Build a Pi-powered network storage device
We’re pretty sure that your home network has plenty of devices attached to it. Ensuring files are backed up for all these devices, or sharing files between them, might be more tricky than you’d care to admit. That’s okay, you’re among friends here.
A neat solution to such problems can be found by attaching a NAS (network attached storage) to your network. On it, you can store large media files, backups and other files of importance. You could use memory sticks, external drives and the cloud, but with some projects it makes more sense to store them at home and have them available to all the devices in your home.
It may seem more logical to set up a file server. Remember, though, that you may need to use several types of protocols for communicating with different devices that are used for different purposes.
For example, backing up your files is hugely different from sharing media files across different devices. You will also have an array of operating systems working over your network. Sure, you may run Linux everywhere, but most of us are still trying to force Windows and MacOS out of our consumer devices. Not to mention the operating systems on Smart TVs and smartphones – though many of these can be Linux based.
A not so NASty business
For serious computing, a NAS is what you need… but it also needs to be a small, low-powered device you can put under your desk or in your closet. Few people will be interested in having an expensive, costly-to-run rack server buzzing away
