Turn an old PC into a powerful NAS solution using UNRAID!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ต.ค. 2021
- Do you now a PC that is surplus to requirements? Are you looking to upgrade your current PC in order to run Windows 11 and will have a PC surplus to requirements? Maybe you're looking at building an UNRAID server or considering buying a Synology or QNAP NAS device but are looking for potential alternatives?
In this video I build out a fresh UNRAID server by reclaiming one of my older desktop computers, this video is a complete walkthrough from adding the hard disk drives, creating the installation media, formatting and building the storage array and creating a couple of users and shares to demonstrate just some of the amazing features of building, configuring and running an UNRAID server on older, reclaimed hardware!
#unraid #nas #serverbuild #synology #pcbuild #reclaimedhardware #truenas - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Really great tutorial for people who haven't used unRAID and want something more than just the bare basics but not expert-level detail. When I build my first NAS I'll definitely be referring back to this video. Thanks!
Great to hear :) I'm really pleased you found this tutorial useful!
I think is the best intro to unraid video I have seen so far.
Awesome - thank you so much for your feedback and I'm super pleased that it was useful!
Thank you for the Unraid video. I was going to buy a Synergy NAS but looking at the cost, 😮 I have decided to buy a new computer and make my old one into an Unraid server. New computer, new server, it's a no brainer.
You're welcome and I believe you made a great choice!
Great! I could not have found your video at a better time. I am in exactly the same situation. Older PC running Windows 10, being used as a Plex server. I needed more storage and an O/S that would not need lots of expensive new hardware. Unraid really seems to be the answer with its ability to run Plex server. I watched your video and it makes it all seem very straight forward. I've also taken time to read Unraid manual. Oh well, here goes....😀
That's great Anthony, Really pleased to hear that the video helped :) - I'm sure you will be more than happy with UnRAID - It's a fantasic NAS solution. Best of luck with the install and your migration over to UnRAID :)
This video was very helpful. I am in the middle of my first Unraid server build and appreciate your effort here. Subed and liked. Cheers mate!
Great video! Followed it and got my unraid server up and running without any problems! Would love more videos that dive more deeply into unraid. Liked and subscribed my guy!
Thanks for the kind words, this evening I've released another UNRAID tutorial and more content (covering many more aspects) are coming soon! Thanks for the support too :+1
Brilliant. Thanks for putting this together 👍
Great video! Very easy to follow indeed. First time trying to build a nas server and searching to find the best solution for it. This video help me a lot to settle thing down. Would love more videos like the community add-on's ( maybe you already done it as i wrote this). Thanks for putting this excellent introduction to Unraid!
You're welcome! - More UNRAID videos coming soon (including the one that was released a couple of hours ago)!
Great video with a lot of useful information. Thanks! 👍
I have a cinematography business and I'm about to build my first unRAID media server. This video is super informative and I don't expect to have any issues. Thank you for such a detailed video.
*Update*
Works great! Thanks again!
I'm so pleased it helped and thanks for the kind words - I really appreciate them! More UNRAID videos coming soon (just been super swamped recently)
I just purchased a new computer for my wife. I used to build my own, but I don't have time anymore and her old computer is going to be "retrofit" as an UNRAID server after watching your video. Thank you so much for giving me a great idea. I will subscribe to your channel. Thanks again. Great video!
That is awesome! I'm pleased that the video helped :)
Gr8 work mate... keep it going.
You need to make more videos my man!
This was so good, probably the best guide out there, at least the best I found. it really makes it seem "not scary" and is easy to follow....
But now I need more tips on what else to do with my server!
Seems like your motivation maybe is lacking a bit, so just wanted to say, we do appreciate it!
Hey @Krydolph, I really appreciate the message and thanks for your kind words! I do have many more videos planned and in the pipeline but I'm just so busy with other family related stuff at this time :( - So it's just a case of me finding some more time at the moment but I do have more exciting things planned that will hopefully be released very soon :)
Great Video, is very clear and easy to follow. I was investigating a Synology NAS but pricey and I had an old desktop. I did look into TrueNAS but after this video it was clear to me that UNRAID was a better approach and setup was very simple, plus the license is reasonably priced. Thanks.
