This will be multi part post where I will take you through understanding what is NAS? How to setup NAS on your own using Raspberry Pi.

Part 1: Motivation
Part 2: Bake the Pi
Part 3: Install OpenMediaVault
Part 4: Setup OpenMediaVault (coming soon...)

Part 1: Motivation

Recently I felt a need to have NAS which I can access on my local network and eventually expose it over internet for things like backing up my photos, videos, backups etc.

But I was hoping it to be more than just a regular NAS. I want it to run other services likes password manager, media player server which I can access on my mobile phone, tv and other devices.

Buying NAS is a good option but it is very costly. So I decided to build one myself.

This multi-part post is share my experience and steps I followed to setup one for myself.

What is a NAS Server?

A (Network Attached Storage) NAS Server is a network storage system to serve and share files to other client computers in a local area network. This enables multiple users to access and share the same file storage.

Why NAS Server on Raspberry Pi?

Raspberry Pi is a mini-computer with the full performance of a Linux-based operating system and contains almost all functions of a large server system.

The Raspberry Pi saves a lot of money because it consumes a very small amount of energy. Due to its small size, the Raspberry Pi can be placed on nearly any place.

There are various solutions present which can help you build your NAS. I will be using openmediavault.

What is OpenMediaVault?

openmediavault is the next generation network attached storage (NAS) solution based on Debian Linux. It contains services like SSH, (S)FTP, SMB/CIFS, DAAP media server, RSync, BitTorrent client and many more.

openmediavault is primarily designed to be used in small offices or home offices, but is not limited to those scenarios. It is a simple and easy to use out-of-the-box solution that will allow everyone to install and administrate a Network Attached Storage without deeper knowledge.

You can read about the features provided by OpenMediaVault here.

That is it for this part you can continue with the reading the rest of parts.

Part 1: Motivation
Part 2: Bake the Pi
Part 3: Install OpenMediaVault
Part 4: Setup OpenMediaVault (coming soon...)