My Home Storage Solution. Part 1 – What’s a NAS?

I wanted to have a NAS for a few years now but could never justify the cost of such a device. Recently I learned that you can make a pretty reliable DIY solution that is way cheaper. So for the past 2 weeks I’ve been setting up my NAS and boy was it more difficult than I thought.

My Home Storage Solution. Part 1 – What’s a NAS?

What’s a NAS?

To put it simply, Network Attached Storage (NAS) is a storage medium that is connected to your local network.

So… How’s that different from a cloud?

Technically, it is a cloud. Your personal cloud.

I will briefly discuss why a NAS can be better than your cloud provider in the next chapters.

Why do you need a NAS in the first place?

This is the question I get asked the most. Here are a few arguments:

Argument #1: Accessing all of your files from anywhere in the world

Example scenario: Trip to the Philippines

You decide to visit Philippines to do some white-water rafting. You booked a tour, you get there safely, everything goes well. The guide greets you in the meeting spot but says he needs one more piece of information: confirmation of travel insurance. You bought the travel insurance a few months ago but you forgot to print it out right before the trip. He says that without it he won’t let you onto the raft.

If you hadn’t put this file on your NAS, there would be no way to access the file and you would have to skip this attraction. Since you had the file on your NAS, you show the document to your guide and go rafting.

Of course there are many caveats to this hypothetical story, but I had a few situations where I wish I could access the files on my computer.

A sorcerer blocking the entrance

Argument #2: You want to share files with your household.

If you live with someone, you may have common files (like photos) or want both parties to access certain files.

Example scenario: Common photos and budget plan

You are the one that takes photos. Every memorable moment has been captured by you. Your wife regularly asks you to show her the photos. Since you store your photos on your NAS, you just show where the files are places. No need to open up your laptop each time your wife decides she wants to relive the moments.

Two days later, you decide you have to plan your trip to Argentina. You take care of hotels, she takes care of restaurant choices. You make a file on your NAS where you write down the recommended stays and she creates a list of restaurants that are worth a visit. You can work simultaneously and can check the progress anytime. (Plus you can access that file during your trip!)

Photographer walking with girlfriend

Argument #3: You have a central repository of your files.

You likely have some files stored on your laptop, some files stored on your old PC, some stored on your external drive and some on a flash drive. Keeping track where each file is located is just unsustainable. On your NAS everything is neatly organized and stored on a single device.

Why not choose a cloud provider then?

To be clear, people that store their data in a cloud are already ahead of most people because they have two copies of their data (one of which is offsite!). That’s way better than storing everything on your computer! You can use a third-party cloud service (like Dropbox or Google Drive) but the convenience comes at a cost. And it’s mainly a trust issue.

First of all, keeping your private and sensitive data on an unencrypted cloud backup is risky. But you probably know that yourself and no further explanation is needed.

Secondly, cloud providers can change their terms at any moment. That may lead to an increase in pricing or a downgrade of your storage plan. Sometimes they may even cancel your account due to some unexplained “violation of terms”. Your data can get lost in a moment.

Furthermore, a niche (and usually cheap) cloud provider may go bankrupt and delete your data with very little notice.

A personal NAS solves most of these issues but you lose some convenience.

So how do I get a NAS?

There are 2 solutions: buy a pre-made solution (like Synology or UGreen) or build one yourself.

The former is way more convenient, faster and easier to set-up. But it’s more expensive. The latter is cheaper, more customizable but way more time-consuming.

For most people, a Synology or UGreen NAS would be the way to go. You get a reliable and a tested product that just works

I chose to go the harder route simply out of curiosity and cost-effectiveness. In the end, I don’t regret this decision because I learned a lot along the way.

Part 2 coming soon…

Yours truly,
Coditis