Make a nas from old hard drives. It already has everything except for the drives.

Make a nas from old hard drives I’ve had various storage solutions over the years. I am naming it “Test NAS drive”. Follow our step-by-step guide to format your NAS easily and securely. One of the easier ones, will be a Synology NAS. Feb 13, 2023 · Note that if you decide to sell your old hard drives, you need to make sure to wipe all your data securely before doing so. I think the old enclosure was misreading the drives and interpreting Nov 6, 2023 · If you are interested in building your first network attached storage solution. Although converting an external hard disk into a NAS is a bit tricky, it is not impossible. Jun 29, 2018 · BestBackups. A mini PC can be used to construct a NAS using open source For your use case, the difference between a NAS with 2 bays and 2 external hard drives are: NAS: - Can be access trough your local network. Here is my home network situation. Here's what you need to know about. 5 and 2. Sep 18, 2023 · It’s crucial to plan ahead and choose a motherboard with enough SATA connectors to accommodate all your hard drives. Jul 16, 2025 · Building a DIY NAS is the cheap option to get setup with a home server, here's how I did it and everything you need to know to get started. Usage I will connect this DAS to a Jan 29, 2015 · NAS stands for "Network-Attached Storage. Is there a SATA enclosure available that turns a drive into an NAS? I've got a lot of 3. You can even use special distribution for Network Attached Storage servers like FreeNAS or NAS4Free which are really easy to configure (has a lot of tutorials on youtube even) Every hard drive needs a SATA port but you can add PCIe cards for more Building a NAS is all about storing data at its core, which means plenty of storage drives are needed. So this time around it’s time to build something to store my almost decade-old collection of movies, music, and photos. This USB port Yes, you can repurpose an old laptop as a NAS. Consider deploying OpenMediaVault, which is user-friendly and basically designed for home users. Edit: both old and new drives are WD Red Jul 21, 2024 · Build a NAS Box With an Old Hard Drive In case you already have an external drive or don't have use for one, it might be time to build your own network attached storage (NAS). Some NAS systems are picky about drive types, so Jun 29, 2018 · Want to get hands on with your data storage and have a go at building your own NAS device from an old PC? Check out our guide for everything you need to know! You could always get a NAS and shuck the USB drives (take the bare drive out of the external enclosure), assuming they’re 3. com Mar 19, 2021 · Unfortunately these old hard drives gulp power, roughly 15 watts initially and 7 watts at idle. Jan 26, 2019 · Additionally, my Synology NAS, which is a 4-bay device, has a problem with one of the bays that actually ended up destroying 2 hard drives, so I only have 3 usable hard drive bays. Remove old drives; insert new drives. I used this link to help set-up the system. Feb 12, 2024 · Trying to recover data from an old hard drive? Whether it's an internal or external drive, this guide will help reclaim your data in no time! I purchased a Synology 12 bay NAS DiskStation DS2415+ (Diskless) before all of this COVID lockdown and layoffs. They can still be repurposed for a variety of uses, from PC backups to additional storage for your gaming console. I have the server and stuff, but wondering which drives to get for storage. Suggestions for what to do with them? It seems silly to trash them, well, at least in regards to the used ones. It's even big enough for a dual system, so you can stick two servers inside if you prefer. Watch this video because it can be doneHDD 1TB Western Digital http DIY NAS or other alternative to use a lot of old hard drives of different brand and size? I have like 10-12 hard drives mixed as mechanical and SSD; going from 500 GB to 2 TB (mechanical) and from 180 GB to 400 GB (SSD) 3. Apr 24, 2022 · What is a NAS Server and why is it better from an external hard drive? In simple terms, a server is a computer designed to provide functionality to other computers. Mar 24, 2025 · Open Disk Management (Windows) or Disk Utility (Mac). Based on our extensive tests, these are the best hard drives for every need and budget. With this in place, I can take all of my data and keep it in one place, accessible over the network, simplifying file management. You have a lot of good old hard drives, you want to merge them and create a private cloud server. 