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?
Don't worry about power draw if the PC you are going to use is 3-4 years old or so. My AMD Ryzen NAS system with 6 WD Red 4 GB drives only pulls 120-140 watts max but idles under 100w. The only reason you should be getting a dedicated NAS or a mini PC with a NAS enclosure is because of space not power. Modern chipsets and CPUs are very power efficient.
A similar dedicated Synology NAS box pulls 80-90 watts. You are only saving $5-10 a year.