u/Substantial-You-5489

Maybe it's just the stuff I've been looking at, but lately every NAS I check — no matter the brand — is bragging about on-device AI and bigger specs. Local photo tagging, and some even say they can run an LLM on the box.

Honestly, on my own unit the "AI" stuff still feels like a gimmick. But I keep wondering if I'm missing something everyone else is already using.

So for those of you actually running one of these newer boxes — do you use any of the AI features day to day, or is it mostly marketing you just ignore? And if they ever got it right, what would you actually want it to do?

Just curious what this sub thinks.

Lots of new portable NAS units have come out recently, similar to older devices like the Gnarbox and Nexto.

Has anyone here used anything like them?

I’d love to hear your thoughts: what you like, features you wish they had, and everything they get horribly wrong.

I’m planning to DIY a portable NAS. I haven’t tested hardware with this configuration before, so I’d love to get your suggestions on hardware specs.

* Storage: 2×NVMe PCIe x2 / 4×NVMe PCIe x4

* Network: Single 2.5GbE / Dual 2.5GbE / 5GbE

* Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6 / Wi-Fi 7 / No built-in Wi-Fi

What other must-have features do you need and why?

I’m planning to DIY a portable NAS. I haven’t tested hardware with this configuration before, so I’d love to get your suggestions on hardware specs.

* Storage: 2×NVMe PCIe x2 / 4×NVMe PCIe x4

* Network: Single 2.5GbE / Dual 2.5GbE / 5GbE

* Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6 / Wi-Fi 7 / No built-in Wi-Fi

What other must-have features do you need and why?