Help Creating Low-Budget Media Storage with Existing Supplies! Cut Cords a Plus.

Hey there,

Launching a business on a budget and exploring creative storage solutions using what I've already got.

Don't really know where to start in terms of paid cloud storage vs. trying to build my own thing at home. Also don't have a ton of time to throw at this so need something that's pretty straightforward to get rolling with!

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Media / File Types / Uses

Dealing with a mix of big RAW photos (Lightroom Classic) and 4K videos for automotive media. Getting really tired of having to keep track of various hard drives to work on certain projects. I wish I could just grab my laptop and GO without having to open it up, eject this and that drive, etc.

It's an import business which means I should be traveling to Japan a few times a year and gathering a bunch of media, likely again at those higher 4K bit rates and RAW photos. It would be really nice to stay lightweight while there and just be able to throw media from my SD cards directly to the cloud. Not sure if that has any disadvantages. I'm sure poor wifi is a concern.

I'm not opposed to doing it how I've always done it with external drives, but man it would be nice to not have to keep track of those little drives while traveling.

Current Gear:

• 2021 MacBook M1 Pro
• Basic 2TB external SSD (Samsung, currently used for video projects plugged in)
• WD "My Passport" 1TB HDD
• Old PC with a 4TB HDD (Samsung?) and 256GB SSD (Maybe also Samsung?)

Wondering if the PC can serve as "home base" personal "cloud" storage hooked up to my router, running with the screen off, long-term? Or is that not a good idea? It's a 'custom' (but very basic) gaming build from 2018 or so. i7 or i9 IIRC if it matters.

I'm obviously not a data genius, but it seems like I'm essentially asking about "NAS" if I have that right?

Some questions:

• Why go the DIY route over just buying storage on Dropbox or Google Drive?

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Workflow Hopes:

• Hoping to save local copies to my Mac's hard drive automatically when using/accessing files.
• For example, with a video project, I could download a specific folder to the computer, save it locally for access during work, and have it automatically back up to the "cloud" when I'm done. I think Dropbox does stuff like this automatically. It would be great to automatically optimize space.

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Security: Using Nord VPN for personal stuff right now but want to make the most of it if it can help here too.

Also, any of these solutions good at integrating with businesses posting media online? Indexing for and publishing to website builders like Webflow, or scheduling for Instagram using tools like Later? Recommendations for integration appreciated.

Again, a bit confused and barely finding my footing here just because I don't have a lot of time to ink in. Usually, I'd dig deep and research more thoroughly, but time's running out with a website launch goal and the need to focus on customer service and daily business operations. Speed and ease of use are crucial to me. Thanks a bunch for any advice; I really appreciate it.

Cheers!