FreeNAS or Premade NAS Box

[Jerry11097]

Hi, I am having trouble deciding whether I should purchase Synology or setup FreeNAS on a small old computer. As of now I have FreeNAS setup inside a virtualbox, but from other postings its not recommended to run FreeNAS virtually. My purpose for creating a personal cloud is to backup my files,use it to sync all of my devices, and access my cloud from outside the LAN. I have about 2tb of storage need to be backed up. I would like for about max 5 users to access my personal cloud so I can share files with them. I am looking for a fast,reliable, secure solution. Any recommendations?

 

[melloa]

or setup Freenas on a small old computer.

It depends. Read the recommended hardware to see if your old computer will do it. Here's the link: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

 

[wblock]

How much does the Synology setup cost?

 

[Jerry11097]

How much does the Synology setup cost?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GB9ZJ3Q/?tag=ozlp-20
It cost 425 with out the hardrives and about 750 with two nas red drives included.

 

[Jerry11097]

It depends. Read the recommended hardware to see if your old computer will do it. Here's the link: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

Looks like my old computer wont handle it. I only have 4gbs with an old motherboard that does not support ECC ram.

 

[wblock]

For that kind of money, you can build a Supermicro X10 or X11 system. FreeNAS uses a standard filesystem, so if the motherboard dies, you can connect it to something else and still get to your data. Some of the proprietary systems aren't so open.

 

[melloa]

Some of the proprietary systems aren't so open.

That's so true ...

 

[Jerry11097]

For that kind of money, you can build a Supermicro X10 or X11 system. FreeNAS uses a standard filesystem, so if the motherboard dies, you can connect it to something else and still get to your data. Some of the proprietary systems aren't so open.

I see that makes sense, what if I use normal hardrives instead of NAS red drives to save money? Should I worry about having ECC installed? A

 

[snaptec]

Normal drives are ok. Ecc is a must


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[melloa]

I see that makes sense, what if I use normal hardrives instead of NAS red drives to save money? Should I worry about having ECC installed?

As ZFS keeps lots of things in memory, ECC and UPS are a must have; Disks? Desktop grade works, but not as durable as Red, so you may be changing disks more often. Also when replacing a disk the remaining ones goes under lot of stress to resilver the data and other may fail, so read https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/ to understand the best configuration for your volumes.

 

[Jerry11097]

As ZFS keeps lots of things in memory, ECC and UPS are a must have; Disks? Desktop grade works, but not as durable as Red, so you may be changing disks more often. Also when replacing a disk the remaining ones goes under lot of stress to resilver the data and other may fail, so read https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/ to understand the best configuration for your volumes.

Ok, I will read that. Thanks for all of this info I want to be sure in the long run that my system is stable. I plan to keep my files on the personal cloud for many years.

 

[Stux]

You still need a backup plan, with either the synology or FreeNAS

For that type of money I'd suggest going with a quality FreeNAS build.

I'd also recommend NAS drives, either seagate or wd. Look for specials/sales

 

[anodos]

Normal drives are ok. Ecc is a must


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Some desktop hard drives have been known to fail prematurely due to excessive load cycles (WD Greens without using wdidle)

 

[anodos]

A lenovo TS140 + RAM upgrade can usually be had for less than $425.

 

[tvsjr]

The Synology boxes are nice... that's where I started. But, you have to stay within their "box" for optimal results. If you start going outside the box, you run into challenges. They can be overcome, but still. I kept mine and use it for various backup tasks. They also aren't cheap. But they are much easier to set up and run. They also (typically) prevent you from doing anything egregiously dumb.

If you have the time, want the geek cred, or want more flexibility, go with FreeNAS. Run your services in jails, or build a ESXi whitebox server and run your server stuff there with your FreeNAS as the storage target (either for the VMs themselves or just for the data).

 

[Jerry11097]

You still need a backup plan, with either the synology or FreeNAS

For that type of money I'd suggest going with a quality FreeNAS build.

I'd also recommend NAS drives, either seagate or wd. Look for specials/sales

So your saying on top of a free nas build you need a back up like synology? Yea, that was the main purpose, but the price tag on synology was not appealing.

 

[Jerry11097]

Some desktop hard drives have been known to fail prematurely due to excessive load cycles (WD Greens without using wdidle)

Ok so its best just to get NAS red drives. What if one hardrive fails?

 

[snaptec]

Pull it out, a new one in and stick to the manual (chapter replace)
Done

Except you made only stripes.
Raidz2 is good for reliability


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[tvsjr]

So your saying on top of a free nas build you need a back up like synology? Yea, that was the main purpose, but the price tag on synology was not appealing.

Not at all. That's just what I had laying around, so I used it. However, you should have some sort of backup strategy... RAID/ZFS isn't a replacement for backup. Remember the 3-2-1 strategy:
Have 3 copies of your data - the original and two backups
Keep the backup data on 2 different types of storage (disk and disk, disk and tape, disk and cloud, etc.)
Have 1 backup copy off-site.

 

[Stux]

Yes, a backup strategy/plan.

That might be connecting an external USB drive and copying your important stuff to it. Or it might be a crashplan subscription.

But you need one with FreeNAS or synology. Unless your NAS is your backup plan.

Which implies it's not the original copy.

3-2-1 is a good strategy.

3 copies including the original, 2 are backups, 1 of the backups is offsite.