Can a DIY NAS and a DIY router work simultaneously in the same computer?

[Mohammed Abdullah]

Dear Forum, 
 

Thank you for reading, hope this message finds you well. This is my first ever post here so apologies if I posted in wrong category.  

I know there are LTT videos about DIY NAS and DIY router but I was just wondering if I can make a DIY NAS and DIY router using the same windows computer and run it simultaneously? 

 

If yes then can I make it work with my old laptop Lenovo G570 running windows 10 with Intel core i5 2430M and 8GB RAM? And I was also wondering how many SATA drives can I connect as there are no m.2 slots. I swapped the CD drive. 

 

Thanks.

[tkitch]

can you:  Yes
I wouldn't tho.  You probably don't want your NAS to be on the computer that's at the front of your internet connection.

 

[Mohammed Abdullah]

5 minutes ago, tkitch said:

can you:  Yes
I wouldn't tho.  You probably don't want your NAS to be on the computer that's at the front of your internet connection.

 

What's the issue?

[Levent]

You can, I would only recommend you to do that if you are virtualizating everything.

[tkitch]

Just now, Mohammed Abdullah said:

What's the issue?

your router is exposed to a lot of internet traffic, and if that's also your NAS, and someone gets into your router, they also have access to all your NAS data and can steal, infect, explode, or do anything they want with it.

[LapsedMemory]

58 minutes ago, Mohammed Abdullah said:

Dear Forum, 
 

Thank you for reading, hope this message finds you well. This is my first ever post here so apologies if I posted in wrong category.  

I know there are LTT videos about DIY NAS and DIY router but I was just wondering if I can make a DIY NAS and DIY router using the same windows computer and run it simultaneously? 

 

If yes then can I make it work with my old laptop Lenovo G570 running windows 10 with Intel core i5 2430M and 8GB RAM? And I was also wondering how many SATA drives can I connect as there are no m.2 slots. I swapped the CD drive. 

 

Thanks.

It can be done, but it's not recommended to do in that configuration.  Your hardware should be OK as well, but if you can get 2 ethernet ports on the PC, that would be preferred.  

 

If I were doing this setup:

 

Install Proxmox as a base on the G570.

 

Your first VM will be your router (either OPNSense or pfSense preferrably).   2 cores maximum, 2GB of Ram if you aren't doing anything taxing.  This will handle incoming traffic on one ethernet port, and outgoing traffic on the 2nd ethernet port.

 

Your second VM will be your NAS.  2 cores, 4GB of ram.  You can use your Windows environment for this, but you'll probably get better mileage out of FreeNAS.  This will be assigned to the 2nd ethernet port as well (Proxmox handles the traffic as a virtualized network switch).  Windows just has too high an overhead with very little benefit over sticking with purpose-built software. 

 

If you aren't comfortable with getting into the nitty gritty of content filtering with pfSense, you may also be able to add a 3rd VM for PiHole.  (1-2 cores, 2GB Ram).  

 

There is some discussion on if putting your NAS and Router on the same box constitutes an increased security risk, but the truth is that if they have the skills to crack thru the virtualization layer to get at your NAS, they probably have the skills to get at your NAS regardless of where it is on the network.  

 

[AlwaysFSX]

 

[tkitch]

3 hours ago, LapsedMemory said:

<snip>

Note:  His CPU is 2c4t, so he's very limited to what he can split off.