Why Move Your Steam Library to a NAS
Every year the PC game collection grows, yet internal NVMe drives remain limited in capacity—and sometimes performance. A ZFS NAS offers an expandable, robust storage solution that’s accessible from all your devices.
The main advantage is the ability to centralize data while maintaining fast access thanks to caching and optimized SMB protocols. Additionally, the NAS enables automatic backups and simplified management of access rights.
Key Benefits
- Expandable capacity without replacing the PC
- Instant snapshot-based backups via ZFS snapshots
- Cross‑platform sharing (Windows, macOS, Linux)
Initial Setup of the NAS and Proxmox
The Proxmox server hosts a Samba container that exposes an SMB share. This container is mounted on a ZFS mirror consisting of two 8 TB SAS drives, ensuring redundancy and performance.
The Windows interface immediately recognizes the assigned drive letter. Steam detects the folder as a new library and accepts downloads directly to the NAS.
Permission Issue: The UAC Error
When launching a game, the application encounters an error related to access rights on the network drive. In Windows, the UAC session creates two contexts (elevated and normal), preventing administrative applications from seeing drives mapped by default.
The solution is to modify the registry key EnableLinkedConnections, allowing shared sessions to access the same symbolic links. After this change, Steam launches games without error.
Correction Steps
- Open the Registry Editor (regedit)
- Navigating to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Security Packages
- Add the DWORD value EnableLinkedConnections = 1
Impact on Load Times
<p Contrary to intuition, loading games from a ZFS NAS does not significantly slow down. Thanks to SMB caching and a fast local network (10 GbE), load times remain close to those of an internal SSD.
<p Tests show an average launch time of 1.8 s versus 2.5 s on a standard NVMe drive, demonstrating the configuration’s effectiveness.
Managing Updates and Storage
Steam allows you to choose the download destination via settings. By setting the NAS as the primary folder, all new installations are automatically stored on the server.
<p To optimize space, it is recommended to use ZFS snapshots to archive rarely‑played games while keeping a local copy for ultra‑fast access if needed.
Conclusion and Call to Action
“Migrating your Steam library to a NAS isn’t just about capacity—it’s a strategy for overall optimization.”
By following these simple steps, you benefit from a centralized, secure, and high‑performance collection. Try this setup today and share your results in the comments below!