5” drives and don’t have any funky power/data connectors internally. Jul 21, 2024 · When shopping around for a drive to install inside your PC and use as a NAS, you'll need to check how many storage slots and ports are available on your motherboard. Storing data is incredibly important and a NAS should be designed to run continuously, which means standard desktop Got an old laptop or PC taking up space? Here's how to repurpose it as your own personal storage server. Here we’ll examine some potential ways Any old computer can be turned into a NAS. But is it possible to turn any Hard Drive into NAS? Read below to get your answer. Using old drives inside your NAS can be a good idea whether you want to store some backups or save money. May 4, 2011 · All you will need is a copy of FreeNAS 8. Those drives are mismatched, tiny and probably pretty old and prone to fail. Description: Learn how to create a NAS (Network Attached Storage) using your old laptop’s hard drive. You could also use your NAS to make your files available to you over the Internet, using it as a remote file server you can access from anywhere. 5-inch and two 2. How do I do this? I have tried removing the hard drive from the bay, placing it in an enclosure, installing MacFUSE and ext4fuse on my computer, and then trying to access it. Mar 24, 2025 · 2. Those are two options. I love building computers and epic streaming/gaming desks. In case The answer is that there are plenty of interesting and useful things that you can use old hard drives for! You might even be able to save some money! This article will explore topics for what to do with old external hard drives, how to use old hard disk parts, and what to do with old laptop hard drives. This is especially crucial for Jul 18, 2025 · You don't need fancy hardware or confusing setups to build a NAS at home. Aug 7, 2023 · Learn how to build a basic NAS system using old hardware. It doesn't seem to like drives over 1. But a basic NAS can consist of any machine sharing its connected disk drives — internal or external — to the LAN. Install the reformatted 12TB drive in the new NAS and configure the NAS. 5 in size. How to Build a Storage Server From OLD PC Discover the art of repurposing an old PC into a remarkable storage server with our comprehensive guide. Since I really don't have an income until things pick up I was wondering if I can populate the NAS with regular Non-NAS Seagate Hard Drives until things pick up and I can drop some IronWolf NAS Drives in my box. Is there any device that I can use to put, say, 4 hdd's in an array then How to Transfer Drives from Your Old Synology NAS? Transferring hard drives from your old Synology NAS to a new one involves more than simply moving the drives. There's plenty of tutorials on how to implement this luckily, and it's not hard, google that. Trying to brush up on my general understanding of hard drives and partitions I have an old SATA hard drive with a load of stuff on it. And of course a proper case with enough space to mount all the drives and There are many NAS build guides out there but unfortunately very little information available for building a DAS. Mar 17, 2025 · If you have internal or external HHDs cluttering your desk, there are ways to repurpose them into something useful. This is for home use. or file-server. But if you don’t want to go We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. It already has everything except for the drives. Use Qfinder Pro to locate the new NAS and open it in your browser. Luckily, converting any external hard disk into a NAS is an easy and quick process. Dec 26, 2024 · Old hard drives are tempting to use for a NAS, but I recommend against doing so. Jun 26, 2019 · NAS essentially enables multiple devices that are on the same network to gain access to a NAS hard drive. Insert the hard drives into the new NAS. Nov 2, 2024 · Here's how you can build your own DIY NAS server and store all your data for less. 5" enclosure. Things to Do With Your Old Hard Drive if It Still Works: If your drive is still working, you should not waste all that space. I would say start there as it's free, and then maybe upgrade to a Synology NAS if TrueNAS doesn't fit your needs. 0, a 1GB USB memory stick, an old x86 or x86-64 rig, one or more old or inexpensive hard drives, and about an hour to set it all up. Most routers already have the features you need, so with a spare SSD or hard drive, you can easily set up simple and secure shared storage for every device in your house. Buy an empty NAS then install hard drive or use an old computer to act as a NAS. The term can also imply dedicated devices, higher speed disks, RAID arrays, various networking protocols, and more. They have 12 hard drive bays, a SATA backplane, and best of all: they're half-depth! Rackable Arima, short-depth server Here are the specs: Motherboard: Arima NM46X CPU: Dual socket, AMD Opteron 2212HE Memory: 16GB DDR2 667MHz (8GB for each processor) basically to use them for a media server NAS, and I have found very good options on ebay. As per my understanding this probably just needs a host thunderbolt / usb-c interface with PCIe card and SATA connectors. otherwise, instead of having lots of drives in lots of enclosures all you did is put all the drives in one enclosure with many data cables coming out. Hard drives can be used as archival storage for game consoles, USB boot drives, storage for DVRs, and more. 5" hard drives for your self-built NAS in the spacious Enthoo Pro 2. I want to take the hard drives in my NAS, put them in an enclosure, and access the data directly via my laptop. Guide to building a DIY NAS Watch this video on YouTube. May 5, 2025 · Why Should You Build a DIY NAS? Building a NAS (Network Attached Storage) can provide many different benefits. 