I was looking at TrueNas too but there's a learning curve compared to unraid which seems more straight forward. I don't mind learning about TrueNas but a NAS is something you setup and leave it, then in a few months if you have issues you'll need to learn about TrueNas again which I can't be bothered. So unraid ticks most of the boxes with ease of use like a Synology does.
I don't think it's that much harder to set up TrueNAS than it is to setup Unraid. And what's important - TrueNAS is free and open source. You never have to worry that support will be dropped because even if that happens - the code is out there and the community will maintain it. Because the code is available you don't have to worry that something you don't know of is happening inside of the system. Basically you're the only owner of your NAS without any proprietary software on it.
There is nothing that Unraid can do that TrueNAS or any other open source solution can't.
Synology is worth it. Thier data security and apps are so good. I have both, my main nas is a synology running apps like photos drive etc. I use unraid as a backup server that's on only when I need it for plex etc. Synology shr raid is also the best.
Thank you for this upload; it was very helpful to me
You're very welcome!
Very thorough and informative unRAID tutorial. First choice has always been something like TrueNAS failing that OMV as open source however as unRAID doesn't require ECC RAM this saving can go towards product licensing by the sound of things. Subscribed.
Thanks for the kind words, I'm really pleased that you found it helpful - Have fun with UNRAID :D Thanks for the sub too :)
Amazing video, thank you!
I was able to create a boot usb, setup the server and do a completed parity sync. Then I shutdown, now I get Syslinux 6.03 error at boot-up. Maybe I need as newer motherboard.
Hey mate are you going to do more videos this was very useful and in details love it mate 👍🏾
Sure am, I've been really busy recently (switching jobs) but am now ramping up YT video production again and, this evening, have released a new one (might not be useful for you specifically at this time) but more are coming in the near future too!
Very informative, thanks
Great video overview, thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
@@TheBearTech definitely helped me get started. Now I have vms and dockers and all the scripts. Thanks!
Awesome tutorial!! Question do you have any tutorials with using unraid and iphone backup for apps contacts photos etc etc that would work like icloud?
Loved this video. I have used a Synology NAS for about 5 years but looking replace it with something that I can use Docker / Plex. For your next video can you focus on how to get Docker/Plex up and running on Unraid. Excellent introduction to Unraid btw :-)
Keep the synology for data backup like photos drive and files etc. So much easier.
Unraid docker is so simple compared to synology tho. Just search click and install.
Glad it was helpful! - I have a ton of other UNRAID related videos coming out soon, Docker and Plex will be something that I cover so stay tuned :)
500 videos on setting up Unraid, I just want directions on setting it up so I can create auto backups the drives of other network computers weekly! I need to know how to do this in english not computer tech lingo. Thanks!
Excellent job Sir if I must say so myself. 👍🏽👈🏽
Thanks for your kind feedback :)
Subbed, I am working on this tomorrow, perfect timing. So you day we should have two cache sdds and two USB sticks as well?
I'm fairly sure that UNRAID doesn't support 2x USB boot drives (just use a single one, that's all you'll need) but yes, for the cache drives, it's most recommended that you use two (mirrored).
@@TheBearTech ok cool I may have misheard , also, what is the best way to transfer my files from a hard drive over to my. unRAID?. It's very important info so I don't want to lose it. I have my system setup and ready just curious how to transfer it over. So I can finally dump drive and icloud ha
@@Eddylive The best way to do this is to use "rsync" in my opinion, run a command such as "rsync -avzP /local-dir/ my-unraid-server:/share-name/" and this will retain all timestamps (when files were created etc) and enable you to restart the transfer if for whatever reason it is interupted.
It probably goes without saying but double and triple check you have copied across all data before re-using the old drives.
The best video for unRAID , thanks , ans please make more videos
More coming soon (including the one I released this evening) - Stay tuned :)
How do we backup the important data on the USB boot drive? Is there any way to use a USB ssd for the boot drive to make it more secure and faster?
