Is FreeNAS for me?

[Stuart Middleton]

I'm aiming to set up a home network with some fairly specific needs. My main 'concern' is finding the right OS for the server at the heart of my network, and I'm hoping that someone experienced with FreeNAS will be able to give me an honest opinion - out of the different options available, is FreeNAS the right choice for me?

Network hardware
I'm looking to set up a home network consisting of:

* HP ProLiant G7 N54L MicroServer (OS to be decided)
* Windows 7 (Home) laptop
* Windows 7 (Home) desktop
* Windows XP desktop (can live without)
* Android-based wireless tablet (can live without)
* OpenSuse 13.1 laptop (can live without)
* TalkTalk wireless router

Requirements
The ideal set up would include (in order of importance):
1) MicroServer as file server
2) MicroServer as SQL database server (very low demand)
3) Remote management of server (within local network or VPN)
4) Workgroup is secure (i.e. no external access)
5) Access within the workgroup is as free as possible (no internal security required)
6) VPN so can access server from different location (access to files)
7) VPN so can access server from different location (server management)
8) Supports an internally deployed web application (PHP based - again, very small)
9) Scheduled backup / sync to other part of VPN.

At this point, you might be thinking "geez, does he want a cure for cancer and world peace as well?" Well, I'm aiming high and accepting that I may not get everything that I want. Ridiculous as it sounds given the above list, I'm looking for a solution as simple as I can get away with.

My knowledge
Whilst nowhere near an entry level user, neither am I a computing expert - let alone in the field of networking for which my knowledge is rudimentary. I'm okay with using command-line, but much happier with a GUI. I'm experience on OpenSUSE linux, which I've run at home for many years and have tinkered in a wide range of software, but never professionally.

Views?

Stuart

 

[cyberjock]

My advice is to put FreeNAS in a VM and experiment with it. Use the manual and stickies. Either you'll figure it out and get it working for your use-case or you won't. What would suck particularly bad is to commit $ to a FreeNAS server and have it not work out.

In short, the "right choice for you" is based solely on your ability to use FreeNAS. Many people with 10+ years of experience get their butts handed to them, and amateurs with just a few years figure it out. The right choice is what you can figure out(or not figure out) on your own.

Sorry I don't have a solid answer for you. I will say that for your intended use FreeNAS is a very valid option. It's just a matter of figuring it all out.

 

[tzd]

The MicroServer will work well as a dedicated file server with FreeNAS but you won't be able to make it run as a DB server as well. I have been running my FreeNAS on a N40L with 8GB RAM, 3x WD Red disks in RaidZ1. It's been running for two years and works exceptionally well. You really should get WD Red disks because I've had many other disks fail on me in this machine - WD Greens, Barracudas and a Samsung Spinpoint. But RaidZ1 does it's job well and I never lost any data.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Richman]

Off the top of my head I can't see a problem with all 9 items on your list. Files system needed for DB shouldn't be an issue and if yo needed more than one format you could make more than one vdev. Plug-ins to do certain things is the only thing I can think of that maybe something to check.
But I would do what CJ suggested, play around with it in a vm and see how it works for your needs. That is one of the big things that the vm environment is great for and is a really good idea.

 

[Stuart Middleton]

Testing on a virtual machine really hadn't crossed my mind and I'll certainly be giving it a go. Words of warning heeded.

Thanks

Stuart

 

[joeschmuck]

When testing in a VM, ensure you have enough RAM dedicated to the VM. 6GB minimum but if you are going to try to actually emulate all the features at once, put as much RAM into as your system can afford. As for speed, well that will depend on the VM system a lot so keep that in mind if you are doing something and think it's running too slow.

 

[Richman]

When testing in a VM, ensure you have enough RAM dedicated to the VM. 6GB minimum but if you are going to try to actually emulate all the features at once, put as much RAM into as your system can afford. As for speed, well that will depend on the VM system a lot so keep that in mind if you are doing something and think it's running too slow.

Do you really need that much RAM if your testing with a small vdev of say 100GB?

 

[joeschmuck]

Honestly I don't know but I try to simulate the environment as much as possible. If the OP wants to load up many applications, and possibly even use jails, those things eat up RAM. 6GB minimum is only my opinion but then again I have 24GB RAM on my main computer so I can run large VMs if I need to. Okay, that is the only reason I have so much RAM, so I can run several VMs and not have any paging issues.

 

[jgreco]

Pretty sure MySQL will happily run in a jail.

 

[anika200]

eehhh gads just try it out and see if it works;) Home network, no big deal.

 

[cyberjock]

Hey, I allocated 3GB of 16GB in a jail last night. So never underestimate how much RAM a jail needs. My biggest concern with the jails function is 99% of FreeNAS users cannot properly ascertain how much RAM their jail is using. Therefore many users are just flat out unable to determine how much RAM they need. I've thought about adding a comment to the hardware requirements that says something like 8GB+whatever jail memory you use. But then the question will be asked "how much RAM" and that's heavily dependent on the application and its settings. SabNZBD on the surface lets you create massive file caches in RAM for downloading, so even claiming "100MB" could be a lie as a simple 0 added to one setting can make that value increase by a factor of 10.