I wanna get a NAS for backing up my files and maybe storing some shows and movies I have downloaded. Is it worth it to get a purpose built NAS or is slapping FreeNAS on a used optiplex easy enough? Also is there a big difference in power draw?
I wanna get a NAS for backing up my files and maybe storing some shows and movies I have downloaded. Is it worth it to get a purpose built NAS or is slapping FreeNAS on a used optiplex easy enough? Also is there a big difference in power draw?
Yes. Best tech decision I ever made.
Personally, I would recommend making your NAS be a Linux server running ZFS with at least RAIDZ2. If you are particularly paranoid, you'd get ECC RAM and a compatible board, but honestly this is almost certainly overkill for your needs.
The advantage of this is that you get to use superior tech and have proper control over your server. IMO, security demands that you personally administer your NAS with audited free software even though it demands a pretty large amount of sysadmin knowledge. The most important step of this is that you personally install the operating system in addition to the software on it.
Buying commodity NAS solutions is understandable if you don't want to make that commitment, but if you do feel comfortable doing so then I definitely recommend it.
Personally, I spend no time administering my NAS outside of occasionally checking to verify that nothing is wrong (nothing ever is). Because I installed the software myself and can easily ssh in, I also got to embed off-site backup strategies into the NAS itself so that my data takes care of itself.
Happy to answer any questions!