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.  

[Grandpa Does Tech]

14 hours ago, Sonic said:

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.  

You seriously made me laugh out loud! Yeah, my wife thought I was talking about our upgraded MBAs that we got in 2018, I traded them in for 2 M4 Mac Mini's just a few weeks ago. They were supposed to go to Apple with me and be turned in for recycling. I was going to go to the storage unit today and look for them but I think after your post I will just forget the MBAs. After we move into our new home and unpack I will find them and take them to Apple.  I have a Elitebook that is only a couple of years (corporate issue) that has been replaced and will probably attempt to use it. I am worried however about all this discussion regarding attaching HDD enclosures using usb-c and HexOS not recognizing the drives. Reading the forums is making me think this is not a plug and play OS. I am in the target market as someone that doesn't want to spend a lot of time learning how to set up the NAS. I simply want to configure the donor PC with an Enclosure (whether it is HDD or SSD) and create my storage and go. I am beginning this is not an option for me and I should just buy a UGREEN NAS and be done with it. 

[Sonic]

I think you might be mixing up a few things here. As we say, you’re comparing apples to pears 😊. This is mostly a matter of form factor. Technically, you can build a NAS out of a laptop, but it’s far from ideal—especially since you’d likely end up using external hard drives via USB.

HexOS and TrueNAS require drives to report their individual serial numbers, but many cheap USB enclosures skip that and just report a generic serial for all connected drives. That causes issues with drive detection and undermines data integrity.

In your case, the hardware is also quite old and doesn’t meet the minimum requirements.

That said, this doesn’t mean HexOS isn’t suitable. On the contrary, it’s very easy to use—just keep in mind it’s still in beta. But if you’re considering buying something like a UGREEN NAS, there are other NAS form factor devices that might be more interesting. For example:

• https://aoostar.com/collections/nas-series

• https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lincplus/redefining-nas-style-power-and-usability-with-lincplus

These devices let you choose your own OS, whether it’s HexOS, TrueNAS, or Unraid.

Another option is buying a NAS from UGREEN, QNAP, ASUSTOR, or TerraMaster (but not Synology). You can use the default OS or install something custom like HexOS or TrueNAS, if the hardware is supported.

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmFb_kO5V3Q              So, in short: there are lots of options.
Could you tell us what you plan to use the NAS for? That might help us give you more targeted suggestions.