NAS Enclosure Recommendations

Unfortunately I haven't tested it as a NAS, In my linux noobness, I assumed that if Linux is a major server OS, then surely they would have drivers to suit a device that is being sold as a mini server!?

Probably not the case though ;)

Well the only NAS OS around running Linux is OpenFiler and it is probably the worst of the lot. Not to mention that it runs on an old kernel that isn't based on a mainstream kernel and your driver support isn't great. Doesn't even touch Ubuntu in terms of driver support.

Best NAS OSs around IMHO:
FreeNAS = FreeBSD
NexentaStor = Open Solaris
EON = Open Solaris

FreeBSD = bad driver support
Open Solaris = terrible driver support :p

So yeah, that is unfortunately why the home NAS market is still a bit niche at this point.
 
Unfortunately I haven't tested it as a NAS, In my linux noobness, I assumed that if Linux is a major server OS, then surely they would have drivers to suit a device that is being sold as a mini server!?

Probably not the case though ;)

Researched it a bit and apparently all parts are well supported by linux.
 
So I decided to buy one R1299 from the hpshop. Will let you know how it plays with linux, have 4 x 2tb hard drives waiting for it :D

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Some feedback ?

Sorry only got it yesterday in the end, public holiday's messed around with the delivery and HP were a little slack... but moving on

Haven't had a chance to setup FreeNAS on it yet, should be fine though, even got a usb port on the Motherboard so think I may boot off that.
Build quality is great for a R1200 system, besides the plastic drive caddies, but they seem sturdy enough when the drives are in them.

Came with 1GB ddr3 Ecc gonna upgrade add another 2GB I reckon. also came with a 250Gb hard drive which I shall put in a draw somewhere.
Have 2x2TB and 2x1.5TB to put in it, should hopefully have time to set it all up tomorrow so will post more then!
 
For those of you not afraid to hack:
EON ZFS Storage on a HP Proliant MicroServer

EON is similar to FreeNAS, it runs directly from a flash-drive. However it doesn't have a web-GUI, everything must be done from the console.

It runs on Open Solaris which is the operating system that RaidZ was made for. Naturally the version of RaidZ on EON is much higher than FreeNAS (version 24 VS version 13).

So in terms of data integrity and raw IO performance EON is better than FreeNAS. However, SMART tools for Solaris aren't great (they are available). I have friend running EON rather than FreeNAS and it works just as well. He just needs to SSH into the box to do things that I can do VIA web-GUI.
 
For those of you not afraid to hack:
EON ZFS Storage on a HP Proliant MicroServer

EON is similar to FreeNAS, it runs directly from a flash-drive. However it doesn't have a web-GUI, everything must be done from the console.

It runs on Open Solaris which is the operating system that RaidZ was made for. Naturally the version of RaidZ on EON is much higher than FreeNAS (version 24 VS version 13).

So in terms of data integrity and raw IO performance EON is better than FreeNAS. However, SMART tools for Solaris aren't great (they are available). I have friend running EON rather than FreeNAS and it works just as well. He just needs to SSH into the box to do things that I can do VIA web-GUI.
I'm a bit scared to use EON, I know my way around Linux fairly well but Solaris is definitely a different beast! Hmmm but what's life without challenging yourself every now and then, will give it ago sometime! A web GUI would be nice though! Can you setup iSCSI instances on it?

Firstly though, will try FreeNAS on this machine and give the others a bit better feed back.
 
ok, well got the replacement unit and 3 drives back from supplier. Seems that the original was a bad DUD... now things seem to be working quite well, with a lot fewer issues. Overall, speeds are not great (expected much better TBH), but at least it is working reliably, and yesterday I tested what would happen if I pulled a drive out, and the array survived, and was fully accessible. The rebuild takes for ever though (4x2TB drives in a Raid5 array with a total capacity of 5.8 TB) and the rebuild takes approx 10 hours (even though there was hardly any data on the NAS). On the plus side, performance during the rebuild (both read and write) remained nearly the same as before, with the system fully accessible.
 
Build quality is great for a R1200 system, besides the plastic drive caddies, but they seem sturdy enough when the drives are in them.

Came with 1GB ddr3 Ecc gonna upgrade add another 2GB I reckon. also came with a 250Gb hard drive which I shall put in a draw somewhere.

Was the included HDD and RAM part of another special ? Current special at the
HP Shop is @ R 1 299, without any HDD or RAM, but event then this seems like a GREAT deal. Link


... I don't need one of these immediately, but scared I'll miss out on this special..... so should probably just order it.
 
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Was the included HDD and RAM part of another special ? Current special at the
HP Shop is @ R 1 299, without any HDD or ram, but event then this seems like a GREAT deal.


... I don't need one of these immediately, but scared I'll miss out on this special..... so should probably. just order it.

Nope bought mine from HPshop. Same deal. It didn't say anything about the drive or ram but arrived with them
 
Definitely comes with included Seagate 250Gb HDD and Ram.

All you need to do is install your OS of choice + maybe increase the minimum ram if so required by your os.
 
I want to build a home-made (so to speak) NAS that is very energy efficient.
Does anyone know if there are cheap AToM based RAID SATA motherboards in South Africa?
I wanna build AToM, RAID=4 x 1Tb Notebook HDD MicroAtx case - NAS BOX
 
Sorry only got it yesterday in the end, public holiday's messed around with the delivery and HP were a little slack... but moving on

Haven't had a chance to setup FreeNAS on it yet, should be fine though, even got a usb port on the Motherboard so think I may boot off that.
Build quality is great for a R1200 system, besides the plastic drive caddies, but they seem sturdy enough when the drives are in them.

Came with 1GB ddr3 Ecc gonna upgrade add another 2GB I reckon. also came with a 250Gb hard drive which I shall put in a draw somewhere.
Have 2x2TB and 2x1.5TB to put in it, should hopefully have time to set it all up tomorrow so will post more then!

Can you perhaps post some actual throughput over the network? With my current homeserver setup I get between 100 and 120MB/s, which is almost the max for gigabit ethernet. I would like to know what this microserver is capable of. It might be a very good option as a second NAS.
 
Can you perhaps post some actual throughput over the network? With my current homeserver setup I get between 100 and 120MB/s, which is almost the max for gigabit ethernet. I would like to know what this microserver is capable of. It might be a very good option as a second NAS.

Just setup my NAS using FreeNAS,
setup 3 x 2TB drives in software raid 5 and getting over 400Mb/s
 
Just setup my NAS using FreeNAS,
setup 3 x 2TB drives in software raid 5 and getting over 400Mb/s

Thanks.

When I copy from my notebook to my server I also only get about 40MB/s, but from my desktop (with an SSD) I easily get between 100 and 120MB/s.

So do you think it is limited because of the NAS hardware, or your other hardware?
 
Thanks.

When I copy from my notebook to my server I also only get about 40MB/s, but from my desktop (with an SSD) I easily get between 100 and 120MB/s.

So do you think it is limited because of the NAS hardware, or your other hardware?
The processor network card will max giga ethernet. Your HDDs/OS/and config will determine what transfer you get.

Here's a screenshot of me testing the network performance on this machine with ubuntu 11.04 on it.
 
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Current special at the HP Shop is @ R 1 299, without any HDD or RAM, but event then this seems like a GREAT deal. Link


Received mine this morning and can confirm the HDD and RAM is still included.

Very nice hardware for the price and I'm already considering buying another one for a bench/lab machine to play with. (the addition of the RAM and HDD from the initial NAS purchase will be all I need for such a machine)
 
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