Buying large storage for each machine is expensive and less secure. A centralized storage solution made much more sense.

NAS vs. SAN: The Basics⌗

When you think of network storage, you’re probably thinking of a NAS, since that’s what most YouTubers show off. But there are actually two different types of network storage:

NAS (Network Attached Storage)⌗

  • File-based storage.
  • Uses protocols like SMB or NFS.
  • Most people and companies rely on SMB because it works across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

SAN (Storage Area Network)⌗

  • Block-level storage for direct connections over the local network.
  • Typically uses iSCSI over Ethernet or Fiber.
  • Not designed for multi-machine file sharing the way SMB is.

My Requirements⌗

I wanted my system to be:

  • Fast
  • Energy-efficient

Because of this, I decided to use SSDs. While they aren’t ideal for bulk storage, they work well as supplemental storage for my Proxmox server, which hosts my media library. I also set up an iSCSI connection for VM storage.

My Hardware Setup⌗

  • CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 (stock cooler)
  • RAM: 36GB Silicon Power Value Gaming
  • Storage: 4 × 2TB TEAMGROUP SSDs
  • Boot Disk: Crucial P3 Plus 500GB SSD
  • Motherboard: ASRock B450M PRO4
  • Storage Enclosure: ICY DOCK 6-Bay 2.5” SATA HDD/SSD
  • Case: RackChoice 2U Micro ATX Compact Rackmount (2 × 5.25” bays)

The system runs ZFS, a powerful, scalable file system with built-in redundancy.

RAID Setup⌗

ZFS uses RAID to stripe or mirror data across drives. A few RAID levels worth noting:

  • RAID 0: Stripes data for maximum speed, but lose one drive and you lose everything.
  • RAID 1: Mirrors data on two drives for redundancy.
  • RAID 5: Uses one drive for parity; can survive one drive failure.
  • RAID 6: Similar to RAID 5, but can survive two drive failures.

I actually bought five SSDs, but one is a cold spare—ready to replace a failed drive immediately.

⚠️ Important reminder: RAID is not a backup. It’s only redundancy until you can swap in a new drive and rebuild.

Movie Myth Busting⌗

In movies, the bad guys often grab hard drives and throw them in a bag. In reality:

  1. Hard drive platters can be scratched easily, destroying the data.
  2. If the drives are part of a RAID, they need to stay in the same group (and often the same order) to work.

Future Plans⌗

For the future, I plan to:

  • Add a dual-port 10GbE NIC for faster speeds.
  • Install another SSD bay.
  • Expand with 4 × 8TB HDDs for bulk storage.
  • Enable network booting for my PC.
  • Eventually move to LTO tape for long-term archival storage.

Final Thoughts⌗

This NAS/SAN setup is my personal overkill solution for storage, virtualization, and media. It’s been a huge step toward making my lab more reliable and flexible.

If you’ve built your own NAS or SAN, I’d love to hear how you set yours up!