FreeNAS vs. WHS – Storage Server Challenge
June 25, 2010 by Admin · Leave a Comment
jlebeau put a NAS server together and installed FreeNAS and MS Windows Home Server (WHS) to see which one had the best features. As so often, both product have their good and bad points:
I recently put together some spare hardware to build a home storage server. When you think about all the things you have on your computer(s) these days–pictures, music, movies–you have to think about having a way to back it all up. You can use online backup services, or if you have a bit of time and the hardware to do it, build a home storage server.
I scrounged up some hardware that I had lying around, and got a pair of 1 TB hard drives. With the price on hard drives so low, it only makes sense to give yourself plenty of space. Then the big question was software.
FreeNAS
is an open-source project based on FreeBSD with a ton of great features. Also, as a member of the Microsoft Partner Program, I had access to the newest version of
Windows Home Server. The biggest advantage of WHS is the integration of Windows clients and automated services.
Windows Home Server
- WHS recommends a 2GHz CPU, 1 GB of RAM
- The best feature, in my opinion, is if you need to add more storage
- WHS also has some nice features as a media server
- Third-party plug-ins
FreeNAS features
- Low spec server requirement
- Easy installation
- Documentation not as good
- ZFS support
- several sharing services (incl iTunes)
jlebeau concludes that
Both products are good and well worth using, but for me, FreeNAS was the choice with running a mixed Mac/Windows household. If you are setting one up for yourself, and you are tech savvy, go for FreeNAS. If you want something that is a little more plug-and-play, and you don’t need the cross-platform compatibility, Windows Home Server is a good choice too.
Read the whole review: Storage Server Challenge: FreeNAS vs. WHS
FreeNAS vs NexentaStor
June 17, 2010 by Admin · Leave a Comment
There has been feedback on the FreeNAS forums in the past that network transfer in FreeNAS is slow. HarryD has now tested and compared the performance of FreeNAS 0.7.1 stable (Build 5127) and Nexentastor Community Edition 3.0.2.
From his conclusion it’s apparent that FreeNAS and NexentaStor are very comparable on the performance side. NexentaStor is slitghly faster in most of the disciplines, but the lack of AFP make them both overall equal.
FreeNAS is easy to setup and has a very clear and structured WebGUI. Nexenta has more features (e.g. built in snapshots, deduplication, etc.) At the moment I definitely will stay with FreeNAS as the performance is comparable and I really like the integration of Time Machine via AFP.
OpenMediaVault in action (video)
Volker has created the OpenMediaVault youtube channel
First impressions on OpenMediaVault
iSCSI Target service finished
OpenMediaVault: new weeks, new services
March 11, 2010 by Admin · Leave a Comment
As the weeks pass by, new services are being developed and added to OpenMediaVault.
Volker Theile has implemented the following services:
OpenMediaVault will act as Rsync server if this is enabled. Also scheduled Rsync jobs are supported which can be local or remote, where remote also support the push and pull modes. The user permission thing is a little bit tricky for Rsync modules when acting as a server,
The general SMB/CIFS service frontend and backend has been finished. Currently no Active Directory support has been implemented because i do not have enough knowledge about this feature, also i do not have a Windows Server installation for testing.
The S.M.A.R.T. management has been finished now. It is possible to view and configure various S.M.A.R.T. parameters like the scan interval, temperature monitoring and scheduled tests
What is rsync?
rsync is an open source utility that provides fast incremental file transfer. rsync is freely available under the GNU General Public License and is currently being maintained by Wayne Davison.
What is SMB / CIFS?
The Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol is a network file sharing protocol, and as implemented in Microsoft Windows is known as Microsoft SMB Protocol. The set of message packets that defines a particular version of the protocol is called a dialect. The Common Internet File System (CIFS) Protocol is a dialect of SMB. Both SMB and CIFS are also available on VMS, several versions of Unix, and other operating systems.
What does S.M.A.R.T. stand for?
Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology, or S.M.A.R.T. (sometimes written as SMART), is a monitoring system for computer hard disks to detect and report on various indicators of reliability, in the hope of anticipating failures.
Logo for OpenMediaVault
Volker has created a professional looking new logo for the OpenMediaVault (OMV) Project:
I like it. It’s clear, clean and simple. Just what OpenMediaVault is going to be ;-)
Debian packages, SSL/TLS and JSF
January 27, 2010 by Admin · Leave a Comment
Volker keeps adding great features to OpenMediaVault (OMV) and at this rate it’s going to be the best open source network attached storage (NAS) system available.
Over the last few days he has added/started with
- JSF file support
- SSL/TLS encryption for FTP
- SMB/CIFS service
Journaled File System or JFS is a 64-bit journaling filesystem created by IBM. It is available as free software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). There are versions for AIX, eComStation, OS/2 and Linux operating systems. HP-UX has another, different filesystem named JFS that is actually an OEM version of Veritas Software’s VxFS (wikipedia)
Voker has started to upload some files to SVN (SourceForge) and has decided that openmediavault will be GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3) licensed.
OpenMediaVault : new additions and services
January 18, 2010 by Admin · Leave a Comment
Volker has added TFTP, zeroconf/mDNS and a very useful button: a ‘Send test email’ button on the notification page where users can configure their email settings.
Last, but not least: OpenMediaVault supports the XFS journaling filesystem.
XFS is a high-performance journaling file system created by Silicon Graphics, originally for their IRIX operating system and later ported to Linux kernel. XFS is particularly proficient at handling large files and at offering smooth data transfers – wikipedia
OpenMediaVault Forums online now
January 13, 2010 by Admin · Leave a Comment
Just a heads up: The OpenMediaVault forum is online now. Registered Sourceforge users can post to it.
Feel free to post any questions or start a discussion…
Happy posting.
OpenMediaVault Blog now available (and screenshots)
January 9, 2010 by Admin · Leave a Comment
Work is progressing nicely on OpenMediaVault. The OVM blog is up-and-running now where you can follow progress.
As you can see progress has been made on the bittorrent and iTunes/DAAP section over the last few days.
We have some screenshots:
For more screenshots, head here
The whole admin looks quite attractive, and menu on the left is nice and colorful.
So far the menu consists of:
System
- Cron jobs
- Time
- Notification
- Power management
- General settings
- Network
Disk Management
- Volume
- S.M.A.R.T
Access right Management
- User management
- Shared Folder
Services
- NFS
- BitTorrent
- AFD
- FTP
- SSH
Diagnostics
- System Logs
- Processes
Info
OpenMediaVault project page on sourceforge.net
December 23, 2009 by Admin · 3 Comments
So far the OpenMediaVault.org website is still a default joomla installation page. I’m sure the OpenMediaVault site will be filled with more useful content, when Volker Theile has made it clear for himself what OpenMediaVault is going to be, the roadmap, features for the initial alpha/beta release, etc
In the meantime, have a look at the OpenMediaVault SourceForge page, which was created on 03 December 2009.
Debian based NAS server
OpenMediaVault is a easy to administrate NAS based on Debian. Its primary target is the be open for adding additional services easily. The core system comes with a subset of services like CIFS/SMB, FTP, SSH, UPnP server,
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