[GRLUG] Free BSD and Free NAS

[Philip J. Robar]

On Jan 20, 2011, at 1:57 PM, Casey DuBois wrote:

> Who has experience with Free BSD and Free NAS.

I ran FreeNAS for years and loved it. The only reason I'm not using it now is that ZFS is not a first class citizen on the current release (0.7.x) and I discovered EON (see below). The new version (8) is a major update and is now in beta. Given that it's built on stable existing technology I'd be surprised if it's not usable now, but you might want to wait for the release version. One great thing is that FreeNAS now has commercial and development backing from iXsystems, a long time supporter/retailer of FreeBSD.

Right now I'm running EON, a ZFS NAS based on a stripped down version of OpenSolaris that runs in RAM. If you're comfortable with the command line you should take a look at it. Another option is the community version of Nexenta, a ZFS/OpenSolaris NAS solution with (bizarrely to me) a Linux user land (thought you can switch to the Solaris user stuff is you want to). It's free for up to 18 TB of storage and has a GUI.

I've also ran the community version of ClarkConnect (now ClearOS) for quite a while. It's a Linux based full server solution with a great GUI if you need the additional features.

Besides these there are several other free or inexpensive DIY NAS solutions, but for me the bottom line is that I've got to have ZFS. There's no other file system today that has the safety, features and ease of use that ZFS does. (Though I have to admit to being a fan of Windows Home Server if you have a Windows centric home.)

Phil
Sun/Solaris/{Windows, OS/Net} 1989-2001
Yes, I bleed a little purple.


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