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Reuse that old CPU to stop it becoming e-waste
If you've recently upgraded to a more powerful CPU, and are wondering what to do with that old CPU, don't throw it away. Remove all thoughts of reselling it as well (unless you really need to), because it can have far more value for you as a NAS or even a full-fledged server. It's a fantastic use of aging PC hardware, as you really don't need a powerful CPU and the total cost is low as you won't need a GPU. Here are some things you should consider when building out network-attached storage.
Selling your outdated GPU after upgrading to a newer model may seem tempting, but here are five better things you can do with your trusty old friend
Figure out what you're going to build
A NAS is simpler, but a server can do more
While NAS devices are fairly light on your wallet, you might be surprised to know that server-class hardware can also be found inexpensively. Which you decide to build is partly informed by the old CPU that you're planning to use, because it depends on how much processing power you will have. NAS devices can run on almost anything, from Arm-based SBCs to HEDT or server chips, but you'll need a baseline of performance for spinning up your own server.
If the CPU you're planning to use is from the last decade, the chances are it has enough processing power for server use. The more cores and threads your CPU has, the more tasks it can run, and the more powerful server you can create. The flip-side is that these CPUs use more power, so your electricity bill won't thank you.
Get together the other hardware you need
Regardless of whether you're going for a relatively small NAS or a larger server, you'll need some storage drives, and a PC chassis with enough hard drive racks for the number of drives you choose. You'll probably want to look for cases that are on the larger side, because most small cases barely have any HDD mounting points. Plus, it will have more space for PCIe slots, to accommodate PCIe Ethernet cards, or other useful cards like host bus adapters (HBAs) which allow you to use many more SATA or SAS hard drives than your motherboard might support.
You can go fairly cheap for your motherboard, although if you already have one that fits your old CPU, by all means reuse it and the RAM you already have. 16GB of RAM is a minimum for running your applications and services, but you can get more if you know you want to use virtual machines and containers. The Ethernet port on your motherboard is probably fine to start with, but you'll want to consider getting a 2.5GbE NIC once you start noticing your connection bottlenecking. Finally, you'll need a power supply. The good news is that running a NAS is fairly low-power, so you can save some money by getting a 500W PSU. You don't even need a modular one, because nobody is ever going to look at your NAS.
You can build a pretty cheap NAS that's more powerful and customizable than an off-the-shelf option, and here's how.
Then decide what operating system to use
You have options, lots of them
Once your hardware is sorted, it's time to decide on an operating system. We don't recommend using Windows or Window Server for home use. It's difficult to use and has a fairly high overhead, so it uses up resources that are better off being used elsewhere. There are plenty of operating systems to choose from that are purpose built for NAS users, and the best ones come with advanced features. TrueNAS is one of our favorites for stability. Unraid needs a licensing fee but has tons of features and a user-friendly setup, and OpenMediaVault can turn even the lightest of hardware into a usable NAS.
While the best NAS OS options also allow for containers and virtualization, sometimes you need the power of a server-class OS. Proxmox is lightweight and runs virtual machines diectly on the underlying hardware, cutting down overheads and allowing even ancient CPUs to perform well. If you want to play around with Kubernetes, a Linux-based server is what you'll end up installing, and to roll out your own cloud services, you'll want an OS that has Docker support, which makes things like Nextcloud quick to set up.
If you prefer building your own NAS from scratch, here are five operating systems you need to check out
Start your home server journey with an old CPU and some spare parts
If you've got an old CPU to build a NAS or server, it's probably already several times more powerful than the anemic processors used in even the best budget NAS devices. That means you've got enough power to run your choice of operating system, with room to spare for containers, virtual machines, and more. But whatever you put on your new storage device, don't forget the 3-2-1 rule for data backups, because the more data you have, the more you have to lose if anything goes wrong.
