How to Create a NAS Drive [Step-by-Step Guide]

• User Case
• Why Create a NAS Drive?
• How to Create a NAS Drive
• Bonus Tip: How to Migrate Files from Other Clouds to NAS
• Conclusion

User Case

If you also have the same confusion about NAS, read this post and learn how to choose the NAS type, how to install, and how to set up NAS by yourself with detailed steps.

Why Create a NAS Drive?

When you have the “how to create a NAS drive” question, you must have your own need and reason. Let’s see what benefits a NAS drive can bring to us:

How to Create a NAS Drive

In this part, you can see a full guide on how to build a NAS server, including choosing a NAS type, installing hard drives, setting up the NAS system, creating shared folders, accessing the NAS drive, and setting up remote access.

1. Choose a NAS Type

There are 2 main options you can choose from:

► Buy a pre-built NAS device, such as Synology, QNAP, or WD My Cloud.

►Build your own NAS using:

• An old PC or Raspberry Pi.
• Free NAS software (e.g., TrueNAS, OpenMediaVault, unRAID).

2. Install Hard Drives

► Insert one or more compatible hard drives (preferably NAS-grade like WD Red or Seagate IronWolf).

► For DIY NAS, connect the drives inside your PC or via USB/SATA dock.

3. Set Up the NAS System

For Pre-built NAS:

Step 1. Power on the NAS and connect it to your router via Ethernet.

Step 2. Run the setup wizard (like Synology Assistant, Qfinder Pro, and MyCloud.com/setup). Then, follow the instructions to set the device name and admin credentials, and choose the configuration between the default and custom one.

Step 3. Initialize the hard drives and create a volume (RAID or single disk).

For DIY NAS:

Step 1. Choose a free NAS operating system, such as TrurNAS Core, OpenMediaVault, and unRAID. Then, use a tool like Rufus or Ventory to create a bootable USB drive.

Step 2. Plug the bootable USB into your NAS and boot from it. Then, install the OS on a separate system drive.

Step 3. When the NAS OS is installed and rebooted, the system will display an IP address. Then, open the IP address in a browser on another device on the same network, and log in with your NAS login credentials.

4. Create Shared Folders

For Pre-built NAS (Synology Example):

Step 1. Go to DSM and log in with your credentials.

Step 2. Choose “Control Panel” and enter “Shared Folder”.

Step 3. Click the “Create” button in the upper bar.

Step 4. Enter the folder name and choose the location. Then, view the settings and click “Next”.

Step 5. Choose whether to enable additional security. Then, click “Next”.

Step 6. View the advanced settings and click “Next”.

Step 7. Confirm the settings. If there is something wrong, go back to the former settings to modify. Then, click “Next” to get a shared folder.

For DIY NAS (TrueNAS Example):

Step 1. Log in to the TrueNAS web interface.

Step 2. Navigate to Storage > Pools, and click on your pool.

Step 3. Click Add Dataset to create a logical folder inside your pool.

Step 4. Name the dataset and set access controls like compression or quotas if needed.

Step 5. Go to Sharing > Windows (SMB) (or NFS, FTP, etc.) and click Add.

Step 6. Select the path to your dataset, set a share name, and configure permissions.

Step 7. Enable the share and click Start Service if prompted.

5. Access the NAS Drive

From any device on the same network:

► Windows: Press Win + R > type your NAS server > press Enter.

► macOS: In Finder > Go > Connect to Server > type your NAS server.

6. (Optional) Set Up Remote Access

Synology Example:

Step 1. Go to DSM.

Step 2. Choose “External Access” and go to the “QuickConnect” button.

Step 3. Sign in to your Synology account and assign a QuickConnect ID.

Step 4. After all the settings, you can access your NAS at https://quickconnect.to/yourname

Bonus Tip: How to Migrate Files from Other Clouds to NAS

After creating and setting up a NAS drive, you can gather all your files in this drive for better organization. If you also use other cloud storage, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or iCloud Drive, you can migrate files from them to NAS. How to quickly finish the cloud file migration task? Use MultCloud!

MultCloud can help you manage multiple clouds on one website. It also offers functions like Cloud Transfer, Cloud Sync, Cloud Transfer, Team Transfer, Email Migration, and more. To migrate files from other clouds to NAS, Cloud Transfer is the best choice.

★Cloud Transfer:

Multiple Sources: It allows you to choose multiple clouds as the source. Therefore, you can transfer files from all the other clouds to the NAS in one task.

Automatic Transfer: Cloud Transfer helps create an automatic task. You just need to choose the transfer source and target. There is no requirement to download or upload anything.

Scheduling: You can schedule the task to let it run at your preferred time. Also, if you want to regularly run the task, you can set a transfer frequency.

File Filter: You can filter files you want to transfer or ignore by file extensions, instead of manually selecting them.

Offline Transfer: When you have quantities of files to transfer, you can create and run a task and close the task window or your computer. The process can run offline.

Google Drive and OneDrive to NAS Example:

Step 1. Go to the MultCloud website and log in to your account.

Step 2. Click “Add Cloud” and the cloud logo to add this cloud to MultCloud.

Step 3. Enter “Cloud Transfer” and choose Google Drive and OneDrive as the sources and NAS as the destination.

Step 4. Open “Options” to check the transfer settings and tap “Transfer Now” to initiate the task.

Conclusion

In this post, you can learn how to create a NAS drive and how to set it up. Follow the steps above and try to have a NAS drive now! Moreover, if you want to migrate files from other clouds like Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or another NAS to the new NAS, don’t hesistate to use MultCloud to realize that without downloading and uploading.