Very nice video. For Unraid is it recommend to have nas drives or consumer level hdd please let me know
Hi Alpha,
It's certainly recommended to use NAS drives (assuming you plan to keep your NAS 24/7 and have several drives in close proximity).
I personally use a mixture of NAS drives (WD RED and Seagate IronWolfs) in my main NAS as it's on all the time and NAS drives are less prone to damage by vibration from nearby drives) but for this particular build I just used whatever I had as it's generally only switch on and backed up to once every couple of weeks.
I hope this helps :+1
Fantastic maye thanks for your time mate . How about cloud option ? Auto backup from phones to unraid ? Is that possible ?
Thanks
Hi Sam,
Thanks for your comment - There is a TON of "apps" that can be downloaded on UNRAID that support remote backups from devices like phones... NextCloud (your own personal, hosted OneDrive) being one of those apps, install the NextCloud client on your phone too and you can easily (and automatically) backup your photos and other items from your phone to your UNRAID NAS too :)
Hope this helps!
I love that y'all call vacuum cleaners "Hoovers"
I used to own a Vacuum repair/sales shop so it has always cracked me up. Is that the actual official name for it there or is it just slang? For anyone who doesn't know, Hoover is a vacuum cleaner brand.
Also related to the video, the IP is shown on the Unraid screen that first time you booted up, rather than having to go find it. But also, you can just use Tower in the browser (or whatever you named it) and it'll pull up. No need to go track down the IP.
Thank you so much for the helpful video. So are you saying I do not need a graphic card in my home server running this?
That is correct - Unless you're using an AMD processor without onboard graphics then yes, all Intel Processors come with onboard graphics - simply whip out your graphics card and it'll work fine :)
UNRAID has the neatest and most user-friendly GUI interface of all NAS OSs. I need to build a NAS for our faculty to store the documents. I wonder whether I should use something free like TrueNAS or purchase the UNRAID because it's neat.
Personally (and as I mentioned in the video) I use UNRAID primarily as I can easily extend my storage capacity with a mix of various disk... If you don't have this requirement then TrueNAS might be a good option for you... I would say that is the main thing you need to consider here :)
Hi, I am very new to the NAS setups and making our own servers, so pardon me if my question sounds a bit stupid. I am planning to make my own cloud storage sort of thing with a NAS and stop paying for services like google drive. I just wanted to check with you if we can access the UNRAID server storage/data pools outside our home network, so we can access the storage from anywhere?
It would be mighty helpful if I can get an answer.
Thanks and cheers for an amazing video.
Yes, absolutely. Once you have UnRAID setup, I would recommend installing the "Community Apps" plugin and then, from there you can download and install NextCloud (which is effectively a clone of OneDrive and other such cloud file hosting services).
@@TheBearTech Hey! Thanks for your quick reply. Definitely your video gave me a lot of confidence to set up UnRAID. Currently in the process of settng up drives in UnRAID, will set up for NextCloud once its finished. Again, thanks for your help :)
I keep having problems trying to install unraid. Presently have 2x 10tb hooked up. Haven't been used. a 500GB m.2 nvme wd black, and a 32gb flash drive with unraid boot setup. I know a 32gb size isn't necessary, but what I had available. Already had windows installed on the m.2, but set boot priority to the flash drive. intel i5 12400 with 16gb 3200mhz corsair vengeance. The PC just doesn't seem to boot the flash drive (have also tried an 8gb flash drive), and tends to corrupt my m.2.
If your "old desktop" has a 2TB limit in the bios, how could it possibly recognize the full potential of 3,4,6 and up terabyte drives? If you could explain that for me I would pull the cover off my old computer and get on it strait away! Loved your easy to understand video!
That's great to hear :) - I suspect, if your BIOS has a 2TB HDD limit (not that I have ever heard that being "a thing") I would recommend getting hold of a HBA (Host Bus Adapter) controller on eBay, that should get around that limit :)
I would recommend (as they work great and are relatively cheap) the LSI 9210-8i card (such as the Dell H200 HBA just makesure that you get one that is "flashed" to "IT mode").
