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FreeNAS is server software that allows you to turn any computer with a hard drive into a dedicated network-attached storage (NAS) box. It is based off of FreeBSD and is open-source. FreeNAS takes up less than 64 megabytes when installed is is configured via the FreeNAS WebGui, which is accessed by typing in the IP address of the FreeNAS server in any web browser. FreeNAS also can be used as a software RAID. All hardware RAID cards that support FreeBSD are supported by FreeNAS.

Pros & Cons

Pros:
5 people have already voted. Do you agree?

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Free and open-source.
+6agreedisagree

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Supports many network protocols.
+5agreedisagree

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Can be used as a software RAID
+5agreedisagree

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Turns a computer into a NAS device
+4agreedisagree

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Minimal system requirements
+4agreedisagree

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No monitor required
+3agreedisagree

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Supports external USB/Firewire drives, as well as Compact Flash.
+3agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?

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Even basic configuration can be confusing for beginners.
+3agreedisagree

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Non-standard configuration can be difficult to setup.
+3agreedisagree

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RAID requires full drives - can't use the drive you install FreeNAS on
+3agreedisagree

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Not all hardware RAID's are supported.
+1agreedisagree

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More information

Additional Information    

FreeNAS can be installed on a partitioned hard drive (done for you during installation), or on a compact flash (CF) or USB drive. Installation on a seperate drive is recommended, as then additional power and encryption options are avaliable. External USB hard drives, such as MyBooks, can be plugged into a FreeNAS server and shared. FreeNAS requires a monitor and keyboard for inital installation and configuration, however once that is completed no monitor or keyboard is required. Additional and advanced configuration is done via the WebGUI. FreeNAS requires 64 megabytes of RAM for a basic installation, however more (up to 512 mb) is required for RAID configurations. FreeNAS supports SMB/SAMBA/CIFS Windows File Sharing, FTP, NFS, SSH, RSYNC, AFT, and UPnP. It also can be used to encrypt drives on the server.

Feature List    

  • No monitor/keyboard is required after inital installation.
  • Web-browser based configuration
  • Software and some hardware RAID support.
  • USB , Firewire, and CF support.
  • CIFS/SMB/SAMBA, NFS, FTP, SSH, RSYNC, AFT, UPnP networking.
  • Schedueled shutdown and other power saving settings.
  • File encryption.

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3 comments about FreeNAS

1.  avatar GT-D  Mar 11, 2008 10:52am

hmm - sounds good, were I not using my server comp for more then just storage I'd be all over this.
2.  avatar Erik  Mar 11, 2008 11:02am

I think the appeal for this technology is that it allows you to "recycle" some old hardware you have lying around. Instead of having that old comp gather dust, turn it into a NAS device for tasks like backups and media storage/streaming. For example, you can couple this with your XBMC setup using uPnP.

It has a very small footprint once installed - 32 MB in its own partition, or even on a USB drive. I don't think this is for the feint of heart, however. Things can get complicated pretty quick.

3.  avatar dialupinternetuser  Mar 11, 2008 5:27pm

Yeah, I tried setting a password on my SMB share and had to delete the share, disable SMB, renable, and use no password to get it to work. But right now it's great. The only thing you can't use it as is a LAMP/WAMP server.
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    Key Features:

    Price $0.00
    Software Type Server, Encryption

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    Product page stats

    1429 views and 55 edits (see all)
    5 contributors -  dialupinternetuser, Erik, Omar, GT-D, rabidpotatochip
    Created: 03/10/2008 - 9:07
    Modified: 06/03/2008 - 17:53