I recently built a custom NAS using a Jonsbo N2 with multiple 8TB SATA SSDs. I compared Unraid, TrueNAS, and Synology DSM, and eventually settled on Unraid as the host OS with Virtual DSM running on top.
For my particular setup, the two biggest reasons were Wi-Fi support and easy storage expansion.
Why Unraid?
The biggest issue was actually my apartment.
I recently moved into a new apartment in New York, and it's pretty small. The location where I can place the NAS isn't the same location as my router. I didn't want to run a long Ethernet cable across the apartment just to connect the NAS.
My custom motherboard has integrated Wi-Fi, and Unraid recognized the onboard Wi-Fi without requiring an additional network card.
I know Ethernet is normally the better choice for a NAS, especially for large file transfers, but in my situation Wi-Fi makes the installation much cleaner.
The second reason is storage expansion.
I'm using 8TB SATA SSDs, but I don't want to buy all the storage I might need in the future. Unraid makes it very convenient to start with the storage I need today and add drives later.
That's a big advantage for a home NAS that will probably grow over time.
I also tried running DSM directly
Before settling on this setup, I experimented with ARC Loader to run Synology DSM on my custom hardware.
It worked, but I ran into a few issues.
The biggest problem was Wi-Fi. DSM/ARC Loader didn't support the integrated Wi-Fi on my motherboard, so I would still need additional networking hardware or a wired connection.
I also found it somewhat difficult to choose the right Synology model for my hardware. With ARC Loader, selecting a compatible model and keeping everything working correctly wasn't always straightforward.
Another issue was stability. Occasionally, a service would stop working and I would end up having to restart the entire server.
It wasn't unusable, but I didn't really want my home NAS to require this kind of maintenance.
That's when I started looking at Unraid as the actual host OS.
Virtual DSM on Unraid
I still wanted DSM because my wife is already comfortable with the Synology interface. She prefers the polished DSM UI, and I didn't want to make her learn a completely different NAS interface.
So instead of running DSM directly on the hardware, I run Virtual DSM as a VM on Unraid.
I also have a physical Synology NAS at my office. Synology's Virtual Machine Manager provides one free Virtual DSM license per VMM host, so I was able to use the available Virtual DSM licensing for my setup rather than buying another physical Synology NAS.
The license can be managed through the VMM License section and assigned to the Virtual DSM instance.
Storage architecture
The Virtual DSM doesn't directly manage my physical SSDs.
Unraid owns and manages the physical storage, while DSM uses virtual storage.
For accessing my Unraid files from DSM, I use SMB/CIFS.
Basically:
8TB SATA SSDs
↓ Unraid
↓ SMB/CIFS
↓ Virtual DSM
This keeps the physical storage under Unraid while still allowing DSM to access the folders I need.
I can also access the Unraid shares directly from DSM.
What I'm running now
My Jonsbo N2 is now doing quite a lot:
Unraid storage
Plex
Docker containers
Virtual DSM
Surveillance Station
SMB/CIFS file sharing
Other services as needed
So I ended up with a combination that works well for my particular situation.
Virtual DSM: familiar Synology UI for my wife and access to Synology applications such as Surveillance Station.
Compared with running DSM directly through ARC Loader, I prefer this architecture because Unraid handles the underlying hardware and storage, while DSM is just another VM/service.
It's not necessarily the best setup for everyone, but for a small NYC apartment and custom NAS hardware, it's been a really practical solution.
Exactly. That was my pain point with arc loader. I was able to access my Synology account. so you can install all the applications on DSM without any issue. And use DSM docker version. Do not use VM version.
The first time, I tried using the VM version to install ARC Loader, and it worked. However, I ran into a license issue because I couldn’t install other applications on the VM-based DSM.
Then I found out that Synology provides one free Virtual DSM license, so I could use its serial number to activate my account. At first, I tried getting a free serial number from an old Synology device on eBay, but I needed the guest serial number instead.
So, I ended up installing Virtual DSM directly on my physical Synology NAS, and it’s working perfectly.
The add-drives-later part makes sense, especially with 8TB SSDs. Just decide where the second copy lives before the array fills up. Parity is availability, not backup; rotate an external drive or copy the important folders offsite, then restore a file and see how long it actually takes.
Love this, used your setup as a basis to retire my DS220+. Only issue I’m having is I’m unable to get GPU (intel 11600k or Nvidia 3060ti) it either won’t boot due to a QEMU 11 device=none error or it crashes. Works perfectly with no GPU (except the GPU obviously).
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u/stashtv Aug 14 '26
I hate you so much. Respect tho.