Hey friend.. awesome video... Got a question though... Can I access remotely? Like, access from my smartphone or from home or office?
Apologies for the late reply (I've been so busy recently but am producing and pushing more videos over the coming weeks) - In answer to your Q - yes, by using a VPN you can set that up... I'll cover that in an upcoming video for you!
The only thing is 24\7 usage with power requirements and cost especially important in uk atm
Woudl be great if you did a video for beginners on how to install apps/dockers from start to finish. I have no idea how the dockers work or how to install and use apps on unRaid.
Will do - Stay tuned as I have a TON more UNRAID and Linux/Docker content coming in the next few weeks. How to install a virtual machine on UNRAID is already scheduled to go live next Wednesday (if that's of interest too!?)
I'm interested with if can turn a laptpp into NAS also... but not with connecting the drives with USB but with some better stuff... Though with that said sorry for going bit out of topic here.... What are those cool white speakers you have on the desk there ??
The white speakers are Kanto YU2 speakers :)
@@TheBearTech thanks buddy
You inspired me to try an unraid set up (6.9.2). Following along with you the whole thing has gone very well. Unfortunately Windows 10 won't recognize my user cred's for any share not marked Public. No one seems to have an answer. Any words of wisdom?
By anychance, are you using a Lenovo laptop? I had a family member with the same problem!
Can you use this to edit 4k video? What kind of speeds this thing get? Sorry if the questions are really basic, i really just don't know.
Editing 4K video directly from the server would require faster network cards - I certainly would NOT recommend trying to edit 4K video from the NAS using 1G network cards - Upgrade to a 10G network card and that'll do that job perfectly.
I have a Threadripper 1950x with a decent graphics card and plenty of ram, however windows has deemed that the processor is not good enough for Windows 11. Goodbye Microsoft and Windows.
Should be a simple TPM2.0 switch in BIOS to Enabled. My 2990wx was “ineligible” until I changed the setting in bios and next thing I know, I’m installing Windows 11.
Very Detail Video, Thank You. Can I run vmdk file on unraid? I have backup windows preinstalation on it, Tq.
Sorry for the delayed reply and although you've already found the answer (probably), you CAN convert a VMDK disk image to UNRAID (KVM) format but I don't believe that VMDK is supported natively (you'd have to convert it first)
Hi there can i be able to back up from my iphone ??
With unraid must be run off a usb flash drive? can it be run off hardrive if not this is not dependable
It boots from a USB drive, but runs entirely in RAM. Very dependable.
Can we access this NAS outside the network means From anywhere??
You can indeed, UNRAID ships with an easy to configure WireGuard VPN which can enable you to access your server securely over the internet OR you can opt-in to LimeTech's (the company behind UNRAID) "My Servers" solution (which is free) and you manage your server remotely via. their website (if that's what you're after).
hey...i keep getting this message when i try to boot unRaid, unable to allocate memory to kernel, bailing out
i use a Dell T320, If anyone has any ideas for me I would appreciate it
I suspect that you don't have enough RAM (Memory) in your server to run it - I would suggest trying with 8GB and see if that works for you.
Does unraid run good on windows ? and is windows easyer to use
It does not run on any OS - it IS a solution with it's on Linux underneath.
I don't understand how you can access the UNRAID server when you shut it down.
He mentions that he reused a non compatible windows 11 machine. I believe that TPM will be emulated post version 6.9.2 of unraid, so the machine should be able to run win 11 as a vm in the future. Pass it through to a graphics card and carry on as a normal computer with the advantage of the array in the background.
should Unraid USB go onto a pc with no operating system?
The missing answer is yes
leave in the usb and rstart
Hi Kevin, Yes, sorry if this wasn't clear... I'm pleased to hear that you managed to work it out in the end (sorry for the late reply, I've been super busy recently).
Dumb question. I don't have an old PC lying about. I have an old Mac mini, an old 27" iMac, and a Synology NAS 718+. But I have a bunch of drives. Internal, external, SATA, USB, etc. Should I go and buy an old beater PC box with its mother board intact? If so, what should I look for?
