This Raspberry Pi NAS Drive includes two 1TB Solid-State Drives in RAID 1 configuration, and can be built in an evening.
(https://savagecircuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/R-Pi_NAS_00.jpg)
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THIS PROJECT ON THE SAVAGE///CIRCUITS WEBSITE (https://savagecircuits.com/r-pi-5-nas-drive/)
SATA Hat (https://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Pi-Penta-SATA-HAT/dp/B0DCK4BHJK/ref=sr_1_72_sspa?crid=13PRT2XD70XH9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ifSbV8iceAoQpS5b1nmMZiLgzAlhiIuFPK5O6Pu6dip5wzn2cDoxY7anqvMHb3u-dmJwtIiREb6k1QLeCy9NU96sKgru3veQ9QzqYFP8mEIicWu7C_6gz06ziLf0VXPViIAXd3RBgczHGHmx7eb-ug3XNmK5KRrqN1lUgoyadA-KZfSi7Gjcgq8sW_Hr_BnbOM_axjNT5UVEBDi5xzo1uQZ9KugDNSraUPn8Dx9ZcJ4sOkfkClyCzTGMMzBmAEjOmHIclokNUuD2uIlfHsIZv_oFAvklTgeSUCTx5iojbuE.Nmg5TbkthQkkHFUmu-ji88Z-OrzU38kSoLGzgScySv8&dib_tag=se&keywords=raspberry+pi+pico&qid=1741582315&s=electronics&sprefix=raspberry+pi+pico%2Celectronics%2C117&sr=1-72-spons&xpid=eOgXaLSNZZdl5&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9idGY&psc=1)
I saw this and rememmbered your project. can do 4 Sata Drives.
Yes, at a glance this one does seem to support 4 drives in a NAS configuration, however it may require special software to implement RAID. I would feel better about this is the description mentioned supported RAID modes. There are tons of R-Pi Hats that support 4 drives that do NOT directly support RAID 0 / 1. When I get home, I can post the question. But I am concerned about no mention of RAID support.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Mar 10, 2025, 08:50 AMYes, at a glance this one does seem to support 4 drives in a NAS configuration, however it may require special software to implement RAID. I would feel better about this is the description mentioned supported RAID modes. There are tons of R-Pi Hats that support 4 drives that do NOT directly support RAID 0 / 1. When I get home, I can post the question. But I am concerned about no mention of RAID support.
True, that would be a great thing for this concidering the concept.
I saw this and didn't know if it was any help or not to this project.
https://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=RaspberryTips&fbclid=IwY2xjawLkLr9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEzblFISWRHZjgyejNwYnBPAR4in00Hl6YAy7-zZVI_j-mA0iiV9jaPH07VAHWtZqoWcG5IhpzRYNyR2CClLQ_aem_F1_HhuUCqsFQpycuKQfIQg (https://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=RaspberryTips&fbclid=IwY2xjawLkLr9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEzblFISWRHZjgyejNwYnBPAR4in00Hl6YAy7-zZVI_j-mA0iiV9jaPH07VAHWtZqoWcG5IhpzRYNyR2CClLQ_aem_F1_HhuUCqsFQpycuKQfIQg)
Quote from: JKnightandKARR on Jul 16, 2025, 03:10 AMI saw this and didn't know if it was any help or not to this project.
I will take a look at it from home. I did a lot of research before starting this project, mainly because many of the R-Pi hats that had multiple drives did
not support RAID 1, which was my primary goal. The software considerations boiled down to what people were saying about the various options. But I will take a look. More information is better before I begin to install software on it.
I am very close to setting this up. I lacked a dedicated Raspberry Pi workstation, with its own monitors, keyboard, mouse, etc. Now that I am moving my 3D printers to the same bench, that frees up a whole bench that I can now use for R-Pi stuff. There are three projects in the queue and lack of space to set them up was the main issue. We're days away from that being solved.
Cool, can't wait
Quote from: JKnightandKARR on Jul 16, 2025, 11:57 AMCool, can't wait
Yeah, once the bench is set up I will update the Office Evolution page too, because a lot of things have been moving around lately. Everything is in a state of flux at the moment.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Jul 16, 2025, 02:22 PMQuote from: JKnightandKARR on Jul 16, 2025, 11:57 AMCool, can't wait
Yeah, once the bench is set up I will update the Office Evolution page too, because a lot of things have been moving around lately. Everything is in a state of flux at the moment.
I knows the feeling all TOO well...
https://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/ (https://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/)
I saw this n didn't know if it would be helpful or not.
