[olug] SMB NAS devices

[Aric Aasgaard]

I build a few similar to your requirements recently.

3ware had a sale on 9690SA-8IF cards for $195
http://www.3ware.com/DPS/
Considering it was $600 less than the 2U version of the card 9690SA-8I and
Rackspace wasn't a concern for me a bought a few.  They were out of stock
when I ordered them but I still got them.

I just got some rack chassis with hotswap cages.
 
You could just get a used Nocona Xeon/Opteron server that has 8x PCI-E ports
and hotswap backplanes.
You can usually pick them up cheap on the trader forums....

Or grab something like this. 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811152116

you could grab one of these boards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182167
You could use the "slot A" USB port to put a appliance type OS.

I have done well with the combination of supermicro and 3ware.

You should be well under your budget and have an awesome fileserver.