It’s been over 14 years since I got my first NAS. It was a Synology, as you’d imagine for a first-time buyer, and I wanted to max out the storage alongside. As it turns out, hard drives are expensive, and student budgets aren’t particularly high. I found myself staring at the price tags of NAS-rated Western Digital Reds and silently shedding tears. Almost. Maybe. There’s got to be a more affordable way. That’s when I first came across the term ‘shucking’. Not oysters, but hard drives. The concept is extremely simple. Buy a cheap external hard drive, crack open the plastic case, rip out the hard drive inside, and slam it into your NAS. Gently. The practice seemed both thrifty and also every-so-slightly risky, as you’re letting go of your warranty. Would these drives stand the test of time in a closed-up enclosure running 24×7 for years to come? Was it worth the cost savings? Well, 14 years later, my NAS collection has grown five-fold, is packed full of shucked drives, and, guess what, those original drives are still running strong.