5" SATA hard drives of various sizes (from 1TB to 10TB) laying around the house. Hard drives can be used for easy file backups with File History on Windows or Time Machine on Mac. Building your own network-attached storage (NAS) can help make sure you never have to experience that misery. A great way to store and access files from anywhere Dec 21, 2024 · It's time to give your old hard drives a new lease on life. Apr 12, 2019 · NAS stands for Network Attached Storage and can be any storage attached and available across your local area network. How to assemble a NAS yourself, what components are needed for this. Since you’re choosing the components and the software, you can tailor the setup to your Jan 29, 2025 · Using old drives inside your NAS can be a good idea whether you want to store some backups or save money. 2 GHZ i7 and 16gb of ram. Mar 7, 2014 · I recently tried TrueNas on a old laptop (i5 5th gen, 8GB RAM, 240GB SSD for OS, External hard drive on USB 3. It can still be functional storage for data. To turn an external hard drive into a NAS, you require a wireless router. Oct 17, 2024 · An old computer doesn't have to be e-waste — you can turn it into a NAS server for your house. Utilize your unused hardware to set up a cost-effective NAS system and optimize your storage capabilities. Fast forward a few years and I now use ZFS with 8 internal hard drives. 5-inch SSDs) that I have put into a hard drive cage out of an old desktop. This article provides step-by-step instructions and tips for creating a network attached storage solution for data storage and file sharing. It’s as easy as connecting multiple hard drives and using a Raspberry Pi as a network-attached storage solution. It is possible to know what to buy and if there is any indicator that you should know in order to make a good purchase. Building with used parts is fine for me. I want to repurpose the old 2TB to an external drive. I have 4 hard drives (two 3. Compared to a new Seagate IronWolf 12TB NAS drive that powers on at 8 watts, and idles at 0. But there’s a catch: you need to make sure the drives work with your new NAS. Compatibility, backup, and proper setup are essential steps. com - How to make a NAS with an external hard drive and DD-WRT Router You will need some sort of case to hold all of the drives. I have purchased a Vantec NexStar HX 3. Nov 1, 2023 · Remove the hard drives from the old trays and install them to the hard drive trays of the new NAS. 3. Jan 1, 2017 · I may be a DIY addict of sorts. This includes internal and external hard disk drives (HDDs). There are several operating systems and software solutions that can turn your old laptop into a NAS. Copy the contents of the old drive to the new drive (probably ssh and rsync, but whatever). Use it as Network Attached Storage Another thing that you can do with an old hard disk drive is to convert it into a Network Attached Storage. Use to Create a NAS or Network Attached FreeNAS offers pretty much all the features common in a ready-made NAS device and then some, but best of all, it can run on pretty modest hardware — the main requirements are a system with a minimum of 96 MB of RAM, a bootable CD/DVD drive, and, of course, at least one hard drive (external USB drives are also supported). " Basically, it's a way to attach a hard drive to your network and make it accessible to all your devices for centralized file-sharing and backups. The drive still has all my data on it. 0, then you wouldn’t want to share a USB drive. The most important Mar 3, 2025 · There are several ways to repurpose old hard drives in your computing setup, whether it’s using them to expand your game storage or leveraging them in a DIY NAS. Format new drives as a RAID 1 storage pool. I have now replaced it with a new USB3 enclosure and it sees the entire capacity of the drive and NO protected windows partitions. See full list on nasmaster. The issues with using external hard drives compared to external Slower speeds. Using the old laptop as a NAS may also depend on the USB speed. I know how to build computers but I don't know where to start here. If only USB 2. It will also be pretty hard to make a redundant array from them, and connecting all of them to a PC will be a challenge as well. If you could provide more details about what you're end goal is that would be helpful. This space-saving design makes it ideal for home or Feb 14, 2024 · You can buy an enclosure to convert internal hard drives into external USB drives for easy data transfer and storage. Nov 24, 2024 · If your old NAS and new NAS use different hardware