Upgrade Your Home Server Game with Unraid (And Use Twingate to Make It Even Better)
Andrew Baumbauch
•
Sep 18, 2025
If you've ever tried to build a home server, you've probably run into the same frustrating walls that have plagued DIY enthusiasts for years.
Maybe you had a collection of mismatched drives sitting in a drawer, or you got tired of running five different machines for five different services.
Traditional server setups have always demanded compromises that just don't align with how real people actually build and grow their home labs (myself included).
Unraid changes this equation by trading a bit of raw performance for something far more valuable: flexibility and simplicity.
And now, with the new Twingate Community App for Unraid, you can securely access your entire Unraid environment from anywhere without the headaches of traditional VPN setups.
The "Mismatched Drive" Problem
Traditional RAID has one brutal requirement: all drives must be the same size. This means your shiny new 12TB drive gets crippled down to match your oldest 4TB drive, or you end up buying drives in expensive matched sets.
Unraid throws this limitation out the window. That old 4TB drive from your last upgrade? Perfect. The 8TB drive you got on sale? Excellent. The massive 16TB drive you just bought? It all works together in one array, with each drive contributing its full capacity.
This isn't just about saving money (though you will). It's about building systems that grow organically with your needs and budget, rather than forcing expensive forklift upgrades every few years.
The "All or Nothing" Data Loss Problem
Here's a nightmare scenario with traditional RAID: lose one drive too many, and your entire array becomes inaccessible.
Years of family photos, movie collections, and important documents… gone in an instant.
With Unraid, if a drive fails you only lose the data that was actually stored on that specific drive. The rest of your array remains completely accessible. It's the difference between losing a single book versus having an entire library burn down.
This changes how you think about risk management. Instead of obsessing over redundancy levels, you can focus on what data actually needs protection and implement targeted backup strategies.
Complexity of Running Multiple Services
Want to run Plex for your media? That's one machine. Need a game server for friends? Another machine. Want to experiment with Home Assistant? Yet another machine. The traditional approach of one service per machine quickly becomes a power-hungry, space-consuming, complexity nightmare.
Unraid consolidates all of this into a single system with Docker container support and VM capabilities.
Through its intuitive web interface, you can spin up a Plex server, run Home Assistant, host a Minecraft server, and maintain a development environment, all from one box and all managed through simple GUI controls.
Unraid democratizes powerful storage solutions by dramatically lowering the barrier to entry while preserving the flexibility that advanced users demand.
Even though you can use the GUI for 90% of operations, you still have the option to SSH in and get your hands dirty when needed, preserving the flexibility that advanced users demand.
Storage Expansion Without the Drama
Traditional RAID expansion is an exercise in patience and prayer. You typically need to buy multiple drives at once, backup everything, destroy your array, and rebuild from scratch. One mistake and you're looking at data recovery services.
With Unraid, expansion is literally plug-and-play. New drive? Physically install it, tell Unraid to add it to the array, and you're done. No rebuild. No downtime. No anxiety attacks.
This approach matches how people actually acquire storage: opportunistically, when drives go on sale or when you finally get tired of that "disk full" warning.
Enter Twingate: Secure Access Done Right
Let’s say I’ve convinced you to give Unraid a try. You've built this amazing consolidated home server, but how do you access it securely when you're not home?
Traditional VPNs are complex to set up, often break, and usually require exposing your home network to the internet.
Twingate's new Unraid Community App integration solves this elegantly.
Instead of punching holes in your firewall or wrestling with OpenVPN configurations, you get enterprise-grade zero-trust access that just works.
Setting Up Twingate on Unraid
The setup process reflects Unraid's philosophy of making complex things simple:
Generate tokens in the Twingate Admin Console. This establishes secure authentication for your Twingate Connector.
Install the Community App through Unraid's Apps interface. No command line required.
Configure with your tokens through a simple form interface.
Verify connectivity and you're done!
The entire process takes minutes, not hours. No firewall rules to manage, no port forwarding to configure, no certificates to maintain.
Why This Combination Matters
The Unraid + Twingate combination represents a fundamental shift in how home infrastructure can work. You get:
Consolidated services without sacrificing security
Flexible hardware utilization without complex management
Professional-grade remote access without IT department overhead
Organic growth capabilities without architectural limitations
Yes, the technical capabilities are great, but it’s also about sustainable home infrastructure that grows with you rather than constraining you.
The Bottom Line
Unraid succeeded because it recognized that home users don't need maximum performance, they need maximum flexibility and minimum complexity.
The platform trades some raw speed for dramatic improvements in usability, expandability, and fault tolerance.
Twingate's integration extends this philosophy to remote access. Instead of choosing between security and simplicity, you get both. Your Unraid server becomes truly accessible from anywhere, without the traditional security or complexity tradeoffs.
You shouldn’t have to choose between “easy” and “powerful” for your home infrastructure. With Twingate + Unraid, you don’t have to.
If you're ready to get started, check out our documentation for step-by-step instructions.
New to Twingate? We offer a free plan so you can try it out yourself, or you can request a personalized demo from our team.
Rapidly implement a modern Zero Trust network that is more secure and maintainable than VPNs.
