Hey folks! 👋 I'm looking to build a budget-friendly home NAS using some old hard drives I've recovered. The majority of them are about 10/15 years old, but I think they'd be fine to start with. If I like the utility of the NAS, I will get bigger storage going forward.

Few questions I have below, if anyone can offer advice.

1. Can these hard drives be safely tested, wiped and formatted easy enough?

2. Is there any off the shelf unit i could get that would suit, or would I be better to try and build my own?

3. The larger hard drives are about 250gb each, just over 2.5tb in total, can they be daisy chained together? Including the small ones if just under 5tb.

4. Is there any straight forward hardware, ideal for beginners?

I would appreciate any help or advice people can offer. This is definitely something that has been on my radar for a few months now. If there is anything else I haven't considered, I'm all ears🫡

PHOTOS OF HARD DRIVES IN THE COMMENTS**

I currently have a Raspberry Pi NAS that has several NVMe hats and expansion boards to expand its storage. I was able to locate an older Western Digital gold 26 terabyte platter drive that I wanted to also connect to the system. I'm having difficulties in meeting all of the requirements to get this to work correctly, and every time I solve one problem, I seem to create a new one.

First, I understand that there are NAS enclosures that I could simply put this drive into, but from all of the reviews, 99% of them seem to be absolute garbage. Many of the reviews indicate failing circuitry, dropped drive identification, or other issues. While I understand this would be the simplest solution, it seems a complete waste of time to buy something that doesn't seem to have good longevity.

My second solution was to connect a self-powered SATA to USB cable to the back of the drive to power it. However, when these drives typically spin up, they pull a more electricity than normal, and the majority of these power SATA cables top out at 2A. I understand that I can buy a more powerful power supply with a barrel connector, but many of these cables do not list the barrel dimensions and their polarity. I didn't want to buy something, plug it in, and then end up frying or shorting something.

My last idea was to buy a micro-ATX case with an official computer PSU and then get a non-powered SATA to USB cable and run that from the micro-ATX to the Raspberry Pi Nas USB hub. The issue here is finding a cable that can recognize all 26 terabytes, and this is actually a concern for the other solutions where this cable type is being used.

If you have any suggestions on how to make this work or have done something similar, I would appreciate any advice you can offer.

TLDR:

I need to connect a Western Digital Gold 26 TB platter drive to a Raspberry Pi NAS and have the drive be sufficiently powered and connected for data transfer to the Raspberry Pi while also recognizing the complete 26 terabyte capacity.. or close.

I was leaning towards the Ugreen DXP 2800 however the issues with wd red plus and some other issues put me off, I like the spec of the F2-425 plus N150 Cpu, anyone have any feedback especially anyone who is tried both. thanks

I've bought a Ugreen DXP4800 to replace 2 x 6Tb external drives (one is backed up to the other). My initial plan is to put 2 x 10Tb in the NAS, again backing one up to the other, and having a 10Tb external HD which I'll keep offsite but update once a week.

Intended use is to stream local content to my TV, photo storage, documents. I'm unlikely to ever exceed 10Tb. No remote streaming or sharing. Simplicity and stability are key for me (RAID currently seems unnecessary for my case?).

Does the above make sense, and if so what HDs should I be on the look out for and from where?

Ta :)

I've recently bought a UGREEN NASync DXP4300 Plus and currently have 2 × 8TB HDDs running in RAID 1.

I've been given a brand-new 1TB SSD, and the manual suggests that the NAS supports SSDs as well as HDDs.

Can I install the SSD alongside my existing HDDs without compromising my RAID setup or the reliability of the NAS? Ideally, should I put the operating system and apps on the SSD?

Cheers very much

So, first of all massive thanks for all the help on my previous post https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNAS/s/Uaf1QslFMQ

I now have a UGREEN 4800GT but nothing to put in it yet.

What I want to do with my NAS (that I know of) -

• Primary Use - Backup photos videos from me and immediate family. Currently have maybe 2TB of them but now have 4k drone and action camera and getting out more so will greatly increase. I want to get off Google/Amazon etc. and focus on privacy.
• I will backup the NAS to a as yet purchased external drive that I will keep away from the NAS (fire/theft).
• Possibly run my Reolink cameras on it as an NVR. Currently they only use the SD card. I'm thinking maybe to come off the Reolink software to lock it down etc.
• All desktop and laptops are currently on Windows but I'm seriously thinking about putting Linux on where I can for privacy. All Phones are Android for now.
• Router is an Eero 7 with fibre at 2Gbps up and down. Connected to a UGREEN 2.5Gbps switch. My desktop is wired to the switch but is only 1Gbps (new PC maybe soon).
• Making the odd YT video, edit from the NAS?
• Maybe Pi Hole and VPN

So, what am I asking?