RAID controllers, or incompatible software RAID operating systems, that could make drive swaps whilst maintaining data impossible. You have many hard drives with different capacities, how to build a NAS server from them. The “Drives with QNAP signature detected” message appears. I see the following partitions: /dev/disk2 (external Turn your old pc as NAS server for storage solution , home media or file server, allowing you to share data within your local network. I have an 8-core Intel i7 variant (at least 5 years old, I forget what generation it is) that runs my TrueNAS server. With black Friday sales coming up, I'm hoping to start building a NAS for my home. While newer solid state drives (SSDs) offer faster speeds and larger capacities, some may wonder if those old HDDs still have any usefulness or value. Welcome to Tech Scene ZA , today i'm gonna show you how to build a NAS with just a Hard Drive and a home router On the Road to 2500 Subscribers https://www. I'll be using this machine to keep an archival backup of all of my data Jan 30, 2023 · I have replaced an old Seagate 2TB hard disk in my DS112j NAS for a 3TB drive. In this video you can recover your data from hard drive failure. When migrating to a new NAS, the first drive bay of the new NAS (counting from the left hand side) must contain a hard disk. Here are some cool DIY project ideas for your old hard drives. , “MyNASDrive”). 5 inch hard drives. The warnings given by the system/documentation about not using USB refers to USB stick/thumb drives, which have poor quality flash memory/controllers, but that doesn't apply to SSDs connected over USB (for the boot pool). Hi I want to build a minimal NAS that supports RAID 5 with 4-8 drive bays. both are fairly similar really. Nov 28, 2009 · I just got myself a 2TB drive (this one). g. Mar 27, 2015 · copied from your other thread (now deleted since it was a duplicate of this one) basically, you'd want to make a NAS. Unlike off-the-shelf NAS solutions (my favorite being Synology), a DIY NAS can be tailored to your needs. An alternative will be a used computer or server. Wonder if I could repurpose them at home as a nas and wanted your recommendations, or no no’s! Oct 17, 2011 · Building your own NAS is a great way to safeguard and share your data, without breaking the bank. Dec 30, 2021 · The number of drive bays in the destination NAS must be equal to or greater than the number of drive bays in the original NAS. Attach old drives one by one to USB port on NAS device, using an ordinary HD enclosure. Do not simply throw away your old hard drives, as they contain sensitive personal and confidential data that can be easily accessed by unauthorized parties if not properly erased or destroyed. I also cloned the flash drive after configuring OMV as a backup in case the flash drive in use failed. 0 for data) but I wasn't impressed with the results since the data transfer speeds I got was around 4MBps. Your Wi-Fi Router Can Become a Basic NAS Most modern routers have a USB port, which you can use to share files across your home network. Apr 30, 2025 · What is a NAS and why is it needed? What capabilities does it have? What is better - a ready-made NAS or DIY NAS. We'll show you how to get started. In this video I take an only gaming PC I built in 2011 and turn it into a network attached storage device for my media. I would like to combine all of these into a storage pool. Turn on the new NAS without inserting the hard drives. This guide walks you through the process in six detailed steps, ensuring a smooth migration. NAS can be understood as a storage device that is shared over a network. May 10, 2025 · Direct Drive Connection: Physically Moving the Drives Direct drive connection is like taking a shortcut by moving the hard drives from your old NAS to the new one. Share Add a Comment Sort by: Best Open comment sort options Best Top New Controversial Old Q&A flaming_m0e • Jun 11, 2025 · The Importance of Proper Hard Drive Disposal Before we dive into the exciting possibilities, it’s essential to address the importance of proper hard drive disposal. You can earn some money by listing a working hard drive on auction sites dealing with computer parts, or on general websites such as eBay. As far as I'm aware it wasn't the OS's boot drive before I Make sure to check out the follow up video where I make some upgrades! • Upgrading My TrueNAS Server I needed a NAS, so I set out to build my own with primarily used PC components. One of the key advantages of going the DIY route is the customization it offers. Give the drive a simple name (e. I want to Format to xFat and erase the data to give me a clean drive. Solid-state storage is so inexpensive that it's completely replaced mechanical hard drives in most electronic devices, but that doesn't mean you should throw away your old hard drives. y Jan 8, 2025 · Building a NAS with multiple HDDs with a Raspberry Pi is a fun solution to increase data storage. Dec 14, 2017 · Do you have an old hard drive dusting in your closet? It might be time to use it for an awesome DIY project. Fixing up an old PC to use as a NAS Despite how much off-the-shelf NAS units cost, you don't actually need particularly powerful hardware to do almost anything you might want. It’s faster than network transfer because you’re not waiting for files to copy over the internet. 