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.
  • FritzGman@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    If you want to get the same resiliency as a NAS, you need to have multiple hard drives so a mini PC won’t cut it. Single drive redundancy is an oxymoron because once the disk goes, so does your redundancy. That said, if you are OK with single disk because of cloud backups, no issue. I would consider how long it would take me to restore it all should the disk go. Its not as fast as you think. Especially when you get into the terabytes conversation.

    If you want to run Plex for media streaming, you’ll find the resource consumption of windows just for existing plus all the other things running may impact your quality of digital life should more than one person stream something at the same time. Just check the number of “Service Host:” processes running on your windows machine. All the windows specific ones add up after a while.

    Windows updates not only patch security flaws but also introduce new features or remove old ones. This can sometimes impact what you are doing with it because they try to steer you to their ecosystem of products with the changes they introduce. It can also break something that works because it isn’t a dedicated appliance meant to service that one function.

    Multiple NICs. I think there might be mini PCs that come with that nowadays and PCs in general can run multiple NICs. However, Windows networking used to be notoriously bad at managing multiple network card connectivity. Not sure if that is still true as I don’t work with Windows too much anymore but if it is and that was in your plans, might want to make sure it can do what you think it can do with the version of windows you get. They still have Windows Pro vs Windows Home right?

    Those are some of things I would consider. In any case, your post sounds like your mind is already made up. In the end, you will have to live with it so what you think is really what matters.