I stopped paying for cloud storage after turning my old PC into a home server

Cloud storage is almost great. It gives you instant access to all your files from anywhere and takes a huge load off your local storage. But the fun stops with automatic renewals and the occasional "upgrade your storage" pop-ups. Google's well-timed nudges have a way of pulling me back into that recurring loop, but this time, instead of draining my wallet, it hit me that I already had the perfect machine for this job.

I took the keys, headed towards my storage room, and after digging through heaps of dust, I uncovered my g(old)en PC. Under any normal circumstances, I would assume this machine wouldn't be the answer to pretty much anything beyond playing browser-based games. But as it turns out, this dusty old PC was just what I needed to save myself a few hundred bucks.

NAS vs. home server

Let's clarify the basics first

Before I get into my PC’s makeover, it’s worth clarifying the difference between a NAS and a home server, since the lines between the two have blurred quite a bit over time. A Network Attached Storage (NAS) is a dedicated device designed primarily for storing and sharing files over a network. Think of it as your own personal cloud storage. While a home server is a more general-purpose machine capable of handling a number of tasks like running applications, hosting websites, managing smart home devices, and much more.

Thanks to how quickly tech is advancing today, modern NAS devices from Synology and QNAP now offer much of the same functionality as a home server. From app support to media streaming to running services like containers, it's all there. Because of that, the two terms are often used interchangeably, and for this article, that's exactly how I'll be using them.

The hardware I started with

You don't need anything fancy

With that out of the way, let’s talk about specifications. The PC I used had an Intel Core i5 3rd-generation processor, a Quadro K620 2GB graphics card, and 8GB of RAM. You might assume a home server needs powerful hardware since it handles multiple tasks, but that’s not really the case. My system is running on a processor that’s over 10 years old, and it’s still handling everything just fine. That said, there are a few components where spending a bit more can noticeably improve your overall experience.

The first is RAM. When you have more memory, everything runs more smoothly, especially when you start adding more services on top. I learned this the hard way after my NAS kept crashing under load, so I immediately added a second 8GB single stick of RAM. My motherboard comes with only two slots, so that was as far as I could go, but you can upgrade to 16GB or even 32GB if you plan on pushing your NAS. If the current RAM situation doesn't allow you to upgrade, 8GB or 16GB is a good enough starting point.

You'll also want an SSD to boot from, as it makes the system feel much faster and more responsive. You don't need a huge 1TB drive; something as little as 64GB would be enough for just the OS. As for storage, I had a couple of 2TB hard drives lying around, so I was lucky to recycle everything instead of spending extra. Since hard drives can often run for years without issues, there’s a good chance any spare drives you have lying around will do the job.

Picking the software

Linux or Windows?

For the software, I didn’t go with a Linux distro like Debian, since it requires manually installing and configuring many components. Not everyone speaks Linux, and some just want a machine that works. Windows was also out, as I wanted a bloat-free experience, especially given my limited resources. Instead, I went with TrueNAS Scale, a Debian-based OS that handles most of the heavy lifting for you and feels nothing like what most people picture when they hear "Linux."

There are a few other operating systems you can look into, including Unraid (paid), OpenMediaVault, and TrueNAS Core, best for purely storage-focused NAS builds. TrueNAS Scale lets you run containerized apps (using its built‑in Apps system), so you can install services like media servers, automation tools, or even game servers as separate packages. Each app runs in its own isolated box, so if one breaks, it won’t affect your entire system. For home server builds, TrueNAS makes it so you don't have to manually set everything up from scratch or worry about fixing error codes.

When installing the OS, you'll need to create a bootable USB drive using Rufus, then insert it into your NAS PC. Make sure to have your keyboard and monitor connected as well, and the installer will take you through the rest. Once setup is complete, you can access your NAS from any device on your network by entering its IP address into a web browser.

How my NAS replaced cloud storage

The storage side of things, explained

There is actually a lot to do with a NAS, but my eyes were set on moving away from paid cloud services. For that, I arranged my 2TB hard drives in a RAID 1 configuration, which means one drive mirrors the other. It does not increase total capacity, but it gives you a failsafe so that if one drive fails, the other has a complete copy of all your data. That left me with 2TB of usable storage, to which I also added a single 1TB drive, bringing my total usable capacity to 3TB. For context, the most popular Google One plan tops out at 2TB, meaning I had already blown past that and still had room to spare.

With the drives ready, the next step was to actually replace the cloud experience, and Nextcloud seemed like the way to go. It is a free, self-hosted app you can run directly on your NAS. It works a lot like Google Drive, with file syncing, photo backups, and folder sharing all built in. Your phone can automatically back up photos to it just like iCloud or Google Photos would, except everything is going to your own drives instead of a server locked behind a paywall.

The other non-negotiable piece was remote access. The whole point of cloud storage is being able to reach your files from anywhere, and I wanted my NAS to do the same. For this, I went with WireGuard, a lightweight VPN that lets you securely tunnel into your home network from wherever you are without exposing it to the public internet. Once it is set up, your phone or laptop connects as if it were on your home network, and your files are accessible from anywhere. It takes a bit of configuration upfront, but there are plenty of guides available, and you only have to do it once.

Remote access is easiest if you have a static IP, since your home network address stays the same. But not every ISP offers it, and in some cases, it's a paid add-on. If that's the case, one alternative is Dynamic DNS, which links your changing IP to a fixed domain name. That way, if your ISP updates your IP, you'll still be able to reach your NAS without any extra hassle.

Who this is (and isn't) for

Before setting up my home server, I was paying around $30 a month across cloud storage and media services. That is Google One on two devices, an iCloud plan on the side, and a Plex Pass thrown in for good measure, which adds up to well over $350 a year. After setting it up, those numbers came down to just the cost of electricity and the occasional upgrade to keep things running smoothly. And it does not stop at storage either. I use my home server to host Minecraft servers, set up network-level ad blocking through Pi-hole, and run Jellyfin to stream media, so there is no end to how much this one-time project can get you out of paying for.

That said, this setup is not for everyone. If you need something that just works with zero friction and don't mind the subscription fees, stick with a regular cloud plan. But if you have an old machine collecting dust, a bit of patience, and a weekend is all you need to turn it into a fully functional home server.