Do It Yourself NAS

We talk with James Nixon from the FreeNAS project which lets you have a disk storage system on your network at home.

via TWiT.TV.

What is FreeNAS you say? Put simply, its is an operating system based on FreeBSD that brings with it a snazzy web interface for management, and all the protocols you need to share files between Windows, Mac and Linux. In other words, a perfect solution for your digital bookshelf. Lets get to it.

via Engadget.

AnandTech published a great overview of building your own file server, with overviews of current operating system and hardware options.

Whether your budget and storage needs are modest or extensive, we have you covered in the latest builder’s guide to file server systems.

via AnandTech

According to iXsystems developer James T. Nixon III, FreeNAS 8.0 includes major architectural optimisations and is more modular than previous versions. It features a redesigned GUI, built using Python and the Django web framework, that is aimed at making the OS easier to use. ZFS and UFS2 file systems are both supported – ZFS is used as the primary file system.

via The H Open Source

bit-tech.net has a new article on building a FreeNAS box, including choosing hardware and installing the software.

An older post, but still good, Systm walks through installing FreeNAS:

If you’re just itching for an excuse to reuse that retired desktop PC or laptop sitting in your closet there here’s your chance. Today we’ll be looking at the basics of installing FreeNAS, an open-source DIY NAS. So instead of spending money on off the shelf options why not save yourself some cash and make use of the stuff you already have and get a super customizable network storage device to boot.

via Revision3 > Systm > Episode 60: Build Your Own NAS.

Learn FreeNAS has posted a list of major features expected to appear in the 0.8 release of FreeNAS. Included are a base on FreeBSD 8 or 8.1, an interface built on Django, AHCI SATA drivers, UFS2 journaling, and more.

Learn FreeNAS » FreeNAS 0.8 Roadmap

Computerworld is recommending 10 free storage utilities for NAS and SAN use. Number 2 on the list is FreeNAS.

Howto Forge has a great howto for installing and configuring FreeNAS 0.68.

This tutorial shows how you can set up a network-attached storage server with FreeNAS. FreeNAS is based on the FreeBSD operating system and supports CIFS (samba), FTP, NFS, RSYNC, SSH, local user authentication, and software RAID (0, 1, 5). It comes with a powerful web interface and uses very little space on the hard drive – about 32MB.

SmallNetBuilder’s guide to building your own NAS device. In it they use a standard PC with an LSI Logic MegaRAID hardware-based RAID card. Included are step-by-step screenshots on setting up the RAID device using the MegaRAID’s bios, and benchmark of the machine while running Ubuntu Linux and FreeNAS.

NewsForge reviews FreeNAS 0.66.

FreeNAS, an open source NAS server, can convert a PC into a network-attached storage server. The software, which is based on FreeBSD, Samba, and PHP, includes an operating system that supports various software RAID models and a Web user interface. The server supports access from Windows machines, Apple Macs, FTP, SSH, and Network File System (NFS), and it takes up less than 16MB of disk space on a hard drive or removable media.