New to FreeNAS

[Chris Dawalt]

I had been looking into NAS systems from Synology and QNAP, wanting to keep the investment under $500. There are only 3 of us in the house, with 4 computers, a laptop and a couple tablets. We don't stream music or videos, so my NAS needs are simply for storage that anyone on the network can access.

I do a lot of PC repairs (and a few fresh builds) for friends / relatives so over the years I have accumulated a fair amount of hardware that still has some life. So I wondered about re-purposing a system as a home server. I have a system sitting idle. It already has Win 7 Ultimate on it. But maintaining another Windows system is a pain, so I looked into DIY NAS systems and every article ultimately pointed to FreeNAS. While I understand that my hardware is not optimal - for backup storage, it should be fine.

CPU: AMD 1090T
Motheboard: MSI 790GX-G65
12G RAM (2x4 + 2x2)

I installed 9.2.1.8 on a 4G flash drive and after a quick setup, I have a system that does exactly what I wanted. I am using two 160G HDDs now just for testing - to see if FreeNAS is stable (which it is).

Up to this point for backup I keep everything on an external 3TB Seagate HDD in a USB 3.0 dock. Transfer speeds are fast, but the dock is on my PC and while it is shared on the network, my system is not always powered up.

The plan now is to purchase another 3TB HDD for my FreeNAS unit and keep the two separate 3TB HDDs synchronized manually (or use Microsoft Synctoy). Overkill? For my needs, perhaps. But FreeNAS looks to be something fun to play with and learn from it as it evolves.

 

[Jailer]

It's your first post so you might want to read cyberjocks hardware sticky before you go any further with your project.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/hardware-recommendations-read-this-first.23069/

Might also save you from being crucified by the regular posters here before you ask any more questions. ;)

 

[Chris Dawalt]

Ok - thanks for the heads up.

I have indeed read that info, the bulk of the manual, and a multitude of posts at this forum. I am aware of the risks and limitations with my hardware, and for me the FreeNAS is more of a toy (no disrespect towards the hardcore FreeNAS people). I won't have any mission-critical data on my system. And of course I know that for back up I could get by with just getting another dock and HDD for redundancy (that would be too easy!)

So my initial "let's see if I can make this work" idea turned into something useful, and since it runs smoothly I will play with this system until it dies. Right now, I have $0 invested - well, I suppose I will be purchasing another HDD shortly. But if and when this system does die, it will come down to a decision regarding my needs at the time balanced against the cost justification for the proper hardware.

And again, thanks for your efforts to save me the newbie grief!