https://www.xda-developers.com/how-turned-old-phone-nas/ XDA Menu XDA logo Sign in now [ ] Close * + News & Deals [ ] Submenu o News o Deals + Reviews [ ] Submenu o Laptops o CPUs o Graphics cards o SSDs o Product Awards + Best Guides [ ] Submenu o Best Laptops o Best Chromebooks o Best CPUs o Best graphics cards + Tutorials [ ] Submenu o Windows o macOS o Linux o ChromeOS * Threads * + [ ] Topics Submenu o Acer o Apple o Dell o HP o Lenovo o Microsoft o Razer * Sign in * Newsletter [ ] * * * * * * * * Trending Copilot+ Snapdragon X Series Windows 11 2024 Update On this day Forums [ ] Close [ ] How I turned an old phone into a NAS Android 14 4 By Adam Conway Published 4 days ago Thread 12 Your changes have been saved Email Is sent close Please verify your email address. Send confirmation email close You've reached your account maximum for followed topics. Manage Your List Follow Followed Follow with Notifications Follow Unfollow Share Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Flipboard Copy link Email Link copied to clipboard Sign in to your XDA account Full front of the Google Pixel 6 Pro running Android 12 QPR3 Beta 2 Key Takeaways * You can easily turn an old Android phone into a basic NAS for sharing data among your devices. * MiXplorer allows you to host servers on your Android phone, enabling easy file transfers and backup. * For more advanced NAS capabilities, consider rooting your phone and using Docker to deploy containers. If you're a tech enthusiast like me, chances are you have an old phone or two lying around unused. While it's not necessarily the best use for it, you can definitely take one of those older devices and use it as a rudimentary NAS for sharing data across all your devices. I recently undertook the very basic project of hosting a media server on an old Android smartphone, and it's really easy for you to do as well. On top of that, if you really want to take things a step further, you can root an old Android phone and set up Docker on it. From there, you can host normal applications that you would on any other NAS and deploy them on your network, including running things like Pi-hole or Jellyfin. We're making just a NAS out of an Android phone, but I'll likely look to undertake a project that takes things further in the future. MiXplorer MiXplorer MiXplorer is a free file explorer for Android that comes with a ton of different features. You can host servers and more, making it perfect for anyone looking to do more with their phone. See at MiXplorer TerraMaster and Asustor NAS Related Best NAS devices in 2024 Expand your PC storage with one of these NAS enclosures MiXplorer can let you host different servers on an Android phone You just need to keep it plugged in Connecting to WebDav server on old Android phone If you want a way to easily transfer files between devices, you can use a program like MiXplorer to host a WebDav server or even an SMB share on your Android smartphone. You can then configure the level of access that you give the user logging in, and in my case, I limited the access to a single folder on my phone's storage. This can also serve as a pretty decent backup system, and if you port forward the device you're connecting to, you can even allow it access to the wider internet so that you can access your files on the go. While I wouldn't recommend it for security reasons (like seriously, just use Tailscale or WireGuard instead of port forwarding), the point is that it's a fairly robust method that can actually give you pretty decent results in a pinch for quick backups of unimportant data. A Mac Mini with a Satechi dock connected. Related You can convert a Mac Mini into a NAS, and it's not even that bad Compact storage inside a stunning aluminum enclosure. Close If you host an SMB server, you'll be able to access it from native clients on both Windows and Mac through your file explorer, which makes it extra convenient. You can enable a Start on boot option in MiXplorer to make sure it starts when your phone does and always stays running too, and with an SMB server in particular, you can easily batch copy and move around files as you need them. With WebDav it's fairly basic, but the plus side is that there's no configuration involved. You may run into problems with SMB depending on your network conditions and your smartphone, so you'll need to play around with settings to get it working. If you want something more advanced, the best way to turn your phone into a full-fledged NAS would be to root your phone and use Docker to deploy containers that contain services like Nextcloud. There are a lot of options you can try out, but the problem is that Android by default limits the virtualization of software and also prevents applications from running on ports below 1024. Given that SMB's default port is 450, this also poses a problem for SMB, and why you may notice that you'll need to manually define a port if you're connecting to your phone's SMB server remotely. Root access can get around that restriction. For now, though, this manages to do the job as a basic intermediary between devices, especially given that using my