am excited about FreeNas and have questions on best way to use

[Detox]

Hello All! this my first post here. I hope it is in the correct place and I do not frustrate anyone with it.
I want to use freenas for many reasons. It appears to be the best solution for many functions. BUT,,,, I need some opinions on the how-to's. Here are the basic functions I want to use:
1. Basic info: have approx 40 offices ranging from 1 person - 10 people in each
2. each staff needs personal file repository (we have about 90)
3. each office/location needs shared files for staff in that office
4. want to set up auto backup for computers (similar to windows backup - mydocs, desktop, email, etc)
5. email notification of any file uploaded or changed to all staff in a specific office (file versioning if possible)
6. personal and office based files would sync like dropbox
7. accessed via local net and web simply

I can build some baseline pc's to run freenas for each office, or re-use a power edge 2950 (if it will let me configure HD's as JBOD) for all.
Am I asking too much for freenas? Is there a better way? Thanks for any comments. Oh, I am on a tight budget as we are a non-profit with limited resources, so I cannot build a 'mega-server'

 

[Mirfster]

K, guess I will take a stab... Keep in mind this is only me "spitballing"...

Basic info: have approx 40 offices ranging from 1 person - 10 people in each

I can build some baseline pc's to run freenas for each office, or re-use a power edge 2950 (if it will let me configure HD's as JBOD) for all.

TBH, not seeing it happening with a single PowerEdge 2950. As far as baseline PCs, please take some time to read "Recommended Reading" in my sig... Mainly the one pertaining to hardware recommendation.

each staff needs personal file repository (we have about 90)

FreeNas does have "Home Directories" so that should suffice for this

each office/location needs shared files for staff in that office

Can do that with setting up Shares and assigning proper rights (Groups)

want to set up auto backup for computers (similar to windows backup - mydocs, desktop, email, etc)

There are possibilities, but e-mails can get quite large. You may want to consider a different route for e-mails. For example, I use Office 365 and have my Exchange Server hosted there. While I do run Outlook on my PCs, the e-mail is synced with the hosted Exchange Server. So, in the end there is already a "live" copy that I can access on the web, via Outlook and on my cell phone. If I delete something anywhere it is then deleted everywhere.

email notification of any file uploaded or changed to all staff in a specific office (file versioning if possible)

Not sure exactly what you mean by this? Are you saying if Jane (who is part of a group called "Accountants") in the Orlando Office uploads or changes a file on the Server (would this be the local server or a centralized one) then you want everyone to get notified or even just everyone in the same group "Accountants"? That is a lot of notifications that can go flying around...

personal and office based files would sync like dropbox

Syncing can be done, but are you asking for Real-Time syncs?

accessed via local net and web simply

What type of Web Access are you thinking of? A "Webpage" that everyone goes to or maybe thinking about VPN access?

Am I asking too much for freenas? Is there a better way? Thanks for any comments. Oh, I am on a tight budget as we are a non-profit with limited resources, so I cannot build a 'mega-server'

TBH, in my opinion the answer is "Yes, you are asking too much of FreeNas". Not that I don't think FreeNas can handle this but more along the lines that to try and get all of this working with your requirements (we really don't even know how much storage space is being considered) it is going to cost a lot.

Since you have so many sites and are limited on resources, perhaps you should look at combining some online services? Just take a gander at combining the offerings for DropBox Business and Office 365 for Business

BTW, Welcome and sorry if I spoiled your expectations. :)

 

[Detox]

Mirfster - Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. I would like to add my response to your comments under yours.............

K, guess I will take a stab... Keep in mind this is only me "spitballing"...



TBH, not seeing it happening with a single PowerEdge 2950. As far as baseline PCs, please take some time to read "Recommended Reading" in my sig... Mainly the one pertaining to hardware recommendation.

Sounds like I need to group offices onto more localized pc's. I can make each PC with suggested CPU / RAM/ Hard drives. It will take me a bit longer, and I will need to focus on the multi-staff offices for now


FreeNas does have "Home Directories" so that should suffice for this

That will "fit the bill" for 'private' data


Can do that with setting up Shares and assigning proper rights (Groups)

Got it - South office has 4 staff. Share created for "SouthOffice" then create subfolders for data to share. Do for each milti-staff Office.


There are possibilities, but e-mails can get quite large. You may want to consider a different route for e-mails. For example, I use Office 365 and have my Exchange Server hosted there. While I do run Outlook on my PCs, the e-mail is synced with the hosted Exchange Server. So, in the end there is already a "live" copy that I can access on the web, via Outlook and on my cell phone. If I delete something anywhere it is then deleted everywhere.

Email - I meant to say this is part of a backup run. Windows Backup (as example) allows backup of folders and email (pst?) to usb / network drive. I saw several backup plugins that may allow me to do this (such as rsync / syncthing / crashplan)


Not sure exactly what you mean by this? Are you saying if Jane (who is part of a group called "Accountants") in the Orlando Office uploads or changes a file on the Server (would this be the local server or a centralized one) then you want everyone to get notified or even just everyone in the same group "Accountants"? That is a lot of notifications that can go flying around...

Yes, document collaboration would result in emails to shared individuals; folder for "you_must_read_this_dumb_stuff" email notification; etc as examples


Syncing can be done, but are you asking for Real-Time syncs?

I'd be happy with either. Real-Time would be great, but timed runs (every 4 hours; daily; etc) would work also


What type of Web Access are you thinking of? A "Webpage" that everyone goes to or maybe thinking about VPN access?

Web access for those "road warriors" who need info from the freenas. I can secure it fairly well without VPN, but putting in a VPN is good also


TBH, in my opinion the answer is "Yes, you are asking too much of FreeNas". Not that I don't think FreeNas can handle this but more along the lines that to try and get all of this working with your requirements (we really don't even know how much storage space is being considered) it is going to cost a lot.

Since you have so many sites and are limited on resources, perhaps you should look at combining some online services? Just take a gander at combining the offerings for DropBox Business and Office 365 for Business

I cannot use DropBox or Office 365 as we have HIPPA requirements that will make the cost of either out of our budget. This is why I need to build myself

BTW, Welcome and sorry if I spoiled your expectations. :)

You have not spoiled anything. Your comments have given me a different way to look at it. As it stands, I will build a FreeNas server on an older Poweredge T420 with 16 Gig Ram and three 600Gig HD for one office as a prototype / demo.

I may not even be able to build "adaquate" FreeNas units for everyone that should use it, but I have to start somewhere.

The biggest use will be 'centralized' file sharing for multi-staff offices and a place for backups of data from local PC's. This is what I hope to demo with the first build.

Thanks again for your thoughtful comments!

 

[hugovsky]

Maybe use freenas with owncloud and install it in every computer?