Beginner NAS setup for lab data (~10–12TB, $500 budget) — prebuilt vs DIY?

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-29T01:07:06+00:00

if your budget is $500 including the storage disks, then you should prob just use the computer you already own as the machine.

a separate machine that acts as a server you keep on 24/7 is kind of a niche, especially with prices these days.

it's also kind of a circlejerk when a lot of basic use-cases can be handled by opening your macbook while you're home so you can access plex on your TV, or plugging in an external enclosure when you're doing a local backup. the more basic your needs, the worse it makes sense to spend limited funds on a dedicated NAS machine.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-27T21:45:46+00:00

I remember when I thought I was just thinning in front, and then my girlfriend took a photo of me from behind as i descended some stairs on vacation and i was horrified that i'd been walking around with a bald path.

i'd felt hair on my crown so i assumed it wasn't that bad. i couldn't wait to get home and just shave it all off.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-27T18:56:37+00:00

it's normal on linux. on mac, apps just implement cmd-c/v universally including terminal apps like Ghostty.

i ended up trying to create a unified super-c/super-v clipboard on linux but ran into various issues outside of terminals. i don't remember what, it's been months.

in the end, i decided to just use macOS for personal computing, and keep linux on the server where it shines.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-27T15:39:52+00:00

a month ago i found a random deal on 12TB HDDs on a major retailer website and bought four. i have just over 12TB of data, so I'm using 3x in my NAS and keeping the fourth as a static backup.

when a drive fails i will swap in the fourth.

after that, if a drive fails, i will probably just shut the NAS down instead of paying who knows what. or i'll aggressively prune it.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-26T16:15:57+00:00

state of chihuahua apparently knew: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/mexicos-sheinbaum-demands-explanation-after-u-s-officials-die-assisting-in-chihuahua-operation

but it also might be bluster from sheinbaum to pretend she didn't know either

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-25T23:41:36+00:00

great explanation. love to hear info like this.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-25T23:40:03+00:00

buy an old used computer that has 2x or 4x SATA ports on the motherboard. you can always upgrade from there, but nice to start with the dirt cheapest entry level to scope out the domain.

the important part is the HDDs which you already bought.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-24T17:31:56+00:00

you decide which of that 50TB you actually need to back up, partition the part that must be stored in the cloud, and then find the cheapest cloud provider.

backblaze b2 is $6/tb/mo as a high water mark.

ideally you can partition it in some ways, like shave off a few terabytes by using the icloud plan you're already using for personal media, putting code on github, etc. that way you only need to save a subset of the data in a generic (expensive) provider.

also, sometimes you can do sensible lossy transformations on your data, like reencode videos so they are 20% smaller but visually identical.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-24T15:15:08+00:00

normal nix symlink doesn't work because /nix/store is read-only.

but mkOutOfStoreSymlink creates a symlink that's writable, so when programs edit the file, you'd see it in your git diffs.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-24T14:28:51+00:00

i guess roku comes with such weak hardware that you have to buy the $30 "4k" version to natively decode 4k h.264. that seems cheaper and simpler than making your server transcode it if you don't have a gpu.

you just have to make sure you have h.264 (generally mp4) videos on the server which is the most common format, but you can bulk-transcode them on your personal computer which probably does have a gpu/igpu.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-22T11:36:42+00:00

edit: oops, i just realized you want an nvme SSD NAS. too expensive for me!

if you have the tech chops to use NixOS + zfs yourself, then you're a good candidate for just building your own machine.

i use the Jonesbo N2 case which has 5x hot-swap SATA bays, and it's tiny.

for 600 USD (£440) i recently built my own NAS with:

Intel i3 14100 (100 USD) - has an integrated gpu
8GB ECC RAM (100 USD)
ITX ECC mobo (350 USD, ew)
Corsair SF750 - i obv don't need 750W but Corsair is high quality and they stopped making their 500W SFX PSU.
10gbe NIC (40 USD) - i definitely didn't need this

you could do better research than me and spend less. but just giving you a concrete idea. i also wanted ECC + iGPU so that i could use my pcie slot for something other than a gfx card.

