Post #1115533

2026-04-12 17:26 UTC

Ok, people, stupid question time... Is it possible/ reasonable/ not too difficult to use a NAS as a combination of media server, backup system, and web sever? Like can a person not super techy (i.e. me) set this up securely? Or should I stick to one purpose first and add to it later? I feel like the answer is very obvious, but I also have not seen any of the "for beginner" infos to explicitly mention that. I mean, why shouldn't it be possible? But then again, how should I know? (I've been at this topic for a while and am still trying to wrap my head around all this and decide what to do.)

Replies (5)

@CyberPunker@mastodon.social 2026-04-12 18:57

@theresmiling It is possible, i own a Synology NAS and it runs a "webserver" (for a simple website i programmed as remote control for my Kodi mediacenter(s) in my local network), media server and backups. But, i find it to risky to expose the NAS to the internet with all my personal data on it. If i wanted to host a website at home i would rather get another computer and would look into separating that device from the rest of the local network.

Open ##1115591
@joel@fosstodon.org 2026-04-12 17:37

@theresmiling I don't have a NAS myself but it should be capable of handling all of that

Open ##1115593
@bryanredeagle@beige.party 2026-04-12 17:33

@theresmiling Are you wanting to expose it to the public internet? Are you using an off the shelf NAS or wanting to build something?

Open ##1115594
@bearly_creative@mastodon.social 2026-04-12 17:33

@theresmiling ich bin da auch am Überlegen und ich glaube das Zauberwort ist “Home Lab”.

Open ##1115595
@Shild@det.social 2026-04-12 18:23

@theresmiling Short answer: yes, that’s possible. Backupsystem and Mediaserver are core functionality of a NAS. Webserver is a option, for example with docker. There are a lot of tutorials. In the end you have to ask yourself if you trust in the vendor of the nas. If the nas which is available to the Internet (for the webserver) has a 0-Day Exploit or similar, your private data are on risk. You can improve this with a firewall but this is an additional topic.

Open ##1115596