Quote from: JKnightandKARR on Nov 30, 2025, 12:22 PMhttps://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/ (https://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/)I saw this n didn't know if it would be helpful or not.
A few similar guides are what led me to the parts I used in mine. I still need to install OMV, but it's what I had planned to use in the project on my main site.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Dec 01, 2025, 04:27 PMQuote from: JKnightandKARR on Nov 30, 2025, 12:22 PMhttps://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/ (https://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/)I saw this n didn't know if it would be helpful or not.
A few similar guides are what led me to the parts I used in mine. I still need to install OMV, but it's what I had planned to use in the project on my main site.
Ok was a thought if it would be helpfull or not. Would the 8GB RAM ver be any better then the 4GB ver?
Quote from: JKnightandKARR on Dec 01, 2025, 06:21 PMOk was a thought if it would be helpfull or not. Would the 8GB RAM ver be any better then the 4GB ver?
I'm sure people will find it helpful. As far as more RAM, that always helps.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Dec 01, 2025, 11:33 PMQuote from: JKnightandKARR on Dec 01, 2025, 06:21 PMOk was a thought if it would be helpfull or not. Would the 8GB RAM ver be any better then the 4GB ver?
I'm sure people will find it helpful. As far as more RAM, that always helps.
Cool. Thanks.
Quote from: JKnightandKARR on Nov 30, 2025, 12:22 PMhttps://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/ (https://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/)
I saw this n didn't know if it would be helpful or not.
This looks like a good option for me. The mirrored (or any) RAID would be good, but I already have a five-, and an eight-terrabyte, external USB drive available, but no decent-sized NVMe drives - and those SSDs cost a bit too much. My NAS will be just for my personal use, and I will still have the 8 TB drive with all my movies, and TV shows, separate on my TV system, so I don't really need much in the way of speed, or power. Thinking about this, the 5 TB drive should be on my NAS, and the 8 TB should be as a backup drive - maybe on Spock, or maybe just plugged in to my main computer, as needed.
I will be using the two Pi computers that I purchased after our meetup (one Pi 4, and one Pi 5) for the two projects. One will be Spock (he was in charge of the library on the Enterprise) and will be the NAS. The other will be replacing Nyota (the Enterprise's Communications officer) who will be handling all of my Internet access - SSH server, VPN-in server (although that may be my router's job,) maybe web servers and anything else. After writing this down, it seems that Nyota will not be doing as much as I thought; so the Pi 4 will run Nyota, and the Pi 5 will run Spock.
My first NAS drive was a WD unit that only had one drive. It just died one day, and at the time I had no backups (didn't have a spare USB drive that large. I lost videos of my daughters that are irreplaceable. So now, I have backups of everything. When it comes to NAS, I MUST have RAID 1 (Mirror). For a while that meant using smaller drives for cost reasons, but I am finally up to where I need to be for the media and files I need to backup.
Quote from: granz on Dec 02, 2025, 07:33 AMQuote from: JKnightandKARR on Nov 30, 2025, 12:22 PMhttps://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/ (https://raspberrytips.com/nas-guide-raspberry-pi/)
I saw this n didn't know if it would be helpful or not.
This looks like a good option for me. The mirrored (or any) RAID would be good, but I already have a five-, and an eight-terrabyte, external USB drive available, but no decent-sized NVMe drives - and those SSDs cost a bit too much. My NAS will be just for my personal use, and I will still have the 8 TB drive with all my movies, and TV shows, separate on my TV system, so I don't really need much in the way of speed, or power. Thinking about this, the 5 TB drive should be on my NAS, and the 8 TB should be as a backup drive - maybe on Spock, or maybe just plugged in to my main computer, as needed.
I will be using the two Pi computers that I purchased after our meetup (one Pi 4, and one Pi 5) for the two projects. One will be Spock (he was in charge of the library on the Enterprise) and will be the NAS. The other will be replacing Nyota (the Enterprise's Communications officer) who will be handling all of my Internet access - SSH server, VPN-in server (although that may be my router's job,) maybe web servers and anything else. After writing this down, it seems that Nyota will not be doing as much as I thought; so the Pi 4 will run Nyota, and the Pi 5 will run Spock.
Sounds good. I outta copy EVERYthing I got onto my 4TB drive and go over it alL, cause I know I got multiple copies of some stuff and copies of crap i don't need!
Quote from: JKnightandKARR on Dec 02, 2025, 11:17 AMI know I got multiple copies of some stuff and copies of crap i don't need!
