I have an old Alienware r8 and several 2-4 TB HDDs gathering dust in a closet. The Alienware actually runs remarkably quiet and it occurred to me I could turn it into a DIY NAS.

I’m not entirely sure where to start though. Some immediate questions:

  • What’s a good NAS OS to install?
  • Any fun things I can do besides plex transcoding with a 1080 GPU?
  • Would it make sense to run a Pixelfed/Mastodon server off this guy?
  • Can I run a RAID on it without buying a separate HDD bay?

Background:

I already have a Synology NAS running Plex. It transcodes 1080p fine which is really all I need it for.

Other than a Plex port forward, I have zero experience putting services out on the public web (but would like to learn!).

  • nutbutterEnglish
    2·
    1 day ago

    I have used an old MacBook Air as a home server with Fedora for about 2 years. Fedora with Podman can be great, especially when you can use Cockpit (a GUI for managing containers), which is pre-installed and perfectly integrated.

    Another option is to use TrueNAS. I can also recommend OpenMediaVault.

    For exposing your services on the internet I suggest caution. If your ISP does not let you forward your ports, you can read this. https://blog.aiquiral.me/bypass-cgnat