Hey everyone. I really want to replace Google photos with some sort of self-hosted solution. However, I am getting overwhelmed.
The first thing that came up when I did a little bit of research is buying a NAS. However, I just noticed these devices are so expensive with really weak specs. Feel like I am getting ripped off. Also, I heard that it can be slow? Is that true?
Anyway, I was told it is better to just buy a Resperry pi. However, these things are expensive for the specs. Would a used Intel NUC be better? Can you use any mini pc for that?
I have seen some crazy powerful (compared to the pi) cheap used Ryzen mini PCs, can those be turned into servers?
isn’t the whole point of a NAS to have multiple 3.5" drives?
The point of a NAS is to have the PC built for you and the OS/software pre-configured. That’s at least what you’re paying extra for. I would always rather build the PC myself and setup the software myself; if I know I’ll need raid I’ll get a raid controller. If I know I’ll need lots of drives, I’ll get a mobo and case that accommodates that, etc.
I wasn’t just talking about rebuilt NAS, but just in general the whole point of a file server is to have a bunch of storage connected to your network. So something like a mini PC or RPi doesn’t seem like it really fills the same niche since you can’t easily connect 3.5" drives to them.
Fair point. There are external storage bays you can get, but yeah, not necessarily the use case those shine for.