NAS for home use: General queries

Sarath

iDota
I have been looking at different storage solutions and after a few hard disk failures I was looking at different ways to backup my data, mostly home videos and other important media

Coming straight to the point:

Can I access a NAS which is at a different location and use it like a personal cloud service?

My brother is in US and has better access to the hardware. The idea is I was hoping he could get a NAS up and running at his place and I could somehow access it over the internet and store my files in it. When the time comes maybe he could get one or both HDDs here and if it permits the entire NAS system itself given the size and weight constraints.

At present I have my backups in multiple 2 to 4TB external harddisks and a recently bought 4TB internal HDD. I also have a 5TB subscription to iDrive cloud service which backs up all my data.

Due to time constraints I cannot continue to invest much time in maintaining these backups and actively monitor if my data is safe.
My idea is to have the NAS contain all the data while it syncs with my cloud account in iDrive thus having redundancy both locally and in the cloud. This will offload my efforts to seam through my external drives every time I want to backup any data.

If anyone has a better idea of data management than my present or future plan stated above then please do share it with me.

I am employed in the health care sector and have limited knowledge about hardware and software, so please excuse any naivety or gaps in knowledge that might come up in present or future posts.
 

Nerevarine

Incarnate
There are two ways to do this..

1. If you dont want to learn linux and debug your way into building a custom NAS solution, just buy a synology, WD, Seagate NAS device which has integration into their cloud service. An example of such a device would be Synology DS220+.
You already know what a NAS is, but this cloud service integration allows you to download your files from a different network. Remember, this may ONLY be downloads, no streaming etc. So research well before you buy.

2. The second option is to build your own NAS from custom hardware. A good capable SBC like Raspberry Pi 4, running an opensource NAS os like FreeNAS or OpenMediaVault(my recommendation).. you can install docker packages to handle NAS apps like syncthing to auto sync photos from phone, plex media server to stream etc. All these "apps" are usually built in in premium ready made NAS, but you have a lot of customization options if you go opensource. But the downside is :
It would be semi stable, as you know opensource, yada yada yada..
You would need proper hardware, dont skimp out on electric backcurrent protection, dont skimp on fans for cooling your hdds/pi, you need a good enclosure, etc.
Lastly, cloud service integration is a pain to set up unless your ISP gives you static IP and you can portforward with ease (or if you have ipv6 support). Otherwise, the only option to access your NAS outside your network is to use a service like ngrok (with nginx), or your own vps to ssh port forward your NAS to open internet. Its a pain in the ass to set up, but it works (sort of)

If you want me to provide a full guide on how to build, what steps i learnt to avoid etc.. i can do if required. But id recommend you go for pre-built solution if you dont have the time.

*geek.digit.in/community/threads/raspberry-pi-4-devils-curse-from-hell.207836/page-2#post-2378521
*geek.digit.in/community/threads/raspberry-pi-4-devils-curse-from-hell.207836/page-3#post-2378551

and this

Read these two threads
 

whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
Your issue is same as mine. I am also currently juggling multiple internal & external hdd. As of now my plan is to save money & buy two 10/12TB internal HDDs & a cloud storage(MS office 365 6 users 6TB 1 year) for essential data. I just today won syncology 120j which is a one disk NAS with fan so will be reviewing it to see if it can withstand Indian climate conditions under heavy/typical NAS usage. If it does its job well then may think about it for future need else as of now internal HDDs with large capacity in a pc cabinet with proper air flow seems to be the best option.
 
Your issue is same as mine. I am also currently juggling multiple internal & external hdd. As of now my plan is to save money & buy two 10/12TB internal HDDs & a cloud storage(MS office 365 6 users 6TB 1 year) for essential data. I just today won syncology 120j which is a one disk NAS with fan so will be reviewing it to see if it can withstand Indian climate conditions under heavy/typical NAS usage. If it does its job well then may think about it for future need else as of now internal HDDs with large capacity in a pc cabinet with proper air flow seems to be the best option.
Oh great, congrats.
 

