Build a Raspberry Pi RAID NAS Server – Complete DIY Guide

Installing Raspbian 9.x “Stretch”

Now we need to prepare our MicroSD card, install Raspbian 9.x "Stretch", update the system and install mdadm Linux RAID. You will need a MicroSD card of 8GB or more and the application Etcher to transfer the .img file to it (Etcher supports Windows, Linux and MAC).

1. Download the latest version of Raspbian 9.x “Stretch” Lite from raspberrypi.org
2. Click on and extract the .img file and take note of it’s location
3. If not already installed, download and install Etcher for Windows, Linux or MAC
4. Insert your MicroSD card into a card reader, close any automatic windows, prompts or alerts
5. Fire up Etcher which should detect the MicroSD card automatically (important! if you have multiple choices, be sure to choose the SD card we are working with)
6. Click on the Select Image button, navigate to your Raspbian .img file, select it and/or click Open
7. Once you’re sure you have everything right by double checking, click on the Flash! button
8. Etcher will now start the flashing process, click Yes to the Windows prompt, and close any automatic alerts/windows that appear shortly afterwards
9. Flashing should take about 5 minutes, then you’ll be presented with the "Flash Complete!" dialog
10. Close Etcher, remove the card reader and MicroSD card
11. Insert the MicroSD card into your Raspberry Pi

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Raspbian Initial Setup

Now we need to do some initial setup of Raspbian, so go ahead and hook up a screen, keyboard and power up your Raspberry Pi and remember, on first boot your RasPi will automatically expand the file system to fit your MicroSD card size, then it will reboot. Once rebooted, login with username: pi password: raspberry

raspi-config Options

Now we’ll do some basic setup options for our RasPi NAS server, so enter the following and use raspberry for the password prompt:

Then change the following:

• Note* Use the Arrow keys to move up and down, use Enter key to select/confirm, use Tab key to select Cancel or Finish
• Select Change User Password then Enter, type a strong password, then confirm
• Select Hostname, Ok to alert prompt, then type RASPINAS for hostname (or anything you want) then Ok
• Select Interfacing Options, select SSH, then Yes to enable, then Ok
• On Home Screen, hit Tab key until the <Finish> item is selected, hit Enter to reboot
• You Raspberry Pi is now configured

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Update & Install MDADM

Now we just need to update Raspbian and install the mdadm RAID package:

Now let’s move on to Setup RAID Volume & File System