01-31-2025, 05:56 PM
Given your extensive IT background and goals, you'll want a powerful, flexible NAS that can handle file serving, virtualization, and media streaming while offering direct video output (KVM support) for local administration. Here’s what I’d recommend:
NAS Recommendation
QNAP TVS-h674 or TVS-h874 –
Intel 12th Gen CPU (i5/i7 options) – Strong virtualization support.
2.5GbE & PCIe Expandability – Can upgrade to 10GbE or GPU if needed.
ZFS via QuTS Hero – Great for reliability and data integrity.
HDMI Output (KVM) – Allows direct management without relying on a web UI.
Virtualization Station & Container Station – Native support for Windows/Linux VMs and Docker.
Asustor Lockerstor 6 Gen2 (AS6706T) or 8-bay model –
Intel Celeron N5105 (not as powerful as QNAP but still solid).
HDMI Output for local admin.
2.5GbE & M.2 NVMe support.
ADM OS is lighter, but virtualization options are more limited than QNAP.
RAID & Storage Setup
Hybrid RAID (TRAID) or ZFS RAID-Z1/Z2 for redundancy without wasted space.
Mix of SSD & HDD: SSDs for VMs & caching, large HDDs for bulk storage.
WD Red Pro / Seagate IronWolf Pro HDDs, and WD Red SN700 or Kingston KC3000 SSDs.
VM & Network Considerations
Pi-hole, LDAP, and other services can run smoothly in LXC containers or light VMs.
VirtualBox isn’t native to most NAS platforms, but QNAP supports QEMU/KVM & Virtualization Station, which works just as well.
2.5GbE & Managed Switches will help for multi-client file serving.
NAS Recommendation
QNAP TVS-h674 or TVS-h874 –
Intel 12th Gen CPU (i5/i7 options) – Strong virtualization support.
2.5GbE & PCIe Expandability – Can upgrade to 10GbE or GPU if needed.
ZFS via QuTS Hero – Great for reliability and data integrity.
HDMI Output (KVM) – Allows direct management without relying on a web UI.
Virtualization Station & Container Station – Native support for Windows/Linux VMs and Docker.
Asustor Lockerstor 6 Gen2 (AS6706T) or 8-bay model –
Intel Celeron N5105 (not as powerful as QNAP but still solid).
HDMI Output for local admin.
2.5GbE & M.2 NVMe support.
ADM OS is lighter, but virtualization options are more limited than QNAP.
RAID & Storage Setup
Hybrid RAID (TRAID) or ZFS RAID-Z1/Z2 for redundancy without wasted space.
Mix of SSD & HDD: SSDs for VMs & caching, large HDDs for bulk storage.
WD Red Pro / Seagate IronWolf Pro HDDs, and WD Red SN700 or Kingston KC3000 SSDs.
VM & Network Considerations
Pi-hole, LDAP, and other services can run smoothly in LXC containers or light VMs.
VirtualBox isn’t native to most NAS platforms, but QNAP supports QEMU/KVM & Virtualization Station, which works just as well.
2.5GbE & Managed Switches will help for multi-client file serving.