Re-utilizing existing hardware

[Matthew1986]

Hi, I have a former Dell ESXi server and an equallogic SAN both within a year old that are no longer being utilized. I'm wondering if I am able to get FreeNAS on the ESXi box and use the SAN as storage? First time looking at FreeNAS so i'm not sure if this is possible/supported. Basically what i'd like to end up using this for is network storage space for local backup copies.

 

[Dice]

HAve you read the Newbie primers/stickies in the forums?
There good ones in the hardware section and the 'new to freenas' section.

 

[pirateghost]

Well let's start with "I have a former Dell ESXi server".

That could be any number of hardware configurations and components... Have any real details?

Is the EQL DAS or iscsi?

 

[joeschmuck]

I agree with @pirateghost , we need some real hardware details to know if it's a valid hardware option. If they are not very old as you say then odds are good most if not all of it could be used.

 

[Matthew1986]

Sorry, yes I realize now that it's a pretty generic question. :) They are older than I thought, late 2013 purchase for both of them.

The Dell server is a poweredge R720
- Dual Xeon E5-2630
- 98GB DDR3 ECC RAM
- two 146GB 15k RPM SAS drives
- dual flash storage, I believe 1 GB cards

The EQL is iSCSI, model is PS4100. It has 12 600GB 15k SAS drives in a RAID 50 at the moment, but nothing is residing on it so that can easily be changed.

Is there any more specifics you'd need?