gravity do the work. When it's correctly aligned, the CPU will fall perfectly into place.
Once the CPU is seated correctly, I will place the metal cap back down and pull the arm back into place to secure it.
Installing the CPU Cooler:
Now, let's unbox and install the CPU cooler.
Inside the box, there's an accessories box, and beneath that, we have the cooler itself. This cooler doesn't have any pre-applied thermal paste, so we'll need to add some before we attach it to the CPU.
I went with the Noctua NH-L9x65 in black. It has a great small form factor, which will give us more space for airflow and cable management in this compact case.
In the accessories box, we have the instructions. Since I'm using an Intel i5-13500 CPU, I'll be using the Intel-specific parts. Noctua even includes their own thermal paste, which is a great bonus. You also get a metal Noctua sticker!
The bags for the Intel parts are all clearly labelled, and the instruction manual is really well put together with step-by-step details. You can pause the video here if you want to take a closer look. The manual also shows you the best ways to apply the thermal paste, which we'll be doing in a moment.
Noctua also provides a fan connector extender in case you need it, but I won't be using it for this build. The final part we need is the backplate bracket to connect everything together.
Alright, let's put it all together.
First, I need to secure the bracket to the motherboard. I'll need the first set of four bolts and clips to do this. I'll insert a bolt into the outer hole of the bracket and then add a clip to secure it. This example here is the incorrect way to install the bolt; if you do it this way, you'll have alignment issues. This is the correct way to align the bracket and clips. I'll repeat this for all four corners until it fits perfectly.
Next, I'll grab the correct plastic spacers for my CPU. Since I'm using an Intel LGA1700 socket, the manual says I need the blue spacers. I'll place one on each bolt, then add the metal bracket and finger-tighten the bolts to hold it in place. I'll do the same for the other side and then gently tighten everything with a screwdriver.
Okay, now it's time to apply the thermal paste to the CPU. I'll follow the pattern shown in the manual: four small dots in the corners and one larger dot in the middle.
Now the CPU is ready for the Noctua cooler. Be careful when you place the cooler on top. If you don't align it correctly the first time, don't panic and lift it straight up. That can create air bubbles in the thermal paste. Instead, just keep a gentle, steady pressure and slide it into alignment.
The screws are a bit difficult to reach and tighten, and I had to go through the fan blades, which wasn't ideal. The trick here is to tighten each side a little bit at a time, alternating between the two until both sides are fully tightened.
Finally, I connected the CPU fan connector to the motherboard. In this example, I actually connected it to the wrong header. The one you want to use for the CPU fan is the one in the top-left corner of the motherboard, right here on this diagram.
Installing The Base OS Drive:
Next up we will be unboxing and installing the base operating system drive which is the 2TB Samsung 990 Evo Plus NVMe.
To install the nvme drive to the motherboard I will need to remove the metal heat sync. It has two screws either side.
Once the heat sync has been removed the drive goes in like this. Make sure the gold connectors slot into the m.2 slot fully.
Next I will be using the m.2 screw we got with our motherboard unfortunately Samsung doesn't provide one with the drive.
Getting the m.2 screw in can be very tricky I found using some long pliers really helped here.
Now the NVMe drive is securely screwed down I will remove the top sticker off the heat sync and place it back over the NVMe slots ready to be screwed into place. Again I found the long pilers useful to get the screw in to place.
Fully tighten both screws and the NVMe drive is installed.
Installing the RAM:
Now I'm going to unbox and install the RAM. I have the Corsair Vengeance DDR5 64GB of RAM. The modules come well-protected inside this plastic casing. Here we have two single stick of 32GB of ram and once installed gives the system 64GB of total useable ram.
Installation is easy. First, open all four clips on the motherboard's RAM slots. I find it easier to install the RAM by holding the motherboard on its side, as it helps prevent me from putting any unnecessary pressure on the board. This is one of the big benefits of installing the RAM before you put the motherboard inside the case. Now I will push the ram until I hear the motherboard clips snap into place. I will repeat the same process for the second stick of ram.
And just like that, the RAM is successfully installed.
Installing the Motherboard in the Jonsbo N3 Case:
Now I'm ready to install the motherboard and all the components into the Jonsbo N3 case.
First, I need to get the backplate ready. I'll open the packaging and then align it with the motherboard to make sure I have the correct orientation before I install it. With the backplate confirmed, I'll install it into the case, making sure it clicks into place on every side.
Now that the backplate is in, we can install the motherboard. Be very careful when you pick it up—especially if you're using a cooler like this, as the metal clips could fall off. Make sure to use your other hand to support the weight.
It's a pretty tight fit, so I'll move the case cables out of the way and gently wiggle the board into position. Once it's aligned with the backplate, I'll gently push the motherboard towards the back until all the ports have lined up correctly.
Now it's time to secure the motherboard to the case using the provided screws. It's important to make sure the motherboard's holes align perfectly with the standoffs on the Jonsbo N3 case. The washer goes on the screw first, and then it's ready to be screwed into the motherboard and the standoff.
