Linux friendly NAS

Lounge EndeavourOS pub
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I am wanting a NAS system. There are several available, but which one is Linux friendly?

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I think all should be Linux friendly. I will also say that you can build a NAS for cheaper by getting an older machine, getting some SATA drives, installing Debian on the machine and creating a Samba share.

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I concur.

My NAS is an RPI4, running debian bookworm from an SSD.
It’s running as a fileserver, VPN, Nextcloud-server, adguard server.

But then again, my use case is not demanding.

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Nice to know someone is using a Raspberry Pi for these tasks. I was actually planning to do something similar, with the Idea to make a NAS with a Raspberry Pi but never had any experience with them before and was going to look it up, but my use case is also not extreme so processing power should be fine.

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I did not use this tutorial, but perhaps it helps you to get going :slight_smile: :

https://www.raspberrypi.com/tutorials/nas-box-raspberry-pi-tutorial/

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Thanks, will definitely take a look. So far I’ve only researched setting up a NAS and whats required etc, but then had to choose a platform for it, so I will give Raspberry Pi a try. :+1:

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I have a headless, simple home LAN file server running on a RPi 4b.
For a file server, I am a big believer in keeping the OS and the Data on different storage devices. The OS is running on a uSD, and the data is stored on a USB 3 SSD 1 TB, and another identical USB 3 SSD 1 TB for data backup.

It is a LAN file server for Linux client devices, a LAN file server for Windows client devices, and a DLNA streamer for Video, Audio, and Images. Every package in the entire system is from the official Archlinux ARM repositories. No third party software.

Here is a headless server image for RPi 4b or RPi 5.

Here are EnOS WiKi articles for setting up a Linux Client, a Windows client, the DLNA media server, and setting up a Data backup.

https://discovery.endeavouros.com/category/arm/

Pudge

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Hi Pudge

Thanks for all the information here. I will give it all a read through and and then have a try at doing this, once I obtain a RPi that is. I’m the same with separating the OS from the other files, I have my current PC set up the same way. I never knew there were guides on the ARM wiki for this, makes sense though as RPi is ARM based but I never owned an ARM device before so I never checked it.

Thanks for your response, there is a lot of good information here, not just for me but anyone who sees this thread and wants to try a RPi route.

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If you are looking for a dedicated prebuilt NAS that will take a linux distro without issue the new Ugreen NASync series fits the bill, Terramaster will take a linux distro easily as well. @dalto recently got an Aoostar that might work for you, hopefully he chimes in, or as others have mentioned you can easily roll your own with a RPI, or similar SBC, or build a dedicated desktop build for it. You have lots of options.

2 Likes
10

Linux friendly from what perspective? You want a NAS that can work with Linux? If all you are talking about is file sharing, then they pretty much all are. Linux can connect to SMB or NFS shares without hassle.

If you want to use things like their proprietary backup apps then there are more things to consider.

On the other hand, if you want to replace the installed OS with Linux, there are some appliances that allow that. Terramaster and Ugreen for example. However, I don’t recommend that. You are paying a big premium for these devices over just buying a chassis without an OS if you want to install your own.

I recently switched from a Synology to my own appliance running TrueNAS Scale. You can find that story here.

In either case, my recommendation would be to start with understanding your needs and objectives:

  • How much storage do you need?
  • Do you need/want SSDs and is your network fast enough to support that?(Generally, you can saturate a 1GB network with HHDs.)
  • Are you only trying to share files or do you want something more. Some NAS solutions also offer other things:
    • Proprietary or open source backup solutions
    • Kubernetes or docker containers
    • The ability to run virtual machines
    • VPN integration
    • Snapshots
    • Etc, etc

Answering these questions will help guide you to the right solution. For example, if you literally only want to share files over SMB or NFS, that requires very little. On the other hand, if you want transcode 4K video or host many virtual machines, that would lead you to a different solution.

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Sharing files pretty much. What I would like is for the NAS/media drives to show up on my smart tv like all the other apps; Prime, Tubi, Sling and the like. I figured a NAS would allow that. Not totally sure though. Maybe I need something else.

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It depends on the OS and SoC in your TV but in most cases, you will need to use an app and transcode the files on your NAS so you can stream them to the TV.

This will require quite a bit more resources on the NAS itself.

You probably want to do some testing with your TV before you commit.

You can create a simple share on your current PC and see if your TV can connect to it and stream large media files of different types and encodings. It also depends what type of media you want to consume. For example, most TVs can easily play 8-bit h264 but give them anything else and they will fall apart.

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A media streaming service like Jellyfin or Plex would do that…and probably have plugins for your tv. Or at least DLNA

1 Like
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I use miniDLNA to stream video mp4 as is, MP3 FLAC, wav etc. audio, and Image files to any DLNA enabled device. In my case, two different SMART TVs, my Yamaha AV receiver, and to all my computers.

For the computers, VLC and rhythmbox are both DLNA enabled plus the stock Windows media player is DLNA enabled.

Pudge

EDIT:
EnOS WiKi for miniDLNA