full NAS feels a bit overkill for such a trivial thing. A basic device that can move files between my other devices is all I needed and that's why I undertook this project. You can even plug a USB-C OTG device into your phone and host access to it via MiXplorer, which definitely leans more in the direction of a conventional NAS. This project was, overall, very simple, but I'm looking forward to expanding on it and turning a phone (or even multiple phones) into a full-fledged NAS that can, maybe, even replace my NAS at some point! Give it a try and see what you think, because maybe it's all you need. Should this replace an actual NAS? Definitely not, but playing around with technology and finding new things to do with it is a ton of fun regardless. * Networking * Android 14 Close Your changes have been saved Email Is sent close Please verify your email address. Send confirmation email close You've reached your account maximum for followed topics. Manage Your List Follow Followed Follow with Notifications Follow Unfollow Readers like you help support XDA. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read More. Thread12 Sign in to your XDA account We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful. Reply / Post [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Please respect our community guidelines. No links, inappropriate language, or spam. Your comment has not been saved Send confirmation email Sort by: [Popular] * User Display Picture Nandi Nandi#XB758483 User Display Picture Member Since 2024-07-14 Number of Posts 4 So it's a... Lil Nas. 2024-08-04 01:21:53 Upvote 6 Downvote Reply 2 * User Display Picture S S#GO694973 User Display Picture Member Since 2024-07-27 Number of Posts 2 Nine more of them... And you run into copyright issues. 2024-08-04 09:07:02 Upvote Downvote * User Display Picture Phillip Phillip#TN000708 User Display Picture Member Since 2024-08-04 Number of Posts 1 Now, that was extremely funny!! 2024-08-04 12:21:59 Upvote Downvote * User Display Picture XDAMember XDAMember#ZI691652 User Display Picture Member Since 2024-08-03 Always feel a bit like im reading an ad for an app when a writer only uses one app as an example of something that other apps can do. Like did you get paid to shill like this? A much more valuable article would have been an introduction to Android based Nas and the pluses and minuses of a few apps (more than one anyway) that can provide it. 2024-08-03 16:38:20 Upvote 3 Downvote Reply 2 * User Display Picture D214 D214#TQ333779 User Display Picture Member Since 2024-08-03 Number of Posts 1 In case you aren't aware MiXplorer is available for free on the XDA forums by the dev. If it's an ad for anything its kind of pushing people to check out the XDA forums 2024-08-03 18:50:22 Upvote Downvote * User Display Picture XDA logo Adam Conway Adam Conway#MN479559 User Display Picture MiXplorer is an XDA forums app that's available for free. This is a basic article that is titled "How *I*" did something. Not everything has to be the most advanced or perfect way to do it, and it's just a project I explored out of interest to see how feasible it was, and maybe it can inspire someone to do so too! I'll be doing more on this topic in the future :) 2024-08-04 07:35:04 Upvote Downvote * User Display Picture Schwarzer_Peter Schwarzer_Peter#WK988750 User Display Picture Member Since 2024-08-02 Number of Posts 2 So did you use an USB-C dock to expand the storage and add an LAN Port? Or did you use the internal storage and build in WLAN? 2024-08-04 03:22:38 Upvote 1 Downvote Reply 1 * User Display Picture XDA logo Adam Conway Adam Conway#MN479559 User Display Picture For this basic project it was just internal storage over WLAN! I'm planning something more advanced for a future article though involving physical storage and a dock, along with Docker as well. 2024-08-04 07:33:45 Upvote Downvote * User Display Picture Rajuno Rajuno#GY372198 User Display Picture Member Since 2024-08-04 Number of Posts 1 What Is a NAS? 2024-08-04 04:59:35 Upvote Downvote Reply 2 * User Display Picture Marcin Marcin#TU370695 User Display Picture Member Since 2024-08-04 Number of Posts 1 You can easily find it in Wikipedia, but for your convenience I copy-paste it here: NAS, or Napping Assistance System, is a device that ensures you get the perfect nap by controlling your room's temperature, light, and sound levels based on your unique sleep patterns. 2024-08-04 08:53:56 Upvote 5 Downvote * User Display Picture Pham Tuan Khanh Pham Tuan Khanh#FU053032 User Display Picture Member Since 2024-08-04 Please do a further post about this topic. I find it really interesting and i think it will benefit many people having their old device laying around. 2024-08-04 19:18:50 Upvote Downvote Reply * User Display Picture Rawert Rawert#YH886036 User Display Picture Member Since 2024-08-04 Number of Posts 1 qhuuftimha(^*`+d~n' 2024-08-04 11:56:34 Upvote Downvote Reply * Terms * Privacy * Feedback Recommended Netgear router with IoT, Guest, and standard Wi-Fi shown on an Android phone Is your internet connection slow? 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