Story of my life. :-[
EDIT: I solved my duplicate photos / images problems by having a photo dump folder. Whenever I transfer from my phone, files that exist cause that error and I can skip. If I've already moved them from that folder, they're caught in my sorted photos drive, since everything is sorted by date. Doesn't work with everything, but it does help with photos.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Dec 02, 2025, 03:30 PMQuote from: JKnightandKARR on Dec 02, 2025, 11:17 AMI know I got multiple copies of some stuff and copies of crap i don't need!
Story of my life. :-[
EDIT: I solved my duplicate photos / images problems by having a photo dump folder. Whenever I transfer from my phone, files that exist cause that error and I can skip. If I've already moved them from that folder, they're caught in my sorted photos drive, since everything is sorted by date. Doesn't work with everything, but it does help with photos.
I know the feeling... NO idea how much I really have... but a whole lot of 2+ copies..
It has now been about a week that I have been running Spock (my "library" computer.) It is not really a NAS, per se, but it does the same job. Plus, Spock is connected to my large-screen television, in my living room. This is where we watch TV (television shows, and movies.) I can connect to Spock from any of my other computers to either add to, or copy from, his 8-TB drive. This will also include from Nyota (the Communications Officer server,) when I get her replacement up, and running.
One of the Raspberry Pi systems that I bought after our meetup was slated to become Spock, but plans change. The original Nyota (a sixteen-year old Acer laptop that was originally my main computer) apparently put on a red shirt (https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/database/redshirt_deaths.htm) for an away mission, and bought the farm (https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/bought-the-farm.html). She had served us well in her job as Communications Officer server, and will be remembered kindly.
Unfortunately, when I went to replace her with the Raspberry Pi 4, I noticed that the Pi only had a micro-HDMI socket - and the television has only a full-sized HDMI cable. So, I went into my office and got an older Raspberry Pi 3 to serve temporarily. That new Pi did fairly well, but it had the under-voltage warning in the upper-right corner of the screen In addition, some video files (but not all) were playing so jerky that they were unwatchable. So, I ordered an actual power supply, spec'd for the Pi 3, and that cleared the undervoltage warning, and the videos all run smoothly. It turns out that when the Pi senses an undervoltage condition, it drops the clock (some estimates are that it drops it by up to %50. :o )
So, the end setup (for now) is that the Pi 3 is Spock, and one of the newer Pi computers will be Nyota. The other newer Pi will be Monty (or should it be Montgomery - there are not enough references to Scotty's first name to decide which he would have preferred, :P ) our Chief Engineering Officer home-control server.
Quote from: granz on Feb 17, 2026, 07:47 AMIt turns out that when the Pi senses an undervoltage condition, it drops the clock (some estimates are that it drops it by up to %50. :o )
Laptops change their clock speed depending on whether they're running on plug-in power or battery. When I render a DVD video file at home, it's done in 10 minutes. When on battery, it takes many times more that, to the point where the battery won't last long enough to complete the render. The joys of mobile processors...
...that said, the irony of you posting in this thread is that I am just getting ready to take the photos for this project and start updating the project. I got my light box set up and my bench is almost clear enough to start taking photos there as well. Plus, I am adding a shelf next to the workshop network switch so that I can connect both new R-Pi servers.
Yeah, it does make sense, but the USB power supply that I was using on the Pi 3 was supposed to be a good solid +5VDC. Oh well, it is working well now.
Quote from: granz on Feb 17, 2026, 10:43 AMYeah, it does make sense, but the USB power supply that I was using on the Pi 3 was supposed to be a good solid +5VDC. Oh well, it is working well now.
Each new generation or R-Pi seems to have higher power requirements than the previous. It used to be that you could use any generic USB charger to power them. But for the last three generations (3, 4 and 5) they've
recommended specific power requirements. When I bought the R-Pi 4, the recommended P/S was 15W. The R-Pi 5 recommends nearly 30W, which is double the previous generation. People using them in NAS drives recommend 45W if the drives are SSD or being powered via the same supply.
The power supply for my tablet (the P/S that I was using for the Pi 3) was supposed to be 45W! :o If I remember right it could go up to +15VDC. It did not work with the Pi, but a 15W (+5VDC @ 3.0A) P/S does. It must be something other than simply the voltage and current. ???
You can see here one of the Raspberry Pi 4 kits (https://a.co/d/0jk7wx8n) that I bought, which includes a 15W P/S, as well as a Raspberry Pi 5 kit (https://a.co/d/09ebgOiE), which contains a 45W P/S.
