Synology servers are not user-repairable, so if a part breaks after warranty, you have to replace the whole server. A chill ran up my spine as I realized how dependent I’d become on this single device. My 10 TB Synology DS412+ has served me well for seven years.Ī few months ago, my Synology failed to boot and started making a clicking noise. It was a gentle introduction to the world of NAS servers, and it’s where I’d recommend you start if you’re not sure about the whole NAS thing. It was one of the best purchases I ever made.

There are off-the-shelf solutions that offer similar functionality with a gentler learning curve.īefore building my own homelab NAS, I used a 4-disk Synology DS412+ for seven years. If you’re new to the homelab world or have no experience building PCs, I recommend that you don’t build your own NAS. It can serve as a practice environment for new professional skills, or it can just be a place to play with interesting technology. “Homelab” is a colloquial term that’s grown in popularity in the last few years.Ī homelab is a place in your home where you can experiment with IT hardware or software that you’d typically find in an office or data center. I still buy physical DVDs or Blu-Rays for anything I might watch a second time. Between the raw ISO copy and the streamable MP4s, a single disc can occupy 60 GB of disk space. As soon as I get a new disc, I rip the raw image and make a streamable video file. I don’t like relying on streaming services to keep my favorite content available, so I still buy physical copies of movies and TV shows.

The biggest data source is my DVD and Blu-Ray collection. I’m a data hoarder, so I keep every digital photo I’ve ever taken, every email I’ve sent or received in the last 20 years, and source code for all of my personal projects. A dedicated storage server eliminates most data migrations and facilitates sharing files between my systems. I upgrade my main workstation and laptop every two to three years, and migrating my data between computers was always a pain. I find it helpful to decouple data storage from my other systems. So, why have a whole dedicated server for data? After all, every computer stores data. A NAS server’s primary job is storing data and making it available to other computers on your network.

Background 🔗︎ Why build a NAS server? 🔗︎

Nas plex server