Yo.

I’m new to the game. Like 2h fresh. I’m fairly technical, being a millennial and a programmer.

What I want to do, is to have a NAS server I can host movies from and watch them on my phone in my bed - or on my projector.

Extra points if I could host my ebooks and music there and run a torrent client. Extra extra points if I could connect to it from outside my home network (and stream)

I’ve read about about Plex and Jellyfin.

I’m here to ask you about hardware advice.

Will QNAP or Synology be enough for my needs and can I install custom software there? I don’t really want to create hardware from scratch.

Google says yes, but I trust reddit and random articles like I trust a fox not to eat chickens.

Edit: preferably something with WOL that goes silent and fanless when not in use, or something I can shut down with a button

Edit: thanks everyone, right now I’m thinking of using GMKTec or QNAP and am comparing options, prices and number of issues people have on the internet. I’m not a hobbyist and the less I have to work on it the better.

Edit: I’ve ordered GMKTec NucBox G3 Plus 16 GB 1T for 195$ from their site as my starter kit. Should work for my needs.

  • HelloRoot@lemy.lolEnglish
    8·
    19 hours ago

    preferably something with WOL that goes silent and fanless when not in use, or something I can shut down with a button

    Recently I saw a Traefik plugin that can send WOL packets to a machine when a service that is hosted there gets a network request. It also shuts down the device when it’s not in use. You can set it up with a low power always on thing, like a rpi. I also have a buddy that set it up in a more diy way without Traefik so it’s definitely something that can be done and will save you a lot of electricity in the long term.

    As for the NAS, if you want to start small and cheap, there are N95 mini PC’s for like 100-150$. Attatch an external multi TB drive to it via usb and viola there is your first NAS. It will also draw way less power than a full tower PC and still be basically plug and play.

    You can do surprisingly much with very little hardware these days. And because the cost is so low you can upgrade later to exactly what you need. Only by trying out will you find out what you care about and want exactly. Online people keep suggesting their own personal preferences.