Whereas cloud information backups are actually extraordinarily common, you shouldn’t overlook the utility of an area community connected storage (NAS) answer. You need to use a NAS for normal information storage or redundant backups, with out paying month-to-month subscription charges or worrying about your recordsdata being stolen (assuming the NAS is barely accessible regionally). And the reality is that the majority NAS units appear to be home equipment anyway, so why not lean into that truth and construct the DataToaster 3000? It’s, in spite of everything, the way forward for kitchen information storage.
The DataToaster 3000, designed by Alex Meub, is a genuinely helpful NAS machine in an avant-garde toaster enclosure. What had been previously top-loading bread slots are actually locations for customers to insert commonplace 3.5” HDDs or SSDs. Pop these drives in they usually’ll be accessible over your community. As soon as they’re full, you may swap them out for contemporary drives and get again to enterprise. There may be even a glowing energy LED and the consumer can alter its shade utilizing the patent-pending MoodGlow Knob. The LED shade has completely no have an effect on on the machine’s performance, however it could possibly assist to create the suitable vibe to fit your kitchen.
Joking apart, this can be a customized NAS constructed into the stainless-steel enclosure of an affordable toaster of the basic type. If you wish to comply with Meub’s Instructables tutorial, you’ll must buy the identical Bella two-slice toaster mannequin. You’ll must take away nearly all the authentic toaster components and substitute them with the brand new elements, with 3D-printed mounts to carry all the things securely in place.
The first element is a ZimaBoard single-board pc. That has some attention-grabbing advantages in comparison with most SBCs in the marketplace, together with a x86 (Home windows-compatible) Intel Celeron processor and SATA ports for simply connecting onerous drives. Although the ZimaBoard can run Home windows, Meub caught with the included CasaOS for this undertaking. I’ve been utilizing a ZimaBlade with CasaOS for my very own NAS (and Residence Assistant server) for a couple of yr now and am blissful to suggest it.
The MoodGlow Knob function requires its personal Arduino Nano growth board to manage the RGB LED. It does so in accordance with enter from a potentiometer, which resides the place the toastiness stage knob was.
In fact, the entire toaster half is pointless and also you don’t want any of that to construct a useful NAS. Nevertheless it positive does make a utilitarian machine an entire lot extra charming — particularly if it will sit on the kitchen counter.