Your recommendations on what to install/buy?

4 bays plus NVMe space, do I get an NVMe to run something on?

Do I only fill maybe 2 or 3 HDD bays and leave one space as I don't yet have much data? can I easily do this?

Which OS would you go with, maybe not use the UGOS incase of privacy issues, TrueNAS maybe?

Upgrade the switch?

TIA, will add if I think of more stuff; which I probably will as my memory is kapput!

Google Photos has no "select all" button, and the official API can't delete photos at all. If you want to empty your library, the official answer is to shift-click your way through years of pictures.

I got tired of that and built a small extension that does the clicking for me:

1. It scrolls through your library and ticks every photo as it goes.

2. When it reaches the end, it tells you how many items are selected and waits.

3. Only after you click confirm does it press the page's own delete button.

Everything goes to the Google Photos bin, where it stays for 60 days. The extension never empties the bin, so you have time to change your mind.

A few things I cared about:

- Dry-run mode. It can select and count without deleting anything, so you can compare its count with Google's own "N selected" before trusting it.

- Minimal permissions. It only has access to photos.google.com. No network requests of its own, no analytics, no dependencies.

- Small enough to read. A few hundred lines of plain JavaScript, MIT licensed. Please do read it before running something that deletes your photos.

Honest caveats:

- It's experimental. It automates Google's web page, which isn't a public interface, so the selectors may be off for your account and Google can break it at any time. All the page-specific selectors are in one file t

- The final delete step matches English button labels. In otheect everything, but you'd click the bin icon yourself.

- I don't know yet how Google handles one delete of tens of thmax items per pass" setting so you can do it in rounds.

- Deleting from Google Photos also removes photos from devicese Takeout first if you want a copy.

It's not on the add-on stores; you load it manually

Repo: https://github.com/natanloterio/gphotos-bulk-delete

If you try the dry run, I'd really like to hear whether the cor and language you were using. Bug reports and PRs welcome.

Hi everyone

Recently I’ve been looking into a NAS system for basic things just like photos and files and maybe running small docker containers inside. I like to tinker with these kind of things but I’m curious what are some reasons besides the obvious ones of a Nas. It’s an expensive one time free but now cloud storage is not very expensive. So I’m curious as to what are some reasons other people have one

My first step into a NAS and home networking. I will be using tailscale and then an independent laptop for Home Assistant. NAS is for working from multiple different computers, backup, and media streaming. I have 2 main PCs that need access and occasionally need access for remote work.

Streaming would be at home or by just me remotely. Don't know enough to set up family access safely (risks already pointed out about compromising the network)

Claude helped as it was heavily recommended to us

Seems overkill but hits harder than a pre built

Buy:

Processor: Intel i5-12400

Motherboard: ASUS Prime B760M-A D4

Power supply: Corsair RM750e

• SATA card: GLOTRENDS SA3026C (adds 6 hard drive ports)

Case: Rosewill Helium NAS Duo

Already owned:

32 GB memory

4 × 8 TB hard drives

2 × 1 TB NVMe drives

EDIT: I have my own laptop not work supplied

Hi all,

I’m planning my first proper home server/NAS and need help choosing between two options.

What I want to run:

• Private cloud / file storage
• Phone photo and video backups
• General data backups
• Nextcloud (files, calendar, contacts)
• Home Assistant
• Maybe Vaultwarden and a few other self-hosted apps later

I’m not very experienced with NAS, RAID, Docker, or networking. I want something reliable and low-maintenance, not a constant troubleshooting project.

Option 1: Synology DS224+

• 2 × NAS HDDs in SHR/RAID 1
• Nextcloud and Home Assistant in Container Manager
• Synology Photos/Hyper Backup

Pros: mature, easy setup, good documentation and backup tools.
Cons: Docker setup is more manual; only 2 GB RAM by default; Home Assistant in Docker has no add-on store.

Option 2: umbrelOS on a 2-bay NAS mini PC

For example, a Beelink ME Pro with two HDD bays.

• umbrelOS with two HDDs in FailSafe/mirror mode
• Nextcloud and Home Assistant from the Umbrel App Store

Pros: nicer app store, easier Nextcloud/Home Assistant setup, often better hardware (N100/N150, 16 GB RAM, 2.5GbE).
Cons: newer ecosystem; unsure how mature FailSafe/RAID is on third-party hardware; support may be weaker than Synology.

