The plan is to create a small home server that my family can use to store all our data as a substitute to their existing available storage. While I could just get a pre-built solution, I intend to make it a DIY project, built from the ground up from bare components and software, in an effort to learn about the whole process of administering a server. The end goal is to build a solution that is not only cheaper, but I verify everything that is going on with the system.
The main hardware will be the Raspberry Pi. The latest version 5 has pretty compelling specs, but given the compatibility with cases I can still go with a Pi 4 Model B. I may even consider going x86 with a Latte Panda, but its a bit pricier.
It's a little difficult to find NAS cases for Raspberry Pi systems. Most NAS projects I've seen just have the drives dangling all over the place or left bare to the environment, so I wish for a dedicated enclosure for a more long-term solution. Perhaps most Pi owners 3D print all their hardware anyway it seems.
I've found this really cool NAS case called the Argon Eon from Argon40 that fits all my requirements. It's designed for the Pi 4 Model B and can fit two 3.5" drives or four 2.5" drives, all in a neat prism-shaped aluminium chassis. However, at 150 USD (~720 MYR) its more expensive than some regular PC cases though, but I couldn't find any other suitable alternatives. Another close option is the Raxda Penta SATA HAT expansion module using the Pi 5, but its open-air and I fear the fanless configuration might hold the system back.
As for the drives themselves, I'm on the fence between Seagate Ironwolf or WD Red, whichever is available. More importantly, I would prefer to have SATA SSDs over HDDs. For the capacity that I gauge for this project, its not a big price jump for vastly higher performance.

Muwafaqah: Preliminary Research