Upgrade Your Home Server Game with Unraid (And Use Twingate to Make It Even Better)
Andrew Baumbauch
•
Sep 18, 2025
If you've ever tried to build a home server, you've probably run into the same frustrating walls that have plagued DIY enthusiasts for years.
Maybe you had a collection of mismatched drives sitting in a drawer, or you got tired of running five different machines for five different services.
Traditional server setups have always demanded compromises that just don't align with how real people actually build and grow their home labs (myself included).
Unraid changes this equation by trading a bit of raw performance for something far more valuable: flexibility and simplicity.
And now, with the new Twingate Community App for Unraid, you can securely access your entire Unraid environment from anywhere without the headaches of traditional VPN setups.
The "Mismatched Drive" Problem
Traditional RAID has one brutal requirement: all drives must be the same size. This means your shiny new 12TB drive gets crippled down to match your oldest 4TB drive, or you end up buying drives in expensive matched sets.
Unraid throws this limitation out the window. That old 4TB drive from your last upgrade? Perfect. The 8TB drive you got on sale? Excellent. The massive 16TB drive you just bought? It all works together in one array, with each drive contributing its full capacity.
This isn't just about saving money (though you will). It's about building systems that grow organically with your needs and budget, rather than forcing expensive forklift upgrades every few years.
The "All or Nothing" Data Loss Problem
Here's a nightmare scenario with traditional RAID: lose one drive too many, and your entire array becomes inaccessible.
Years of family photos, movie collections, and important documents… gone in an instant.
With Unraid, if a drive fails you only lose the data that was actually stored on that specific drive. The rest of your array remains completely accessible. It's the difference between losing a single book versus having an entire library burn down.
This changes how you think about risk management. Instead of obsessing over redundancy levels, you can focus on what data actually needs protection and implement targeted backup strategies.
Complexity of Running Multiple Services
Want to run Plex for your media? That's one machine. Need a game server for friends? Another machine. Want to experiment with Home Assistant? Yet another machine. The traditional approach of one service per machine quickly becomes a power-hungry, space-consuming, complexity nightmare.
Unraid consolidates all of this into a single system with Docker container support and VM capabilities.
Through its intuitive web interface, you can spin up a Plex server, run Home Assistant, host a Minecraft server, and maintain a development environment, all from one box and all managed through simple GUI controls.
Unraid democratizes powerful storage solutions by dramatically lowering the barrier to entry while preserving the flexibility that advanced users demand.
Even though you can use the GUI for 90% of operations, you still have the option to SSH in and get your hands dirty when needed, preserving the flexibility that advanced users demand.
Storage Expansion Without the Drama
Traditional RAID expansion is an exercise in patience and prayer. You typically need to buy multiple drives at once, backup everything, destroy your array, and rebuild from scratch. One mistake and you're looking at data recovery services.
With Unraid, expansion is literally plug-and-play. New drive? Physically install it, tell Unraid to add it to the array, and you're done. No rebuild. No downtime. No anxiety attacks.
This approach matches how people actually acquire storage: opportunistically, when drives go on sale or when you finally get tired of that "disk full" warning.
Enter Twingate: Secure Access Done Right
Let’s say I’ve convinced you to give Unraid a try. You've built this amazing consolidated home server, but how do you access it securely when you're not home?
Traditional VPNs are complex to set up, often break, and usually require exposing your home network to the internet.
Twingate's new Unraid Community App integration solves this elegantly.
Instead of punching holes in your firewall or wrestling with OpenVPN configurations, you get enterprise-grade zero-trust access that just works.
Setting Up Twingate on Unraid
The setup process reflects Unraid's philosophy of making complex things simple:
Generate tokens in the Twingate Admin Console. This establishes secure authentication for your Twingate Connector.
Install the Community App through Unraid's Apps interface. No command line required.
Configure with your tokens through a simple form interface.
Verify connectivity and you're done!
The entire process takes minutes, not hours. No firewall rules to manage, no port forwarding to configure, no certificates to maintain.
Why This Combination Matters
The Unraid + Twingate combination represents a fundamental shift in how home infrastructure can work. You get:
Consolidated services without sacrificing security
Flexible hardware utilization without complex management
Professional-grade remote access without IT department overhead
Organic growth capabilities without architectural limitations
Yes, the technical capabilities are great, but it’s also about sustainable home infrastructure that grows with you rather than constraining you.
The Bottom Line
Unraid succeeded because it recognized that home users don't need maximum performance, they need maximum flexibility and minimum complexity.
The platform trades some raw speed for dramatic improvements in usability, expandability, and fault tolerance.
Twingate's integration extends this philosophy to remote access. Instead of choosing between security and simplicity, you get both. Your Unraid server becomes truly accessible from anywhere, without the traditional security or complexity tradeoffs.
You shouldn’t have to choose between “easy” and “powerful” for your home infrastructure. With Twingate + Unraid, you don’t have to.
If you're ready to get started, check out our documentation for step-by-step instructions.
New to Twingate? We offer a free plan so you can try it out yourself, or you can request a personalized demo from our team.
