What do I need for this

[Edig]

Hi to everyone,

I want to create server to save the following:
- save and see movies, photos, music. To see Them in PS3, APPLE PC, WINDOWS PC, Apple TV, iOS (iPad, iPhone), XBOX, Samsung smart tv, Sony DVD'S
- if posible have a bootable OS in that if no no problem
- save a bunch of files that need to be aceces in The LAN but alzo WAN (i got a 40mb internet, that will be agaches to The server)
- web page server With mysql, php. Just for test
- if posible will be realy great that when I connect any USB of HDD to The server this backup it in The same server. Automatically

Important
- it need to be really fast
- Scalable, in any moment in any time i will add more HDD
- I really need to protect The information that contains The files, photos. And some vídeos. I dont care if i need to put 50% of redudancy
- posibility to access The information without the FREENASS. I will almost always but if I NEED in a moment
- THE OS of FREENASS needs to be in a SSD i will place or USB




I can buy anthing its need, but this js what i got:
- dual core 2 procesor
- 8 GB RAM DDR2
- 1 ethernet card 10/100
- 1 ethernet card 10/100/1000 - external
- 1 HDD 500GB ( I WILL GET MORE OF 2TB)



IS All this posible? If no how can I do something similar. If its need I could write a program that make something in any Apple

Thanks

 

[Joshua Parker Ruehlig]

-sharing to all of the devices you mention is possible but you may need a combination of programs to achieve it. dlna / mt-daap, CIFS should be enough and all of these can be done on FreeNAS 8.2 (which is still in Beta).
-no sure what you mean by bootable OS, please clarify
-webpage/mysqp can easly be done by adding a webserver to a FreeBSD jail, these are introduced in FreeNAS 8.2 (once again still in Beta), I will be experimenting with this in a month once I am more free and will post my results
-connecting any usbhdd might be a bit tricky, I believe FreeNAS can read ntfs, fat, ext3, but it doesn't have support for ANY usb, depends on filesystem. the automatic backup can be accomplished with rsync+cron, this is already built into FreeNAS

-Speed is dependent on many factors and how you define it. I get up to 80MB/s over my Gigabit network (125MB/s). This is probably limited by my FreeNAS server having a fairly low power cpu (e-350).
-You can always add more HDD's but raidz/z2 aren't expandable like ones in linux/windows. You need to either stripe raids together, or create separate zpools, read about zfs for more info.
-If you need to protect your info really well FreeNAS/zfs is the way to go. No other filesystem finds corrupted files and fixes them (from your redundant copy in you raid/mirror). I suggest keeping you important info on it's own zfs dataset, snapshoting it often (to protect against accidental deletes) and rsyncing an offsite backup to a remote location.
-if you go with zfs you'd need an os that can read zfs to access your data, FreeNAS/FreeBSD is one of your only options. Though even if your OS drive (usb) gets destroyed you can always autoimport your data into a fresh FreeNAS install.
-FreeNAS is suggested to be installed on a USB stick, I wouldn't waste a SSD on it since the OS is loaded into memory upon boot. I suggest you add your SSD to your zpool as a cache/zlog drive to make it faster.

With hardware, the more ram the better. Going DDR2 limits you on amount a bit, but if you already have the core2 I would just go with it.

Not sure what you mean by 'makes something in any Apple'

 

[Edig]

Hi Joshua,

Thanks for everything, just some more questions, sorry but i want to make this and buy a server its to limited:

no sure what you mean by bootable OS, please clarify.
That I could boot any PC from the local network with Windows, Linux thats is in there. I don´t know if this is possible, maybe with special software cd in the PC. I don't know thats why I ask

About the 8.2 I think i will install it, first I will test it in Parallels [Mac]

-connecting any usbhdd might be a bit tricky, I believe FreeNAS can read ntfs, fat, ext3, but it doesn't have support for ANY usb, depends on filesystem. the automatic backup can be accomplished with rsync+cron, this is already built into FreeNAS
What I want to this its complicate I know, because what I want its a terminal of USB near my Desktop and when I plugged in in the server it automatically backup the entire USB or HDD in the server, maybe play a sound for disconnect or I put a small screen. But The this its just connecting it and do nothing.

