I currently have a pretty simple media server. It runs on a desktop made of old parts and has 4 6 TB drives in a raidz1 array. It is used by a lot of friends who add a lot of media, so its been nearly at capacity for a while. The desktop has no more open SATA ports or drive enclosures, so I’m not sure what the best option for adding more drives is.

I know the most obvious answer is buying NAS, but I think it might be a little complex for what I need, because no other devices need any access to this storage. I was considering purchasing a DAS, as it seems like a simple option, but I’ve seen many people say its not worth purchasing a DAS over a NAS. Any opinions would be appreciated.

Edit: Thanks for the suggestions! I’m likely going to go with a new case for some extra drive bays and a PCI-E SAS controller, this seems like the best option for the simplicity and price!

  • richmondez@lemdro.idEnglish
    1·
    6 days ago

    All a NAS is is a separation of concerns, if you build a system who’s only job is to provide networked storage, then that system is a NAS. If you buy an off the shelf “NAS” and proceed to run a bunch of services on it, that is a home server, not a NAS. Build your own NAS and most of your concerns go away.