Hello there,

I am in search of inspiration for solving several issues I am having.

That’s my situation:

• ageing Synology NAS (4x4tb drives) with multiple docker containers running on it.
• old gaming rig (i7-6700, Fedora Server) which I use sparingly for game server hosting

What I want to achieve:

• Upgrade/replacement of my NAS
• Offsite backup
• ~20tb of usable storage (~2-3tb of actual important stuff)

Primary use cases:

• SMB share
• Docker hosting (Pihole, unbound, Jellyfin, *arr etc.)

Newly added requirements:

• Cloud storage for mobile devices of close family members on and off site

Complications:

• Electricity cost is a scam where I live (~0.40$ per Kwh)

I have an ageing NAS whose capacity is getting to its limits storage and horsepower wise. And since I have to do work on my setup anyways, I was wondering whether you might give me some inputs on what I could/should use to achieve my goals.

1. My NAS is getting to its teenage years and I am getting worried about its eol. Buying some old server HW is out of the question because of power usage and availability. What are my best options? Build something myself with current hardware? Buy a new NAS? What is a good way to migrate data to a new system? From a power consumption standpoint are SSD’s better than HDD’s?

2. I have an off site which i visit regularly where I could either place backup drives or put a system in a rack. What would be a good option for an offsite backup solution?

3. I have gotten my aunt (77) a tablet during covid so she could video call us. In recent months a smartphone has entered the ring because daily life is getting impacted when you don’t have one. Now she is all into taking pictures and videos and the storage on her phone is not enough. What are my options? I’ve experimented with Nextcloud but I am uncertain whether it is the right solution, especially from a usability perspective. (I want to avoid third party services for storage)

I will very much appreciate your input since I’m not working in the field and am getting to the edge of my own knowledge at this point.

Thank you in advance for your input.