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The original was posted on /r/linux by /u/elephantdrinkswine on 2026-03-28 16:51:07+00:00.

I’m a video producer and always wanted a nas, but couldn’t justify the cost for home use yet. I got my hands on a i5 laptop from 2011, setting up linux on it for the first time, $20 from a charity shop.

I also have 2-4tb HDDs, 1 2TB Hdd and 1 1TB samsung SSD.

For personal use I have a rtx 5080 pc and a separate laptop with 3080, but would like to keep the 3080 for working while travelling. So I decided to get this toshiba second hand laptop.

My initial plan is to set up a home server on the $20 laptop and see how it runs. Since its pretty old, i expect wifi data transfer to take some time but I want to take this as an opportunity to learn what is possible on linux and potentially switch on it on my other computers if it’s worth it.

Do you guys have ANY tips for beginners or what i should do for the first time? (ive been using claude to set it up and a stick, but i want to learn from people who actively use linux).

Also any ideas of cool use cases are appreciated- let me know how switching from windows to linux helped you (if at all). I want to slowly learn what’s possible on linux.

Thank you!