Considering moving from a Samba file server to FreeNAS, looking for advice

[bazzacad]

We're currently running a CentOS Samba Active Directory server & a Samba file server (on different VMs). I'm now considering moving to a FreeNAS box for our shared storage. Since FreeNAS has SMB & Active Directory built in, I'm wondering if we still need our Samba file server or not?

Option 1, have one big share on the FreeNAS box & have the file server mount it via iSCSI & keep managing all the shares & permissions.

Option 2, setup all the shares & permissions on FreeNAS and have all the Windows clients connect to it directly.

Any suggestions or advice on these options?

I'm thinking Option 1 will be easier up front, since all the users, shares & permissions are already setup, but it's basically just acting as a middle man.
Option 2 will be more work up front, but easy to manage in the long run with the FreeNAS UI.
How easy/diffidence is it to get FreeNAS with Active Directory? Are there any issues getting it to work with Samba Active Directory vs. Windows Active Directory?

 

[dlavigne]

Did you decide upon a solution?

 

[Johnny Fartpants]

Option 2 all the way.

Option 1 would require a zvol and then you could only go to about 50% capacity due to fragmentation plus you are adding layers that are just not needed.

I do Option 2 with AD integration on several large storage servers and it works just great.

 

[jgreco]

https://www.ixsystems.com/community...res-more-resources-for-the-same-result.28178/

You probably don't *need* to keep the Samba AD but you are more likely to have a pleasant experience if you keep it, just because migrating these things can be a bit of a PITA.

 

[bazzacad]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm going to give Option 2 a try. Hopefully it's not too painful to migrate.