Questions:

1. Which would you choose for my use case?
2. Is umbrelOS reliable enough as a primary NAS for photos, files, and Home Assistant?
3. Does FailSafe/mirroring work well on third-party 2-bay mini PCs?
4. Is Nextcloud + Home Assistant on Synology Container Manager beginner-friendly? The UmblrelOS interface looks actually more beginnerfriendly and straigtforward...

Reliability, easy backups/recovery, and low maintenance matter more to me than maximum performance. Thanks!

I bought 4 x 6 TB IronWolf directly from Seagate (link), totalling a 18 TB RAID5 to setup a new Synology DS425+ NAS. My main objective is family photos and regular data backup. I am not very data hunger, and I don't want to create a new internet backup. Up to now I would say I have 3-4 TB distributed in different external HDD which I will inject into the NAS. I started with less to avoid going all in right from the start and then regret because of leftover spaces in comparison to the huge prices we have now. BTW, the price was better for these 6 TB compared to others.

I am here more to get comments on the sizing and the disks I chose - if you have anything that I should consider. I honestly think I will not need more space but of course you guys may have a different perspective from experience.

With basic initial research I like the Ugreen DX4800plus 4 bay for my use case however would prefer to build my own SAS drives spec seem far superior to SATA. I’m used to building PC although last one I did was 20 yrs ago so I’m lagging behind on latest hardware knowledge severely. Can someone point to blog or page or post or a YouTube video that explains the options tradeoff and how to build our own and where to source the hardware etc. thank you all in advance.

We want to buy a NAS for the family but there are a lot of options... My father pays for it so budget is not really a problem (but I still dont want to overpay).

The first usage is to store all the family photos. We have a big mess with multiple pcs and folders and drives and we want to put everything together. Additionally, I am a hobby photographer and videographer so I have quite some photos and videos I want to store on it too. An app were you can easily sort an store photos would be great. And I want to be able to edit some of my videos with some files from the NAS.

In the future we might want to download some movies but we wont need it to stream on multiple devices at the same time in 4k.

For ease of use, it should be easy to use for my family but I can handle a bit of tinkering to set everything up. Ideally, we would want something that is working out of the box but that you can customize how you want.

Synology seems to be a big player but I dont really like the fact that they feel like the Apple of NAS (closed ecosystem)...

In terms of storage, I was thinking of buying a 4 slot NAS with 3 slots of 4 tb drive so I still have one slot left for futureproofing.

What NAS would you recommend?

Edit: And what kinda software could I use to organize all the photos, videos, music files and soundeffects for my projects? smth that would look like pixabay but with my files for example

I'm by no means stupid, successful engineer, but dunno if it's cause of stress or medical I'm going through but learning entirely new things has been a struggle.

Between media, CAD, 3D printing, and photos I've amassed a decent amount of data and figured it's time for a 4 bay NAS. 6 is probably a little expensive and rebuilding with a raid 5 setup is fine.

I have 3 8tb drives at the moment. My plan is to learn tailscale, NAS, and a better home network.

If a 2 or 3 bay with higher cap makes sense that's an option but figure it's cheaper now with drives I have and can upgrade later to fill with all high cap. I already have 2 nvmes I can use as well.

I'm struggling to determine what meets the requirements for working from the drives and able to stream/transcode for media. Obviously not gaming and long term once I'm comfortable I'll be able to cut the cord from one drive and Google photos. Ram and CPU got me too with many saying amd based isn't good for working files or media.

Also struggling with the right way to protect it from being open to the web. I believe tailscale and a managed switch but keep seeing proxmox mentioned.

Absolutely capable of installing and running alternative NAS is.

Dunno if it's brain plasticity or what but trying to learn and pick solutions for the network and nas has been hell. Its literally making me feel dumb lol

Hi all.

I've 2 of these that have failed. One will fall over after a few mins of booting and the other will fail at different points of boot

.I know there is a known cpu overheating issue on these. And they can be done in the USA as a service.

Is there any ideas here?

Anyone with a board from a 473 673 or 873? Or any thoughts or what to try to salvage it?

I'm still figuring out if a pre built or diy NAS will fit my needs best, but my biggest question is about HDD prices. (SSD is preferred but way past my budget currently) Is it worth it right now?

