2018 MacBook Air as Server?

[Grandpa Does Tech]

Hi! I have 2 MacBook Airs 2018 that have been mothballed. I would like to use 1 as a dedicated NAS server. Is it possible to erase the MacOs from Air and install HexOs as the only OS on it? Do I even need to erase the MacOS?  I want to add a 4 bay HDD enclosure to the Mac. If successful I will give the second Air to a friend and have them be my buddy. Thanks in advance! Total newb to NAS. 

[Mobius]

I believe that's an Intel Mac so it should be possible to install alternative operating systems like hexos.

 

However running hexos on external drives can be problematic and generally not recommended

[Grandpa Does Tech]

 8 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 RAM, 128 GB SSD, Intel Core i5 processor (1.6 GHz base clock, with Turbo up to 3.6 GHz) with Intel UHD Graphics 617. I forgot to list this. You are correct, I would only install HexOs on internal SSD and use external HDD for storage. Thanks! Now I have to find where I stored the 2 Macs.

[Mobius]

not all external drive enclosures are compatible with hexos either. 
Hexos requires the drives to have their serial numbers reported but many enclosures cheap out on that and just report a generic serial number that is the same for all drives which will cause problems detecting all drives.

I'm not aware of which enclosures report all the proper data.

[Grandpa Does Tech]

I just found out that the two MacBook Airs are actually 2010 model years. Here is the specs:  

Processor and memory

1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB on-chip shared L2 cache; or optional 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache

• 1066MHz frontside bus

• 2GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM onboard (4GB maximum)

Storage²

• Flash Storage

  • 128GB

• Flash Storage

  • 256GB

• Think they will work? I have 2 of them. Thanks

•  

[Mobius]

I believe the machines don't have enough RAM.

A quick Google search tells me the ram isn't user upgradable because it is soldered on to the motherboard

[Sonic]

2 hours ago, Grandpa Does Tech said:

I just found out that the two MacBook Airs are actually 2010 model years. Here is the specs:  

Processor and memory

1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB on-chip shared L2 cache; or optional 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache

• 1066MHz frontside bus

• 2GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM onboard (4GB maximum)

Storage²

• Flash Storage

  • 128GB

• Flash Storage

  • 256GB

• Think they will work? I have 2 of them. Thanks

•  

I don’t think this will work. I don’t say it’s impossible, but I see a lot of challenges. To much if you ask me. A 15 year Old Macbook with not enough RAM and you need external HDDs which is not recommended. Leave them in the drawer or bring them to the museum.