- About the speed I know I got a full Gigabit Ethernet Network and I will dedicate a Full Ethernet Gigabit directly from the router and another from the Switch.

- About adding more HDD I read that i could add another Zpool but the devices will detect it like 2 Servers or only 1? I still only saving in one location? Or no?

- About the protection of data, could put a really aggressive protection protocols in just 1TB like RAID 10 or something like that and another RaidZ normal no 2 for the non important information.

- Adding a SSD as cache how could I make this, because I think I am adding a 4GB max

The hardware, yes its limited but its just for start, it´s a self-made server so I could change in the future the motherboard and processor for Xeon depending on how the server its doing online.

Another question, could I add a version control in there? Or directory control with users for online webpage server?

About the ip it got something to dynamic IP? I got my online server and maybe I could redirect a subdomain of my domain to this one. The server its 100% mine I could install anything I need.

Not sure what you mean by 'makes something in any Apple'?
I was talking about auto connect & backup any USB or HDD. If I can't do it directly on the server, in any of my MACs i could make a program that whenever you plugin a UBS it backup in the server.

Another things, ITS DIFFICULT but there is a way to backup EVERYTHING that someones download from internet in the server? and stay there somedays or I decide so.

Thanks!

 

[Joshua Parker Ruehlig]

You can do the network booting with iscsi or NFS on FreeNAS, it is very possible. the limiting factor really is the ability to network boot from the client computer's NIC.

I wouldn't go the route of connecting a HDD to FreeNAS to back it up. Why not just connect the HDD to one of your client computers and use rsync?

Please read documentation on zfs, you can add vdev's to a zpool to grow it in size, this increases size and performance but decreases reliability. Or you can add extra zpools to FreeNAS but they would then be seen as separate storage devices on your network.

I don't think you can do what you are saying about putting extra protection on a specific part of your data. you could do this yourslef though by creating a dataset for your important data and having a backup of it on an external harddrive or even better offsite. (once again I recommend rsync, but there's also a zfs feature that allows sometype of mirroring)

For an SSD cache you just add the SSD as a cache device to a pool, very simple.

I wouldn't say your processor is limited, core2 duo is more then double my e350's processing power. I think a xeon would be overkill, but if this is what you want it would defiantly work well. The limitation is ram, so the more the better.

Version control/webpage stuff could all be done in a FreeBSD Jail. You can make one on FreeNAS8.2 and modify stuff in it just like a standard FreeBSD system. It's essentially a server running on your server (virtualization) but because it uses the same kernel there is almost no overhead like virtualbox.

I believe there is a dynamic IP client, though I'd personally run this on my router.

Not sure what you mean by backup everything you download from the internet?

 

[Edig]

Hi Joshua,

Again thanks for everything.

About: Not sure what you mean by backup everything you download from the internet?
I mean that IF I download anything in any computer it automatically backup in the server. Just in case I install or use it and then delete in and then I need it again. Like cache. Also In mac I got Time Machin, but in Windows?

 

[Joshua Parker Ruehlig]

You could just make a share and mount it as my downloads directory. With CIFS you could even make it so client couldn't 'truly' delete stuff (they go in a trash bin). Not sure if this accomplishes what you want. If you want a proxy cache you might want to just go with something like squid, though that's more of a router/firewall's job and not a File Server's job. But it could be done in you FreeBSD jail.

There's backup clients for windows that work with rsync. I don't use windows much, and never back it up so can't help you there.

 

[ProtoSD]

There's "DeltaCopy", it's a GUI wrapper for rsync on Windows: http://www.aboutmyip.com/AboutMyXApp/DeltaCopy.jsp

I haven't used it, but its well known and seems to have a good rep.

 

[ProtoSD]

I mean that IF I download anything in any computer it automatically backup in the server. Just in case I install or use it and then delete in and then I need it again. Like cache. Also In mac I got Time Machin, but in Windows?

Are you talking about just random stuff you download on a daily basis, or stuff like Automatic updates from Windows apps that update themselves?