Creating NAS with Raspberry Pi

Introduction

In this blog, we will explore how to set up a Network Attached Storage (NAS) system using a Raspberry Pi. A NAS allows you to store and access files over a network, making it a great solution for home or small office environments.

There are several ways to set up a NAS with a Raspberry Pi, but we will focus on using Samba, which is a free software re-implementation of the SMB/CIFS networking protocol.

Installation Steps

Step 1: Install Samba

First, we need to install Samba on the Raspberry Pi. Open a terminal and run the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install samba samba-common-bin

Step 2: Mount External Storage

Next, we need to mount the external storage device (like a USB drive) that we want to use for our NAS.

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/nas
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/nas # Replace /dev/sda1 with your device identifier 
sudo chown -R pi:pi /mnt/nas # Change ownership to the pi user

Step 3: Configure Samba

Now, we need to configure Samba to share the mounted directory. Open the Samba configuration file:

sudo vim /etc/samba/smb.conf

Add the following lines at the end of the file:

[nas]
   path = /mnt/nas
   valid users = pi
   read only =   no
   browsable = yes
   guest ok = no
   create mask = 0660
   directory mask = 0770

Step 4: Set Samba Password

Set a password for the Samba user (in this case, the pi user):

sudo smbpasswd -a pi

Step 5: Restart Samba Service

Finally, restart the Samba service to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart smbd

Accessing the NAS

You can now access the NAS from any device on the same network. On Windows, open File Explorer and type \\<Raspberry_Pi_IP>\nas in the address bar. On macOS, use Finder and select “Go” > “Connect to Server”, then enter smb://<Raspberry_Pi_IP>/nas.

Conclusion

Setting up a NAS with a Raspberry Pi is a cost-effective way to create a centralized storage solution for your files. With Samba, you can easily share files across different operating systems. Enjoy your new NAS!