The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/-BlackLotus- on 2024-09-16 20:04:13.
I originally started with a Synology DS216play equipped with 2x 8TB drives. Over time, it has been demoted from being my primary server to functioning as an SMB share for bulk storage, as its ability (or lack thereof) to containerise and transcode was preventing me from using it as I intended.
Now my primary server is a Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Tiny, upgraded to 64GB of RAM, and is now responsible for all my containerisation and transcoding needs (Pi-hole, Jellyfin, ARR stack, Home Assistant, game servers, etc.). It has been performing rather well considering how small of a machine it is. The only major hindrance is the limited storage space, which I resolved by using my Synology SMB share as its main storage.
However, I am now running out of space and need to expand (ideally doubling my storage or more) but I’m unsure what solution would work best for this setup and would be interested to hear other people's opinions.
The options as I see them:
Buy another Synology or QNAP and SMB share as I do currently.
My concern with this option is that I would end up not utilising 90% of what the system is built for, making it possibly a very expensive storage solution.
Using JBOD/DAS
This was my initial thought, as it would be relatively easy to plug in a 6 or 8-bay DAS, fill it with drives, and run an Unraid container to manage it. However, I’ve read a lot of complaints about cheap controllers and the lack of unique device identifiers causing drive detection issues. Additionally, it's a one-time upgrade since, once my USB slot is filled, there's no room for further expansion (though I’m not sure if this is a real issue or not).
Building a custom tower
The last option I’ve found is to build a custom tower specifically to act as network-attached storage, running Unraid or TrueNAS. Although I have no major issues with this idea, I’m not sure what a system like this should look like to keep it affordable and efficient to run.
Also open for any other suggestions.