Does Free Nas Support A Setup With Different Size Drives

Sam works as a network analyst for an algorithmic trading firm. He obtained his bachelor'south degree in information technology from UMKC.

Every bit the number of devices on my network continues to increase, I've found that the need for centralized network storage continues to grow. Storage is a lot easier to manage and backup when information technology is all in 1 central location.

Instead of buying a network attached storage appliance, I opted to build my own using FreeNAS and some erstwhile computer hardware, which I seem to take plenty of!

FreeNAS is a network storage operating organization that is based on FreeBSD 8.0. FreeNAS has a lot of great features built in that make information technology easy to fix upward and manage.

Since it's completely gratuitous to use, you can use the coin you lot save to buy more difficult drives for your NAS also!

What Is Network Attached Storage?

An NAS is basically a computer continued to a network that is dedicated to data storage and file sharing. Most NAS systems use a stripped-downward operating system optimized for security and reliability.

Unlike a regular file server network storage systems are typically more like an appliance than a server. It's not unusual for a NAS to operate without a display, keyboard, or mouse.

FreeNAS Features

I similar to utilise FreeNAS because it has lots of dissimilar features and can be customized for unlike environments. All-time of all, information technology's completely free and open up source!

Beneath are some of the features that I consider to be the most useful ones. You can find a more than a more comprehensive list of features on the FreeNAS website.

Spider web interface - After FreeNAS is installed, all of the configuration tin be managed through the web interface. There is no need to accept a keyboard or monitor connected to the device.
Back up for several protocols - FreeNAS has support for several dissimilar protocols including CIFS (Samba), FTP, TFTP, NFS, SSH and many others.
ZFS filesystem support - ZFS is a cut edge fully open-source filesystem. ZFS includes several corking features such as data integrity protection, automatic repair, and RAID-Z.
Remote monitoring - FreeNAS has several features that permit the system to be managed and monitored remotely. Syslog support allows the NAS logs to be forwarded to a remote system. SNMP monitoring allows performance counters and other information to exist remotely polled. Email alerts can also be configured to provide additional visibility of the systems status.

Hardware Requirements for FreeNAS

FreeNAS 8 is based on FreeBSD 8.2. To build a high performance NAS using the ZFS filesystem, yous're going to demand a computer with a 64-fleck processor and at least 6GB of RAM.

If you are edifice a simple home performance NAS, you can utilize the UFS filesystem which has much less requirements.

Recommended Hardware

Processor - 2GHz or ameliorate Intel or AMD 64-Fleck
Memory - 6GB Minimum for ZFS (1GB per Terabyte of storage)
Network - Gigabit PCI or PCIe adapter

For more than details about the hardware requirements for FreeNAS 8, check out the hardware requirements page.

Installing FreeNAS

FreeNAS tin be installed on a difficult drive, memory menu, or USB flash drive. I similar to use a USB drive because it saves more room in the NAS for hard drives. The installation requires about 2.5GB of space so it will fit on most USB drives.

Curl to Go on

If you do install the software on a hard drive, the drive must be dedicated to the operating system. This means you cannot utilize that bulldoze for file storage.

To get started with the installation, yous volition need to download the ISO file and burn information technology to a CD. If you are installing FreeNAS on a 32-bit system, download the i386 file. If your system has a 64-bit processo,r apply the amd64 iso file.

Running the Installer

After you lot have burned the ISO to a disc, place it in to the machine and boot from information technology. In one case the live CD has finished loading, the installation magician will run.

At the outset screen select choice 1 (Install/Upgrade).
Select the drive to install FreeNAS onto.
Confirm your drive selection. The destination drive will be erased so be sure to select the correct drive.
Reboot the organisation and remove the installation disc.

Installation Screenshots

Select option 1 to begin the installation.

Select selection i to brainstorm the installation.

Configuring an IP Address

When FreeNAS finishes booting, the panel setup menu can be displayed. The first thing you should do at this point is assign an IP address for the arrangement. Once an IP accost has been assigned you can access the web user interface.

Select option 1 from the console menu.
Chose the interface you want to configure. There will only be one choice here unless your system has multiple network cards.
Cull "no" when asked to delete the existing configuration.
Select "no" again to disable DHCP.

FreeNAS console setup bill of fare.

Accessing the Web Interface

After yous have assigned an IP address, you can connect to FreeNAS using the web gui. To connect, simply open upwards your web browser and type in the address yous assigned to the NAS.

