I love my setup, but I also love not tanking my game performance because someone decided to remote into Plex while I’m trying to clutch. So in this video we fix a very specific problem: my buddy has a monitor, but no NAS. We build a dedicated network-attached storage box so Plex, local file sharing, and “I don’t want to stand up to grab that file” all happen reliably, on my network, without handing my data to whatever cloud company is getting worse this week. We go through the parts choice and the “why” behind them: an Intel Core i3-12100 because Quick Sync is shockingly capable (and efficient) and AV1 support is there if it ever matters; an ASUS Prime B760M-A D4 that’s a bit overkill but has 2.5GbE and expansion; a pile of 8TB IronWolf NAS drives because storage is the expensive part; and an LSI HBA in IT mode because four SATA ports isn’t gonna cut it. Then the real boss fight: software. I install HexOS, run into the exact kind of Windows SMB sharing nonsense that makes me question reality, fix it, and end up with a system that’s flexible, fast, and actually makes me feel like I’m learning computers again—plus Tailscale for safer remote access without opening ports.