Do you have a NAS at home?

I made my own. Originally it was an old system with space to add HDD's. I threw Ubuntu on it. Over time I gave it more and more responsibilities (web server, mail server, ssh, scp, ftp, mythtv, mysql, dns, dhcp, etc) and eventually I upgraded it into a box more powerful than my main machine.

I highly recommend a NAS, whether home made or store bought. If you either have valuable data you want backed up or multiple PC's, Xboxes, and other multimedia devices in your home, then I recommend you have a NAS.

I have considered prebuilt NAS, unfortunately I find them to be overtly expensive when compare to a self built solution.

The problem with pre-built NAS is they have a limited number of slots for disks (typically 3-5 disks) meaning you have no easy way to archive the contents in case the NAS goes phut, and no easy way to expand the NAS should it ever become too small for requirements. They are also quite expensive, typically costing £600-£1000 per unit and not necessarily with disks provided. Another downside is that not all services you require may be available on every model and you will have little or no control over security for any service such as http services you may put out onto the internet. If your NAS is hacked you may loose everything!

I prefer a self build solution which may initially be quite expensive to start but is scaleable using a basic PC in a small case, a low end Adaptec 5xxx Series controller, and external storage starting small with several disks installed in multiples of 4. Initially using Fanout cables 1 SFF-8087/8 controller port to 4 drives, later using an expander supporting up to 16 drives to 1 SFF-8087/8 controller port, and potentially daisy chained to support up to 128 drives if you would ever need this.

I expect to use 3 sets of disks each set of disks containing 4-6 disks, and over time to cyclically upgrade the oldest with newer higher capacity disks using space on each set to backup the contents of the others as well as external storage.

Applications for such a solution might include those you look for but also as a medium for storing A/V as a form of jukebox for a media PC.

At present I am looking into building such a solution but might wait a while until my financial circumstances improve.