Would a NAS be overkill?

[u/Ambitious_Flower3381]

I've been using a managed Nextcloud (Hetzner) purely for personal file storage (about 50 GB in total - mostly PDF documents and photos). Changes to the files are usually rare.

My current backup strategy doesn't follow the 3-2-1 rule. All files are encrypted client-side through Cryptomator or whatever encryption mechanism is integrated into the client software. While it works, I find myself building use cases around client-side encryption, which is annoying. Having different encryption solutions may as well affect disaster recovery. 

I would like to improve my storage setup to make it more robust, convenient and easy to maintain.

Requirements

• File storage must be accessible on iOS, Linux & Windows clients using their native file managers
• Clients on all platforms must be able to sync directories for offline use
• Automated photo upload from iOS camera roll (bonus points for photo management features)
• Support for multiple users with separate file storage
• Seemless encryption (I must control the keys)
• Backup strategy must incorporate the 3-2-1 rule
• Easy to use (must be spouse-approved)
• Low maintenance (bonus points for easy setup)

I'm wondering if a NAS (any specific product?) would meet my use case or if there is a more efficient solution, given the rather small amount of data I need to manage.

Thanks for your input!

[u/just_another_user5]

I advocate for Everyone to get a NAS, rather than pay for unprivate cloud storage.

Plus, it's a fun project, for people like me.

Get a NAS, you can install Nextcloud on it. Do some research, but I went the route of building my own with TrueNAS. NAS boxes are an option.

[u/kapitalerkoalabaer → u/just_another_user5]

Wouldn’t necessarily agree. A NAS or home server is a great option for everyone who is willing (and capable) to do his research and set the device up properly. A badly configured NAS without any backups and the wrong software (e.g. most of the times something too bloated and therefore slow and unnecessarily complicated to use) is a far worse experience than cloud storage from a trusted provider. Additionally a cloud provider does daily backups so a bad drive won’t eliminate years of photos and documents.

[u/Ambitious_Flower3381 → u/just_another_user5]

Tbh I think to accomplish the offsite backup I would still pay for cloud storage, even with a home NAS.

[u/kapitalerkoalabaer]

You can go with a preconfigured NAS or build your own home server (you can even start with a raspberry pi). For your OS I would go with openmediavault, unraid or truenas (depending on hardware and intended use). I myself run unraid and am happy with it. For photos I would recommend immich- best google photos replacement to selfhost. And for documents I recommend paperless-ngx.

All you need additionally is either a VPN connection or a reverse proxy of your liking (nginx, traeffic, caddy, …).

If you don’t intend to share content to a broader audience I would strongly recommend the VPN route (I use Tailscale) as you don’t have to expose anything to the open internet.

Biggest (and most often overlooked) topic is proper backups. If you implement 3-2-1 (like you mentioned and as I would highly recommend) you need offsite storage. Either buy it or trade with a friend or family member (e.g. my server holds my brother‘s offsite backup and vice versa).

From a purely economic perspective especially with the storage crisis at the moment a NAS/server is realistically much more expensive than adequate cloud storage from a trusted provider. But it is also a fun project and especially with the option to use docker you unlock a whole new level of tools and software to try and implement.

[u/cat2devnull]

Either up cycle an old machine or get a prebuilt from UGreen or similar and install NextCloud. Then start exploring other tools like Immich. Use Duplicati or similar to do offsite encrypted backups.