Hi
I'm thinking of making a private (personal/home, however called) file storage for me and my family so that file management over various devices will be easier (few PCs and few laptops). I do have external HDDs but they don't really work for daily usage or having access to files on multiple devices. My aim at start would be to make something in lines o ~8TB of space with the option to add more in the future (so like 2x 4TB HDDs at start). I'm trying to point out pros/cons of the 3 options I can think of:
NAS pros:
NAS cons:
New PC pros:
Old PC (intel core 2 duo era):
[most pros of new PC] plus
lowest rig cash investment (probably only some additional noise reducers)
[all cons of new PC] plus:
Not sure where to put "I have the control over software updates" in a NAS as I never had one so I can't say if I can block updates or they happen automatically and I can't avoid them (if yes - that's a minus, I hate when software updates itself without my knowledge of it as that can often lead to various problems).
Did I miss something crucial? Or I got something very wrong? At the moment I guess my choice would be:
Thanks
I'm thinking of making a private (personal/home, however called) file storage for me and my family so that file management over various devices will be easier (few PCs and few laptops). I do have external HDDs but they don't really work for daily usage or having access to files on multiple devices. My aim at start would be to make something in lines o ~8TB of space with the option to add more in the future (so like 2x 4TB HDDs at start). I'm trying to point out pros/cons of the 3 options I can think of:
- NAS
- build a PC that will work as home file server
- convert one of my old PC to work as file server
NAS pros:
- dedicated to work 24/7
- hardware made for 24/7 work
- less power consumption than PC
- less basic noise (not counting disk noises)
- a 2bay NAS is cheaper than a new PC
- hot plug new disks
- all kind of dedicated disk health and storage management software
NAS cons:
- 2 bay NAS has zero update options aside from "replace current disks with bigger ones" (then what to do with old disks, I already have some HDD in boxes that I'm too lazy to connect via SATA<>USB... - can't use them for NAS as there might be like 4-5 TB total space, not really enough, when I have a central storage space then I might think of a way to use those free disks for additional backup with a docking station or something)
- 4 or 6 bay NAS has prices similar to a PC (or even bigger, depends on the model ofc)
- less versatile for any additional usage, just for storing files
- if something fails within the NAS itself (not disk), the whole device is mostly lost (or the repair cost will be high enough so that getting a new one is a batter option)
- not really for daily power on/off (but in case of a NAS I would most likely keep it running 24/7)
New PC pros:
- more versatile when it comes for overall usage
- I can use it as a dedicated web-browser machine and share it via RDP to my Windows machines (as a kind of "safer" web browsing environment)
- 6 SATA ports (1 for OS, so 5 for storage disks) at start on most mobos
- can tweek disks setup and samba config for my needs
- plenty of hardware update options
- if need arises I can buy PCI-E<>SATA adapters to add even more disks (doubt I would use it, but PC gives such possibility)
- can add more RAM if needed (for web browsing for example, if the mobo will support it ofc)
- can plug a CD/DVD drive for either burning data on DVDs or to dump data from my CD/DVDs that I have (either via SATA until I have free slots or via an external USB)
- can auto shutdown when connected to UPS if there is a longer power failure (my UPS model has a linux software driver but didn't test it, yet)
- can turn off automatic updates so that I can prepare for software updates (like have a 1:1 VM to test updates etc)
- faster boot time
- dedicated to turn on/off model of work
- not really dedicated for 24/7 work
- normal hardware not build for 24/7 work
- more hardware that can cause problems
- would require to have a mouse/keyboard/monitor free or within quick connection in case RDP/SSH has problems
- no hot plug new disk
- having to do all of the configuration of new disk every time I would add one
- way more power hungry than a NAS
- will probably be louder than NAS (but it would probably allow for some additional noise reducers for drives that NAS can't offer due to lack of space in the case)
- requires more space (I don't like very closed cases as they have worse air flow)
- most of the time the PC will be bored and do nothing (CPU/GPU at 0% and RAM mostly used by OS, tbh I even think about having crypto miners there just so that the PC isn't idle all of the time heh...)
Old PC (intel core 2 duo era):
[most pros of new PC] plus
lowest rig cash investment (probably only some additional noise reducers)
[all cons of new PC] plus:
- hardware is old (mobo has SATA II ports)
- hardware is more power hungry than a 2020 rig
- the PC is noisy so I would need to make it as quiet as possible (new fans, maybe new case, maybe liquid cooling, dunno really)
- some hardware that I don't have any usage off on such system like a dedicated GPU (until the PC has Windows I can use it for games that I like, but on Linux that won't work and dual boot isn't an option since if booted to Windows then no access to the storage duh), better GPU might help in crypto but that's not the reason I want a file server... (and the GPU is GTX450 so "super crypto power" )
- can't use any hardware from this PC in my other rigs as it has the worst specs (no point too take the GPU to another PC for SLI...)
- aside from adding more disks no other hardware upgrades (ram is maxed on mobo, no point in better cpu)
- potential problem that the mobo won't see the disks or that it won't work above some certain amount of space (never happened to me but who knows)
- more likely to fail while using compared to a new rig
Not sure where to put "I have the control over software updates" in a NAS as I never had one so I can't say if I can block updates or they happen automatically and I can't avoid them (if yes - that's a minus, I hate when software updates itself without my knowledge of it as that can often lead to various problems).
Did I miss something crucial? Or I got something very wrong? At the moment I guess my choice would be:
- new PC
- NAS
- old PC
Thanks
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