--- title: I stopped adding containers to my NAS when I realized... description: Running everything on a NAS can create a single point of failure, so the recommended approach is to keep storage-adjacent workloads (media servers, backup... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-adding-containers-to-my-nas-when-i-realized-what-actually-belongs-there-vyhhmucsi twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I stopped adding containers to my NAS when I realized what actually belongs there | daily.dev og:description: Running everything on a NAS can create a single point of failure, so the recommended approach is to keep storage-adjacent workloads (media servers, backup... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-adding-containers-to-my-nas-when-i-realized-what-actually-belongs-there-vyhhmucsi og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/VYhhmucsI.png og:image:alt: I stopped adding containers to my NAS when I realized what actually belongs there og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I stopped adding containers to my NAS when I realized what actually belongs there **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 5 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Running everything on a NAS can create a single point of failure, so the recommended approach is to keep storage-adjacent workloads (media servers, backup tools, download managers) on the NAS while moving infrastructure services like DNS, monitoring, and management tools onto separate hardware. The rule of thumb offered is to ask what happens if the NAS goes offline: if a service reads, writes, or protects NAS-stored data, keep it there; if losing the NAS would also cripple your ability to troubleshoot the network, move it elsewhere. A NAS plus one small secondary machine is presented as a practical middle ground between minimal file-serving and turning the NAS into an entire home lab. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Should I run a DNS server on my NAS as a Docker container? Running DNS exclusively on a NAS is risky because it ties network-wide name resolution to storage hardware uptime. If the NAS goes down for maintenance or a drive failure, the whole network loses DNS along with file access, turning a storage problem into a network outage. Infrastructure services like DNS and monitoring tools are better placed on separate hardware that can stay up when the NAS doesn't. _daily.dev surfaces this kind of home lab tradeoff for anyone planning their NAS container setup._ ### What kinds of services make sense to run on a NAS versus a separate server? Storage-heavy services that already revolve around the NAS's data are the best fit: media servers, download tools, backup software, and other storage-related utilities. Infrastructure like DNS, monitoring, or management tools, plus experimental containers and VMs, are better kept on a separate small secondary machine so they can survive if the NAS needs maintenance or fails. _Home lab builders weighing NAS consolidation against reliability often compare notes like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I stopped using my NAS as a NAS, and it became the most useful machine in my house](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-using-my-nas-as-a-nas-and-it-became-the-most-useful-machine-in-my-house-ctpvxxrt9) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Your NAS is becoming a single point of failure, and consolidating everything onto it is the reason why](https://daily.dev/posts/your-nas-is-becoming-a-single-point-of-failure-and-consolidating-everything-onto-it-is-the-reason-w-eghav3yit) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Cloud Is Drowning — But I’m Fine, I Live by the River \(and I Have a NAS\)](https://daily.dev/posts/the-cloud-is-drowning-but-i-m-fine-i-live-by-the-river-and-i-have-a-nas--oe7pc8up5) · Codemotion · 5 upvotes · 0 comments - [My NAS isn't my server — that's why my homelab survives every experiment I throw at it](https://daily.dev/posts/my-nas-isn-t-my-server-that-s-why-my-homelab-survives-every-experiment-i-throw-at-it-hukcgklze) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [My NAS ran out of space, but the real problem wasn't the size of my drives](https://daily.dev/posts/my-nas-ran-out-of-space-but-the-real-problem-wasn-t-the-size-of-my-drives-3aa73xjgt) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#docker](https://daily.dev/tags/docker), [#self-hosting](https://daily.dev/tags/self-hosting), [#homelab](https://daily.dev/tags/homelab) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-adding-containers-to-my-nas-when-i-realized-what-actually-belongs-there-vyhhmucsi) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I stopped adding containers to my NAS when I realized what actually belongs there","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-adding-containers-to-my-nas-when-i-realized-what-actually-belongs-there-vyhhmucsi","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-adding-containers-to-my-nas-when-i-realized-what-actually-belongs-there-vyhhmucsi"},"datePublished":"2026-08-12T14:02:54.388Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T20:45:21.305Z","description":"Running everything on a NAS can create a single point of failure, so the recommended approach is to keep storage-adjacent workloads (media servers, backup...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/485dea0f5f2bd6844fc410f97ae91bcf?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/485dea0f5f2bd6844fc410f97ae91bcf?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-adding-containers-to-my-nas-when-i-realized-what-actually-belongs-there-vyhhmucsi","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"docker,self-hosting,homelab","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I stopped adding containers to my NAS when I realized what actually belongs there"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-adding-containers-to-my-nas-when-i-realized-what-actually-belongs-there-vyhhmucsi#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Should I run a DNS server on my NAS as a Docker container?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Running DNS exclusively on a NAS is risky because it ties network-wide name resolution to storage hardware uptime. 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