I Gave My Raspberry Pi 5 NAS an AI Brain!

I turned a Raspberry Pi 5 into a private cloud NAS with 8TB of storage — and then gave it a local AI brain that can actually search, read, and understand my files. No cloud subscriptions. No monthly fees. Everything runs locally, everything stays private.

The AI agent runs Qwen 3.5 on Ollama directly on the Pi, and it can search through all your files by name or type, read documents, check storage stats, and answer questions about what's on your NAS — all through a simple chat interface. Think of it as your own private AI file assistant.

The stack: Raspberry Pi 5 → NVMe SSD (up to 8TB) → Nextcloud for file sync → Tailscale for secure remote access → Ollama + Qwen for the local AI brain.

📌 Full setup instructions & code: https://github.com/mayukh4/local_NAS_AI_brain

⏱️ Timestamps:
0:00 Why I built this
2:20 Hardware overview & what you'll need
6:50 Setting up the NVMe SSD with Pi
9:12 Installing Nextcloud
10:10 Setting up Tailscale for remote access
12:04 NAS AI Brain with Qwen 3.5
14:46 Outro

📺 How to set up your Raspberry Pi SD card: https://youtu.be/KjxYpRkPT48?si=QaaJHurIaaDQYam4

🛒 Everything you need (affiliate links):

Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB): https://amzn.to/4bkHe1b
32GB microSD card: https://amzn.to/3OZTdse
25W USB-C power adapter: https://amzn.to/47pAr3P
Pi cooler: https://amzn.to/4lmAAuA
NVMe HAT (Freenove M.2 adapter): https://amzn.to/3N7ENG5

NVMe SSDs:
1TB: https://amzn.to/40TvAV0
2TB: https://amzn.to/4cBGyWn
8TB: https://amzn.to/4bjHso2

🧠 Software used (all free):
- Nextcloud — https://nextcloud.com
- Tailscale — https://tailscale.com
- Ollama — https://ollama.com
- Qwen 2.5 (0.8B) — runs locally on the Pi via Ollama

💡 What this build can do:
- Private cloud storage accessible from any device, anywhere
- Automatic file sync across phone, laptop, and desktop via Nextcloud
- Secure remote access through Tailscale (no port forwarding needed)
- Local AI assistant that searches and reads your files
- Zero monthly fees — no Google Drive, no iCloud, no Dropbox

This is the setup I use every day. All my files live on my own hardware, accessible from anywhere through Tailscale, and now I can just ask my AI what's on my NAS instead of digging through folders.

If you build this, drop a comment and let me know how it goes.

—

🔔 Subscribe for more Raspberry Pi builds, local AI projects, and electronics: https://www.youtube.com/@MayukhBuilds?sub_confirmation=1

#RaspberryPi #NAS #LocalAI #Nextcloud #Tailscale #RaspberryPi5 #PrivateCloud #SelfHosted #AIAgent #Ollama #Qwen #HomeServer #DIY

Видео I Gave My Raspberry Pi 5 NAS an AI Brain! канала Mayukh Builds