Small Archive/Backup Server

[skyline65]

I’m looking to build/buy a small server to use as an archive/backup server of my work (I do also burn to Bluray as well). The files are mainly Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator and various other graphic formats. The server will only be switched on maybe a few times a week when it will back up any new files from my hard drive and whenever I need to access the old files. I would have loved to use DeDuplication as there are 100os of elements that have been reused for multiple projects but the cost involved isn’t really worth it and when I ran a test using my Proliant N54L running Freenas ZFS 2 I managed to get 1.37 compression ratio using GZip 6. I would use my old Synology 410j but it doesnt have any compression.

Is Freenas the best solution or is there a better OS to use, and if I go with Freenas is there a better/cheaper alternative to the N54l possibly a small home build? As it will only be used sparingly I dont really want to spend a fortune.

 

[Ericloewe]

A few thoughts:

Unless you're prepared to drop absurd amount of money into your system, forget about deduplication. Compression is fine (and is currently the default).

FreeNAS is designed to be always on (particularly for scheduled maintenance tasks). If you don't mind this detail, FreeNAS can definitely work for you.

If you want to go with FreeNAS, be prepared to research a lot of stuff - the learning curve is rather steep. If you prefer to go with a validated platform, iX Systems has the FreeNAS Mini, which has gotten some good reviews from those who bought it.

 

[skyline65]

Im actually using a Proliant N54L with 16gb running Freenas 9 RAID Z2 for my media server at the moment. I have read the guides, and doesn’t seem too bad as long as you adhere to the rules. After reading the recommendations for hardware, Im wondering whether I may build a new server just for Media and use the Proliant N54 for the backups... although it took ages to transfer 7Tb of data off my old Synology to the Freenas server. I may build something similar to your setup, what throughput do you get for your server?

 

[Ericloewe]

Im actually using a Proliant N54L with 16gb running Freenas 9 RAID Z2 for my media server at the moment. I have read the guides, and doesn’t seem too bad as long as you adhere to the rules. After reading the recommendations for hardware, Im wondering whether I may build a new server just for Media and use the Proliant N54 for the backups... although it took ages to transfer 7Tb of data off my old Synology to the Freenas server. I may build something similar to your setup, what throughput do you get for your server?

Haven't tested it properly yet, but others easily saturate GbE with similar configurations. I expect to do the same, when I get the chance to run some proper tests.