I currently have a 10-year old off-the-shelf NAS (Synology) that needs replacing soon. I haven’t done much with it other than the simple things I mention later, so I still consider myself a novice when it comes to NAS, servers, and networking in general, but I’ve been reading a bit lately (which lead my to this sub). For a replacement I’m wondering whether to get another Synology, use an open source NAS/server OS, or just use a Windows PC. Windows is by far the OS I’m most comfortable with so I’m drawn to the final option. However, I regularly see articles and forum posts which frown upon the use Windows for NAS/server purposes even for simple home-use needs, although I can’t remember reading a good explanation of why. I’d be grateful for some explanations as to why Windows (desktop version) is a poor choice as an OS for a simple home NAS/server.
Some observations from me (please critique if any issues in my thinking):
- I initially assumed it was because Windows likely causes a high idle power consumption as its a large OS. But I recently measured the idle power consumption of a celeron-based mini PC running Windows and found it to be only 5W, which is lower than my Synology NAS when idle. It seems to me that any further power consumption savings that might be achieved by a smaller OS, or a more modern Synology, would be pretty negligible in terms of running costs.
- I can see a significant downside of Windows for DIY builds is the cost of Windows license. I wonder is this accounts for most of the critique of Windows? If I went the Windows route I wouldn’t do a DIY build. I would start with a PC which had a Windows OEM licence.
- My needs are very simple (although I think probably represent a majority of home user needs). I need device which is accessible 24/7 on my home network and 1) can provide SMB files shares, 2) act as a target for backing up other devices on home network, 3) run cloud backup software (to back itself up to an off-site backup location) and, 4) run a media server (such as Plex), 5) provide 1-drive redundancy via RAID or a RAID-like solution (such as Windows Storage Spaces). It seems to me Windows is fine for this and people who frown upon Windows for NAS/server usage probably have more advanced needs.
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If you have a pro or enterprise or even better a server license then there isn’t a lot to complain about.
I work in a mostly Windows environment and I have a 50/50 mix at home. My Linux stuff runs in Hyper-V.
Everything is shared either by software or SMB. Some software is only on Linux. Some is just way easier on Linux. Most things are in docker though.
The market I work in, I need to know both so I play with both. If you’re just pirating and sharing the content then who cares what OS it is hosted on. Use what you got. There are always ways to make it work.
It’s your home lab, you can do anything you want. Figuring shit out and making it work is half the fun. That said, just install Linux on it and save your future self a shitload of time.
OP if you are interested in learning Linux and Docker and possibly running a VM or two on top of NAS duties, I would suggest unRAID. The best part of unRAID is its main function as a NAS, its not running RAID and as such you can have multiple hard drives, shoot even 10 or more hard drives “backed up” by one parity drive. Please note that backed up is not the right term as simple algebra is used to rebuild up to one or two drives (if there are two parity drives) worth of data. So if you have 10 drives and one fails, a parity calculation is done to determine the value of the bit at that part of the hardrive, this calculation is done to rebuild a failed drive. If you were to lose two hard drives and only have one partiry drive then you would lose the data on those two drives only. This is preferable to RAID as if you lose 2 drives and only have a setup capable of recovering one lost drive, you woud lose the whole array of drives. Another nice thing is that you can always add additional storage one drive as time (provided your system has a sata/sas port and your unraid license hasn’t used all of the devices it can fit. So you can start with 3 x 4tb hard drives and have 1 x 4tb drive for parity and then add another drive up to the size of your parity drive (4TB) is this case. This makes it much easier to grow into your NAS, where solutions like ZFS require lots of RAM and need an entire v-dev of 4 or more disks added at a time to expand your storage.
unRAID is also a great OS for running docker containers like Plex and a ton of other applications that you can easily install via the community applications tab. unRAID can also run Virtual Machines as well. I think its a great way to get introduced to more heavy duty hypervisors such as Xen, Proxmox or VMware ESXi. Plus it is a great introduction to docker, a containerization platform that allows you to install full applications without first needing to create a VM running a full blown OS to then install the application (look it up, theres definetly better explainations out there). unRAID costs money but its a one-time fee and you can get a trial and a trial extension for a couple months of free time. Windows will work, but it has no built in parity and running hardware raid is something I would avoid unless you really know what you are doing and have the abiltiy to back up the whole array elsewhere, because raid is not a backup. neither is unraid but its at least a bit more forgiving, losing only whats on one disk if your parity fails.
It’s just not built for that. It’s heavily focused on being a client. It has some passable server functionality, but they don’t really make design decisions based on that use case.
Server OS is more designed for that purpose, and most people pass on that because it just costs so much more, and their are free or very low cost alternatives.
Because you’re bound to use the GUI version of Windows Server, and besides things like Active Directory, Group Policy, SMB file shares, print servers, what have you, you won’t learn as much as something totally foreign to you as a Linux shell interface.
That’s my take anyway.
I use windows 10 as an always on “server” which runs my plex server, ip camera recordings, drive shares etc. I have no issues with it. I’m sure linux can do a better job but I’d rather use an operating system I know how to use fully than stumbling my way around Linux.
Windows Desktop OS is optimized for foreground applications, GUI’s, etc, whereas Server OS is optimized for background services, multiple user connections, and minimized need for downtime.
Neither of them are NAS software. Sure you can set up an SMB share on desktop, or build a fileserver in Server OS, but as youre wanting to replace a Network Attached Storage device, there are better options out there.
You could get a Supermicro server off eBay for cheap, either 2, 3 or 4U, and motherboard generation around X10 or X11. If youd rather a tower, then something like a Dell T440. Load it up with the drives you want and throw TrueNAS on the OS drives. TrueNAS is free and does a really good job of what it was designed for.
I work in IT so getting a working copy of Windows Server edition isn’t a problem. For a long time I ran my house on Windows Server - the big draw was that I could RDP to a desktop at home very easily. The downside is the constant updates, programs stepping on each other, having one app go bad and take the rest with it, constant need to reboot, etc. Plus when you run Windows server there’s a lot of stuff they turn off in the name of stability and some programs will flat-out refuse to install on a Server edition software. Meanwhile the desktop edition has limits on processor cores, RAM etc.
During one of my machine refresh/promotion cycles I took a chance on an Ubuntu server, which was able to do everything I needed. Used DockStarter to help me learn/understand Docker. Once I got the hang of that my newest home server is now a Proxmox hypervisor with HBA passthrough to run TrueNAS in a virtual machine, along with multiple windows and Ubuntu virtual machines, some of which are docker nodes (now that I understand Docker better I am able to handle the config on my own) and some stuff I use for work and simulation. I don’t have any desire to run a vanilla windows server anymore.
I used to run windows 7 pro (really you need a pro version to get RDP) it was 100% rock solid, did everything it needed to do, was very easy to setup and maintain. If doing this you should obviously use a newer version but forced updates will be your enemy, so google how to disable them but yes for most using a non server OS is fine. However this sub is about home labs, which is meant for learning enterprise software, you’re best posting over in r/homeserver or somewhere else I expect
I run all my nerves on Debian and also a WD Nas. But, I did once run a windows 10 desktop for a few years and used it as a file server with zero issue. 24/7 access wasn’t needed so any reboots in the night we’re fine. I wouldn’t do it again, I only did it because I had the desktop with lots of drives in and I was too lazy to reinstall it lol But if I was to do it again I’d reinstall it and use truenas or Openmedia vault