I would personally recommend buying an old beater PC yes, most PC's would work but if you wanted a suggested baseline - I would recommend anything higher than an Intel 4th gen i5 or i7 - AMD would work fine too though!
Depending on if you wanted to run VM's and a ton of Docker containers too, ensure you have a fair amount of RAM - Suggest 16GB of RAM as a minimum otherwise, if you're just using for file storage, 4GB or 8GB of RAM should be plenty :)
Hope this helps and best of luck with your build :)
@@TheBearTech Thanks so much. A steep learning curve in the beginning, that I gather flattens out after a bit/
@@DCW96161 absolutely but rest assured that you'll get the hang of it super quick... you'll love it once it's all installed - I guarantee it :D
I have both synology and unraid. I like synology for the care free software that someone else has taken care to make a system that protects my data with alot of features like snapshots etc. It replaced a lot of services like Google photos and drive very elegant and easy. No matinance. Synology shr is also better than unraid for array creation as you can add a larger drive and it will magically make it work. I have other servers as a second backup and they are unraid. Unraid is so powerful for docker apps and vms as well as having a very versatile array. Unraid is fun synology is reliable.
If you took the GPU out how do you connect the monitor?
Integrated via the motherboard.
M.2 unraid n'as?
boot and run from usb has been essentially abandoned due to the drives failing as frequent as they have recently. It sounds like a good idea. I give it 6 to 9 months before the drive eats it.
This is the first I've heard of this , are you referring to the USB flash device getting eaten or the HDD's failing?
@@TheBearTech Most of the time usb is in a state of non persistence. I.E. read only mode and most of the data in use is stored in 🐏.... persistence mode data is read and writen to disk (usb in this case) depending upon THE I/O of the device it can be SLOW. However unlike most disks USB as a writable device will last a bit in a pinch. However its been found that even if left in a raid 1 config the amount of time between failures unlike standard sata 3... M.2, U.2, or even ide drives it is just not worth it to keep a writable OS on drive. Its capable... Its just not safe to keep it on usb due to its high failure rate. USB as a bootable and writable OS device will ultimately wear itself out quicker and cannibalize itself in the end. Its cheap... Its effective... Just as a long haul device not as much.
@@benjamin1254 The USB is only used for the initial boot, the operating system is run directly from memory, configuration changes etc are updated to the USB as and when needed but that's all
Quote "An Unraid Server runs entirely from RAM, minimizing writes to the Flash device. However, it is also used to store vital system configuration data and must remain installed in your server during operation."
I have a few unraid machines. The oldest flash drive is 12+ years and still going strong. So no not a problem. Writes to the drive are minimal, so only used to load the kernel. The rest happens on the system.
uhg... gave it a shot, added hard drives, plugged it in,,, no display, then fried my psu.
So sorry to hear that John - that's super bad luck! Depending upon the number of HDD's you have, you may need to increase the size of the PSU - I run 6 HDD's in my server at the moment and after installing the 6th, I had to upgrade the PSU from a 500W to a 700W in order to provide enough power - certainly sounds like this *may* be the issue you're having.
Hopefully you'll be back up and running again soon though my friend!
@@TheBearTech No worries! Had a new PSU delivered today, installed and the unraid server is up and running! Well running the parity sync, which will probably finish tomorrow. Your video was so helpful, thank you! I am a subscriber for sure.
@@JohnNelson68 Great stuff, I'm really pleased to hear it! Enjoy your new UnRAID server :)
More light!! and move it the reflections really annoying! Great video otherwise (edit: it might not actually be more light because there is already a shine on your head - could just be shutter speed or aperture not set properly just seems really dark. All the footage of you
Thanks for the tip
Z87 motherboard plus i5 4th gen Intel is not that old.
My definition of old is those from Core2duo era. Just don't touch them. It's not efficient, except those your one and only option you have.
very dark video, very little light, barely I can see what's going on
You now have me so confused I don’t think I’ll be doing this.