NAS DIY Guide: From Hardware Selection to System Setup, Build Your Own Home Data Center
Want a home data center of your very own?
This NAS DIY guide helps you get started from zero — hardware shopping, system setup, remote access, and a media library of your own, all covered step by step.
1. Hardware Selection
How much you spend depends on how many drives you need and how much headroom you want. For most people, one of these two configurations is the right starting point.
Entry Level (under ¥2,000)
- Motherboard: J4125 / N100 (integrated)
- Memory: 8GB DDR4
- Storage: 2 × 4TB
- Case: 4-bay
Advanced Level (around ¥5,000)
- CPU: i3-12100 / i5-12400
- Memory: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 4 × 8TB
- Case: 6–8 bay
2. Choosing a NAS Operating System
Your operating system choice shapes everything that comes next. Here’s a quick comparison of the most popular options:
| System | Highlights | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| TrueNAS Scale | ZFS file system | Medium |
| Unraid | Flexible expansion | Medium |
| OpenMediaVault | Lightweight | Low |
| Synology | Easy to use | Low (paid hardware) |
- TrueNAS Scale is built around the ZFS file system, offering rock-solid data integrity and snapshots — but it has a steeper learning curve.
- Unraid stands out for flexible expansion, letting you mix and match drives of different sizes.
- OpenMediaVault is the lightweight choice for a simple, no-frills NAS.
- Synology is the most polished and easy to use, but you have to buy the hardware.
3. Installing TrueNAS
The installation is straightforward:
- Download the TrueNAS image and write it to a USB drive
- Boot from the drive and run the installer
- Configure the ZFS storage pool
- Create datasets
- Enable SMB/NFS shares
4. Remote Access: Cloudflare Tunnel
For remote access, the recommended approach is Cloudflare Tunnel — it’s free and secure.
5. Building Your Media Library
The heart of any home NAS is its media library. Here’s a proven stack:
- Jellyfin / Plex - media server
- qBittorrent - download tool
- Jellyseerr - TV show request management
- Immich - photo backup (a Google Photos alternative)