Home Network NAS Construction Site: Level 3

Rudi’s leftover ramp – the dusty cellar find

Well, who else has an old PC in the basement that's been standing sadly in the corner since the last upgrade? Or the old gaming PC, which has been besieged by dust mice for years? It's perfect! This makes it possible to quickly and cheaply take a next step towards your own NAS – and much more flexible than with the FritzBox solution from Level 1 and, if desired, visually more convenient via completely graphical surfaces.

Why at all? Because the USB memory on the FritzBox is a nice start, but quickly reaches its limits with several simultaneous accesses, large files or higher speeds. A PC, on the other hand, has enough power, can drive larger disks directly, provide various protocols and is almost a complete small server.

Apropo Server – a PC can of course be used in a completely different way. Anything between 0 and 100 is possible: Using the existing Windows? Let's go. Win up, release plate, done. (rather suboptimal) Instead of playing a Linux of your choice? Nice. Installation, updates, releases, additional services, ab for it. (better yet, right?) Directly an installation that is intended for exactly such purposes? It's perfect! I'm looking at you, OpenMediaVault

Here, for example, the Basti has an old Mini PC Found in the basement acquired for some small unnumbered bills refurbished used ⁇

So your desire is to turn an old PC into a pretty NAS? Hold my beer.

1. Preparing the PC
   Get rid of old PCs, check hardware. Is he still running? It's great. Hang on the power and via LAN into the home network. Initial equipment Windows to leave, or immediately to the full, SPOILER: There are really nice options.
   
2. Install operating system
   If you just want to do it, OpenMediaVault. This is free, based on Debian Linux and specifically designed for NAS purposes. Download ISO, pack on USB stick, boot and install PC from it. Takes about 20 minutes.
   Mini checklist: PC needs 64bit CPU, 1GB RAM, 4GB HDD/SSD/STICK
   
3. Include memory
   After the installation you log in via the web interface of OpenMediaVault (accessible by default via the IP address of the PC in the browser). There you can integrate your hard drives, create file systems and create shares.
   
4. Set up users and shares
   Create users, assign permissions (e.g. read only or read/write only) and set up shares via SMB/CIFS. So you can integrate the folders later as a network drive on Windows or Mac.
   
5. Optional: Cloud function
   Do you want to do it all on the go? Then you can, for example, install Nextcloud on the server or set up a VPN access so that you can access your data outside of your WLAN.
   
6. backup? No problem!
   Since the PC is constantly running, you can also implement a backup strategy right away: e.g. automatic backups from the laptop or mobile phone to the server. Because it is a PC, several hard drives and possibly even a raid would be feasible – if desired.

A few stumbling blocks to consider:

• energy: An old PC often needs 50-100W in operation. That adds up. A power-saving mini PC or a Raspberry Pi would be better if the old PC draws too much power. Hmmm, more on that in Level 3?
  
• volume: Old PCs are sometimes loud like a hair dryer. Maybe put it in the basement or storage room so it doesn't get annoying. Or the good old piece of hardware vllt. but donate a chic Noctua fan upgrade?
  
• Network speed: Gbit-LAN is mandatory, otherwise file transfers will take forever. Professionals are also welcome to install a second network card directly, then you can also experiment with load balancing, failover or link aggregation.

You don't have an old PC in the basement? No problem at all, technology cellar ‘got you covered’ – and then you will also get an insight into whether and if so how well the whole thing works on a laptop:

Spoiler alarm: The laptop should not be too old, otherwise it is not fun. So rather use the Kellerfund PC. ⁇

But instead of reinventing the wheel here, I like to give you in loving hands or to the zoo ⁇ to the Support continues, because projects like the basement find and Insertion Craft solutions They are already excellently documented.

I only pre-empt in so far that I would like to tell you already here, with the old standard Windows operating system as NAS you will probably not be happy for long. Better set up immediately decent, then you have much longer fun.

Just so you have heard some of the terms before, for example, would be conceivable. Unraid, EasyNas, TrueNas and OpenMediaVault. So have fun crafting.

Conclusion:
With an old PC, your home network becomes a real small data center. Speed, functionality and expandability are worlds better than the USB memory on the FritzBox or a Raspberry Pi. And the best part: You have built it yourself – and you can customize the server at any time according to your needs. NAS? The cloud? backup? Media server? Raid? Anything possible!

By the way, here is also the appropriate information how you can make your newly created home server accessible from the outside, exemplary via Wireguard via Fritz.Box or as Nginx Reverse Proxy:

Let's go, the old PC is already waiting!

TL:DR

Benefits in Level 3 (old PC as server)

• Significantly faster read/write speed
• More simultaneous access without performance slump
• Free choice of file system and no format restriction
• Flexible user and rights management
• Expandable with cloud services like Nextcloud
• Ability to set up automatic backups
• More protocols possible (e.g. SMB, NFS, FTP)
• Media servers, VPN or other services can be easily supplemented

⁇ Disadvantages in Level 3 (old PC as server)

• Significantly higher power consumption (old PC often 50-100W continuous load)
• Volume can be annoying (old PCs tend to have loud fans)
• Higher setup effort than with FritzBox USB memory (possibly days!)
• Space requirements: A complete PC needs space – is not an external hard drive
• Maintenance: Updates, possible hardware problems or system crashes
• Incorrect configuration may lead to security vulnerabilities (e.g. cloud access)