Building a High-Performance 3TB NAS: From Hardware RAID to Automated Photo Cloud

If you have an Intel NUC and a handful of NVMe drives, you aren’t just sitting on a powerful computer—you’re sitting on the foundation of a high-speed, redundant, and private cloud.

In this tutorial, we will walk through the exact steps to build a standalone NAS using Ubuntu, a 4-drive NVMe RAID 5 array, and a suite of self-hosted tools.

The Vision

Most home NAS setups rely on slow mechanical hard drives. By using 4x NVMe drives in a RAID 5, we achieve:

1. Redundancy: One drive can fail completely without any data loss.
2. Performance: Massive read/write speeds for 4K video editing and photo syncing.
3. Capacity: Turning four 1TB drives into ~3TB of usable space.

Step 0: Hardware Selection - Why the Intel NUC?

When starting a DIY NAS, the temptation to use a Raspberry Pi is high. However, for a serious high-performance build, the Intel NUC wins on almost every metric.

We chose the GMKtec Mini PC NAS, G9 Intel N150, for this build. It is a compact and powerful option that provides the perfect balance of performance and value. But you can use any Intel NUC.

Step 1: Choosing the Right OS

We recommend Ubuntu Server for its massive community support and hardware compatibility.

Step 2: Building the Storage Foundation (RAID 5)

2.1 Install the tools

sudo apt update && sudo apt install mdadm -y

2.2 Create the Array

sudo mdadm --create --verbose /dev/md0 --level=5 --raid-devices=4 \
/dev/nvme0n1 /dev/nvme1n1 /dev/nvme2n1 /dev/nvme3n1

Step 3: Making Storage Permanent

3.1 Save Config & Mount

sudo mdadm --detail --scan | sudo tee -a /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf  
sudo update-initramfs -u  
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/md0  
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/storage

3.2 Automate via fstab

Add the UUID from sudo blkid /dev/md0 to /etc/fstab:

UUID=YOUR-ID-HERE  /mnt/storage  ext4  defaults  0  2

Step 4: Docker & Immich Installation

4.1 Docker Engine Setup

# Install Docker and Compose  
sudo apt update && sudo apt install ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release -y  
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings  
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg  
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null  
sudo apt update && sudo apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin -y  
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

4.2 Immich Troubleshooting

• Permissions: sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /mnt/storage/immich if upload fails.
• Transcoding: Verify GPU via ls -l /dev/dri. Ensure intel-media-va-driver-non-free is installed.

Step 5: Samba (Network Drive Sharing)

Samba makes your RAID look like a local drive on Windows/Mac.

1. Install & Config:

sudo apt install samba -y  
# Add to bottom of /etc/samba/smb.conf:  
[NUC-Storage]  
   path = /mnt/storage  
   read only = no  
   writable = yes  
   guest ok = no  
   force user = YOUR_USER

2. Password Setup:

sudo smbpasswd -a YOUR_USER  
sudo systemctl restart smbd

Step 6: Tailscale - The Secure Mesh VPN

6.1 How Tailscale Works

Unlike traditional VPNs that route all traffic through one server (causing lag), Tailscale creates a Mesh Network.

• Direct Connection: If your phone and NUC are both on Tailscale, they talk directly to each other using WireGuard encryption, even if you are on 5G and the NUC is at home.
• NAT Traversal: It “pokes holes” in your router’s firewall automatically, so you don’t have to deal with insecure port forwarding.
• MagicDNS: Tailscale gives your NUC a name (like my-nuc). You can use this name instead of remembering IP addresses.

6.2 Installation

curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh  
sudo tailscale up --ssh

Step 7: Testing & Verification Protocol

Follow this checklist to ensure your NAS is working perfectly.

🟢 Test 1: Inside the Local Network (Home Wi-Fi)

• Immich: Open a browser on your laptop and go to http://192.168.0.200:2283.
• Samba:
  • Windows: Press Win+R, type \\192.168.0.200\NUC-Storage.
  • Mac: Finder -> Go -> Connect to Server -> smb://192.168.0.200.
• FileBrowser: Go to http://192.168.0.200:8080.

🔵 Test 2: Outside the Network (Remote/5G)

Prerequisite: Install the Tailscale app on your phone/laptop and sign in.

1. Get your Tailscale IP: Run tailscale ip -4 on the NUC or check the Tailscale Admin Console. (Example: 100.64.0.5)
2. Test Immich App:
   • Open the Immich app on your phone.
   • Go to Settings > Networking.
   • Set Home Endpoint to your local IP (192.168.x.x).
   • Set External Endpoint to your Tailscale IP (http://100.64.0.5:2283).
   • Turn off Wi-Fi and verify you can still see your photos.
3. Test Samba Remotely:
   • On a remote laptop with Tailscale active, connect to \\100.64.0.5\NUC-Storage. It should feel exactly like being at home.
4. Test FileBrowser:
   • Browse to http://100.64.0.5:8080 from your phone’s browser.

Summary Checklist

• [x] RAID 5: 3TB redundant storage.
• [x] Docker: Automated container management.
• [x] Immich: AI Photo Cloud (Local & Remote).
• [x] Samba: Local and VPN-accessible network drive.
• [x] Tailscale: Secured 24/7 access without port forwarding.

Your NAS is now fully verified and accessible from anywhere in the world.