Last year I got engaged, and like any modern couple, that meant a flood of photos — over 100 GB of them, to be exact. Between the professional shots, the lovely couple pictures, and a thousand group photos with the newly engaged pair, I suddenly had a precious mountain of data I couldn’t afford to lose.
My first move? I panicked and upgraded my Google Drive subscription.
It worked… but it also made me realize a few uncomfortable truths:
- My laptop hard drive is constantly full — so I often end up deleting data from it.
- Relying entirely on a single provider for precious memories doesn’t sit well with me.
- The internet is surprisingly fragile; stuff disappears. And I’d be heartbroken to lose my photos — or worse, the source material for my growing Zettelkasten.
- Google Drive is not officially supported on Linux.
That’s when I decided: it’s time to build a NAS.
What I Need from a NAS
I’m building something for personal use, but I still have a few important goals in mind:
- 2 TB is more than enough for now, but I want the ability to scale storage over time.
- Follow the 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies of data, on 2 different media types, with at least 1 stored off-site.
- Encryption is non-negotiable. Compression would be a nice bonus.
- I want to mount the filesystem across multiple devices.
What’s Coming Next
This post kicks off a small series where I’ll walk through how I built my NAS, the tools I used, what worked (and what didn’t), and how I’m planning to keep my memories — and my notes — safe for years to come.
Stay tuned for the next part: The Hunt for Hardware.