Network Attached Storage (NAS) servers are mainly intended for backing up and storing files, but they can also do a lot more. I’ve been using a two-bay Synology DiskStation DS718+ NAS for close to a year now, and I’ve found some cool ways to make it more than just a data dumping ground.
Many people try to use home servers as full replacements for cloud services, usually with self-hosted instances of NextCloud and other similar tools. I’m not quite there yet—I don’t want to be my own IT guy for all my important data. For now, I’m mostly interested in services that benefit from 24/7 uptime, and ways to extend my existing cloud storage. Hopefully, this gives you a few ideas for your own NAS or home server.
1
Computer Backups
This is one of the most common use cases for a NAS. My two main computers are an M1 Mac Mini and M1 MacBook Air, and I have my NAS configured as a backup destination for Time Machine in macOS. This allows me to restore any file on my computers from the network backup, or I can fully restore the computers in the event of a catastrophic failure. It’s surprising to me that Windows still doesn’t have a similar built-in backup tool.
I don’t really need the historical timeline of my files to stretch back weeks or months, so I have the maximum storage quota close to the computers’ own storage capacity. As long as all my current local files are backed up somewhere else, I’m good.
2
Torrent Client With VPN
This is by far the most fun service I’m running on my NAS. I set up the docker-transmission-openvpn Docker image, which runs the Transmission torrent client with a web interface. I can add, delete, and manage torrents from any web browser on my network, and the files are stored on my NAS. It routes all internet traffic through an OpenVPN-compatible connection—a P2P-compatible Proton VPN in my case—giving me an extra level of privacy. The server stops working if the VPN becomes disconnected, like a kill switch.
This setup is much easier than turning on and off VPNs for torrenting on my computers, and it can run all day long. I can add torrents from any device on my network, and when they’re done, I can open the files from the network drive or copy the data to another device. I can also keep the torrents running all day long for others to download.
I’ve added a bunch of torrents for Linux distributions like Fedora and Ubuntu, software projects like LibreOffice, backup data collections from the SciOp project, and items from the Internet Archive. With this setup, I’m effectively donating my unused bandwidth and storage to other projects and organizations.
This is also a great use for drives that don’t have backups, or drives that aren’t in a shared storage pool. If a drive dies that you are using exclusively for torrents, and at least one other person is still seeding each of those torrents, you can just swap in a new drive and start rebuilding your copies. Most of my torrent files are on my main mirrored drive pool, but I’m also using two old flash drives as throwaway torrent storage.
3
Cloud Storage Backup
I use OneDrive as my primary cloud storage for important files, photos, and videos. It wouldn’t be a fun time if all those files suddenly disappeared, or I somehow lost access to my account. Thankfully, I can combine two tools to create regular local backups of my cloud storage.
The first tool is Synology Cloud Sync, which I set up to mirror my OneDrive to a local folder on the NAS. I can also access that local cache from the network share, but OneDrive is directly installed on my other devices, so I rarely do that. I can see that option being more useful in homes with limited bandwidth, though—instead of multiple devices constantly trying to download and upload changes, every internet synchronization event only happens a single time.
The second component is Synology Snapshot Replication, which creates point-in-time copies of folders—in this case, the OneDrive folder. I set it up to create a snapshot of my OneDrive account once a week, which I can then restore to the OneDrive folder or copy to another location.
This setup won’t help me if I lose access to cloud data and my NAS stops working at the same time. I could combine this with regular off-site backups or some other solution, but for now, I’m happy to just have some kind of fallback.
4
Plex
Plex is another incredibly common NAS application, allowing you to create your own libraries of movies, TV shows, and music, and stream them to your own devices. I don’t have any normal media libraries set up right now, but I am using Plex for streaming and recording local live TV.
I previously had a Sling AirTV 2 for watching and recording local TV stations, but the software experience wasn’t great, and it was limited to 720p. I ended up buying a used third-generation HDHomeRun Dual tuner on eBay for $32, set it up over Ethernet, and connected it to the Plex server running on my NAS.
Even though that tuner is over a decade old, it works perfectly in Plex, and Plex’s TV guide and recording interface is much better than what I had with Sling. I can also backup and copy my recordings when needed, since they’re just MPEG-2 video files on my NAS.
5
IPerf3 Server
Internet speed tests are a great way to check your maximum network performance, but they can’t narrow down your connection problems. If you get a lower download or upload speed than you’re expecting, it could be your local network, your internet service provider, or both.
IPerf3 is a great utility for testing network speeds between two local devices, and since my NAS is connected directly to my router over Ethernet, setting up IPerf3 gives me a Wi-Fi performance test I can run at any time. I set up a Docker container with an Alpine Linux image, with port 7575 open to my local network, which runs this command at startup:
/bin/sh -c apk update && apk add iperf3 && iperf3 -s -p 7575
I can then install iperf3 on any other device, like the Mac version from Homebrew, and run this command with the IP address of my NAS:
iperf3 -c 192.168.50.100 -p 7575
There are also iperf3 clients for iOS and Android, so I can also test network performance on phones and tablets. The one catch with my setup is that my Wi-Fi is capable of multi-gigabit speeds, but the Ethernet connection on my NAS is only 1 Gig, so my speed test results can’t be faster than that. That’s a good reason for my next NAS to have a 2.5G or 10G port.
6
Orb Server
Orb is an internet quality dashboard, giving you short-term and long-term information about your network latency, dropped packets, speed, and general reliability. It was released to the public in April 2025, and its creator was formerly CEO of Ookla, which runs Speedtest.net.
You don’t need a NAS or other server to use Orb, but when it’s running on an always-on device like a NAS, it turns into a great 24/7 monitoring tool for your home internet. I can see when my connection drops throughout the day, and I get nearly-instant notifications on my phone’s Orb app when my home’s internet connection drops out and returns. That feature requires a (free) account.
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