power management

Remote start

Ways to power on remotely

I rely on two methods that complement each other:

Wake-on-LAN (WOL)

A network wake-up of the NAS from a powered-off state. Thanks to OpenVPN running on my router and a correctly configured Wake-on-LAN, I can power on the NAS remotely from anywhere in the world (as long as I have internet access), then securely reach my data or server admin over the VPN.

Smart plug

A bit of a punk solution, but it works: if you're behind your ISP's NAT and don't want to set up something like Tailscale, all you need is your NAS's BIOS configured to boot automatically once power is restored, plus an ordinary smart plug. With that in place, you can remotely simulate a power outage on the NAS's supply by switching the plug off. Turn it back on right after, and that powers the NAS on too. It's an extra expense for the plug, but the setup is simple, intuitive, and works right away.

Important safety note: I only use the simulated power outage via the smart plug to turn the server on(!). I never remotely switch off an already-running server through the plug — I either shut it down in software via the admin interface, or it powers itself off automatically every night (to save energy) via a scheduled task.