Gotta take it in stages my dude and it won’t even feel daunting once you finally do it. I procrastinated for months too lol.

Stage 1: Note down the software you need to bring with you Stage 2: Do the distro decidin’ (watch some videos, read some nerd posts, whatever) Stage 3: Check hardware support, starting with your most expensive components. Stage 4: Figure out where to look for help before you’re stuck. The hardest part is that most guides start from step 1 and you probably need step 0 so don’t be scared to ask an AI for help, they’re great for stuff like this. Stage 5: Backups! Stage 6: Set aside a whole day and do the dang thing!

I mean, I understand and agree with his message and that sounds pretty catchy… but doesn’t he have those definitions switched around?

After all you don’t have “optimism” when all is lost lol.

Link was dead for me as soon as I tried it.

Has no one mentioned shucking yet? I’ve had 8 shucked drives in my server for 5yrs now and the motherboard died before any of my drives did.

Buy western digital external drives (MyBook and Passports) to tear them apart for the white-label drives on the inside. No warranties after you start using them (unless you save the enclosures to send them back) but they’re essentially the same drive as the red label NAS drives for about half the price.

All storage prices are insane in the current market but if you’re careful and test the drives before you use them (since that’s when you usually need the warranty) then you shouldn’t have a problem. Just be aware you’re either going to need to use the “kapton tape trick” or buy “SAS drive adapters” from your online store of choice for about $10 apiece to allow the drives to power on outside of the enclosure.