I’d say all you need is a removable USB drive if you’ve just got one computer you want to use.

A NUC like this would make a great NAS:

https://amzn.to/3T4CdA3

Or consider buying an older 2014 or 2018 Mac Mini.

Most routers made in the past 20 years have a Type-A USB port on the back where you can plug in any USB drive and access it through the router; newer ones will xfer data much faster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7rHH0JTEuY

If you don’t have one, go visit some thrift stores nearby. They’ve always got a bunch of older WiFi routers.

 Or buy a newer one from Amazon

-David Schwartz



On Jun 24, 2025, at 2:40 PM, Keith Smith via PLUG-discuss <plug-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org> wrote:

Hi,

My Win10 laptop has a message on it that it does not qualify for Win11 and I should look into a new computer....  HAHA ... I'm putting Linux on it and will use it for years to come.

In a past thread we talked about my needs, which I am looking at from a different angle.

I need my computer for all the basic stuff like mail, YouTube... etc.

Instead of buying a $2k machine I can continue to use old hardware and:

1) Use shared hosting for dev and testing,  One account and add a subdomain for each project.
2) Use Canva for making and editing videos + graphics.

All I really need now is a NAS.

So my old laptop with 16Gb of RAM, Intel Core i7-7500U @ 2.70GHz, 2cores/4treads, 238SSD, and 500M HD, running Linux is all I need.

Any feedback much appreciated.

Keith
---------------------------------------------------
PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss