affordable NAS

[GamingHDGames]

Hey

I was thinking of making as NAS (network Attached Storage) however I looked online and could not find any help on how to get/make a cheap NAS.

[Oshino Shinobu]

What is cheap for you? 

Is it just for storage, or are you planning on running a media server like Plex on it? 

Generally, it's cheaper to buy a pre-built than build one yourself if all you want is file storage. The main cost of it is the drives for it. 

EDIT: If you have an old PC lying around, that can be made into a NAS. 

[Vitalius]

1 minute ago, GamingHDGames said:

Hey

I was thinking of making as NAS (network Attached Storage) however I looked online and could not find any help on how to get/make a cheap NAS.

Any computer can be a NAS. All a NAS is is a computer with storage in it that serves it to other computers on a network. 

Could be Chromebook. Could be wtv. The only limitations on the hardware is your own choices for what you want.

[failblox]

You might want to look into companies that make prebuilt NASs, such as Synology. That's the only one I can name off the top of my head, but I've heard good things about them.

Buying a prebuilt might be cheaper, but the downside of it is that you don't get the flexibility of choosing all the components and OS when building one yourself.

[GamingHDGames]

A cheap NAS would be under 200.

[Mayaa]

Just now, GamingHDGames said:

A cheap NAS would be under 200.

Thats almost the cost of a single decently sized harddrive, so thats cutting it a bit low.

[GamingHDGames]

It would not even be a NAS just a decent amount of storage for videos 1TB would be enough.

[Mikensan]

$200, you're going to spend $150 on a used computer off of ebay or craigslist with at least an i3, core 2 duo, core 2 quad, or dual core pentium - and you'll just install windows/linux and setup a CIFS/Samba share. The other $50 would be your 1TB drive.

 

Or you could just use your current desktop, throw on a external HDD, and just share it from there. If it's a newer computer its idle wattage should be 70-100watts depending on how many drives and what video card you're running. I would recommend this route since your budget is considerably low. Save money while this solution lasts you, then you can get an oke doke NAS for ~$500.

[SuicideAnomaly]

4 hours ago, GamingHDGames said:

It would not even be a NAS just a decent amount of storage for videos 1TB would be enough.

Something like the Western Digital My Book might serve you well. :-)

[Captain_WD]

19 hours ago, GamingHDGames said:

~snip~

 

Hey there

I could suggest that you take a look at WD My Cloud. It is a simple and inexpensive NAS solution that is great for file sharing and media storage. It should cover your needs and fit your budget.  Here's a link with more info: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=kHP9yO

Feel free to ask if you happen to have any questions!

Captain_WD.