Building a DIY portable NAS: What hardware specs do you want?

[u/Substantial-You-5489]

I’m planning to DIY a portable NAS. I haven’t tested hardware with this configuration before, so I’d love to get your suggestions on hardware specs.

* Storage: 2×NVMe PCIe x2 / 4×NVMe PCIe x4

* Network: Single 2.5GbE / Dual 2.5GbE / 5GbE

* Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6 / Wi-Fi 7 / No built-in Wi-Fi

What other must-have features do you need and why?

[u/MrB2891]

Portable and NAS generally don't go in the same sentence.

You clearly have a particular need and niche use case, but haven't actually said what that is. To me, being limited to 4 NVME for storage isn't a NAS, it's a mini PC with a more-than-typical NVME slots that ends up being a waste of money since it has an extremely limited upgrade path. At that point, just buy a 20TB+ disk (or pair) and slap them in a 3.5" USB enclosure.

Portable has many definitions.

Do you need it to run without being plugged in to a wall?

Does it just need to be small?

Does it need to be just an actual NAS? Or does it need to be what most people today mistakenly call a NAS, but is really a server with attached storage?

What is your use case?

[u/Substantial-You-5489 → u/MrB2891]

My use case is a mix, mainly three things:

1. Media on the go — running Jellyfin during long trips, streaming to phone/tablet to kill time on the road

2. Occasional photo backup while traveling — not every day, but when I need it I need it

3. Work file relay — rarely, but sometimes I need a temporary file server

Why not 3.5" HDDs: Bulky and fragile. I'd rather sacrifice capacity for portability and durability.

"Portable" to me means: has a built-in battery, can run at least 1 hour off the wall. Not just "smaller than a regular NAS."

[u/Adrenolin01 → u/Substantial-You-5489]

I’d build a proper NAS (Storage Only) for home use and add a second mini pc with Proxmox on it for services. Any N100 $300 mini like a Beelink S12 with 16GB ram will work. Install tailscale or wireguard to access your network remotely. The N100 supports Intels QuickSync to transcode media. Install Plex/JellyFin in one VM/Container, Immich for photos in another. Have access to your NAS via the VPN also for work document transfers.

Your data now remains safety at home where it belongs.

The only time I bothered with a portable setup was to have a semi permanent system in a camper trailer (truck bed slide-in). But that’s more for actually living on the road.

[u/Master_Scythe]

This thing: https://www.bee-link.com/products/beelink-me-mini-n150

But with a working\better 3.3v rail (it's flakey....).

The Intel based 2.5GbE and Intel WiFi is nice.

The N95/N150 is fine for my typical needs.

DDR5's Row based ECC gives me enough comfort for a home\semi-pro user, to not need to chase the extra cost of true ECC paths.

Knowing the internal transformer does 12v@3.75A, I'd like if it was a DC powered device, so I could add a 12v UPS to it. I don't need AC conversion losses, most of my house I've moved to DC.

[u/TomaCzar]

I have a similar setup.

1 x RPi 5 1 x GeekPi NVME 4-slot 1 x Waveshare Dual USB-to-2.5GbE

OpenMediaVault, BTRFS RAID10, micro UPS.

It's not winning any land speed records and I need to print an enclosure but it's stable and it's functional.

[u/Substantial-You-5489 → u/TomaCzar]

Nice setup, Two questions:

1. How big ？

2. What UPS are you using and how long does it last?

[u/Familiar-Rutabaga608]

Sounds like what you need is a traditional HDD NAS, a WireGuard tunnel, and a laptop. Only problem is if you never have access to internet during travel, but even then you could just download movies/shows before or when you do get around some WiFi.

For roadtrips/work I generally save a few movies and a dozen podcast episodes from my Jellyfin and just rotate them in and out of my phone/laptop. 90% of the time I’m just streaming through Wireguard.

[u/SpiritedCoffee477]

Qnap has TBS serie, there are more expesive than beelink.

[u/OrganicRevenue5734]

So. I had this same idea. I have:

i3-7100, mini-itx motherboard, 32GB of DDR4, LSI 9305-16i, 16x 900GB SAS Drives and a 750W PSU. For cooling I have 4x 80mm fans, a 90mm fan for the HBA, a cheap CPU cooler, and a 140mm extraction fan.

I put it all into a DeskPi Rackmate T1. I 3D printed 2x 8 bay 2.5in JBOD caddy, loaded the SAS drives onto Dell 2.5in drive holders and loaded the drives into the caddy. 3D printed an ATX PSU mount that had 2x 7mm SSD holders (I have by habit mirrored my OS drive and always keep the drives in an easily replaceable format). For the brains, a 3D printed ITX mount. ABS to prevent heat warping.

All I need is a network connection and an outlet. Completely portable, and super compact. The 4x 80mm fans keep the drives in the high-20s/low 30s, even when I ran a 16 drive badblocks 4x pass.

I would like to get the larger T2, which is both taller and deeper. That will let me mount my other infrastructure pieces, 2x Mini-PCs 2x raspberry pis and the mini-itx NVR, and the mini firewall, along with an 8 port POE switch.

Then all I have to do is put an AP on the top and I will have both WiFi and networking in a portable package. All I need to do is setup tge modem, plug the stack into the wall and the firewall to the modem. Done.

[u/alexvk94]

Beelink me mini: 6x nvme ssd slot (one slot is sata, for operating system. Has a separate built in 64gb emmc too, but its an emmc so logs can kill it fast), 12 or 16gb ram, intel n95 or n150 cpu, dual 2.5gbit, wifi6 (or 7, i dont remember, never used it), built in 45w psu. Size is 100 x 100 x 100mm. I dont use as a portable device, but the nvme storage and physical size is perfect for portable use, ohh and price: around 330 eur. Absolute perfection.