Can I install FreeNAS on an HP EX485 WHS?

[AzJazz]

It has a Celeron 440 Processor with 2GB of RAM, and no keyboard / video / mouse interfaces.

The Celeron and RAM may be a bit limiting, but I'm guessing the real roadblock will be the "no KVM interfaces".

If the KVM is an issue, can I install FreeNAS on a new hard drive in my home PC (pulling out the other hard drives first), and then moving the FreeNAS drive over to the WHS enclosure?

Thanks,

AzJazz

 

[zambanini]

lol.

it is really not worse to give you a better answer then: no.


do yourself a favor: read the manual, read the forum sticky posts.

 

[zambanini]

double post. deleted content.

 

[danb35]

The lack of KVM could be worked around as you suggest. The CPU and RAM, though, are unacceptable for FreeNAS.

 

[AzJazz]

OK, thanks, guys!

(@zambanini - I did do a search in this "Installation" forum for "WHS" before posting, and didn't find anything, so that's why I asked the question)

 

[zambanini]

http://web.freenas.org/hardware-requirements/ :)

 

[AzJazz]

Well, FWIW - I was able to install and run FreeNAS on my existing EX485 without any problems! :)

I first built my flash drive inside a virtual machine, plugged it into the lower back USB port of my EX485 (the bootable port), and it booted up after a minute or so. I found the assigned IP address from my Router's DHCP client table, and opened up the FreeNAS web page.

Now that I know it's possible, I'll start looking into upgrading my memory, and purchase a few new hard drives.

I'll have a new NAS set up for under $250 ... pretty reasonable!

Thanks, guys!

 

[zambanini]

you really need ecc ram. do not complain with this hw when you have problems.

 

[seabirdmusic]

Well, FWIW - I was able to install and run FreeNAS on my existing EX485 without any problems! :)

I first built my flash drive inside a virtual machine, plugged it into the lower back USB port of my EX485 (the bootable port), and it booted up after a minute or so. I found the assigned IP address from my Router's DHCP client table, and opened up the FreeNAS web page.

Now that I know it's possible, I'll start looking into upgrading my memory, and purchase a few new hard drives.

I'll have a new NAS set up for under $250 ... pretty reasonable!

Thanks, guys!

Hey there, I'm trying to do the same thing on my EX485, would you mind sharing what version of Freenas you used and which bay you had your hard drive installed in?

 

[AzJazz]

Hi, @seabirdmusic - I sent you a PM.

 

[ejames730]

Hi AzJazz, did you ever end up adding the 4GB RAM? I'm just running it with 3 500GB drives I had laying around, so the 2GB is okay for now but 4GB would be better. I'm curious what brand and type you bought. Thanks.

Before anyone freaks out I know I need ECC RAM and 8GB of it (which is probably not supported by the WHS). I'm really just using this on the WHS since I had the hardware and it doesn't have ANY important data. I'm getting my hands dirty on this before I dedicate any serious hardware to it.

 

[AzJazz]

Hi @ejames730 - No, I didn't put in the additional RAM (There are non-ECC 8GB options available, though limited). Based on the comments in this thread and this thread), my valuable business data wasn't worth risking. The folks in the forum sufficiently scared me.

I'm saving up for a FreeNAS setup, but probably 6+ months away.

Unfortunately, I am still risking my data, since I know one of my WHS drives has started acting flakey - but, I don't know which one. Hopefully, not the system disk.

AzJazz

 

[ejames730]

Hi @ejames730 - No, I didn't put in the additional RAM (There are non-ECC 8GB options available, though limited). Based on the comments in this thread and this thread), my valuable business data wasn't worth risking. The folks in the forum sufficiently scared me.

I'm saving up for a FreeNAS setup, but probably 6+ months away.

Unfortunately, I am still risking my data, since I know one of my WHS drives has started acting flakey - but, I don't know which one. Hopefully, not the system disk.

AzJazz

Thanks @AzJazz , eBay has a few sticks so I might just try them out and put them in another system if they don't work.

If you are worried about your data you might want to look into iDrive ( no relation to Apple). I'm able to get 1.25TB of online backup for 300 a year. I've seen other places giving unlimited, but then they get mad at you for any substantial use.