Cool Buddy

Wise Old Owl
*geek.digit.in/community/threads/raspberry-pi-4-devils-curse-from-hell.207836/page-2#post-2378521
*geek.digit.in/community/threads/raspberry-pi-4-devils-curse-from-hell.207836/page-3#post-2378551

and this

Read these two threads
I see you posted links to that thread started by me

It's hard to believe it was just one and half years ago. I was a Linux noob back then. I have come such a long way from there that I'm slightly embarrassed about that post now. Work from home has given me a lot of time to tinker with Linux, Pi and self-hosted apps.

Recently I managed to setup a remote SSH tunnel from a VPS and access my home computer over the Internet as a PoC. I'm planning to turn it into a permanent setup by next month. Also looking into Wireguard for this.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread, just got a bit carried away with nostalgia. Coming to the OP's question, others have already given suggestions on setting up a NAS. But I don't see why you couldn't also just use your brother's setup if he is willing to set it up for you. Internet services in the US are generally reliable enough for a set it up and forget kind of setup.

However, do check with your brother about data caps, as you might end up driving his Internet bills high. Also, in case of any issues, your brother will also have to provide tech support, which, unless he's using the system himself as well, can be annoying for him.
 

Nerevarine

Incarnate
How did you ssh tunnel ? I found ngrok is the cheapest and reliable way to do it. If you have a different way, let us know too
 

Cool Buddy

Wise Old Owl
How did you ssh tunnel ? I found ngrok is the cheapest and reliable way to do it. If you have a different way, let us know too
For the PoC, I just used Putty to forward a port of the remote machine to my local machine. The remote machine was a VPS, which I'm currently paying for. This was just to understand the whole thing, I haven't looked into whether this can be a permanent setup or not. I'm anyway going to cancel my VPS subscription next month. I have learnt what I had to learn and the costs aren't justified for me since I'm the only user and I'm anyway home at all times these days. I'll turn the whole setup local.

I'll be looking into ngrok myself. However, I'm also exploring an Oracle Cloud free tier VPS which has 1vCPU and 1 GB RAM. I'll try setting up wireguard on this. This would give more freedom in terms of subdomains, I guess. Ngrok free tier has a limit on subdomains.
 

Nerevarine

Incarnate
I was not aware oracle offered an always free option for it's VMs. That seems like the best way to port forward a NAS now. Thanks for letting me know, I plan to use it well.
 

riturajsharma19

Broken In
I recently built a 10tb NAS that runs on Openmediavault using old unused hardware that I had from a previous build. Specs:
Intel i3 540, 4gb DDR3 RAM, 4tb Segate Ironwolf NAS drive (new purchase), 4tb Segate Barracuda regular HDD, 2tb Toshiba regular HDD.
I use it primarily for storage and multi-device access of files on my home network. It is also a PLEX server for my entire media collection. As for access to files from outside the home network, I plan to use Nextcloud. Installing Nextcloud on Openmediavault is a complex exercise though.
 

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Cool Buddy

Wise Old Owl
I recently built a 10tb NAS that runs on Openmediavault using old unused hardware that I had from a previous build. Specs:
Intel i3 540, 4gb DDR3 RAM, 4tb Segate Ironwolf NAS drive (new purchase), 4tb Segate Barracuda regular HDD, 2tb Toshiba regular HDD.
I use it primarily for storage and multi-device access of files on my home network. It is also a PLEX server for my entire media collection. As for access to files from outside the home network, I plan to use Nextcloud. Installing Nextcloud on Openmediavault is a complex exercise though.
What cabinet is that, can you provide a link?
 

whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
Thermaltake Core V21
Good config, I have a doubt though. I have heard that it is recommended to use HDDs in usual horizontal position instead of vertical position & logically also this seems better option(gravity effect & motor orientation). From the pics it seems this cabinet only supports HDD in vertical position but is it possible to instead place the entire cabinet in such a way that HDD orientation becomes horizontal.
 

riturajsharma19

Broken In
Good config, I have a doubt though. I have heard that it is recommended to use HDDs in usual horizontal position instead of vertical position & logically also this seems better option(gravity effect & motor orientation). From the pics it seems this cabinet only supports HDD in vertical position but is it possible to instead place the entire cabinet in such a way that HDD orientation becomes horizontal.
The default HDD orientation is horizontal in this TT case, although being a modular case you could change the orientation of the components being used.
 
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