Getting a NAS seems to be a question of when, not if — at least, that’s the impression I get from my peers. They say everyone should have a NAS to host all their data privately, set up a media server, and self-host everything. I understand the benefits of having my own NAS, but it’s not as straightforward as many people like to believe. Pre-built NAS devices don’t come cheap, and for someone new to this space, building a NAS involves a lot of work and numerous maintenance, security, and reliability concerns. Considering my limited needs and the legwork involved, I’m staying away from a NAS for now.

Google One is more convenient

And I keep the costs in check

I’ve been using Google One for a few years now, and I have to admit I like the convenience of Google Photos and Google Drive. They work seamlessly and allow me access to my photos and files anywhere, anytime — no setup involved. I love all the features of Google Photos, such as memories, robust search, shared albums, AI editing, and seamless backup. I realize most of this can be achieved with an alternative like Immich, Photoprism, or Nextcloud, but I’m already accustomed to the Google Photos experience.

The thing is, I’ve been in the Google ecosystem for a long time, ever since I bought my first Android smartphone in 2013. I’m currently using the Pixel 7, and Google Photos works great with this device. Setting up a NAS and installing a self-hosted service to manage all my photos will take some effort, and I’ll admit it: I value convenience over efficiency or long-term costs. Besides, I’ve been able to optimize the cost of the Google One subscription till now, as our 2TB plan is shared between my partner and me.

Hence, my $3 a month share of the plan means a $36 annual fee for a fantastic photo management platform and more storage than I’ll need for the foreseeable future. If you need an idea about how much a NAS would cost here in India, a 2-bay Synology Diskstation is about $270, and that doesn’t include any hard drives. Two 4TB NAS drives will cost another $270 combined, bringing the total upfront investment to around $540, and my share to $270 (2TB NAS drives aren’t that much cheaper than 4TB models). Sure, I’ll get access to 8TB of shared storage instead of 2TB, but I won’t need all that space for many more years — it has taken me around 6–7 years of using Google Photos to get to a stage where I need a 2TB plan.

Building a NAS isn’t exactly cheap or simple either. I still need a couple of NAS drives and some used PC parts, plus factor in the cost of future maintenance and upgrades. The long-term cost might be in favor of building a NAS over paying for Google One, but as I said, I prefer the convenience of the latter. I don’t need to set up my own hardware, configure drive failure contingencies, or worry about securing my database. Google One comes with potential privacy threats, but right now, I’m fine with the existing setup.

My Plex streaming is occasional

I still live on YouTube and streaming apps

The other oft-cited motivation to get a NAS is the ability to set up your own media server. Having an always-available streaming service connecting your media collection with all your devices is awesome, but my experience with an app like Plex has been occasional at best. I’ve been using Plex to stream content from my PC to TV, but have only used it once a month for several years now. Most of my TV-watching time is spent on YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, and other streaming apps, and I pay only for YouTube Premium. Every other subscription is one borrowed from a friend or family member.

The only time I really have to use Plex is when I feel like re-watching an old movie that’s present either in my old media collection or a streaming app with an additional rental fee. These occasions are admittedly few and far between, and even before I set up a Plex server on my PC, I was managing just fine. I’m not interested in owning 4K Blu-ray prints of movies and TV shows, or watching obscure live TV events and B-grade TV series on Plex. Things might change in the future, but right now, I don’t really *need *a streaming server.

I’m not ready for the complexity (yet)

The future might bring a change

Perhaps my biggest mental block in setting up a NAS, even more than the upfront cost or my limited use case, is the complexity. It’s not really as simple as others make it seem. Sure, it’s just a matter of installing a NAS operating system, configuring all the services I need to replace my Google apps, and learning the networking aspects of using a NAS, but I don’t feel like doing it. For me, the rewards don’t outweigh the effort, and I feel that’s a reasonable reason *not *to go ahead with the project.

Plus, the ongoing maintenance and security concerns are things that are simply absent in the case of a seamless cloud subscription. The costs might be in favor of a NAS, but overall, I don’t feel the need to invest in one. Many people around me seem to have a NAS, but many more have never felt the need to get one. Maybe I’m not just there yet, and the next couple of years will change my mind. Maybe Google One’s price hikes will force me to switch to a NAS, or maybe I’ll discover a new love for owning the movies and TV series that I like.

NAS is great, but not for me right now

A NAS system can bring together all your important data, media collection, backups, virtual machines, and more, but at this stage of my life, I don’t feel the need to have one of my own. I prefer the simplicity of Google One, and can do without an always-on streaming server. For my use case, the steps required to set up a NAS feel like too much effort for too little reward.