The default username and password for the web GUI is admin/freenas.

From within the spider web interface, yous tin configure shares, enable or disable services, and admission the reports and monitoring features.

freenas-8-setup-guide-how-to-build-your-own-nas

Creating a New Volume

The first step in setting upwards a file share is to create a volume. A book is made upwardly of one or more physical disks.

To create a new volume click on the storage tab then click the button labeled "Create Volume".
Next, assign a name to the book and select the member disks. If y'all are selecting more than one disk the raid options will become available.
Select a filesystem type of ZFS or UFS. I always use ZFS unless I'm setting up FreeNAS on a system without much memory or a slower CPU. ZFS is a ameliorate filesystem but requires a more powerful computer to run it.
Click on "Add together Book" to finish creating the volume. This process volition erase whatsoever files already on the drive so be careful!

The first step in adding a file share is creating a volume, this can be done by clicking on the storage tab.

The first step in calculation a file share is creating a book, this can exist washed by clicking on the storage tab.

Datasets

Volumes tin can be divided further into datasets, each dataset tin take unlike quotas assigned to them.

Datasets also allow yous to apply compression to a dataset without having to compress an unabridged volume.

I like to create a dissever dataset for each share that I programme to create. For example I created individual datasets for videos, pictures, music, etc. This allows me to control access to the shares on a much more granular level.

Volumes can be divided into data sets with individual settings. — Volumes can be divided into information sets with individual settings.

Turning on Services

FreeNAS supports several unlike protocols that permit clients to access files on the NAS in many different means.

By default all of the services are turned off. I recommend only turning on the services that you program to use. This will preserve system resources and increase security also.

To plough on services click on the services tab in the web gui and click on any service that you want to enable.

Individual services can be enabled or disabled through the services tab. — Individual services tin can be enabled or disabled through the services tab.

Later the services you're planning to run have been turned on you can begin adding shares. To set up a share click on the shares tab and then select either Apple, Unix, or Windows.

The share path can point to a volume or a dataset.

File shares for Windows, Unix , or Apple clients can be added on the shares tab. — File shares for Windows, Unix , or Apple clients tin exist added on the shares tab.

Learning More Most FreeNAS

I've just started to scratch the surface of what you can do with FreeNAS.

Equally an open source platform, FreeNAS has tons of features that yous won't find in near commercial NAS products.

The FreeNAS documentation contains a lot of dandy information on how to configure various unlike services in sharing systems.

This commodity is authentic and true to the all-time of the author's noesis. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes merely and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.

Dan on June 05, 2018:

Whenever I attempt to install on my wink drive, it says the device is not configured. Any help?

Bob on April 04, 2018:

Resurrecting a post from vii years ago, giving the post a 2018 date with a UI from 2011?

Republic of chad Crouch from Due south Africa on September 20, 2016:

Bang-up commodity!

timtalkstech on June 18, 2013:

Great hub showing how to setup your own NAS.

networmed from SPL on March 12, 2012:

You hub is such a good timing. I'll be setting up on one of my client'south function.

Exmedic113 on February 15, 2012:

Solid...FreeNas is intuitive and rock solid reliable and enables repurposing unused hardware. First-class Hub Skear!

usenetreviewz from Washington DC on December 19, 2011:

cheers for this commodity . would y'all have a recommendation virtually the best NAS program that would be compatible with Usenet apps such equally SABNZBD, etc

Julz09 on Oct 29, 2011:

first-class hub, free NAS is great to use.

Sam Kear (writer) from Kansas Metropolis on October 27, 2011:

Here is a link to the roadmap for version 8.1 in case anyone else is interested.

http://www.freenas.org/about/news/detail/freenas-81-...

Sam Kear (author) from Kansas City on October 27, 2011:

@wegl

Not nevertheless, but both of those features are in the roadmap for version 8.1. At the charge per unit updates are coming out I don't think we are too far abroad from seeing a release, it's in beta now.

wegl on October 27, 2011:

iTunes and Torrent ??? DLNA ?

Sam Kear (writer) from Kansas Urban center on Oct 24, 2011:

Cheers Gazook! I think turning an old pc into a NAS is a great way to recycle hardware. A laptop would really make a squeamish micro NAS. If y'all want to add together boosted storage you could hook up an external hard drive to the laptop via usb or esata.

Jesper Berg on October 23, 2011:

Excellent guide. Volition try this on an former(ish) laptop that should easily exist able to serve equally a decent NAS minus zfs.