What's a NAS?
Network-attached storage allows you to share files from one, always-on device throughout your house. With a NAS on your network, you can use it to store your movies and play them from multiple Kodi boxes, store backups on it from your PC, or use it as a BitTorrent box that seeds your files 24/7.
Sure, you could do all this with your main PC, but a NAS is lower-power, and it is designed to be run day and night, even if your desktop is out of commission. Once you start using one, it's hard to go back.
There are plenty of ready-built NAS devices out there, from companies such as Synology, QNAP, and Asustor. Just buy one, pop in a hard drive, and you're off to the races. But they can get expensive quickly, and if you aren't sure whether a NAS is for you, it's hard to justify the investment—especially if you want something that can grow with your storage needs.
The Raspberry Pi, on the other hand, is such a versatile little board that it can act as a cheap trial NAS that—once you grow out of it—can be repurposed for something else. It isn't as rock-solid as, say, a Synology NAS unit, and RAID doesn't work particularly well on the Pi if you want data redundancy. You'll want to make sure that any important data on your Pi-based NAS is also backed up elsewhere.
However, it's a great project if you have a Pi lying around and want to see what NAS life is all about. Then, once you're hooked, you can upgrade to a purpose-made Synology or QNAP model that fits your long-term needs.
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