Supported hardware
RetroNAS currently supports any Raspberry Pi that runs Raspberry Pi OS 11, based on Debian 11 "Bullseye", initially released October 2021. 64bit RPiOS is recommended for better support with very large hard drives.
You can find Raspberry Pi OS ("RPiOS") downloads on the Raspberry Pi foundation's official website:
Older versions (10 Buster, aka "Raspberry Pi OS Legacy", etc) may work for certain features, however they remain untested and unsupported. Similarly OSes such as Ubuntu may work for some items, but also remain untested and unsupported. Please do not submit bugs/issues for anything that isn't Debian 11.
RetroNAS is supported on all PC hardware that supports Debian 11 Bullseye. That includes modern Intel and AMD CPUs, as well as virtual machines that run on them (e.g.: Intel or AMD based PCs and Macs running Debian 11 VMs). 64bit is recommended for better support with very large hard drives. Also see the notes below about VMs and networking requirements.
Note that the official name for x86_64 (sometimes referred to as "x64") is "AMD64". When this is listed on a Linux distribution it doesn't refer to the CPU brand (i.e.: it's not "AMD only"). The official CPU architecture is named AMD64, and supports all Intel and AMD 64bit x86 CPUs.
Download Debian 11 Bullseye here:
For best network performance, a Raspberry Pi model 4B or 400 with gigabit Ethernet is recommend. Older models have limited Ethernet speeds either due to the Ethernet hardware being connected to the USB bus of the device, and also much older models only including 10/100Mbps Ethernet.
Wireless/WiFi networks can work for certain features (certainly anything that uses TCP/IP), however obviously performance will be much lower. For very old/slow systems, you may not notice the speed difference either way.
Please note that specific protocols/tools such EtherDFS utilise unique features such as layer 2 communication (non-IP) and and Netatalk version 2 with non-IP AppleTalk for older Macs, which almost certainly will not work on WiFi. It is highly recommended to keep systems using this protocol on wired Ethernet, as well as on the same physical switch in order to avoid any potential issues with packets traversing different physical network switches/bridges.
RetroNAS assumes an existing TCP/IP network exists. There are potentially future plans to greatly extend the network offerings, however in its current form RetroNAS requires an existing network to fit in to.
Any cheap home Internet router/firewall device is adequate to offer DHCP and IP addressing, as well as routed and NATed Internet access for RetroNAS and the systems that connect to it.
The vast majority of RetroNAS tools use TCP or UDP over IPv4. IPv6 is completely untested (and many very old operating systems are unable to use it anyway). There is one non-IP protocol currently (EtherDFS, mentioned above) with a few others in planning (documentation to be provided once they are added).
RetroNAS is recommended to be installed on 64bit software where possible. As of February 2022 RPiOS 64bit is officially supported by the Raspberry Pi foundation, and can be downloaded here:
Note that 64bit Raspberry Pi OS will only work on models that come with 64bit CPUs, which at time of writing are the following models:
- RPi Model 3A+ and 3B+
- RPi Model 4B and 400
- RPi Zero 2W
32bit installs will work, however can have issues with very large hard disks. Please only choose 32bit if your hardware cannot support 64bit.
For PC or VM hardware, likewise 64bit builds are recommended where possible.
Older x86 hardware may require 32bit, and Debian 11 will support 32bit x86 as far back as the "i686" architecture, including Intel Pentium Pro, Intel Pentium II, AMD K6-III+ and AMD K7.
When downloading Debian 11 for PC/x86 architecture, 32bit is referred to as "i386", and 64bit (both AMD and Intel) is referred to as "AMD64".
When downloading Debian 11 for ARM architecture (including Raspberry Pi) architecture, 32bit is referred to as "armhf", and 64bit is referred to as "aarch64" or sometimes "ARM64".
RetroNAS testing has shown that even with all features enabled on top of a full graphical RPiOS install, less than 500MB of RAM is utilised. This could potentially rise as more systems connect, however there should be no issues with memory requirements for this project even on older RPi models.
If you don't have a Raspberry Pi, you can test it in a VM. Install Debian 11 "Bullseye". Here's an example guide:
RetroNAS targets Raspberry Pi OS currently based on Debian 11 "Bullseye". There's nothing specific about Raspberry Pi hardware that makes it preferable, so if you wish you can install RetroNAS on any Debian 11 "Bullseye" system, physical or virtual.
Downloads and machine architectures available here:
For virtualised setups, ensure you've bridged your Virtual Machine's network interface with the rest of your network (don't use "NAT" style virtual networking), and everything else should work identically.
64bit is recommended for better performance and support of very large hard drives, however 32bit should also work.
Like the Raspberry Pi, RAM depends entirely on how many services you have enabled. For a simple 1-service system with no desktop GUI, as low as 512MB RAM should work fine. Add a desktop GUI and a few more services, and 1-2GB is recommended.
Many home/personal NAS devices offer VM support these days, and again can install RetroNAS within a Debian 11 VM with the above networking requirements met.
The Apple M1 CPU is an aarch64 based architecture CPU (ARM 64bit), and somewhat similar to the Raspberry Pi 4. macOS is NOT supported, however a VM running on macOS running Debian 11's "aarch64" (aka "ARM64") build will work. See the notes above about networking and memory requirements.