How Does FreeNAS Compare To Other NAS Options?

[NAS-Plus]

I'm still fairly new to FreeNAS. I like FreeNAS very much thus far.

I'm curious, is there a way to compare FreeNAS to other NAS alternatives? I came across an article at:
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas...eenas-mini-second-generation-reviewed?start=2

I can't tell if their comparison tests are valid or meaningful. I am mostly using FreeNAS for backup now so speed is not a big concern. I might use it in the role of file server or iSCSI target. If I use it for these roles speed will be more of a concern. This article mentioned that the FreeNAS was slow in write compared to two QNAP devices that they tested the iXsystems Mini 2014 FreeNAS device against. How would you contrast FreeNAS devices in this price range and hardware level to other similarly equipped NAS devices?

 

[m0nkey_]

You're going to get a biased answer on the FreeNAS forums :)

It appears at first glance, the writer does not fully understand ZFS. If you're going to be using iSCSI, you're going to want something a little more powerful than the Mini.

The type of writes you're going to be doing (synchronous vs asynchronous) are going to have an impact on your write speed. If you're performing synchronous writes (i.e. ESXI datastore), you're going to want a SLOG device (an SSD) to temporary cache writes until they can be flushed to the pool, which helps improve write speeds. A SLOG device doesn't need to be huge (you're not going to use more than a couple of GB at a time).

Under normal home use, speed will not be an issue. My writes are 115MB/sec over the network (Gigabit), which is way faster than my previous NAS (Synology) would perform.

You also get the huge interactive community that comes with FreeNAS.

 

[danb35]

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas...eenas-mini-second-generation-reviewed?start=2

From the article:

But NETGEAR's ReadyNASes can go toe-to-toe with ZFS for data integrity using the BTRFS file system.

lol

 

[m0nkey_]

lol

I saw this too. The author obviously are unaware of the issues surrounding BTRFS.

 

[NASbox]

You also get the huge interactive community that comes with FreeNAS.

The community here is very friendly and helpful.

Only thing I don't really like about FreeNAS is that it is a bit picky about hardware, and the hardware tends to be expensive.

On the upsidefrom my 4 years of use it's very reliable, and ZFS scrubs have uncovered and cleaned up problems that file systems like extX or NTFS wouldn't have.

Also quickly and easily swapped out drives with no hassle at all.

The devs are also include/and are adding some nice features like a good selection of plugins, jails and VM support depending on what you want your system to do.

You have access to a shell for troubleshooting or writing your own scripts for automation.

Compared to a "black box" consumer grade NAS, it's NO contest.

My impression is that since IX Systems is selling their TrueNAS product to an enterprise clientele, they place reliability/stability/security at the top of the values chain.

Just my $0.02 worth

 

[NAS-Plus]

Thank you all for the feedback. Any comparison or measure makes certain assumptions and has limitations.

m0nkey, when you mentioned that one would want to use a NAS more powerful than a Mini are you referring to the relatively low power processor?

 

[m0nkey_]

m0nkey, when you mentioned that one would want to use a NAS more powerful than a Mini are you referring to the relatively low power processor?

Not really. The Mini is a good NAS for a home user starting out or don't want the hassle of building your own system. Keep in mind, with the Mini, you also get warranty and support from iXsystems which you don't get by building your own.

 

[NAS-Plus]

Yes, it looks like a good unit. iXsystems does not make a rack mount version of this same class NAS, do they? The rack mount iXsystems rack mount server that I have looked at were much more expensive if I remember correctly.

 

[m0nkey_]

Yes, it looks like a good unit. iXsystems does not make a rack mount version of this same class NAS, do they? The rack mount iXsystems rack mount server that I have looked at were much more expensive if I remember correctly.

You're referring to TrueNAS, which are enterprise class systems.

 

[NAS-Plus]

It looks though that they also have a line of Intel-Based Rackmount Servers. They don't appear to me to have TrueNAS.

https://www.ixsystems.com/ix-server-family/rackmount-servers/

 

[wblock]

https://www.ixsystems.com/truenas/

Users can run whatever they want on the server line. The TrueNAS systems have specially-supported hardware configurations.