So let’s start with the basics:
What’s a NAS? According to Wikipedia:
“Network-attached storage (NAS) is a file-level (as opposed to block-level) computer data storage server connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients. NAS is specialized for serving files either by its hardware, software, or configuration. It is often manufactured as a computer appliance – a purpose-built specialized computer…”
Why might one be interested in a NAS?
From my perspective, I like to be able to access files such as music, photos, videos, audiobooks, etc. using my various devices (PCs, tablets, streaming devices, Sonos speakers, etc.) from a central location. A NAS supports this. But last time I looked, a NAS like the Synology 2 bay NAS DiskStation costs around $300. Then add a couple big harddrives like the Seagate IronWolf 4TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD and you’re talking $500 for starters. Don’t get me wrong, with this arrangement, you’ll have a great NAS, but NOT a budget NAS.
So, in the spirit of being a ‘real cheapskate’, let’s see just how low we can go. Here are the active ingredients of a budget NAS:
- Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 2019 Quad Core 64 Bit WiFi Bluetooth (4GB) – $62
- Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, Case with Fan, 4PCS Heatsinks, 5V 3A USB-C Power Supply, USB Card Reader, 6 Feet Micro HDMI Cable, 7.8 Inch Micro HDMI to HDMI Adapter Cable (4K Ultra HD) – $20
- Samsung (MB-ME32GA/AM) 32GB 95MB/s (U1) microSDHC – $7.50
- Two Vantec NexStar TX 3.5″ USB 3.0 Hard Drive Enclosures – $20 each
- Two Seagate BarraCuda 2TB Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch – $50 each
- Optional – Transcend USB 3.0 SDHC / SDXC / microSDHC / SDXC Card Reader – $7.50
And that’s it. A 4tb NAS for less than $250 (I buy refurbished) plus tax.
So now for the interesting part – setting up the NAS using an operating system and software freely available on the Internet. Here’s the recipe:
Follow this succinct tutorial: http://wagnerstechtalk.com/rpi4omv/ – I used this.
Or the full, official set of instructions: https://github.com/OpenMediaVault-Plugin-Developers/docs/blob/master/Adden-B-Installing_OMV5_on_an%20R-PI.pdf
Following these instruction will get you a Raspberry Pi with OMV (OpenMediaVault) installed. Once OMV is installed, I followed instructions provided on the ‘Techno Dad Life‘ YouTube channel, including:
One Disk Openmediavault 5 (OMV5) Install and Setup, and
Openmediavault 5 (OMV5) Stable Complete Install and Setup including Portainer
With the installation complete, I can now access files stored on the NAS from any other device in the house. That was the goal, and it actually works – it’s a miracle!
Later on I’ll update this post to include a note about the BTRFS (b-tree file system). It appears that using BTRFS instead of ext4 (journaling file system for Linux) which I’m using currently should help with something called ‘bit rot’ (the slow deterioration in the performance and integrity of data stored on storage media). I’ve not experienced this personally, but I’m interested in preventing it if possible and it appears BTRFS is the key when using this NAS setup. We’ll see.
Stay tuned.
