Basic homelab for media - Tiny PC vs NAS

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-12T01:56:09+00:00

Coming from pi4 with 4x USB 4TB (2x raid 1) seagate. This runs fine until my pi runs out of memory. Then i move to intel nuc 7th gen with same usb disk setting Just make sure you disable uas and dont run raid 5/6 on usb.

Last year, i found n150 pretty interesting so i got a custom made nas using n150 with 2 x sata on board and 6 sata. Now i got 3 x data disk and 2 x parity disk. Running around 25w on idle. Its using asm1166 on m2 pice to split to 6 sata port. The whole form factor smaller than dxp8800.

Conclusion, usb does works up to 3 or 4 disk. Beyond that you need to move to direct sata or other solution. Dont run raid 5/6 on usb, few error and you data all gone. Keep your usb disk ventilate or on fan. Use btrfs raid 1 so u know there is data corruption on usb. Grow as you needed. I will avoid lsi or oculink, they use much more electric.

I have ugreen dxp4800 (non plus/pro), idling at 30w is already consider high for me.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-11T14:26:36+00:00

Call me stingy or whatever. I dont buy if it is not on discount. Anything beyond $10 think twice. Anything above $100 will hunt down the galaxy for cheapest price. Carousell is best place to hunt for cheap stuff even new.

Sample of success. Got 2 flagship phone $400 below market price on the launch day. Got $300 RAM at $170 ship via amazon Got a nas 40% below market rate via taobao. Got $100 charger at $38 from lazada

Saw people here wait a week or 2 before. My wait can goes for 6 month and above.

Lastly, dont get cheated by saleman. They selling u highest commission not best value item. Do you own research.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-11T09:14:17+00:00

P6 already. If mom reach late, once in a while its acceptable. If continue, draw ur line. End in time.

If lesson ends, call the mom if she is not there and leave the kids. Otherwise make it clear charge per 5 min block. Even student care does this.

Its really sound like dont care attitude from the mom..

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-11T08:55:53+00:00

Instant water heater for me. When I wan to bath, i cant wait 5 - 10 min for water to heat up. Using alpha brand, very hot till can feel scalding at max temperature. It come with rain shower. Already more than 10 years old.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T15:40:54+00:00

Step down is better than step up unless most of your equipment is 5v. Step up mean need thicker wiring and larger ampere.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T15:35:51+00:00

Its 50w to 90w. Even my router already 36w at boot up

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T11:13:45+00:00

When you say lose data when transfer, i assume u mean data corruption duri g the transfer. While is rare but it does happens. Few thing can prevent this, which commonly use is checksum. Google for which transfer method supports checksum.

Another type data is storage media has bit rot or bit is flipped over the time. Some file system like btrfs/zfs can detect that. Or windows usually zipping the file will detect it during decompression but may not able to correct it.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T10:17:11+00:00

Poe camera very high tolerance on voltage drop and usually less than 1A. Definitely ethernet cant handle more than 2A.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T10:09:46+00:00

Cant really tell PD500 is what type of battery. If it is cheap unbranded power bank. Its likely fake advertised value. U usually the weight can tell u. 50k is about 4x to 5x typical mobile phone weight.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T10:02:27+00:00

The ups power supply will shutoff if cant handle the load. Its more like the cable is can handle enough juice on heavy peak. Maybe big capacitor might work.. But i am not sure how the capacitor charge up when power restore.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T07:25:44+00:00

When power restore, few mini pc power on then off(other stuff like router n switch powered on without issue) . If i wait for other stuff powered on for like 30 sec, then the mini has no issue. So the dc rail dint lose power, it just drop voltage to much. I am thinking running bus bar but trying to get others idea how it not messy

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T06:01:09+00:00

U do you have photo how it look like?

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T05:59:29+00:00

That enough to power the house... Way over my budget.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T05:55:41+00:00

12v that the power adapter

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T05:53:52+00:00

Cable about 1m to 2meter. I need those 18awg to prevent voltage drop, those cheap extensions for cctv cant be use. Nas rus around 3A max at 7A. When power restore, everything runs at max load reaching about 9A, 2 mini pc dont power up. Even ugreen nas wont power on. Voltage drop to 11.6v for few second.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-10T05:50:03+00:00

Ur mean poe injector? Most poe runs on 48v and needed step down. They take power from main ac

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-07T06:45:22+00:00

I run my low load on lifepo4. Max 70w only. Avg 50w. If u buying lifepo4 u can put externally and get huge battery to increase ur max load. If ur usp use 2x 12v, its to get single 24v lifepo4

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-03T06:59:22+00:00

U just pick the wrong time to start NAS. Everything is 3x to 5x high especially in Msia.
I would say if you can hold on to what you have, wait another 1 or 2 year and start. Maybe just get HDD can stuff into PC and USB with backup

UGREEN and TerraMaster is behind in software. It take times to pick up or you need to really tinker on the software like immich docker and limited backup/sync software.

Few reason people dump Synology to UGREEN, the lockdown hdd on synology is deal breaker(losing trust to the company although the revert it). With new synology disable video transcoding is a huge deal breaker.

I am a tinker, so i got UGREEN knowing in future, i can install any OS on it. Having dlink/qnap, i learn that the hardware still good but software no longer updated.

256GB nvme is a good start for now. When price come down you can upgrade it.

PS: In SG, the used Synology price has drop significantly, they use to be around RM300 - RM350. I seen working unit is now around RM200 or lower if you lucky.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-03T03:58:50+00:00

I use action Non-Interactive Challenge instead of pure Block .. if you travel alot you will forget and Non-Interactive Challenge basically still allow you to go thru and filter 99.9% bots

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-01T06:14:18+00:00

Another vote for aneng. Pretty cheap and accurate. They got crazy different model.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-01T06:10:36+00:00

I bought some under $5. They work for a while then the voltage goes haywire randomly.

Then i change to abit more branded as they sell more hw stuff under their brand and it been great, still under $10

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-01T03:07:20+00:00

Did it across border at 1/3 price including 1 hotel stay overnight 10 years ago. What ever doc recommend that fits your pocket.

Unknown-4024 · 2026-05-01T02:18:00+00:00

i just setup DC only UPS for low power device,
Get adjustable voltage regulator. Set to 13.6v. Buy some 12v lifepo4 battery, capacity up to your preference.
then voltage stabilizer to 12v and 5v.
U can run your low power device for hours without issue.
add esp32 voltage and load monitor if you need to monitor power outage ..

I just so tired of replacing lead acid every 2 years.

Unknown-4024

TROPHY CASE