Python script, Unicode text, UTF-8 text executable
title: Cheap, homemade NAS with Raspberry Pi topics: ["hardware", "server", "networking", "raspberry pi", "nas", "gnu/linux"] DATE: 2024-05-21 ---
This is a very simple, cheap and quick way to get networked storage at home. It should not cost more than €120 for all the components (assuming you've got a network you can plug it into). It also offers more flexibility than a commercial NAS, because you can install any software you want on it. And if you already use the Raspberry Pi for something else, you can just add this to it and not worry about an extra device you need power, networking, space and maintenance for.
A Raspberry Pi is already 4-bay since it has 4 USB ports. You can use a hub for more drives, since no HDD will use the full potential of USB 3.0. Just keep in mind you need an adapter for each.
However, for large-scale use, this method should be done with a different type of computer, not a Raspberry Pi.
I assume you know some things about GNU/Linux, SSH, and networking. This guide is not for that; if you don't know these things read some material when you need it.
If you think this is for you, keep reading.
Materials
Raspberry Pi, or another small computer that can run GNU/Linux, has a network and USB. I'm using the Pi 4 with 8GB of RAM, but you can use any model.
microSD card of at least 16GB (this won't be your primary storage but a boot device)
SATA drive(s), or USB drives - SATA drives are cheaper. Format the drive on your own computer; it's easier that way. Choose ext4 as the filesystem.
Suitable adapter(s) for the SATA drive(s).
For Raspberry Pi 5 you could get a SATA HAT as it has PCIe, which is more efficient.
If your other kind of small computer has SATA, you can use that.
Otherwise get a USB to SATA adapter, one per drive. For older Raspberry Pis, don't get a SATA HAT, as they use USB as well but cost more for some reason. Please make sure to get one that can take power from a separate source if you're going to use 3.5" drives.
A power supply for your computer. For Raspberry Pi, a phone charger of 5V and 3A (marketed as fast charging) is enough.
If you're using 3.5" SATA drives, a power supply for the adapter(s) if they don't come with one.
5" drives need more power than USB can provide.
If you want to use wired networking, a cable. If you want to use wireless networking and your computer doesn't have Wi-Fi, some Wi-Fi adapter.
If you have an SBC you should have a case, but it's not required. You can also use lego.
Some other computer. An Android phone is fine; just install Termux.
My setup
Raspberry Pi 4 with 8GB of RAM (€80)
No-name 3.5" SATA to USB adapter with power supply (€18)
One Toshiba P300 4TB 3.5" SATA drive (€90). No RAID, but I copy important files to my own PC.
Raspberry Pi 15W power adapter (€9)
A 1.5m Cat6 cable (€3)
SanDisk Extreme 128GB microSD card (€15)
Official case (€6). Don't judge me, it's just a piece of plastic, and it's cheap. Don't forget Raspberry Pi is not Apple.
Total: €221. Now, this is not the cheapest setup. I use that Pi for other things as well. You can certainly have a cheaper setup:
Low-cost setup
Raspberry Pi 4 with 1GB of RAM (€40). I'd insist on getting a big Pi, as the Zero doesn't have wired networking, only one USB port, and too little RAM.
Cheaper no-name 3.5" SATA to USB adapter with power supply (€10)
One Toshiba P300 1TB 3.5" SATA drive (€50)
Phone charger (€6, if not already owned)
No cable, use Wi-Fi (I assume you have Wi-Fi)
SanDisk Ultra 32GB microSD card (€7)
No case
Total: €113, with drive included!
What about a "real" NAS?
Cheapest NAS I could find is €180! It is 1-bay and has 1GB of RAM. It doesn't do anything else, it doesn't use standard protocols, it runs a proprietary OS, it's bulkier and much more expensive. (The brand is Synology.)
No, it doesn't come with drives. Using the same drive as above, it would reach €230.
Well, it's plug-and-play but that makes it much more restricted. Also, it does have a warranty and professional support. However, it's not the kind of NAS a business would use either.
Setup (skip if you already have the computer set up)
Flash your microSD card. Raspberry Pi recommends their own (free) software, Choose an OS without a GUI: Raspberry Pi OS Lite, Ubuntu enable SSH and preset the Wi-Fi settings if you're going
Put the card in the computer, plug in the network and start it.
Find out the IP address of the computer. You can use your router's web interface, or a network Now is a good time to set up a static IP address for the computer, forward its ports dynamic DNS if you want to access it from the internet. YDNS is a imple and free service for that. Their official client is also free software.
