When looking at ways to either populate a network-attached storage (NAS) system or build one from scratch, you’ll need to consider storage drives. Hard drives are more affordable and come in various capacities, but nothing beats an SSD for speed. Still, you could save considerably by repurposing old hard drives, even from desktop PCs, to create a NAS that can handle device backups, media cataloging, and more. Though I recommend buying NAS-specific hardware for the task, re-using old hardware is a great way to save money and the environment.