Mini PCs are interesting devices, particularly because they're so much more versatile than a conventional full ATX or even micro ATX PC. They're easy to transport, often consume less power, and typically have inconspicuous designs. While the Ayaneo Retro Mini PC AM02 doesn't quite have such a muted design as some other mini PCs, it makes for a great mini PC. Even better, it makes for a great console, and as the company also points out, it can even work well as a NAS.

Of course, using the Ayaneo Retro Mini PC AM02 as a NAS is a little bit different to a normal NAS. There are no drive bays, so you won't be adding any internal 3.5-inch HDDs, but you can still use it as a lighter, less reliable NAS in your home. I personally recommend using TrueNAS Scale for this project, though you should look around and see what's on offer!

Why a mini PC makes a great NAS

Low power draw for starters

Because mini PCs have lower specifications and, in this case, a laptop AMD APU, it draws significantly less power. Under load, I measured the Ayaneo Retro Mini PC AM02 to draw just shy of 70W, which is crazy efficient. That was while I was playing Cyberpunk: 2077 for the review, meaning that for most usage, it'll be significantly lighter on its power consumption.

Smaller space requirements

Because it's small, you don't need to worry about the space required for it. Mini PCs are smaller than even some of the smallest NAS computers, making them great for being an out of sight machine in your home. In my case, mine can sit practically anywhere near a power source and can connect either wired or wirelessly to my router. I have mine wired into my mesh network.

Drawbacks of using a mini PC as a NAS

Flash storage isn't designed for a NAS

Because mini PCs are, well, mini, you can't put normal 3.5-inch HDDs in them. While SSDs are better at nearly everything when it comes to being storage, there's one place where HDDs have them beat, and that's in longevity. SSDs can't take an enormous amount of reads and writes like an HDD can, and that's why NAS computers have HDD drive bays. On top of that, HDDs are simply cheaper.

What we recommend doing in this case is using your mini PC with an external USB drive with a spinning disk on the inside. It's not pretty and takes up a bit more space, but it's the best way to ensure your data's protection. Otherwise, you should make sure you make frequent backups.

Bootable media

In my case, I needed to install TrueNAS Scale onto a USB and boot the NAS off of it. Because of that, though, I would have to use a USB in perpetuity to keep my NAS running. Not only could that impact the longevity of my USB, it means that I can't use it for anything else. Otherwise, I could install TrueNAS onto the internal SSD, but then I would still need another storage medium to actually store my files.

Because of that, it's not really worth it in that sense unless you have a very specific usage in mind. There are far better ways to build a NAS that don't involve taking up an entire USB, and you can turn an older computer into a NAS if you want to, which is what I had initially done.

What you can use a mini PC NAS for

Run a game server

If you still want to use a mini PC for a NAS, then I highly recommend running some game servers on it. You can run Minecraft on TrueNAS thanks to MineOS, and it will deploy and manage your servers for you. Other servers you can run include Counter-Strike and Garry's Mod, though you can investigate and see what else you can run, too.

Host a website

If you want to host a website, a mini PC is a great medium to do that. Assuming you're not running anything heavy or expecting a high volume of traffic, then a mini PC will be more than capable of handling traffic for you. Simply install a web server like Apache or nginx, port forward your server, and you'll be able to access it externally through your IP address. Bonus points if you point a custom domain to your IP address!

Manage your media

Like any NAS, you can use a mini PC as a glorified cloud service, especially if you're using a large external storage drive with it. Setting up something like Nextcloud, Photo Prism, and using your mini PC as a Google Photos alternative is something that everyone should at least look into, especially if you want to move your data away from companies like Google.

As a bonus, you can also run services like Plex or any of the Plex alternatives such as Jellyfin, streaming your media library of movies and TV shows to any of your own devices. While you can access them on the same network, you can again port forward and access them outside of your home network, too. With native acceleration on the 7840HS in the AM02 for AV1 and HEVC codecs, it'll handle any file formats you throw at it. Your mileage will vary depending on your hardware, though.

The world is your oyster when you make your own NAS

When you make your own NAS, you really open up the world of computing to do whatever you want with it. You can run basically anything, and a mini PC is a great and convenient way to do that. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend going out to buy a mini PC for this purpose, you absolutely can, and that's why Ayaneo even sells barebone versions of the AM02 without a storage drive or RAM. You can really turn these into whatever you want, and the same goes for any mini PC for that matter.

These are incredibly versatile machines, and a lot of fun to play with. Should you build a NAS out of a mini PC that you actually rely on? Probably not. Should you build a NAS from a mini PC for fun and to improve your computer skills? Absolutely!