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

Edit: Thank you for all the comments. I think I should be good with the HDD enclosure since it will be used exclusively for Linux ISOs so I will have a cloud backups already.

A small follow up question: Is there any reputable brand for this HDD enclosure or it does not really matter that much ?

  • Brkdncr@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    I went with a nas since I needed storage and barely any compute, and I wanted it on all of the time. I also wanted a cloud sync service.

    Keep in mind that SMB and NFS work fine across any network but iSCSI needs a reliable hardwire network with decent buffers on the switch.

    Attaches storage uses USB which isn’t that great. eSATA is better. External drives start to add up too.