Building a Home NAS with Unraid

03.01.2025
NAS Unraid Home Server Docker Plex Self-hosting
A sleek, modern NAS setup in a white Jonsbo N2 case.

Building a Home NAS with Unraid

Over time my collection of media, photos, and project files kept growing, and I wanted a single place to store everything safely while also running a few self-hosted services.

Instead of relying on cloud storage alone, I decided to build a small home NAS (Network-Attached Storage) that could handle backups, media streaming, and a handful of Docker applications.

This post is a quick overview of the hardware and software that power my current setup.

Hardware

At the center of the system is the ASRock N100DC-ITX motherboard with Intel’s efficient quad-core N100 processor. It’s a great fit for a low-power home server that can run several Docker containers without consuming much electricity.

Components

  • Case
    White Jonsbo N2 – compact, quiet, and designed specifically for NAS builds.

  • RAM
    8 GB DDR4, which is plenty for my current workload.

  • Cache Drive
    WD Red SN700 NVMe (1 TB) used for application data and caching.

  • Storage Drives

    • HGST Ultrastar He8 – 8 TB
    • Seagate IronWolf – 8 TB

  • Cooling
    Noctua NF-A12x25 for quiet airflow.

The drives run with Unraid parity protection, which means the system can recover data if one of the disks fails.

In the future I plan to upgrade to four 24 TB drives, which should give the system plenty of room for long-term storage.

Software: Why Unraid

For the operating system I chose Unraid.

The main reason is flexibility. Unlike traditional RAID setups, Unraid allows drives of different sizes to be combined in one array while still providing parity protection.

It also has a very good web interface and makes running Docker containers extremely easy.

Docker Containers

Most of the functionality of the NAS comes from Docker containers. Some of the main ones I’m currently running:

  • Plex Media Server
    Streams movies, shows, and music to devices around the house.

  • Immich
    Self-hosted photo and video management with automatic backups and AI features.

  • Home Assistant
    The central hub for my smart home setup.

  • DuckDNS
    Allows secure remote access to services running on the NAS.

  • Nginx Proxy Manager
    Handles reverse proxy routing and SSL certificates.

  • Tautulli
    Provides statistics and monitoring for Plex usage.

Each container is configured with dedicated volumes and ports, which makes updates and troubleshooting straightforward.

What I Use the NAS For

The NAS quickly became one of the most useful pieces of tech in my home.

Media Server

With Plex, the NAS streams movies and TV shows to devices throughout the house.

Photo Storage

Immich automatically backs up photos and videos from my phone and organizes them with AI-based search.

Smart Home

Running Home Assistant allows me to control lights, sensors, and automations from one central system.

File Storage

It also acts as a central place for documents, projects, and backups.

Experimentation

Because it’s easy to spin up new Docker containers, the NAS doubles as a small playground for testing self-hosted tools.

Challenges

Like most DIY projects, the build wasn’t completely smooth.

Drive noise
NAS drives can be surprisingly loud. Choosing quiet components and tuning fan curves helped keep the system unobtrusive.

Container configuration
Running multiple Docker containers requires careful planning around ports, volumes, and networking.

Storage layout
Figuring out the best balance between cache and long-term storage took some experimentation.

Final Thoughts

Building this NAS turned out to be a great project. It’s not only a useful tool for storage and media streaming, but also a flexible platform for running self-hosted services and experimenting with new software.

If you’re thinking about building your own home server, Unraid is a very approachable way to get started while still offering plenty of flexibility.

Happy building.