I turned an old laptop into a NAS, here's what I learned.

Source: Dev.to

Introduction

About a month ago I found a couple of old laptops gathering dust in my basement. They weren’t fit to run Windows, but I thought they could be rescued as a NAS.

A NAS, in its most basic form, is just a computer that:

1. Stores a lot of data.
2. Makes that data available to the network.

In simple terms, it’s an external hard drive you can access from any PC on the same network.

Choosing an Operating System

There are many operating systems designed to turn a normal computer into a NAS. The most popular choice is TrueNAS.

I didn’t go with TrueNAS because, while it’s powerful, easy to use, and secure, it sacrifices a lot of customization.

Instead I chose OpenMediaVault (OMV). The installation process was remarkably simple, leaving me with a completely bare system ready to be set up.

Setting Up OMV

1. Create the main storage pool – I used the 500 GB internal disk for general usage.
2. Create a simple filesystem on that disk.
3. Enable a shared folder within the filesystem.

This gave my family a shared 500 GB of storage and a platform for additional services.

Adding Services

I installed a few applications that suited our needs:

• Jellyfin – media streaming for movies and TV shows.
• Immich – photo storage and organization.
• Other utilities as required.

The setup worked well on the local network, but it was only accessible from home, which limited its usefulness when we were away.

Remote Access Challenges

VPN

A VPN would let me access the NAS as if I were on the home network from anywhere.
The problem: not all family members are comfortable configuring a VPN on their devices (iPads, work laptops, etc.).

Port‑forwarding

Port‑forwarding the services and using a dynamic DNS service like DuckDNS would expose the NAS via a public IP/domain.
However, this approach raises security concerns, especially since I couldn’t trust every user to set strong passwords.

Cloudflare Tunnel

A Cloudflare tunnel offers the convenience of port‑forwarding with added security.
The downside: some services (Jellyfin, Syncthing, Immich) don’t work well through a tunnel.

The Final Solution

I combined the strengths of the different approaches:

• VPN for me and a few trusted devices (e.g., my sister’s iPad for Jellyfin).
• Cloudflare tunnel to expose FileBrowser to the internet, allowing family members to access their files from anywhere without extra configuration.

This hybrid setup turned the experiment from a hobby project into a genuinely useful home cloud. All of our important documents are now backed up on our own hardware.

Takeaways

• A “scuffed” or unconventional setup can still be highly functional.
• Even a low‑powered laptop can serve as a reliable NAS, rivaling more expensive commercial solutions.
• Combining multiple remote‑access methods can balance security and usability.

The system runs on a laptop tucked under my desk—much less powerful than a typical Synology NAS, yet it works flawlessly. After a few tweaks I even started using my tablet as the primary client, but that’s a story for another day.