Hi selfhosters,
I would like to expand my server storage and I am confused now. For a bit of context, I have a mini pc running several Docker containers and I am pretty happy with it.
Right now I want to expand my server storage and after going though some options, this is my current understanding:
- NAS: it is a real PC with its own chip/memory/OS and we can connect to the storage via network mount. Some are powerful enough to run docker containers on them and are generally not cheap.
- HDD enclosure/docking station: it is just some enclosure to hold a lot of HDDs together and I could just plug it into my server like an USB.
I would like to ask:
- Is my understanding above correct ?
- Since I still have some resource left in the mini pc and want to save some bucks, is it safe to go with the HDD enclosure ?
Thank you very much and have a nice day :D


I used to use an old Intel NUC with a HDD enclosure plugged into the USB 3 port as a NAS. Ran the *arr suite + Jellyfin on the internal SSD and stored all the media on the HDD and it worked fine. You should be good