I didn't get kits for my Pi 4 & Pi 5, just the systems themselves, along with cases, power supplies, heat sinks, etc À La Carte. The down side was that MicroCenter did not have everything (I think that I missed one P/S and one case.) But with most of the stuff that I already have, it isn't much of a down side.
I am hoping to work on this project this weekend, if nothing more than finally get the hardware built and photos done.
Both benches are covered in the stuff I am currently sorting an putting away. But I will make room by this weekend.
I hope everything goes well for you.
Quote from: granz on Feb 18, 2026, 07:15 AMI hope everything goes well for you.
Thanks! I will admit that I got a bit confused when replying earlier. The hardware for the NAS has been finished for some time. The software is not finished. What I
meant to say was that I need to get the hardware for the R-Pi 5 Computer System (https://savagecircuits.com/r-pi-5-computer-system/) and the Binner Parts Tracker Server (https://savagecircuits.com/binner-parts-tracker-server/), then I can work on the software for them all at the same time.
Can't wait.
Quote from: JKnightandKARR on Feb 18, 2026, 11:35 PMCan't wait.
Yeah, as more Raspberry Pi projects started stacking up, I figured I would just do the software all at once, that way it's all fresh in my head, instead of a month+ down the road having to figure it out again.
Spock seems to do well for viewing some video files, but whenever we try to watch The Rifleman (https://www.startpage.com/sp/search?query=The+Rifleman&cat=web&pl=opensearch&language=english) (https://www.therifleman.net/ (https://www.therifleman.net/),) it gets the video and sound badly out of sync. For some reason, Lucas McCain (the Rifleman) must not like Spock, and refuses to work with him.
I'm going to try setting up the Pi 4, or 5 to see if that does it.
Quote from: granz on Feb 19, 2026, 03:19 PMSpock seems to do well for viewing some video files, but whenever we try to watch The Rifleman it gets the video and sound badly out of sync. For some reason, Lucas McCain (the Rifleman) must not like Spock, and refuses to work with him.
If I had to guess, I would say that movie is either using a different form of compression or the bit-rate is significantly higher. Whatever the reason, I would verify it works on another machine (PC?) before changing hardware.
Are you using Ethernet or Wi-Fi to stream? Even my laptop stutters a bit on some movies when using Wi-Fi.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Feb 20, 2026, 04:48 PMIf I had to guess, I would say that movie is either using a different form of compression or the bit-rate is significantly higher. Whatever the reason, I would verify it works on another machine (PC?) before changing hardware.
Yeah, I have been running the entire series up to now on my old Acer - she finally bought the farm. So, it should work. Now that you mentioned it, I took my netbook and hooked it up to Spock's 8TB drive and was able to play the file just fine; sound and video in sync, even through the HDMI and playing on our television.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Feb 20, 2026, 04:48 PMAre you using Ethernet or Wi-Fi to stream? Even my laptop stutters a bit on some movies when using Wi-Fi.
Neither; the Pi 3 is hooked up to the HDMI cable to the television, and the TV acts as the (huge) monitor to the computer. I have a Rii handheld keyboard/trackpad and placed the wireless (not Bluetooth) nub into the Pi so that we can launch programs from our recliner. The hard drive is connected directly through the USB cable to the Pi (although the Pi 3 doesn't have USB 3.0, it should still be fast enough.)
Well, Spock is now running on the Pi 5, and doing so splendidly. Every video is working great.
At first, I was having trouble figuring out how to have Spock get a static IP address. The old way of editing the /etc/dhcp/dhcp.conf file doesn't work any more, now that RPi OS uses nmcli (network manager command line interface) to manage the network. Then I was able to find https://circuitdigest.com/tutorial/how-to-set-static-ip-on-raspberry-pi (https://circuitdigest.com/tutorial/how-to-set-static-ip-on-raspberry-pi) and got him to keep a static address. Now I can add, or delete, videos from anywhere on my network.
Next, the large-screen (65") television was treated by Spock as a monstrously huge screen, and the fonts for the icons were so small that we could not read them from across the living room (about 10-15 feet. :o ) So, after a bit of searching, I found https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=394793 (https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=394793), which lead me to getting the display set up.
Sorry about hijacking your project thread, but this seems kind-a related.
These URLs are included as a breadcrumb in case I need to find this stuff again.
Quote from: granz on Feb 23, 2026, 07:11 AMAt first, I was having trouble figuring out how to have Spock get a static IP address. The old way of editing the /etc/dhcp/dhcp.conf file doesn't work any more, now that RPi OS uses nmcli (network manager command line interface) to manage the network. Sorry about hijacking your project thread, but this seems kind-a related.
