Abstract

• A NAS serves as networked storage that is accessible from a number of computer systems, and may even be used to run providers in your homelab.
• You do not want high-end {hardware} to run a NAS, previous desktops work effectively with the correct working system.
• Each homelab ought to have a NAS for a lot of causes that reach far past simply offering a spot to accommodate recordsdata.

No homelab is completed with no strong storage setup. This may be achieved in any variety of methods, however my favourite is with a devoted NAS. As such, I do not assume any homelab is really full (and even began) with no NAS. Here is why.

What Is a NAS?

In case you’ve by no means heard of a NAS earlier than, let’s begin by breaking down what a NAS is. NAS stands for community connected storage. In its easiest type, a NAS is a tough drive that you could entry from your private home community. Having a tough drive that may be accessed out of your community means you may transfer recordsdata to and from that drive anyplace in your home with out having to be bodily plugged into it.

This may be achieved by plugging an external hard drive into your Wi-Fi router’s USB port. It can be achieved with a devoted NAS server.

A NAS server is, sometimes, a devoted laptop that serves the only real function of internet hosting your network-attached storage gadgets. There are pre-built techniques for this, like these from Synology or Ugreen. However, it’s also possible to construct your individual NAS utilizing an previous desktop and even retired enterprise-grade server tools.

In case you select to run a home-built NAS server, you then’ll need to choose a storage-focused working system for it to run. Sometimes, most people choose either Unraid or TrueNAS Scale when constructing their very own system. These two working techniques are comparable, however very totally different.

What All Can You Do With a NAS?

After that intro to what a NAS is, you may assume that every one a NAS is sweet for is storing recordsdata. You would be partially proper.

Whereas a NAS’s main perform is storing recordsdata, it could achieve this far more. Relying on the working system you select and the {hardware} you’ve got, there is a good likelihood your NAS can even be able to run Docker services and presumably even deal with digital machines too.

The extent of what your NAS can do actually will depend on the facility it has. In case you’re using a Raspberry Pi 3B, as an illustration, to make a single USB arduous drive obtainable in your community, you then will not have lots of processing overhead. Be that as it could, you will nonetheless have the ability to run some light-weight providers along with dealing with file transfers on an older Raspberry Pi, however I would not do far more than that.

Nonetheless, for those who repurpose an previous desktop, or choose up some previous enterprise-grade {hardware} off eBay, then the sky is the restrict for what your NAS can do.

For the final three or so years, I’ve run a single NAS in my homelab. That server has 70TB of accessible storage, 64GB of DDR3 ECC RAM, and two older Intel Xeon processors that mixed have 12 cores and 24 threads. It is overkill for a storage server, however it was low-cost on eBay and gave me 12 drive bays to fill, which is how I ended up having 70TB of accessible storage.

Given the sources I’ve on that server, I used to be capable of run 26 Docker containers, in addition to a digital machine. All of the whereas, it dealt with my file storage, functioned as my Plex media server, ran as my Minecraft server, and even hosted a few of my public internet providers. The server by no means broke a sweat. I at all times had loads of obtainable RAM, and I hardly ever noticed the CPUs spike in utilization except there was a really particular processor-heavy activity operating. However, on the finish of the day, that is what this server was designed to do. It is a retired enterprise-grade server, in spite of everything.

All that to say, a NAS is far more than only a storage system. It may be your storage server, but additionally your Minecraft server, media server, internet host, sensible dwelling hub, digital machine host, and far more. In case you can assume it, then it could very seemingly do it with the correct NAS working system.

You Don’t Want Excessive-Finish {Hardware} to Run a NAS

With the whole lot I’ve talked about to date, you could be considering that you simply want ultra-high-end {hardware} to run a NAS, like my huge rack-mount system. You do not. Whereas I do have a large server, the processors in my system launched in 2014. The server itself was launched in September 2013. That makes the system over 11 years previous now. Nonetheless, it nonetheless runs amazingly. I’ve two different servers in my rack that I exploit. Each of these servers got here out in October 2014, which makes them over 10 years previous at this level.

Previous to having the rack-mounted {hardware} that I do now, I used an previous desktop of mine that I had retired once I upgraded to a brand new gaming system. Equally, a pal of mine makes use of his previous i7-4790K gaming PC that he not too long ago upgraded from. That processor additionally got here out in 2014. I’ve additionally seen folks use desktops from the early 2010s and even late 2000s to perform as a NAS. You may truly get away with some fairly bare-bones {hardware} when establishing your storage server.

The ethical of the story is, you do not want the 6GHz i9-14900K processor, 128GB of DDR5 RAM, and an RTX 5090 to run your NAS. Whereas that may offer you lots of processing energy, for certain, it is simply not crucial.

In case you’re simply beginning out with a homelab, then verify Fb Market for a used desktop somebody is promoting for $100 or much less and use that. As long as it has a semi-modern processor and not less than 8GB of RAM, you’ll have loads of horsepower to run a NAS.

I might say, if you will get an i5 processor that is round 10 years previous or newer with 8GB or extra of RAM, you then’ll have greater than sufficient energy to run a NAS in addition to some further providers. A NAS like that ought to simply run Plex, a couple of smaller Minecraft servers, some internet providers, Dwelling Assistant, and extra. It is comparatively straightforward to seek out desktops like that low-cost, and also you may even have one mendacity round at dwelling.

The principle downside of utilizing consumer-grade desktops as an alternative of a rack-mounted server as a NAS is that you will solely have a handful of SATA ports for drives. The typical desktop has someplace between 4 and 6 SATA ports, sometimes. Nonetheless, you could possibly simply choose up an LSI HBA (host bus adapter) with some SAS to SATA cables and luxuriate in plugging in as many arduous drives as you could possibly need, all for round $35 additional.

Upon getting an previous desktop and some arduous drives, that is all you want to run a strong NAS.

Each Homelab Wants at Least One NAS

Whether or not you are simply getting began constructing out your homelab, otherwise you’ve been homelabbing for a while, everybody on this interest wants a NAS. They are a multipurpose piece of apparatus that may deal with so many duties in your homelab, all inside one single case.

Personally, whereas I began with only one NAS, I now run two storage servers in my homelab. One is the 70TB storage array I already talked about, which features as my main media server storage. The opposite is a 27TB server for my pictures and videography storage, in addition to my community video recorder, VM backups, doc storage, and extra. The second NAS was a latest addition as I start to get again into panorama pictures extra. I wished to cancel my Google Drive subscription the place I used to be storing over a decade of my images, and produce the whole lot native. So, as an alternative of including storage to my desktop, I bought one other NAS for affordable on the second-hand market.

I picked my new server up from Reddit’s r/homelabsales, which is a spot that I might counsel you verify steadily for those who’re stepping into constructing out a homelab. The server got here with 96GB of RAM and 10 3TB drives, all for $300. I used to be even capable of work out a commerce with the opposite individual, so it did not price me any cash out of pocket, and I bought a brand new server out of the deal.

Simply know that my homelab did not begin out like this. My first NAS was a Synology DS416+ practically a decade in the past. I upgraded to a DS416Play from there, and ultimately, moved to a extra highly effective setup like I’ve as we speak.

Actually, the place you begin off in your NAS journey does not matter. Your first storage system may simply be an previous laptop computer with its inner arduous drive accessible over the community. It could possibly be a Raspberry Pi or a full-blown system like I’ve. Simply, no matter stage you are in, be certain that your homelab has a NAS. You will thank me later.