My first NAS! Kind of at least

Today I finally got around to tinkering with my router, and I set up a simple SMB share using an external SSD plugged directly into my router.

Ideally I’d like a whole NAS setup with at least RAID 1 for peace of mind, but for what I need right now- backing up personal documents, resumes, and certification files- it works like a charm. I formatted the drive, enabled USB sharing on my router, mapped the network drive on my desktop and laptop, and now I’ve got a centralized spot on my home network that’s always accessible (and private).

Since high school, my fallback for “important file storage” was emailing myself attachments. Not only was that disorganized, but let’s be honest, some of those docs probably shouldn’t be floating around in my inbox. This setup gives me local control and a way to get hands on with the kind of networking skills I’m working to master.

As my homelab grows, it might be worth it to keep install packages of software I like to have on most machines, switch and router configs, and other goodies to save me time down the line. My SmartTV can see the drive also, so in theory any pictures or videos I store on the SSD can be accessed on the TV too.

It’s small, but it’s progress. And it’s another step toward practicing what I preach: solve problems, secure your data, and always keep learning.