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Suggestions for things to do with a NAS?
Hey all, recently bought a Synology NAS and looking for suggestions for things to do with it.
I'm not exactly tech saavy when it comes to something like this, so guides accompanying suggestions would be super helpful.
What did you buy the NAS for?
Primary use case is storage for audio and video/plex environment, but found myself attracted to the idea of setting up a torrentbox for tv and other media I consume. Interested in the idea of potentially running an email server for a domain but that may require some learning. I also am drawn to the idea of running something akin to a pi-hole to strip ads but haven't really looked into how people do this on NAS (I'm assuming some sort of docker instance).
Run a torrent server on it (e.g. using Deluge)? Run a Plex server to host and serve your video and music collection? Back up other computers (and maybe phones?) to it? Run a document server to store scanned documents to it (with something like Mayan EDMS, which I did set up once but seemed like too much of a pain to actually keep using for anything)?
I basically use my NAS as a personal cloud server. I have a folder for each type of file and I periodically just dump everything from all my computers to it and tell it to skip if a duplicate exists. I think of this less as a "backup" solution and more as a way to not have to worry about what is saved where and just be able to log into Synology QuickConnect and access documents, music, pictures, video files, etc. from wherever I need them.
I also have it set up as a Plex server to my AppleTV so I can use it to watch, er, home movies that I didn't buy off iTunes as well as to house all the scans of comic books that I read on my iPad. Eventually I plan to get a BackBlaze account and backup my NAS to it in case of fire or other household catastrophe. But for now I'm just keeping my important digital documents on a remote drive for offsite backup.
I've also configured it with guest accounts so my close friends and family can access family photo albums and movies since I don't trust any of them of them to keep them safe and accessible.
I don’t have a Synology, but I do have a QNAP NAS that I use to run a bunch of services like Radarr, Sonarr, and Mylar. Pretty cool because they run within Docker containers. Very low maintenance.
You could get some IP cameras and have your NAS act as a DVR.
IP Cameras are super cheap now, especially if you're willing to DIY it.
Maybe some sort of personal wiki/Zettelkasten? I use Wiki.js (supports version control, markdown, latex, and uploads), but there are many others options.
Some other suggestions:
deluge.mydomain.comis easier to remember than192.1.1.10:8000or whatever.)I got a Synology a few months ago, here’s what I’ve been using it for:
Do you have any bookmarked guides or anything you can share on how some of these are setup?
Plex - I’d suggest installing Plex directly from Plex instead of through the Synology Package Manager. The package manager version is usually three to four months behind in terms of updates (both security and feature). It’s super easy. Just add Plex as a trusted source and then install the file you downloaded from Plex. Even if you already have Plex installed, you can do this and it will not overwrite your data.
Tautulli - For those not aware, Tautulli is basically an app that keeps track of all the things you add/delete/play from your Plex library. It can generate all sorts of neat stats about what you’ve watched or listen to. Basically super powered scrobbling. This guide is the one I used and it took me all of 20 minutes to get it up and running.
Pi-Hole - Basically a network wide adblocker. It’s amazing how much every device is trying to constantly phone home. This guide, from the same site as the Tautulli one, was extremely easy to follow and get up and running.
VPN - This one is a bit tricky, since it does require some technical knowledge and configuration that might change depending on which method you use. Synology has a somewhat in-depth article on all of the different options.
Time Machine - Synology has a good knowledge base article on how to enable it. It’s super easy and very helpful if you have any Macs.
Since I've started homelabbing 6-7 years ago, I've always landed on the following necessities
Jellyfin was great when I tried it a few months ago, but still wasn’t quite as polished as Plex. If you use the method found on the Jellyfin website, it runs through Docker, which means no hardware accelerated decoding.
I’ve recently started using Infuse to access my Plex server on my Mac, iOS and Apple TV devices and I really like it. If anyone else is in the Apple ecosystem and wants to use Plex/Emby/Jellyfin with a slightly nicer interface, I highly recommend it.
Side note: Jellyfin is an open source fork of Emby, not Plex.
Besides the suggestions from others in the thread you might also be interested in running Monica on your NAS. Here's a guide on how to set it up.
Edit: Oh also you may want to look into Huginn as an agent based automation platform. I've played around with it but only really used it once to alert me when the headphones I wanted went on sale.