Looking to set up my own NAS using a dedicated virtual machine box I have made. There's a ton of options, and before I pick one I wanted to know what people on here thought would be the best and why they'd recommend it.
So far I have taken a look at FreeNAS, Unraid, and Amahi, but I've also taken a look at some of the Linux based options such as Debian. I currently have a few copies of Windows Server that I have available to me. My main goal is be able to access my files such as documents, pictures, and basic file storage for whatever that can be accessible remotely via my phone, or other computers on my network. What one do you guys think is best and why?
I'm going to be handling my media on a plex server, so playback is not a main concern. If I can configure automatic backups of my main PC on the NAS as well that'd be an added bonus, but I already have a backup solution so it's not my main concern. Mainly it's remote access via my phone.
So, what's the best way to go here? And more importantly, why do you think it's the best?
Pic related, one of the O/S's I've been looking at
Right! I should have mentioned that, sorry! My server specs are as follows:
Xeon E5-2670 20GB DDR3 240gb SSD (Running ESXI Host) 4TB WD Red, although planning on adding more hard drives when funds are available.
Benjamin Cox
Right now I have a virtual machine running an Ark Server, and I'm planning on running a CS GO Surf Server as well in another virtual machine.
Sebastian Collins
NAS4Free, no question
Colton Clark
Why? What makes it a good choice for me?
Asher Fisher
linux
Angel Martin
He said no questions
Caleb Scott
>Nas4Free >download from sourceforge RED FLAG RED FLAG RED FLAG
Blake Martinez
Debian and XFS through LVM or whatever distroflavor you like. If you expect to add significant amount of drives soon then consider using FreeNAS instead (and get ECC RAM while you're at it).
Matthew Turner
I'm not going to do your research for you, user.
Ethan Torres
That's what I was originally thinking of doing as I previously had a server set up with that. I plan on getting ECC ram because it's so cheap now
Chase Adams
Someone doesn't understand the nature of the problem people had with sourceforge. NAS4Free isn't some windows installer they could bundle shit with (sf stopped that anyway), it's static images for the os, hosted via sf long before it got a bad name (and still there because NAS4Free was never impacted).
Hunter King
In order of preference CentOS on XFS on LVM. FreeBSD straight up with zfs, not FreeNAS.
Will be easier to do things you want to do when you're not constricted by the GUI for config management. The GUI won't randomly break your custom config unexpectedly, the GUI doesn't fit every scenario perfectly, the GUI needs to be avoided.
I manage one freenas box and it drives me insane. I have two NICs in the machine and I want one of them dedicated to jails with vIMAGE network statcks. This is impossible to configure with freenas 11, but absurdly easy with straight freebsd.
Austin Foster
Interesting choice, I'm a bit of a scrub when it comes to Linux and using the terminal, but that may be a good solution for me as it will force me to learn it (something I've been meaning to do for a while now). Thanks for the advice!
Jose Rodriguez
OpenMediaVault, don't fall for FreeNAS meme, run your NAS on modern hardware.
Charles Hughes
Anything with proper ZFS support (*BSD based) is god tier for NAS provided you have ecc ram. Otherwise just go with some pleb tier Linux/XFS.
Jaxon Bell
synology dsm via xpenology
Connor Powell
What's the advantage to having a NAS instead of just throwing linux on an old box and sharing drives via samba?
Ryder Russell
That old Linux box is a NAS too, but I agree with your point. Business users need the high availability of RAID systems, but it's overkill as a home user, and potentially wasted time, when you have to start worrying about failures during rebuilds, write holes and whatnot. ZFS alleviates both problems but then you need ECC, tons of RAM... And RAID never replaces a backup.
Most people would be well served with refining and testing their backup strategies first and foremost. Only then it makes sense to think about NAS systems with RAID...
