Copyright XDA Developers
A Raspberry Pi can do far more than run a few hobby projects. When connected to your NAS, it can turn a simple file server into a fully featured media hub that streams, organizes, and protects your content. With the right combination of tools to support and extend your NAS, the Pi becomes the central brain of your home entertainment setup. Each of these tools adds a specific capability, building a system that is efficient, secure, and surprisingly powerful. Each of these tools serves a unique purpose in building a smarter NAS ecosystem. Jellyfin brings your media library to life Open-source streaming with complete control and flexibility Jellyfin is an open-source media server that turns your NAS into a modern streaming platform. It scans your shared folders, organizes your files by genre or series, and automatically adds artwork and metadata. The result is a clean, browsable library that works across devices without relying on any paid services. You stay in complete control of your content, with no cloud dependencies or data tracking. Running Jellyfin on a Raspberry Pi is both efficient and flexible. The Pi can handle server management, while your NAS focuses on storage. You can stream directly to smart TVs, phones, or tablets through the web interface or dedicated apps. It is especially convenient for anyone who wants the Plex experience without the recurring costs or privacy tradeoffs. Jellyfin also supports user profiles, remote streaming, and custom libraries. With a VPN in place, you can safely access your media from anywhere. It integrates beautifully with other Pi-based tools, such as Sonarr, for automated content management. Once it is running, your NAS stops being a pile of files and becomes a living, breathing media center. OpenMediaVault turns the Pi into a NAS powerhouse Building a flexible, modular backbone for your system OpenMediaVault (OMV) gives your Raspberry Pi the power and structure of a complete NAS operating system. It is built on Debian and designed to manage storage, shares, and users, with a clear, straightforward interface. By installing it on your Pi, you can organize and automate how your drives and services work together. This forms a strong foundation for everything else in your smart media setup. OMV supports an impressive range of storage protocols, including Samba, NFS, and iSCSI. It even supports Docker containers so that you can run Jellyfin, Pi-hole, or Sonarr directly alongside your NAS management. The Pi’s energy efficiency means you can keep it running around the clock without worrying about your power bill. The flexibility of OMV makes it a perfect backbone for a modular system that can grow over time. Perhaps the most valuable feature is its plugin ecosystem. You can expand OMV with monitoring tools, file synchronization, and scheduled tasks to keep your NAS organized and healthy. Everything is controlled through a simple web dashboard, making it easy to adjust settings or check performance at any time. It is a quiet but essential part of transforming your NAS into a complete media powerhouse. Pi-hole cleans up your network traffic Blocking ads and trackers for faster streaming and browsing Pi-hole works behind the scenes to make your network faster, cleaner, and more private. Running it on a Raspberry Pi turns your device into a local DNS filter that blocks ads, trackers, and unwanted requests. This keeps smart TVs, streaming sticks, and connected devices from wasting bandwidth on background connections. Your media playback feels smoother, and your network stays less congested. When used alongside a NAS, Pi-hole ensures that data requests between devices stay efficient. You can see what services are talking to the outside world and cut down on unnecessary noise. This is especially useful in homes with many connected gadgets competing for attention. A few seconds saved per connection add up to noticeably faster response times when streaming from your NAS. Pi-hole’s web dashboard provides valuable insights about your network activity. It shows which domains are being blocked, how often, and which devices generate the most traffic. The setup process is simple, and it runs comfortably even on older Raspberry Pi models. Once it is in place, Pi-hole becomes a quiet but powerful companion to your media system. WireGuard and PiVPN secure remote access Keeping your media library available wherever you go WireGuard is a lightweight VPN protocol that provides fast and secure access to your home network. By setting it up on a Raspberry Pi using PiVPN, you can connect to your NAS and media library from anywhere in the world. This allows you to stream, transfer, or manage files without exposing your system directly to the internet. It is a simple but effective way to make your setup both accessible and safe. WireGuard’s configuration is minimal compared to older VPN systems. You can generate connection profiles for your devices, import them, and be connected in minutes. Its small footprint makes it a perfect match for the Pi, which can run it continuously without slowing down. Once connected, your phone or laptop behaves as if it were on your home network. Security is where WireGuard truly shines. It uses strong encryption while maintaining high performance, which is ideal for streaming media. Combining it with Jellyfin gives you seamless remote access without depending on third-party servers. With PiVPN’s management tools, maintaining your VPN connections is just as easy as setting them up. Sonarr automates your TV collection Smart episode tracking and seamless NAS integration Sonarr takes the hassle out of maintaining your TV library. It monitors your favorite shows, finds new episodes as they become available, and automatically downloads and organizes them. When installed on a Raspberry Pi, Sonarr can communicate directly with your NAS to store files in the correct folders with the appropriate naming conventions. It saves time and eliminates the frustration of missing or mislabeled episodes. This tool integrates with popular download clients like qBittorrent and SABnzbd. You set your preferences once, and Sonarr handles the rest. It keeps track of release schedules and updates your library in the background. Because it runs on a Pi, it can stay active at all hours with minimal power consumption. Sonarr also works hand-in-hand with Jellyfin or other media servers. New episodes appear automatically in your streaming library with cover art and metadata already in place. The process feels effortless once configured, turning your NAS into a system that manages itself. For anyone who loves efficiency, Sonarr is the finishing touch that makes a media setup feel truly smart. Bringing your smart media powerhouse together
