Hello, I have just built my new NAS box and need to know which OS [Distro] I should be running. FreeNAS seems to be out of favor due to speed. OpenFiler seems popular but not as easy to setup. Ubuntu/Debian sounds good but not as "specific". Here are my new box specs : ASUS M3A78-CM AM2+ AMD X2 5050E [45w CPU] Seasonic 300w PSU G. Skill 2gb I was going to go "Atom" but it just seemed way too weak [on all fronts] I installed Ubuntu 9.04, desktop, last night. I am posting from it right now because my KVM died. I digress. My network consists of 3 computers. MacPro HackPro Windows XP HTPC So 2 Macs and a Windows machine. This NAS will have 4tb [1tb x 4] storage. I want to set it up with RAID 10. It will be used for media and system files. Nothing dramatic. I just need to know what will best suit my needs ? Keep running Ubuntu as I have it ? Install Ubuntu Server edition ? Install OpenFiler ? Install FreeNas ? Just need some quick advice before I start building these drives. TIA !
I'd go with FreeNas as that's what I've been focussing on for when I build one... Reason being that it supports AFP and Bonjour (well almost) pretty much out the box which will be important for the Mac side of things and also SMB for Windows. Another nice benefit is that it also supports iSCSI target which would basically make it function a bit more like a SAN than a NAS (if you grouped a few that is) or like a Networked DAS, which would be nice to connect the MacPro to as it would mount as a logical drive not as a networked one, which could help it play nicer with Time Machine, there are ways around not using iSCSI and getting Time Machine to play good with a NAS but they're a little bit more fiddly and you'd find it difficult to do a recover from them. 9 times out of 10 however, you'd just use TM to rollback on something which you will as will everyone, cock up on. If you want any more info feel free to shout me up on it. A good person to ask regarding anything *nix - ish would be Glider - also read his guides to setting up a linux server available on the main page (won't link as it may be liable to change) Another good place to look is http://www.smallnetbuilder.com as they did a bunch of how tos on setting up your own NAS, built on more normal hardware, Atoms, and even an original X-Box.