I'll be using my long pliers to help guide the screws into place. I'll skip showing you how to do all the screws to save time. and we will move on to the next step.
Connecting Jonsbo N3 Cables:
With the motherboard now installed in the Jonsbo N3 case, we're ready to start connecting all of the cables.
We'll begin with the HD Audio cable, which goes into the port on the bottom left. You can tell the correct orientation because one of its pins is blocked off, so it only fits one way. When you're done, just give it an extra push or two to make sure it's snugly fitted.
Next up, we have the F_Panel connector. This goes into the PANEL1 slot, in the bottom right corner of the motherboard.
Then we have the USB 3.0 connector, which plugs in the largest slot in the middle-right side on the motherboard close to the ram slots.
And finally, we'll connect the USB Type-C cable, which goes into the F_USB32_TC_1 slot in the bottom right of the board.
This is how it all should look like when all the connectors are plugged into the motherboard.
Connecting Power Cables:
Now, I'll connect the power supply cables.
The first one will be the main ATX power connector. This one goes directly into this ATXPWR1 port on the top right side of the motherboard.
Next we need to connect the other two connector ends to the PSU.
As with all of these, they require a bit of patience and persistence to connect properly.
The largest end goes into the 18P M/B port on the PSU, while the smaller cable goes into the 10P M/B port, as you can see here.
Next up, we have the CPU power cable. One end goes into the ATX 12V port on the motherboard, and the other end plugs into the CPU port on the PSU.
Next, I have the PSU to Molex cable. This needs to be fed through the gap in the Jonsbo N3 case so that we can connect power to the Jonsbo N3 backplate.
As you can see, a single Molex cable won't stretch to fit both Molex connectors on the backplate. My solution is to use two separate PSU-to-Molex cables. This not only solves the length problem but also provides the backplate with effectively twice the power, which is a good idea if you plan on running all eight drives.
The first Molex power cable connects to one of the 5P HDD/SATA ports on the PSU. The second cable can connect to the next port over.
Now, I'll connect the SATA power cable to the Jonsbo N3 backplate. Jonsbo actually recommends using both the Molex and SATA power connections together if your motherboard can handle it. There is one port left to use on the PSU, so I'll plug in the cable, feed it through, and then insert the SATA cables into the SATA power ports on the backplate. Any excess cable and connectors can be tucked away at the top of the bottom compartment case to improve airflow.
Now I can reattach the fans by plugging them into these two fan connectors on the backplate. I would recommend using a cable tie to keep the fan cables neat and away from the fan blades.
Once all the cables are neatly managed, it's time to reattach the fans to the Jonsbo N3 case. These bolts can be put on finger-tight.
Now would be a great time for some cable management. I used a combination of cable ties and straps to free up as much space as I could for better airflow.
Installing the LSI HBA Card
Next, I'll be installing the LSI SAS 9300 16-Port HBA Card. This card has four ports, but I'll only need to use two of them for my eight drives.
For this, I'll be using two of these SAS to SATA SFF-8643 cables. Each single cable supports up to four SATA drives and uses one port on the HBA card.
Here's the card installed. I've passed the cable through the case and plugged in the first four SATA connectors. To add the remaining four drives, I'll just repeat the same process with the second cable.
One thing to know about these LSI cards is that they can run hot. To deal with that, I've added this extra fan to the side of the case, holding it in place with a bit of leftover wire. This leaves about an inch of space between the card and the fan and does a great job of keeping the card cool. The best part is that it still fits perfectly once the case lid is closed.
Adding Storage Drives:
Now I'm ready to add my first data drive. I'm starting with a 12 TB Western Digital Plus drive. To get the drive into the Jonsbo case, I need to install these rubber washers and the strap that come with the Jonsbo case, which helps with management. I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of this setup, and I did have some trouble getting the washers to line up with the case's drive rails, but it does get the job done in the end.
Next, I had an existing 20 TB Western Digital USB drive, which I "shucked" and connected directly to the Jonsbo drive bay. It worked perfectly right out of the box, with no modifications needed.
I'm really pleased with how this build came together. And as I sit here editing this video a few months in the future, I can tell you that this all-in-one home server has been perfect. It has met every goal I set out to achieve and so much more.
Outro:
And there you have it! My all-in-one home NAS server build is complete.
But it doesn't end here—this is just the beginning. I'll be continuing to document the setup of this system right here on the channel. I'll cover:
- Installing and configuring all the software
- Problem-solving and fixing issues
- Setting up users, file sharing, and networking
- Docker containers and so much more
So if any of that interests you, make sure to hit that like and subscribe button, as well as the notification bell, to get notified as soon as I upload new content.
What are your thoughts on how I built this system? Is there anything I could have done better? Are you planning to build your own all-in-one home NAS server?
Let me know in the comments below! Or, you can come join our community Discord channel. Just scan the QR code on screen or follow the invite link. I can't wait to hear from you.
Thanks so much for watching, and as always, I'll see you in the next one!
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