Looking for some advice

[Juvx]

Hi Gents, Sorry for the questions but i'm total Newbie.
Just finished up building my freeNAS system running 9.3.
Intel Xeon e3-1246 v3
Asrock c226 WS
Crucial 32GB ECC mem
1 x WD Green 2 TB
6x WD RED 4TB will run Z2 total of 16TB
Single 1GbE
Linksys EA8500 mu-mimo wireless router

Unfortunately it would be almost impossible to run ethernet in my house without a total demolish of all the walls. So right now i have a powerline adaptor from my wireless router to my desktop and the rest is on AC wireless. NAS connected to the router of course.

This NAS will be used as a PLEX server, Photo storage (lightroom index), Mac time machine, Some video editing storage.
I have 3 Mac laptops in the house and 2 Windows 10 PCs. What would be the best configuration for shares for everything to be able to access the file server. Mac AND windows. Preferably with the ability to delete files from either. I've been having a hard time finding the best solution right now the 2tb green is running CIFS only but I'm having trouble with permissions and deleting files from both windows and mac.

Is there anything I can do to improve transfer speeds. I know i'm limited by the wireless connection and by the 1GbE BUT even transfering photos from my old WD NAS (mycloud mirror) to the 2TB Green drive is really really slow like 4-5 MB/s.... It's painfully slow. Both NASes are hooked up directly to the same router.. it shouldn't be this slow should it?

Is there anything else I can do to optimize the system? Thank you so much for your time and sorry for the newbie questions.

 

[DifferentStrokes]

CIFS is probably going to be your best bet with the mix of systems you have. You just might have to put a little time in learning how permissions work and how to implement them.

Even though both servers are connected to the router you are most likely connecting to the shares of both with your computer. So the the files are coming from the share on your old server through your computer and then back to the new server. You could speed things up greatly if you could connect the servers to each other. Does the WD NAS have anything you could use for a direct connection to your FreeNAS box? FTP, SSH, rsync, etc...

 

[Juvx]

CIFS is probably going to be your best bet with the mix of systems you have. You just might have to put a little time in learning how permissions work and how to implement them.

Even though both servers are connected to the router you are most likely connecting to the shares of both with your computer. So the the files are coming from the share on your old server through your computer and then back to the new server. You could speed things up greatly if you could connect the servers to each other. Does the WD NAS have anything you could use for a direct connection to your FreeNAS box? FTP, SSH, rsync, etc...

Do you have any suggestions on the best way to implement permissions for a hybrid network like mine. Also will this affect installing and implementing the PLEX plugin?

You are absolutely right. They are running through my Desktop PC for the transfer. I guess that's why it's going so damn slow. I checked and i'm not aware of WD os having any of those features.

 

[Juvx]

Also, would it benefit me in any way to do link aggregation and buy a switch? from there run it to the router and the powerline adaptor? I have 2 Intel NICs on the MB.

 

[DifferentStrokes]

Do you have any suggestions on the best way to implement permissions for a hybrid network like mine. Also will this affect installing and implementing the PLEX plugin?

Personally, I set my permission type to UNIX when setting up my datasets. I then set the permission, for the CIFS shares, either through the GUI or at the command line. While this is what works best for me it may not be the best thing for you.

Also, would it benefit me in any way to do link aggregation and buy a switch? from there run it to the router and the powerline adaptor? I have 2 Intel NICs on the MB.

For the adding cost and complexity that you'd be adding I really don't think that would be worth it. But that is just me.

 

[diedrichg]

I too use Unix permissions. I have two Windows/Linux systems and my wife's two MacBooks that access the server through CIFS. Each dataset in the pool has its own permissions. Here is my example:


Dataset,User,Group
Diedrich,diedrich,diedrich
Marisa,marisa,marisa
Media,root,family


Diedrich belongs to groups diedrich,family
Marisa belongs to groups marisa,family


Marisa can't access the dataset Diedrich but can access the datasets Marisa and Media.
Diedrich can't access the dataset Marisa but can access the datasets Diedrich and Media.

 

[sremick]

Regarding Plex, I'd strongly advise setting it up manually inside a generic jail, versus using the plug-in. It's really not that much more effort/learning and it greatly simplifies keeping Plex Media Server up to date. And you'll learn some cool FreeBSD skills.

Regarding wiring... contact an installer. It might not be as impossible as you think. They have slick tools and are used to fishing through existing walls.

 

[Juvx]

Regarding Plex, I'd strongly advise setting it up manually inside a generic jail, versus using the plug-in. It's really not that much more effort/learning and it greatly simplifies keeping Plex Media Server up to date. And you'll learn some cool FreeBSD skills.

Regarding wiring... contact an installer. It might not be as impossible as you think. They have slick tools and are used to fishing through existing walls.

Thank you ill research that.

 

[Juvx]

I too use Unix permissions. I have two Windows/Linux systems and my wife's two MacBooks that access the server through CIFS. Each dataset in the pool has its own permissions. Here is my example:


Dataset,User,Group
Diedrich,diedrich,diedrich
Marisa,marisa,marisa
Media,root,family


Diedrich belongs to groups diedrich,family
Marisa belongs to groups marisa,family


Marisa can't access the dataset Diedrich but can access the datasets Marisa and Media.
Diedrich can't access the dataset Marisa but can access the datasets Diedrich and Media.

Interesting. What if i would want everyone to be able to have access too all datasets. Me, my wife, and my kid Share one dataset.

 

[diedrichg]

Interesting. What if i would want everyone to be able to have access too all datasets. Me, my wife, and my kid Share one dataset.

That was in there too. Each person will be part of a group called Family and that dataset will have permissions for Family.

 

[Juvx]

That was in there too. Each person will be part of a group called Family and that dataset will have permissions for Family.

I see and did you use CIFS for the family share?

 

[diedrichg]

Yes, CIFS is directed to the root of my pool.