Connect to your server via SSH. On GNU/Linux or Macintosh you can use the preinstalled
sshOn Windows, you can use PuTTY.Set a root password with
sudo passwd. Thensu.Update the system with
apt update && apt -y upgrade.
Set up the drives
You must edit the /etc/fstab to automatically mount the drives on boot. If you know how to do
this, you can do it yourself. For the rest of the tutorial the mount point will be /storage.
Turn off the computer and plug in the drive(s).
Turn on the computer.
lsblkto find the drive(s). They should be/dev/sdfollowed by a letter. For now we'llFind the drive's UUID with
blkid /dev/sdX1.Add the drive to the
/etc/fstabas such:=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 /storage ext4 defaults 0 2
Replace the UUID with the one you found and, if you want, the mount point (/storage in this
case) with another one, and the filesystem to match the one you formatted the drive with. Change
the last column to 0 to disable fsck for that drive.
mkdir /storageto create the mount point.Reboot.
Give each user their private directory
We'll mirror the home layout. However, we won't move the existing home directories, because then users can't use the SD card, and you may have some other apps to run on the server that you want to be separate from the mass storage.
Write a systemd service to create the directories on boot. Give it a name inside /etc/systemd/system/,
like /etc/systemd/system/setup_storage_dirs.service
[Unit] Description=Update private user storage spaces [Service] Type=oneshot ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/setup_storage_dirs.py [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target
And the script /usr/local/bin/setup_storage_dirs.py:
#!/bin/python3
import os
import subprocess
from pathlib import Path
homes = Path("/home").glob("*")
storage_path = Path("/storage") # change this if you changed the mount point
for home in homes:
if home.is_dir():
user = home.name
storage = storage_path/user
bound = home/"Storage" # change this if you'd like a different name
if not storage.exists():
os.makedirs(storage)
os.chown(storage, home.stat().st_uid, home.stat().st_gid)
os.chmod(storage, 0o700)
if not bound.is_dir():
os.makedirs(bound)
os.chown(bound, home.stat().st_uid, home.stat().st_gid)
os.chmod(bound, 0o700)
# Using bind mounts; some file managers don't like symlinks
subprocess.run(["mount", "--bind", str(storage), str(bound)])
Reboot. Now each user has a private directory on your drive at ~/Storage. You can add more
users; each will get their own directory only they can access.
Using the server
This guide does not cover setting up sharing protocols. However, we will use SFTP (FTP over SSH) because it's plug-and-play, the speed difference is negligible, it integrates with system users, it's native (works in the system file manager, no web needed) and, last but not least, it's encrypted.
Since you set up the OS to use SSH, you can use SFTP. All file managers can connect to SFTP servers, except for Windows Explorer, in which case you can use WinSCP. This is not my problem, it's Microsoft's problem. Even the preinstalled file manager on Samsung phones can use an SFTP add-on. Not like Next"cloud"¹ is more integrated.
If you want to mount it there is the sshfs program as well. This is useful if you don't like
GUI file managers or want easier access to the files.
SFTP in the terminal
sftp -oPort=22 user@server
If you use port 22, you can omit the oPort option. The commands are identical to the ones in the
classic ftp client.
SSHFS
sshfs user@server:/storage/user ~/server
Second argument is the "mount point". If you want to unmount it:
fusermount -u ~/server
SFTP in the file manager
Graphically, you can access SFTP by typing sftp://user@server in the address bar (works in most
cases) or by finding an option to connect to a server.
Nemo (GNU/Linux)
File > Connect to server > select type SSH
Material Files (Android)
Menu > Add storage > SFTP server
Amaze (Android)
Plus button > Cloud connection > SCP/SFTP Connection
Windows
Windows Explorer doesn't natively support SFTP. WinSCP is a good client for it, and it's free software.
Samsung phone file manager (Android)
Storage space section > Network storage space > Update the app when prompted > Plus > SFTP server
1
---
2
title: Cheap, homemade NAS with Raspberry Pi
3
topics: ["hardware", "server", "networking", "raspberry pi", "nas", "gnu/linux"]
4
DATE: 2024-05-21
5
---
6
This is a very simple, cheap and quick way to get networked storage at home. It should not cost
8
more than €120 for all the components (assuming you've got a network you can plug it into). It also
9
offers more flexibility than a commercial NAS, because you can install any software you want on it.
10
And if you already use the Raspberry Pi for something else, you can just add this to it and not
11
worry about an extra device you need power, networking, space and maintenance for.
12
A Raspberry Pi is already 4-bay since it has 4 USB ports. You can use a hub for more drives,
14
since no HDD will use the full potential of USB 3.0. Just keep in mind you need an adapter for each.
15
However, for large-scale use, this method should be done with a different type of computer, not
17
a Raspberry Pi.