Rapidly implement a modern Zero Trust network that is more secure and maintainable than VPNs.
Upgrade Your Home Server Game with Unraid (And Use Twingate to Make It Even Better)
Andrew Baumbauch
•
Sep 18, 2025
If you've ever tried to build a home server, you've probably run into the same frustrating walls that have plagued DIY enthusiasts for years.
Maybe you had a collection of mismatched drives sitting in a drawer, or you got tired of running five different machines for five different services.
Traditional server setups have always demanded compromises that just don't align with how real people actually build and grow their home labs (myself included).
Unraid changes this equation by trading a bit of raw performance for something far more valuable: flexibility and simplicity.
And now, with the new Twingate Community App for Unraid, you can securely access your entire Unraid environment from anywhere without the headaches of traditional VPN setups.
The "Mismatched Drive" Problem
Traditional RAID has one brutal requirement: all drives must be the same size. This means your shiny new 12TB drive gets crippled down to match your oldest 4TB drive, or you end up buying drives in expensive matched sets.
Unraid throws this limitation out the window. That old 4TB drive from your last upgrade? Perfect. The 8TB drive you got on sale? Excellent. The massive 16TB drive you just bought? It all works together in one array, with each drive contributing its full capacity.
This isn't just about saving money (though you will). It's about building systems that grow organically with your needs and budget, rather than forcing expensive forklift upgrades every few years.
The "All or Nothing" Data Loss Problem
Here's a nightmare scenario with traditional RAID: lose one drive too many, and your entire array becomes inaccessible.
Years of family photos, movie collections, and important documents… gone in an instant.
With Unraid, if a drive fails you only lose the data that was actually stored on that specific drive. The rest of your array remains completely accessible. It's the difference between losing a single book versus having an entire library burn down.
This changes how you think about risk management. Instead of obsessing over redundancy levels, you can focus on what data actually needs protection and implement targeted backup strategies.
Complexity of Running Multiple Services
Want to run Plex for your media? That's one machine. Need a game server for friends? Another machine. Want to experiment with Home Assistant? Yet another machine. The traditional approach of one service per machine quickly becomes a power-hungry, space-consuming, complexity nightmare.
Unraid consolidates all of this into a single system with Docker container support and VM capabilities.
Through its intuitive web interface, you can spin up a Plex server, run Home Assistant, host a Minecraft server, and maintain a development environment, all from one box and all managed through simple GUI controls.
Unraid democratizes powerful storage solutions by dramatically lowering the barrier to entry while preserving the flexibility that advanced users demand.
Even though you can use the GUI for 90% of operations, you still have the option to SSH in and get your hands dirty when needed, preserving the flexibility that advanced users demand.
Storage Expansion Without the Drama
Traditional RAID expansion is an exercise in patience and prayer. You typically need to buy multiple drives at once, backup everything, destroy your array, and rebuild from scratch. One mistake and you're looking at data recovery services.
With Unraid, expansion is literally plug-and-play. New drive? Physically install it, tell Unraid to add it to the array, and you're done. No rebuild. No downtime. No anxiety attacks.
This approach matches how people actually acquire storage: opportunistically, when drives go on sale or when you finally get tired of that "disk full" warning.
Enter Twingate: Secure Access Done Right
Let’s say I’ve convinced you to give Unraid a try. You've built this amazing consolidated home server, but how do you access it securely when you're not home?
Traditional VPNs are complex to set up, often break, and usually require exposing your home network to the internet.
Twingate's new Unraid Community App integration solves this elegantly.
Instead of punching holes in your firewall or wrestling with OpenVPN configurations, you get enterprise-grade zero-trust access that just works.
Setting Up Twingate on Unraid
The setup process reflects Unraid's philosophy of making complex things simple:
Generate tokens in the Twingate Admin Console. This establishes secure authentication for your Twingate Connector.
Install the Community App through Unraid's Apps interface. No command line required.
Configure with your tokens through a simple form interface.
Verify connectivity and you're done!
The entire process takes minutes, not hours. No firewall rules to manage, no port forwarding to configure, no certificates to maintain.
Why This Combination Matters
The Unraid + Twingate combination represents a fundamental shift in how home infrastructure can work. You get:
Consolidated services without sacrificing security
Flexible hardware utilization without complex management
Professional-grade remote access without IT department overhead
Organic growth capabilities without architectural limitations
Yes, the technical capabilities are great, but it’s also about sustainable home infrastructure that grows with you rather than constraining you.
The Bottom Line
Unraid succeeded because it recognized that home users don't need maximum performance, they need maximum flexibility and minimum complexity.
The platform trades some raw speed for dramatic improvements in usability, expandability, and fault tolerance.
Twingate's integration extends this philosophy to remote access. Instead of choosing between security and simplicity, you get both. Your Unraid server becomes truly accessible from anywhere, without the traditional security or complexity tradeoffs.
You shouldn’t have to choose between “easy” and “powerful” for your home infrastructure. With Twingate + Unraid, you don’t have to.
If you're ready to get started, check out our documentation for step-by-step instructions.
New to Twingate? We offer a free plan so you can try it out yourself, or you can request a personalized demo from our team.
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