[kwlug-disc] storage suggestions

[CrankyOldBugger]

I'm finding that I'm constantly having to clean out my Synology NAS's drive
space as it keeps getting filled up these days.  So I'm trying to come up
with some sort of secondary storage solution..

I don't want to buy new HDDs for the Synology as there's 4 bays, (currently
occupied by 4TB Seagates in each bay) since going to 4 x 8TB could run me
around $1,200 and I've used up my hardware budget for the next decade
already...

I don't want to build a complete desktop style computer and throw a bunch
of drives into it.  I just don't have a lot of real estate for another
desktop..

I don't want to buy another NAS like the Synology or QNAP (they're great
devices; I just can't justify the budget right now).

Ideally I'd like something that's just a toaster size ethernet-connected
box that I can throw some old HDDs into, and ultimately something that's
smart enough to run FreeNAS on it.  It has to be able to run Linux, for
obvious reasons....  I imagine that I would use this box for backups,
although that's not set in stone yet.  The Synology handles my video
streaming duties well enough for now.

Worse-case scenario, I do have an ancient Windows Home Server headless
device that I could try to load FreeNAS on to (assuming it still works),
although loading FreeNAS on to a drive on a different system then migrating
it over to the headless box sounds a bit challenging. The WHS only has
fast-ethernet so it would probably be restricted to slower duties like
backups...

Does anyone have any suggestions?  I've been poking around Amazon and just
not seeing something that I like.
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