Build your own network-attached storage at home

FreeNAS might be too complicated for the average user to work.

I rather suggest OpenMediaVault. Of all the NAS types Ive found it to be the easiest to use and leave for clients to use.
 
In the spirit of transparency is this paid content? I only see rebeltech lately.
 
Peon said:
FreeNAS might be too complicated for the average user to work.

I rather suggest OpenMediaVault. Of all the NAS types Ive found it to be the easiest to use and leave for clients to use.
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Didn't find it complicated but eventually opted for CentOS on my N40L - not recommended for linux newbies.
 
FreeNAS is a good option but you shouldn't have put a screenshot of Corral on there since they have now abandoned it.

Also anothing thing to note with FreeNAS. Ideally you should get as many hard drives as possible for your first array as adding drives to increase storage once a pool has already be created negates the powerful RAID features of FreeNAS. You should rather have many drives which you can then replace with larger ones should you need more storage.

Advising people to only use one drive with FreeNAS is, imo, terrible advice.
 
FreeNAS is almost prehistoric.

UnRAID is where it's at.

Specifically because of the above advice and the fact that you can start with one drive and scale easily without having to start all over again.

Not to mention you can pull any of the drives out and read them should **** go wrong so in many ways it's more redundant like that.
 
SauRoNZA said:
FreeNAS is almost prehistoric.

UnRAID is where it's at.

Specifically because of the above advice and the fact that you can start with one drive and scale easily without having to start all over again.

Not to mention you can pull any of the drives out and read them should **** go wrong so in many ways it's more redundant like that.
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ZFS in FreeNAS is one of the most advanced file systems that is currently in production, hardly prehistoric.

Both FreeNAS and Unraid have their pros and cons though and it'll come down to your specific needs and preferences.
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
ZFS in FreeNAS is one of the most advanced file systems that is currently in production, hardly prehistoric.
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The latest FreeNAS is a very complete product, and the direction that it is heading in. It addresses home users to enterprises.

UnRAID is a strong product, but it has near stronger open-source competition.
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
ZFS in FreeNAS is one of the most advanced file systems that is currently in production, hardly prehistoric.

Both FreeNAS and Unraid have their pros and cons though and it'll come down to your specific needs and preferences.
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Prehistoric in the old RAID all hard drives at once, build array at the onset sense.

It's not very consumer/home user friendly for that reason.

The biggest bottleneck UnRAID has in competing is that it's not free and therefore most won't even try it. Even though it's virtually no money at all.

And in reality due to the nature of how Freenas works it's actually more expensive out the gates.
 
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Kevin Lancaster said:
Build your own network-attached storage at home

If you are an avid consumer of media and have a large media library, storage can be a problem.
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I like these types of articles, is there a better place we could keep them all together? And maybe update the original article after some members point out flaws or better ways to do things? Could be a powerful resource in the future... even when new technologies emerge, you can go back and republish with new details...

Just an idea.
 
MickZA said:
Never knew that, might explain why I wasn't comfortable with FreeNAS.

CentOS runs fine with 4GB in my N40L.
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I also just run 4GB in my N52L with Windows Server 2008 rc. And it barely ever go over 1.5 GB usage.
 
Am I the only one who does not call something a NAS if it is not RAID5/6/10 and has at least 5 drive bays? For that amount of money you are better off just buying a 2Tb USB drive and plug it straight into your TV!
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
Am I the only one who does not call something a NAS if it is not RAID5/6/10 and has at least 5 drive bays? For that amount of money you are better off just buying a 2Tb USB drive and plug it straight into your TV!
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I'd classify something as a NAS if it has at least 2 drive bays, capable of RAID 1 and 0 and runs a specialized headless OS.
 
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