18
I assume you know some things about GNU/Linux, SSH, and networking. This guide is not for that;
20
if you don't know these things read some material when you need it.
21
If you think this is for you, keep reading.
23
Materials
25
---------
26
* Raspberry Pi, or another small computer that can run GNU/Linux, has a network and USB. I'm using
28
the Pi 4 with 8GB of RAM, but you can use any model.
29
* microSD card of at least 16GB (this won't be your primary storage but a boot device)
30
* SATA drive(s), or USB drives - SATA drives are cheaper. Format the drive on your own computer;
31
it's easier that way. Choose ext4 as the filesystem.
32
* Suitable adapter(s) for the SATA drive(s).
33
* For Raspberry Pi 5 you could get a SATA HAT as it has PCIe, which is more efficient.
34
* If your other kind of small computer has SATA, you can use that.
35
* Otherwise get a USB to SATA adapter, one per drive. For older Raspberry Pis, don't get a
36
SATA HAT, as they use USB as well but cost more for some reason. Please make sure to get one
37
that can take power from a separate source if you're going to use 3.5" drives.
38
* A power supply for your computer. For Raspberry Pi, a phone charger of 5V and 3A (marketed
39
as fast charging) is enough.
40
* If you're using 3.5" SATA drives, a power supply for the adapter(s) if they don't come with one.
41
3.5" drives need more power than USB can provide.
42
* If you want to use wired networking, a cable. If you want to use wireless networking and your
43
computer doesn't have Wi-Fi, some Wi-Fi adapter.
44
* If you have an SBC you should have a case, but it's not required. You can also use lego.
45
* Some other computer. An Android phone is fine; just install [Termux](https://termux.com/).
46
### My setup
48
* Raspberry Pi 4 with 8GB of RAM (€80)
50
* No-name 3.5" SATA to USB adapter with power supply (€18)
51
* One Toshiba P300 4TB 3.5" SATA drive (€90). No RAID, but I copy important files to my own PC.
52
* Raspberry Pi 15W power adapter (€9)
53
* A 1.5m Cat6 cable (€3)
54
* SanDisk Extreme 128GB microSD card (€15)
55
* Official case (€6). Don't judge me, it's just a piece of plastic, and it's cheap. Don't forget
56
Raspberry Pi is not Apple.
57
Total: €221. Now, this is not the cheapest setup. I use that Pi for other things as well. You can
59
certainly have a cheaper setup:
60
### Low-cost setup
62
* Raspberry Pi 4 with 1GB of RAM (€40). I'd insist on getting a big Pi, as the Zero doesn't
64
have wired networking, only one USB port, and too little RAM.
65
* Cheaper no-name 3.5" SATA to USB adapter with power supply (€10)
66
* One Toshiba P300 1TB 3.5" SATA drive (€50)
67
* Phone charger (€6, if not already owned)
68
* No cable, use Wi-Fi (I assume you have Wi-Fi)
69
* SanDisk Ultra 32GB microSD card (€7)
70
* No case
71
Total: €113, with drive included!
73
What about a "real" NAS?
75
Cheapest NAS I could find is €180! It is 1-bay and has 1GB of RAM. It doesn't do anything else,
77
it doesn't use standard protocols, it runs a proprietary OS, it's bulkier and much more expensive.
78
(The brand is Synology.)
79
No, it doesn't come with drives. Using the same drive as above, it would reach €230.
81
Well, it's plug-and-play but that makes it much more restricted. Also, it does have a warranty
83
and professional support. However, it's not the kind of NAS a business would use either.
84
Setup (skip if you already have the computer set up)
86
----------------------------------------------------
87
1. Flash your microSD card. Raspberry Pi recommends [their own (free) software](https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/),
89
but there are other methods as well. Choose an OS without a GUI: Raspberry Pi OS Lite, Ubuntu
90
Server or plain Debian. Make sure to enable SSH and preset the Wi-Fi settings if you're going
91
to use Wi-Fi.
92
2. Put the card in the computer, plug in the network and start it.
93
3. Find out the IP address of the computer. You can use your router's web interface, or a network
94
scanner. Now is a good time to set up a static IP address for the computer, forward its ports
95
and get dynamic DNS if you want to access it from the internet. [YDNS](https://ydns.io/) is a
96
really simple and free service for that. Their official client is also free software.
97
4. Connect to your server via SSH. On GNU/Linux or Macintosh you can use the preinstalled `ssh`
98
client. On Windows, you can use [PuTTY](https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html).
