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What's your recommendation for a small NAS?
(sh.itjust.works)
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this post was submitted on 27 May 2025
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I love the idea of up-cycling but I was looking for something physically small/compact that I could hide easily in a ceiling or closet that wouldn't also be unnecessarily power-intensive. My 10th gen NUC running Debian and a full *arr stack uses <5W at idle for example. I could end up using it as a NAS instead but I think I'd rather have it out in the open on a desk where I can still use it as a desktop as needed.
I also have a GOAT friend with a 2.5x2.5Gb symmetrical fiber connection who co-locates a server of mine for free as long as I share the storage with him. It'll be a redundant offsite backup in addition to this NAS so I only need the most basic of features, not something with a whole desktop OS and/or entire ecosystem of available extensions and other packages.
Why not use the NUC as a PC and have it do NAS stuff as well? You'd just need a drive enclosure for extra storage.
A big part of why I want a(nother) NAS (I already have two because I'm a maniac) is that I need a backup of my surveillance system's footage, not only in case of data loss but also in case someone breaks in and steals my NVR -- the device which would otherwise contain the only video of them breaking in and stealing my NVR.
As of last night, I have an offsite backup functioning so that problem is mostly solved, but I still wanted a redundant copy saved locally. Since the NUC is busy being a server and occasionally a PC, I was looking for something else that's also small which I could hide from a burglar inside a wall or ceiling.
Why not a VPS? $5/month gets you 40GB storage instance, and 2 vCPUs at Hetzner (or a number of other places) so you could even give it a web interface so you could access it remotely. Install something like MicroOS or Silverblue and it'll update itself.
That monthly cost is probably not much more than the electrical cost for an alternative, plus years worth of whatever you're paying for the hardware.
Edit: Any cheap SBC with a big enough SD card would work too, but you'll need to replace the card every so often. I'd still prefer the VPS here.
Living on a busy street, my cameras would fill 40GB in just a few days. Ideally I'd like to have at least a few weeks if not months of retention. I'm also fiercely anti-subscription to the point of irrationality. I wouldn't be in this community otherwise -- I'd just have a Ring or Blink plan like a normie.
A Hetzner storage box could work, which is about $3-4/mo for 1TB.
But if you really want it local, a cheap SBC w/ a big SD card seems like a good option. It'll be slow and you'll need to replace the card periodically, but it will sip power and is incredibly easy to conceal.
I like that idea. I have an extra Pi Zero -- would that work or do I need more processing power? I'm looking at storing around 5-15GB per day.
If it's literally just copying data, a Pi Zero should be plenty, especially if there are gaps in between (i.e. motion detection). The main concern is if writing to the SD card can keep up, but I'd totally give it a shot first before buying something.