Obviously, you'll need a Raspberry Pi for this project, along with the requisite accessories: a power supply, a microSD card, and a mouse, a keyboard, and a monitor for the initial setup. Then, once you're hooked, you can upgrade to a purpose-made Synology or QNAP model that fits your long-term needs. However, it's a great project if you have a Pi lying around and want to see what NAS life is all about. You'll want to make sure that any important data on your Pi-based NAS is also backed up elsewhere. 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. 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. But they can get expensive, 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. Just buy one, pop in a disc drive, and you're off to the races.

There are plenty of ready-built NAS devices out there, from companies such as Synology, QNAP, and Asustor. Once you start using one, it's hard to go back. Sure, you could do all this with your main PC, but a NAS is lower-power, and it is designed to run day and night, even if your desktop is out of commission. 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. Network attached storage allows you to share files from one, always-on device throughout your house.

How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication.

How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.

How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.

How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.

How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.

How to Block Robotexts and Spam Messages.

Best media server for raspberry pi