NAS vs. Home Server – What's the difference?

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[WolfgangsChannel]

After some deliberation, I've decided to cut out the part of the video criticizing LTT, der8auer and Level1Tech for "ruining the concept of a home server".

Linus, Roman and Wendell are all creators that I respect and look up to. In hindsight, criticizing them for the 'sins' of their respective audiences was not fair. 

As creators, we're not always responsible for our audiences, and definitely shouldn't be held accountable for the few "bad apples" among our viewers who walk away with a wrong idea after watching our content.

The 'criticism' on my end came from a place of frustration. A lot of negative comments under my videos are basically a person hearing something from a big tech channel, and then parroting it as an absolute truth that applies in all situations (e.g. "HDDs are dead, you should only be using SSDs). That being said, this is not something Linus, Wendell or Roman have any control over and definitely not something they should be criticized for. All three creators make absolutely clear that their 'overkill' builds are just that – overkill, and aren't meant as realistic build suggestions.

So if any of the aforementioned creators watch this video (I doubt it) and wonder what's up with all the LTT bashing in the comments – now you know, and sorry about that 🙃

[ajv_]

A server is a role given to a computer, this means anything can potentially be a server

[DMSBrian]

Building small, power-efficient servers that suit the budget and use cases of an average guy is way more interesting than builds that none of us can even dream of imo

[JeffGeerling]

Obviously a NAS isn't a real server.

I mean for a server you need a CPU, and storage, and memory, and fast networking... and it should be able to run containers or other server software...

🤔

[generic]

Let's not forget that in those LTT videos, it's always emphasized that these overkill machines don't make much sense for consumers. They also have videos on repurposing your old PC as a home server, highlighting that mini PCs, SOCs, and even old office desktops are surprisingly powerful these days for server use.

It's not the creators' fault; it's the audience. These are the same people who insist on needing a specific GPU tier for gaming, a certain number of HP for a car, etc...

My home server runs on a 2400G, and it's fantastic—constantly underutilized.

[robinkaku]

As an enterprise systems administrator, if it counts, I come to your channel regularly as it is the only one that offers affordable and realistic home servers. And yes, I say home servers since, by definition, a server is any computing machine that attends to a client's requests. Ignore the comments of people whose only contact with servers has been the LinusTechTips videos... and continue with those good home server videos!

[amansetia]

jeff gerling voice randomly is my multiverse of madness

[DaftBlazer]

You inspired me to "downgrade" my home server with a Ryzen 7 1800x and I went with the Topton N5105. I gained hardware video transcoding and my server maxes out at 50 watts instead of 150. I built a console gaming PC with the other parts so it was a win win. I personally think seeing really low cost and low power servers is cooler, tbh. I feel like I'm actually fully utilizing my server hardware instead of a bunch of power pretty much being wasted sitting idle most of the time.

[eikeholz]

Hardware heavens, Jeff Geerlings and RaidOwls voice over cameos where a brilliant move. Well done

[pdrsntsfrrr]

That's the point of a HOME server... not an ENTERPRISE server. Great work!

I suppose some people may not really understand the importance of power efficiency. Especially for those of us living in Europe, there is a clear cost advantage in running newer hardware that sips power compared to enterprise gear. And with the AM4 and AM5 platforms, even running ECC memory is a reality.

[oduvenci]

If we go to source; IEEE Standard Glossary of Computer Networking Terminology says a server is "In a network, a device or computer system that is dedicated to providing specific facilities to other devices attached to the network. Contrast with: client." So by this definition any computer that can interface with other devices on the network, regardless of hardware, qualifies as a server. And if it is in a 'home' it should qualify as a home-server.
But, I mean, if YouTube commentators says it is not, who the hell IEEE think they are to disagree!!!

[MH-kcjr]

I think most of your audience watches your channel, just because you do those builds.
Love your videos, keep it up!

[rdwatson]

Your practical HOME server builds are why I like your channel. I like seeing the high end stuff too but your videos provide actual useful recommendations. If it serves, it's a server.

[nemmeh]

Gatekeepers will always gatekeep. Usually the rattlings of the ignorant and/or the unhappy.

Great video Wolfgang. Subscribed.

[DMSBrian]

Long story short, server is a very broad term, it encapsulates any computer/electronic device that can serve information to another device through a network. A NAS *is* a server - that's what makes it different from just putting more drives in your computer, it's in the name, *network-attached*. Even if you use the smallest, simplest microcontroller to connect to the network, it's still a server, even if it only functions within a local network, the protocols used are exactly the same.

[GrantSR]

Back in 2010, I was a network manager, in a hospital. We had several servers. No one would ever try to claim that they weren't "real" servers. Any one server did one of two different sets of things. Set One was "Deliver files & control who can access those files." Set Two was "Run a database engine." One of the servers also acted as a Microsoft Domain Controller & DHCP server. Plus, we had a dedicated backup server, connected to the tape drive. That's it. None of those servers had any more than a couple of Pentium II processors.

They were pretty lame, but they did the job for over 500 connected users. Mostly because almost all of the processing actually took place out on the desktop. When a user "ran a program, " they were literally executing a .EXE file that was delivered to them over the network. Often, that program literally modified database files itself, using nothing but lock files to control which user was modifying which bits when. It as all very old school. And some programs accessed one of those database engines. But still, most of the processing happened at the desktop. Hell, an Apache web server does more actual work delivering a typical MySpace page than these old servers did.

But.... No one would ever try to say they weren't "real" servers.

Yup, gatekeeping has always been a big problem in the tech "community." I had one guy try to gatekeep me because I didn't write any PERL scripts. While I was the network manager of a hospital. I just chalk it up to insecurity problems, and ignore them.

[puta]

Before the term NAS even existed it was called a file server.

[Mikesco]

I really appreciate your builds and the lengths you go to properly balance efficiency and effectiveness...
Keep up the good work!

[lesumsi]

Even a Raspberry Pi Zero can be a home server. As long as it's at home and serving a service. You'll get the hardware that's best for the needs. Even data centers get the machine that's the best for the job, and not the beefiest.