Multiple Servers access to each other

[CyberGar]

First time ever posting (long time Fly On The Wall)...

I have a current FreeNAS server (latest build) with a RAIDZ2, 6 disk, data pool. This hold all my movies, etc. Things are running great, so far. The hardware is a bit dated. I am trying to figure out how I can build a new system with better CPU and ECC (I found out all the horrors of not using ECC after building this, so I didn't opt for it then). Of course, money is the issue, so it will take a while to put together the funds...

Again... anyway... I am running PLEX on my main PC with all the data on the NAS. All is good, but it's a pain if I want to take my rig offline. I want to run PLEX on the freeNAS box, directly. Back to the "dated" note, above... The little AMD CPU my NAS has just can't seem to do it.

I happen to have an old Dell T300 server, with a XEON CPU and ECC RAM. I've put in a little SSD drive to boot it to FreeNAS, but all it has is 4 small 500GB drives. Not even a fraction of my library will fit... The CPU should be able to run the PLEX server, just fine, but it needs access to the library...

Bottom line (and the question)... Is it possible for one freeNAS box to access the data on another freeNAS box? Not looking for replication (not enough room), just read access so the Plex installation can read/serve the media stored on the other freeNAS box? I've read some things about mounting the share via nfs, but everything talks about this being fleeting/temp and it has to be manually redone if there is a reboot... None of the other posts I've found continue much after that mention to any kind of full solution... Many of those, also, are freeNAS trying to access some other tech... Mine is freeNAS to freeNAS... hoping it's a lot more graceful...

I appreciate anything anyone has to offer on this!

 

[pirateghost]

If your second machine is not hosting the drives to act as the file server, then why install FreeNAS at all? Just install any Linux distro or Windows and setup your Plex to connect over smb/nfs

 

[Spearfoot]

Bottom line (and the question)... Is it possible for one freeNAS box to access the data on another freeNAS box?
I appreciate anything anyone has to offer on this!

Yes. FreeNAS is built on FreeBSD, so you should be able to mount a share, regardless of the source. You might try creating an NFS share on the FreeNAS server containing your media. Then try mounting it on the other FreeNAS server where Plex is installed...

But @pirateghost has a good point. If you just want to use the more powerful PC for Plex, why not just install Plex on an installation of Linux/FreeBSD/Windows instead of FreeNAS? That way you wouldn't have to fiddle with jails and whatnot.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Grab a couple of 5.25" to 3.5" converter brackets and transfer your existing pool to the T300. Job done.