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
No sane NAS should work that way.
Unless you have a giant raid array, where you need all the drives running at the same time on the same system, plugging in a single raid 1 member, for example, via usb to sata adapter, should let access its contents just fine.
Provided you’re on an OS that can read the file system. That can require some extra effort on windows.
But yeah. Beware of the pre-built NASes. The vendor lock-in is real.
This is a qualified truth. In theory what you’re saying is true but for example with Synology they use their own raid format and while they ostensibly use btrfs they overlay their own metadata system on top.