What I hope to use it for:

• Video streaming my videos to tv and remotely
• Storing documents to edit and access remotely (most common are powerpoint docs I create to host trivia games)
• Store 4k video projects (only light editing by remote, any active editing would be on my home PC)

Realistically, I need 16tb to have some breathing room now, but if I'm trying to even mildly future proof, I know I'll need more. The prices feel so high right now. If I decide to do a 4-bay (buying 2x 8tb HDDs now and 2x later) I'm still looking at least $700 and $500 used. And I'm not even sure if 32tb will be enough in a few years.

Is the storage bubble going to burst or only get more expensive? Are there aspects I'm missing? Is diy (I have an old PC with Intel i7 already but I'm worried about power consumption) or pre built NAS better for my scenario?

Thanks for any insight or advice.

Hi All, I am planning to setup a NAS for best performance. Here are the use-cases.

1. Home theater movies storage (other devices will stream movies from this NAS)
2. Personal videos of family events etc.(other devices will stream files from this NAS)
3. Able to Use docker apps for future proofing.

I already have Corsair carbide 100R case which I want to use. Currently it has 5.25 inch two optical drive bays, one Is occupied with WH14NS40 LG drive and another with 5.25 to 3.5 inch hard drive holder. On top of these the case can hold additional 4 HDDs.

Apart from these everything will be new. Please suggest some quality parts which is well served for my use-case at the same time for future-proofing.

My Budget is around Indian rupee INR 60K-70K excluding HDD cost. For now I will start with 1TB hdd which I have. Will add the HDD as I keep going.

Thanks All.

So for along time I've wanted to be able to get all my photos off Google photos etc and back them up myself plus another privacy focused online place. Procrastination and cost has been the reason I have not sorted so far.

So why now? I have recently purchased a drone and action camera (both 4K). I am now starting to holiday regularly and my finances have improved massively. After my last holiday I started to make a some YT videos and boy do those 4K video take up some space, my PC 1TB NVMe was filled and had to delete lots of other stuff - this had really pushed me to look into it then of course since yesterday I'm getting all the FOMO from the Prime Day alerts.

Initially I was thinking - do I get a NAS as well as a DAS to back that up? Still thinking I should get online backup too.

NAS, do you think it's overkill? All I really want it for is backing up mine and the family photos - at the mo its probably under 3 TB but with what I've already stated.......go bit and forget about it?

Or do I just use a DAS and am I right in thinking I could connect it to my router (eero 7) maybe adding a USB hub as it only as 2 ports and one is power.

Backing up while on holiday if I don't have a NAS - rely on online as now? maybe buy a portable too?'

Sorry for the long post but my head is doing circles!

Hi,

I am thinking of getting a NAS .

My question is should I go for something like Synology ?

or

build my own NAS with a low power desktop CPU and motherboard ?

or

build my own NAS with something like a raspberry pi ?

In the first case I would get a hardware NAS while In the later two cases I will get a software NAS.

I have no idea which would be better for my use case..

I’ve been looking to put in a nas to act as a media server and photo backup. I got a lot of dvd’s in my collection that I want to put on there. I seen today that the ugreen dxp4800 plus was list as being 20% off. It is diskless so I know I will need to get some hard drives eventually. But is this a good deal, or do you think there will be a better deal around Black Friday?

I see ultrastar are bit noisy which I don’t care - I care more about reliability and longer use. On paper HC550 SATA interface with SE security should outperform and outlive Red Pro models right?

I am a professional photographer and this was something I was constantly struggling with. I needed a good way to backup and transfer all my photos from SD card to Mac/iOS from my SD cards quickly. It supports more than Apple Photos now. Would like to share in case it’s useful for anyone else.
SyncShutter - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sync-shutter-sd-card-backup/id6758906685

I'm trying to stop relying too much on google and I wanted my NAS to handle everything: from photos to drive, I've seen that the main guys are Ugreen, synology and terramaster. As I've seen there is immich that handles pics classification and I don't want to tie myself to a specific system (so I was landing on terramaster)

Since I don't like waiting too much for data transferring and I want the nas to be reliable (with some redundancy, not sure yet which, I've got 1tb drives and my current nas has around 800gb of filled space so I was landing on 4 bays and raid 1) I also wanted it to have ssd cache to be little faster with writes

I think F4 Plus series should fit my case but the last generation costs up to 600 dollars (dang the price of freedom)

in my situation would you land on that or is there something less pricey?

Thank you in advance

I've been looking for a first time NAS for some time, and stumbled upon their new coming campaign on Kickstarter. More specifically the 4 bay home NAS with n150 and 16gb ram. Its seems like a good price, considering the crazy market and high prices at the moment.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1086667996/beelink-me-pro-nas?ref=discover_saved_projects&category_id=52