I run FreeNAS 0.7.2 on a passively cooled Atom rig, 4GB USB pendrive, 2GB RAM. What is this RAM hungry monstrosity, FreeNAS v8 :-o I don't suppose it would like my feeble Atom much? I obviously misssed the news last year, but apparently the FreeNAS name is now owned by a for-profit enterprise. I don't fancy this new version one bit. I hope they keep the v0.7 development going under a new name. Discussion here at sourceforge
Have a look at openmediavault. It's made by the same guy who originally made freeNAS. Based on Linux rather than FreeBSD. Very good it is too.
RAM hungry monstrosity ? What ? If you don't use the advanced ZFS features like deduplication, RAM usage is minimal. Sure, if you use those features, then you need 1GB RAM per 1TB - but this is true for any ZFS implementation. Actually Solaris have this recommendation "ZFS designers recommend 2 GB of RAM for every 1 TB of storage.". So, what is RAM hungry then ?
Ha-ha, your RAM point of view is somewhat different to mine. The minimum requirements to run FreeNAS 8 is 4 GB for UFS only and 6 GB for full ZFS. You can find this from the link I posted. I call that lots of RAM for a NAS. Especially when you consider previous versions only need 1 GB. My main rig only has 4 GB. For me a NAS should be a low cost, low powered machine.
Sorry if i feel confused, but.... Le me check scan.co.uk : 1GB Hynix DDR3 : £9.17 2GB Corsair DDR3 Value Select : £10.67 4GB Corsair Value DDR3 PC3-10600 : £17.28 Are we really talking about £8.10 ? Really ?
My Atom can only address 2GB of RAM, so I'd need a new higher powered CPU and mobo too. There's no need to recalculate for me though. It seems OMV Is a good alternative for me if needed. Thanks guys!
I might give openmediavault a go before I get rid of my Microserver, who knows it might make me want to keep it. I had an old FreeNas set-up running many moons ago and loved it, but 8 has put me off.