Written 9 Sep 2026. This is a how-to, not a product card.

A NAS can wait

A folder on the leftover box is enough. Don't buy a Synology so photos have a box this weekend.

The house folder is Samba on the leftover box: a file share. A second copy is a USB stick you already have: a backup of the house folder. Immich and Jellyfin wait: photos and movies are not the first service. A two-bay box does not make ads skip.

When a file box is later

Come back to a dedicated NAS only when the leftover-box disk is actually full, and the house already opens the share from a laptop and a phone. That later buy is a first file box (NAS). RAID is still not a backup.

What next

Weekend path: your first weekend. Tick Lab plan after the house can open the folder. A rack still waits: a rack can wait.

Optional: leftover-box folder vs a later NAS as a sandbox in ByteRush — same Labthrift passkey as Plan. Skip if you just want to keep reading.

Skip

Skip a Synology, UGREEN, TrueNAS box, and “homelab NAS” this weekend.
Skip RAID so one leftover-box folder feels official.
Skip buying a second leftover box so it can be the NAS.

Sources

House folder: a file share. Later buy: a first file box (NAS). Lessons: ByteRush.

Also on this topic

A file shareA folder on the leftover box. You don't need a NAS for this. Photos and movies are not the first serviceImmich and Jellyfin wait. Pi-hole is the first useful thing. A first file box (NAS)Later, when the leftover-box disk is actually full.