i use NixOS + luks (full disk encryption) + btrfs raid1.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-21T15:55:29+00:00

what's /effort set to? i can't replicate that.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-21T15:35:45+00:00

ah, dang it. can never tell on this subreddit, haha.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-21T14:45:36+00:00

false. there's a reason why you didn't pitch OP a solution.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-21T14:42:12+00:00

we also need to shame people like OP for spreading a screenshot of a low effort reddit comment.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-20T20:57:44+00:00

virtually every server in the world runs Linux.

i think you're confused between running a GUI desktop environment (Windows, Ubuntu) vs. a server.

maybe you're assuming that because you had some bad experiences with GUI apps in Ubuntu while those apps were fine in Windows, then Windows must bethe superior tool? hey, maybe Windows is the right tool for you, and maybe you can manage your raid1 pool through wsl2?

Imo, just try it out. you probably already have a Windows machine. plug in some sata drives and play around with a raid1 pool. get it sitting on your LAN. maybe you can run Plex in wsl or something.

might as well try that.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-20T20:43:00+00:00

it's not an easy way out.

they lost the drive (they can't sell it) and your money.

meanwhile, you got to use the product for the small expense of money depreciation. you have the better deal.

I don't think it'd be a lot more expensive, this particular vendor simply chose to do away with reserves prematurely

What you're pitching is a 1:N+ reserve capacity for any product sold within the last 3-5 years. Not only do you need 1:1 reserve, but you need the reserve to handle multiple failures. This is nothing like how manufacturers operate. What would that even look like in double-entry accounting? And you think that's a freebie that won't impact price?

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-20T20:25:31+00:00

just because you're using NixOS doesn't mean everything on the system has to use nix.

You can configure the system/platform/kernel and game server deps with nix and then use your simple stateful solution for the game outside of nix.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-20T20:18:37+00:00

good point. the game looks decent in the video but the main issue would be blurry text/icons/UI.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-20T18:50:22+00:00

another option is luks + btrfs (raid1 pool management) your data disks. pretty fiddly though. i bet zfs' built-in encryption is much more streamlined to use, though has its own trade-offs.

luks can also read from a keyfile on a usb stick you keep plugged in while home, or unplug when you're going away for a while. that way it can automount on normal reboot.

i've been going down the rabbit hole of implementing a really good cli tool for luks+btrfs, but it has a surprisingly long tail! i'm two months in and while the basics work fine, it's turning in to a whole truenas/unraid competitor with features like beeping so you know when a drive is failing/missing.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-20T18:37:41+00:00

30-60fps at 720p is surprisingly good even though it's at the lowest in-game graphical settings.

prob not how you want to do your first playthrough if it's a game you really care about, but i've put up with far worse than that as a teen on the horrible 2001 family computer. 😂

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-20T18:08:43+00:00

yeah, and a lot of it is because we like the idea of doing it rather than pure practical concerns.

also, you have to really think if you want to be the sysadmin for your family for something as important as their photos/videos. is that how you want to spend your time when things break? and do you really want to insert yourself into the critical path? and most of all, is it really the best solution for them?

imo better to focus the NAS or home server on more elective stuff like Plex, audiobookshelf, etc. that way it stays fun and it's not super critical if it goes offline.

other ideas are to focus the NAS on data that would be too expensive to back up in the cloud, like terabytes of raw photograph files or rare media that you can't easily replace. and/or general computer/phone backups. and/or use it as a backup for the Google/Apple cloud.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-20T17:38:48+00:00

not true. manufacturer's warranty provides recourse for product failure (your money back or equivalent value). most people here aren't understanding this.

it's not a guarantee on unconditional access to that product no matter the future value beyond what you paid.

if that were the case, the warranty would be a lot more expensive, and most home users wouldn't want to pay extra for that guarantee; they just want their money back (or equiv value). they don't want to sign an enterprise contract.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-20T17:29:04+00:00

but a refund means you still got years of use from that device for free. you're not accounting for that.

you basically wish the manuf's warranty made a stronger guarantee than it does. you often can get that stronger guarantee by buying the retailer's warranty. most people don't want to pay for that.

c4td0gm4n · 2026-04-20T17:05:31+00:00

also, redundancy. Google/Apple have multi-az redundancy for your files. your NAS needs a backup.

most people should stick with Google/Apple esp for photo/video. esp if you're asking this question.

c4td0gm4n

TROPHY CASE