99
5. Set a root password with `sudo passwd`. Then `su`.
100
6. Update the system with `apt update && apt -y upgrade`.
101
Set up the drives
103
-----------------
104
You must edit the `/etc/fstab` to automatically mount the drives on boot. If you know how to do
106
this, you can do it yourself. For the rest of the tutorial the mount point will be `/storage`.
107
1. Turn off the computer and plug in the drive(s).
109
2. Turn on the computer.
110
3. `lsblk` to find the drive(s). They should be `/dev/sd` followed by a letter. For now we'll
111
only take car of one drive, but you can do the same for multiple drives.
112
4. Find the drive's UUID with `blkid /dev/sdX1`.
113
5. Add the drive to the `/etc/fstab` as such:
114
```
115
UUID=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 /storage ext4 defaults 0 2
116
```
117
118
Replace the UUID with the one you found and, if you want, the mount point (`/storage` in this
119
case) with another one, and the filesystem to match the one you formatted the drive with. Change
120
the last column to `0` to disable fsck for that drive.
121
6. `mkdir /storage` to create the mount point.
122
7. Reboot.
123
Give each user their private directory
125
--------------------------------------
126
We'll mirror the home layout. However, we won't move the existing home directories, because then
128
users can't use the SD card, and you may have some other apps to run on the server that you want
129
to be separate from the mass storage.
130
Write a systemd service to create the directories on boot. Give it a name inside `/etc/systemd/system/`,
132
like `/etc/systemd/system/setup_storage_dirs.service`
133
```ini
135
[Unit]
136
Description=Update private user storage spaces
137
[Service]
139
Type=oneshot
140
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/setup_storage_dirs.py
141
[Install]
143
WantedBy=multi-user.target
144
```
145
And the script `/usr/local/bin/setup_storage_dirs.py`:
147
```python
149
#!/bin/python3
150
import os
152
import subprocess
153
from pathlib import Path
154
homes = Path("/home").glob("*")
156
storage_path = Path("/storage") # change this if you changed the mount point
157
for home in homes:
159
if home.is_dir():
160
user = home.name
161
storage = storage_path/user
162
bound = home/"Storage" # change this if you'd like a different name
163
if not storage.exists():
164
os.makedirs(storage)
165
os.chown(storage, home.stat().st_uid, home.stat().st_gid)
166
os.chmod(storage, 0o700)
167
if not bound.is_dir():
168
os.makedirs(bound)
169
os.chown(bound, home.stat().st_uid, home.stat().st_gid)
170
os.chmod(bound, 0o700)
171
172
# Using bind mounts; some file managers don't like symlinks
173
subprocess.run(["mount", "--bind", str(storage), str(bound)])
174
```
175
Reboot. Now each user has a private directory on your drive at `~/Storage`. You can add more
177
users; each will get their own directory only they can access.
178
Using the server
180
----------------
181
This guide does not cover setting up sharing protocols. However, we will use SFTP (FTP over SSH)
183
because it's plug-and-play, the speed difference is negligible, it integrates with system users,
184
it's native (works in the system file manager, no web needed) and, last but not least, it's encrypted.
185
Since you set up the OS to use SSH, you can use SFTP. All file managers can connect to SFTP
187
servers, except for Windows Explorer, in which case you can use WinSCP. This is not my problem,
188
it's Microsoft's problem. Even the preinstalled file manager on Samsung phones can use an SFTP
189
add-on. Not like Next"cloud"¹ is more integrated.
190
If you want to mount it there is the `sshfs` program as well. This is useful if you don't like
192
GUI file managers or want easier access to the files.
193
### SFTP in the terminal
195
```sh
197
sftp -oPort=22 user@server
198
```
199
If you use port 22, you can omit the oPort option. The commands are identical to the ones in the
201
classic `ftp` client.
202
### SSHFS
204
```sh
206
sshfs user@server:/storage/user ~/server
207
```
208
Second argument is the "mount point". If you want to unmount it:
210
```sh
212
fusermount -u ~/server
213
```
214
### SFTP in the file manager
216
Graphically, you can access SFTP by typing `sftp://user@server` in the address bar (works in most
218
cases) or by finding an option to connect to a server.
219
#### Nemo (GNU/Linux)
221
File > Connect to server > select type `SSH`
222
#### Material Files (Android)
224
Menu > Add storage > SFTP server
225
#### Amaze (Android)
227
Plus button > Cloud connection > SCP/SFTP Connection
228
#### Windows
230
Windows Explorer doesn't natively support SFTP. WinSCP is a good client for it, and it's free
231
software.
232
#### Samsung phone file manager (Android)
234
Storage space section > Network storage space > Update the app when prompted > Plus > SFTP server
235