Subscription creep is real, and cloud storage is one of the quieter offenders—easy to set up, easy to forget, and easy to keep paying for even when you probably don’t need it. If you have an old PC you’ve retired, you already have everything you need to run your own private cloud storage and cut that bill down to zero. I did exactly that with a 2017 budget machine, and the result works better than I expected.
Say hello to the star of the show
The machine doing all the work
I built this PC back in college as a super entry-level gaming rig. It has a Ryzen 3 2200G with no dedicated GPU, a 250GB SATA SSD for the OS, and 16GB of 3000MHz DDR4 RAM. The specs aren’t impressive by any measure. In fact, I once considered selling it on the second-hand market and the best offer I got was just under $150.
At the time of writing, this doesn’t even qualify as an entry-level gaming PC anymore. In fact, it can’t officially run Windows 11 because it lacks TPM 2.0 support. That said, file storage and syncing aren’t demanding workloads. You don’t need high clock speeds or powerful graphics processing just to serve files over a network, and a machine like this can handle that workflow just fine.
QuizUnique and creative DIY NAS setups
Trivia challenge
From old laptops to dusty routers — find out how well you know the wild world of homemade network storage.
HardwareNetworkingSoftwareDIY BuildsStorage
Which major advantage makes an old laptop a surprisingly good candidate for a DIY NAS build?
Correct! A laptop’s built-in battery acts like a mini UPS (uninterruptible power supply), protecting your data from sudden power outages. This is a significant perk that desktop-based NAS builds don’t get for free.
Not quite. The big hidden advantage of a laptop NAS is its built-in battery, which functions as a natural UPS. This keeps the system running briefly during power cuts, protecting data integrity without any extra hardware.
Which open-source firmware is most commonly flashed onto compatible routers to enable NAS-like USB storage sharing features?
Correct! OpenWrt is a Linux-based open-source firmware that replaces stock router firmware and adds powerful features, including USB storage sharing via Samba or NFS, turning a basic router into a lightweight NAS.
Not quite. OpenWrt is the go-to open-source firmware for repurposing routers. Once flashed, it supports USB drives connected to the router’s USB port, enabling basic NAS functionality like Samba file sharing on a very small budget.
Which NAS operating system is specifically designed to run well on low-power ARM-based single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi?
Correct! OpenMediaVault (OMV) is a Debian-based NAS OS that supports ARM architectures, making it a popular choice for Raspberry Pi NAS builds. It’s lightweight, free, and has a web-based GUI that simplifies setup.
Not quite. OpenMediaVault is the answer. Unlike TrueNAS or Unraid, OMV is optimized to run on ARM processors, which is why it’s the community favorite for Raspberry Pi-powered NAS projects.
When building a NAS using a Raspberry Pi, what is the most common bottleneck that limits file transfer speeds?
Correct! On older Raspberry Pi models (prior to the Pi 4), both the USB ports and the Ethernet port shared the same USB 2.0 bus, creating a significant bottleneck when transferring data between network and storage simultaneously.
Not quite. The real culprit on older Raspberry Pi models is the shared USB and Ethernet bus. Because both the network adapter and USB storage competed for the same bandwidth, real-world NAS speeds were often far below what the hardware theoretically promised.
What is a ‘Franken-NAS’ commonly referred to in DIY storage communities?
Correct! A ‘Franken-NAS’ is a beloved DIY term for a NAS cobbled together from spare and salvaged parts — old desktop cases, mixed hard drives, and recycled motherboards all stitched together into one functional (if ugly) storage machine.
Not quite. A Franken-NAS refers to a storage build assembled from mismatched, salvaged components — think old desktop parts, second-hand drives, and whatever case happens to fit. It’s a badge of honor in the DIY NAS community.
Which RAID level is recommended for a small 2-drive DIY NAS that prioritizes data redundancy over total storage capacity?
Correct! RAID 1 mirrors data identically across two drives, meaning if one drive fails, your data survives on the other. It cuts your total usable capacity in half but provides simple, reliable redundancy — perfect for a two-drive home NAS.
Not quite. RAID 1 is the right answer for a two-drive redundancy setup. RAID 0 stripes data for speed but has zero redundancy, and RAID 5 or 6 require three or more drives. RAID 1 mirrors your data across both drives for straightforward protection.
What protocol do most DIY NAS builders configure to allow Windows PCs on the local network to browse shared folders like a network drive?
Correct! Samba implements the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol on Linux and Unix systems, enabling seamless file sharing with Windows machines. It’s the standard choice for home NAS builds because Windows natively understands SMB shares.
Not quite. Samba, which uses the SMB protocol, is the standard answer here. It allows Linux-based NAS systems to present their shares in a way Windows PCs understand natively, so you can map them as network drives without any extra client software.
Which low-power x86 platform became extremely popular for DIY NAS and home server builds due to its fanless design and efficient Intel Atom or Celeron processors?
Correct! Compact Chinese-manufactured mini PC boards from brands like Topton and Cwwk, featuring Intel’s N100 or N5105 processors, became hugely popular in the DIY NAS community around 2022–2024. They offer multiple 2.5GbE ports, low power draw, and multiple SATA connections at a very low price.
Not quite. The Topton and Cwwk N100-based mini PC motherboards became a community favorite for budget DIY NAS builds. They pack multiple Ethernet ports, SATA connections, and efficient modern CPUs into a tiny, affordable package that traditional options couldn’t match at the price.
