No budget for now, and I own the SSDs already I just want to know what’s out there and what other people like.
My current setup is cobbled together from random parts and the HDDs are loud in my bedroom. I want all SSD storage (at least 4x) but with enough CPU/Ram to handle a lot of apps/VMs and some above-average demanding tasks (jellyfin, syncthing) than just being a NAS.
The only other criteria is that I would prefer it to be as small as possible (not rack mount).
If the big consideration is really sound, doing whatever is necessary to use larger, but slower (wide, high CFM per dB/RPM) and higher quality (fluid dynamic bearings) fans might serve the purpose regardless of other hardware. Some of them are rated to be <20dB, quieter than a whisper, and fluid bearings are supposed to be mostly impervious to the noise added by aging that hits a lot of fans.