It is related. For my purposes, all three R-Pi devices need to have a static IP address. You've saved me running down
that tutorial.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Feb 23, 2026, 12:27 PMIt is related. For my purposes, all three R-Pi devices need to have a static IP address. You've saved me running down that tutorial.
Glad that I could help.
@granz I had about the same experience with the raspberry pi but I made my Pi 3 a DLNA server so I could stream videos on my computer using VLC and also stream to my smart TV. It has a 1TB usb3 mechanical drive with movies I copied from my collection using MakeMKV. I found out that blu-ray quality could not stream fast enough due to the large amount of bytes required for each frame. DVD quality worked fine.
I got a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB for Christmas and set that up as my DLNA server. I haven't tried a blu-ray quality video yet but I'm going to give it a try to see how it handles it, With the Pi 3 I had to use a powered USB hub for the hard drive but with the 5 and the recommended power supply I don't need it. I also do not have to set up a static ip for it.
Quote from: MicroNut on Feb 25, 2026, 10:23 PM@granz I had about the same experience with the raspberry pi but I made my Pi 3 a DLNA server so I could stream videos on my computer using VLC and also stream to my smart TV. It has a 1TB usb3 mechanical drive with movies I copied from my collection using MakeMKV. I found out that blu-ray quality could not stream fast enough due to the large amount of bytes required for each frame. DVD quality worked fine.
I don't use DLNA, and so do not have any troubles with that.
Quote from: MicroNut on Feb 25, 2026, 10:23 PMI got a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB for Christmas and set that up as my DLNA server. I haven't tried a blu-ray quality video yet but I'm going to give it a try to see how it handles it,
I have never owned a blu-ray player (nor drive on any PC) and thus don't have to worry about the extra data rate needed for that.
Quote from: MicroNut on Feb 25, 2026, 10:23 PMWith the Pi 3 I had to use a powered USB hub for the hard drive but with the 5 and the recommended power supply I don't need it.
My eight terabyte drive has its own power cord - no troubles with needing extra power on the Pi. Although, my Pi 5 does have the official three amp supply, so that is good, too.
Quote from: MicroNut on Feb 25, 2026, 10:23 PMI also do not have to set up a static ip for it.
My need for the static IP address is so that I can copy videos from my main laptop (or any other computer) to Spock. Also, several years ago, we were on a family vacation and I was able to remote in to my network and get several movies from my server so that the kids could watch movies.
Quote from: MicroNut on Feb 25, 2026, 10:23 PMI got a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB for Christmas and set that up as my DLNA server. I haven't tried a blu-ray quality video yet but I'm going to give it a try to see how it handles it, With the Pi 3 I had to use a powered USB hub for the hard drive but with the 5 and the recommended power supply I don't need it. I also do not have to set up a static ip for it.
This is similar to where I'm at. Most of my DVDs / Blu Rays have been converted to MKV files and are streamed to my Smart TV via a media server on the NAS drive (Twonky). Twonky is a DNLA-compliant streaming media server.
What are the advantages of running DLNA over my setup of just using the server as if it were a regular computer, and watching videos on that?
Quote from: granz on Feb 26, 2026, 03:10 PMWhat are the advantages of running DLNA over my setup of just using the server as if it were a regular computer, and watching videos on that?
Well, for you, I'm not sure. It seems like your system just works. My Smart TV is from 2017 and is a Samsung. Even though the TV is on the same network as the NAS, and the videos are in a public folder, with no password, my TV does
not see the NAS drive at all. With the Twonky server, I just specify what path things are in on the NAS and not only does my TV
see the NAS, but it can break things down into Photos, Videos or Music. Your mileage may vary. :-\
I guess...
I did not want a "smart TV" (too many security risks,) but did not have any choice. So, my television has never (and never will be) connected to the network, let alone the Internet.
I do have a Samba server on my Raspi 5 as well so it doubles as a NAS.
Quote from: MicroNut on Feb 26, 2026, 11:04 PMI do have a Samba server on my Raspi 5 as well so it doubles as a NAS.
I was considering Samba, but with my switching over to Linux I don't have anything which needs SMB. So Samba would be a bit of a waste.
Although I did use to have a book on how to replace a Windows NT Small Office Server with Linux. That did use Samba because the Linux server was replacing the NT Domain Controller, and they were setting it up for Win 9X, and NT Workstation systems to connect. I really liked that book but do not have it any more - it probably got lost in our moves.