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So, I decided to repurpose the system into a NAS (Network Attached Storage) setup. The PC is connected directly to my router over Ethernet, and with the right software, it can make its storage accessible to every other device on my network. Granted, 250GB isn’t much storage, so I connected a 2TB external hard drive to it instead. That drive stores all my files, while the SSD handles the operating system and NAS software.
If you decide to use an external hard drive for your NAS setup, make sure you connect it to a USB 3.0 port—the blue-colored one. Also, external hard drives (and even standard desktop HDDs) aren’t designed specifically for NAS usage. Ideally, you should use a NAS-rated drive, since those are built to run 24/7. I plan to upgrade to one eventually as well.
The software stack making this possible
It’s technical—but not complicated
There are four main pieces of software running on this machine, and each one has a specific job.
First, there’s Linux Mint, which is the operating system I chose for the setup. It’s stable, reliable, lightweight, and has a familiar Windows-like interface. It doesn’t require much maintenance and runs 24/7 without any issues. That said, you could just as easily use Ubuntu or another Debian-based distro and get similar results.
Instead of Linux Mint—which is a general-purpose operating system—you could also use an OS designed specifically for NAS setups. Good options include OpenMediaVault, TrueNAS, and Unraid. I went with Linux Mint because I wanted the flexibility to occasionally use the machine as a regular desktop PC as well.
The next important piece is Docker. It lets you run applications in containers—isolated environments that keep apps separate from the rest of your system. That makes them easier to manage, update, and troubleshoot. Alongside Docker, I also installed Portainer, which provides a browser-based graphical interface for managing containers so you don’t have to rely entirely on terminal commands.
Finally, there’s Nextcloud—the main attraction. It’s an open-source self-hosted cloud platform that handles file storage, file syncing, photo backups, document editing, calendars, and contacts, making it a strong alternative to Google’s ecosystem that runs entirely on your own hardware. There are official clients for Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac, and Linux, so syncing files across devices feels very similar to using Google Drive.
I also installed Tailscale for remote access. By default, Nextcloud only makes your files accessible within your local network, meaning you can’t access them over the internet. But if you’re traveling and need to offload files from your phone to free up storage, remote access becomes important. That’s where Tailscale comes in.
How to make it feel more like Google Drive
The details matter
A fresh Nextcloud install looks more like a basic file manager than a full productivity platform. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but it doesn’t immediately feel like a true Google Drive replacement. If I’m replacing Google Drive, I don’t just want cloud storage—I also want office apps, productivity tools, a calendar, and a photo library. Thankfully, Nextcloud can handle all of that, though it does require a bit of manual setup.
Once you log into your Nextcloud admin account, head to the Apps section from the top-right menu. You’ll find a catalog of both first-party and community add-ons. Here are the apps I installed on my setup:
- OnlyOffice Community Document Server: A browser-based office suite that lets you create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations directly inside Nextcloud, with strong compatibility for Microsoft Office formats.
- Nextcloud Photos: A photo gallery app that organizes images by date and supports albums, including shared albums. Photos taken on your Android phone or iPhone can automatically upload to your Nextcloud server through the mobile app.
- Nextcloud Calendar: A CalDAV-based calendar that syncs with virtually any calendar app on Android, iPhone, or desktop. It works with apps like Thunderbird and Apple Calendar out of the box.
- Nextcloud Notes: A lightweight Markdown-based note-taking app that syncs across devices using the official Nextcloud mobile app.
- Nextcloud Contacts: A CardDAV-based contacts manager that syncs your phone contacts with your personal server and works with most apps that support CardDAV syncing.
Once these apps are installed, Nextcloud stops feeling like a glorified file manager and starts feeling like a proper self-hosted productivity platform.
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How to access your DIY cloud storage from the internet
There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this
Your Nextcloud setup is technically limited to your local network by default—that is, devices connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your NAS system. Thankfully, you can configure your NAS so it’s accessible over mobile data or from outside your home network.
The traditional way to do this is by opening a port on your router and forwarding it to the server. It works, but it also exposes your home IP address and internet-facing services to the public internet, which increases your attack surface and makes the system more vulnerable to cyber threats.
That’s why I use and recommend Tailscale as the better solution. It creates a private encrypted network between all your devices—your NAS, phone, laptop, tablet, and anything else you add to it. Only devices inside that private network can communicate with each other over the internet. As a result, when I’m away from home, my devices can still access Nextcloud as if they were connected to my home Wi-Fi network.
The setup process is also surprisingly simple. Just install the Tailscale client on your NAS and every device you want to connect, sign in with the same account, and you’re done. The free personal tier supports up to 100 devices, which is more than enough for most people.
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Can a spare PC really be a $0 replacement for Google Drive?
Google One 2TB costs $9.99 per month, or roughly $120 per year. In my case, the server itself effectively cost nothing because the hardware was already sitting unused in my house. And since this is a low-power machine that mostly idles, the electricity usage is surprisingly minimal.
The only meaningful long-term expense is eventual hardware replacement if something fails. But even then, I’d probably only spend around $200 to $300 on replacement parts that could easily last another decade.
When you look at it that way, the annualized cost of running my DIY NAS works out to roughly $20 to $30 per year—still dramatically cheaper than paying for cloud storage indefinitely.
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