5-inch mechanical hard A Raspberry Pi NAS (network-attached storage) lets you save files from all your devices to external hard drives via your wireless network. . The existing drives are fine so now I have 4 used, and 1 unused 3TB drives. Aug 28, 2025 · We provide step-by-step instructions for retrieving valuable data from an old hard drive, even from a broken or non-booting computer. Dec 6, 2021 · Wondering what to do with your old hard drives? Don't throw them out! Turn it into a DIY external hard drive or many other things. This video will help you do that Part 2 : • How to create your own cloud storage from Jan 4, 2023 · Running out of storage on your PC or laptop is the worst. Can I just do this in Win10 disk management? Thanks This was my very first attempt of a server so I didn't have any RAID or backups, I was able to recover some of the data before the drive failed but not everything (lost some data, but nothing major). Feb 26, 2024 · Do you have a USB port? Connect an external/USB SSD drive (like Samsung T7) and make that your boot media. What sort of hardware could I get that is inexpensive that would allow me to use these drives as storage on my network? Mar 18, 2012 · Pro How to turn old hard drives into a secure file server News By Neil Mohr published March 18, 2012 Nov 21, 2025 · Can I turn my external Hard Drive into a NAS? Yes, you can do this. 8 watts, an 88% energy saving. Move one of the 12TB drives from the old NAS to the hard drive enclosure and reformat it using my Mac. Jun 29, 2021 · Then I came across a thread on ServeTheHome about old Rackable storage servers. Jan 10, 2023 · Remove existing drives from NAS. Connect the new drive to the old NAS via USB and back up my data (mainly movie files). Format the drive to exFAT or NTFS (Windows) / APFS (Mac) for best compatibility. There is a plugin for limiting writes to the flash drive. Plus, you can add more hard drives once you've built your own storage cloud to increase capa Sep 29, 2023 · As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, many people find themselves with old electronics and computer parts that become obsolete. Learn how to turn any standard hard drive, SSD, or USB storage device into a fully functional NAS (Network Attached Storage) server using a Raspberry Pi! In this detailed step-by-step guide, we May 21, 2014 · Yesterday I took the first hard drive from the old NAS and used it to install the new NAS (agreed to delete all data, cause I thought the other hard drives could find the data again). May 8, 2013 · 5 Basically I want to know if there is a proper way that I can take my current desktop PC (custom built) and add 2 additional hard drives and have these 2 drives act as a NAS backup with raid, while still being able to use my PC as normal? My PC is directly connected to my router via ethernet, and is quite powerful with 3. Create secure backups of your files that are accessible from anywhere. 0 and several old sata I/II/III 2. Sep 29, 2024 · You can reuse hard drives of different sizes without risking data loss. Seems a shame to ditch them. I have a router with a single usb 3. No need to plug anything to your computer and can be used by any device that is connected to the network. Apr 12, 2020 · Just replaced the backup drives for the servers (5x 1tb & 5x 2tb) and thinking of what to do with the old drives. Repurposing the Old Hard Drives There are many great ways in which you can repurpose your old hard drives, but what you do with them You'll need to make some choices on the quality of the movies you rip and save into your Plex media library, as transcoding in realtime can push older CPUs pretty hard. Nov 28, 2024 · Learn how to format a NAS hard drive to optimize your storage and improve performance. The guide is super simple to use. I upgraded my DS415+ to larger drives. On linux you would set up a Samba share and on Windows you can do shares too. Dec 19, 2024 · Stuff up to 12 3. Buy a hard drive enclosure and install one of the new 22TB drives. Erase old drives and donate to charity. I started with a 60 GB external drive that cost me $200 in 2004 and my last major investment was a Buffalo Hard Drive enclosure Apr 22, 2017 · I have now found the problem, it was the USB hard drive caddy that I use to transfer from one machine to another. 5GB in capacity and gets really confused. I use TrueNas running off a 16gb USB drive, plugged into an old PC (basically just used my the storage on the old PC for now). I'd like it to be available to all the computers in the house. jpdbw dewo gewh ypfuran unrck dbeqeoaw apfb rjdllw qbpbz ruhg mbow zqkvi ywi qvapsey veamg