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Homebuilt NAS - Software solutions?

T

Time2Kill

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jul 10, 2005
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I just got the rest of the parts that I needed to finish my homebuilt NAS. Now my dilemma is I do not know which software solution to go with. The primary function of the NAS system will be serving several HTPC systems in the house. I have about 10 systems in the house, all running WinXP Pro SP2, on just a simple Workgroup network with my router serving out IPs via DHCP.

I know there is FreeNAS, but I want the NAS to also be able to fold and act as a network bridge between my gigabit and 10/100 networks in the house. Are there any disadvantages to just running WinXP on the NAS and setting up network shares just like it was another PC on the network? Or should I look into a Linux server solution? I have never touched anything but Windows before.

Also, once I get the NAS up and running, will my RAID setup (highpoint 2340 with ~2TB of storage) survive any OS upgrades/changes if I decide to switch between Linux/Windows etc? From my understanding, the RAID card can move from system to system without destroying the RAID Array as long as I keep the array physically intact.
 
Well, the big down side I see to running Windows XP is the 10 connection limit; and as you have 10PCs, you'll likely hit the wall on this at some point.

So with that in mind, Linux may be a better solution. However, be prepared to spend some time learning. Folding won't be hard, setting up SAMBA isn't bad either, especially in a workgroup network setup (SAMBA being the windows file sharing software for linux). Setting up the bridge is doable, but probably the most complicated thing you'll come up against. Unfortunately it's not all as point and click as in Windows.

Your RAID card is apparently supported under Linux, however, Linux doesn't use the same filesystem as Windows, and Windows doesn't read Linux filesystems. So whle the array will survive the switch - you'll have to reformat anyway, as Linux has no reliable write support for NTFS, and FAT32 would be a poor (impossible?) solution for a filesystem of that size..

There's always SBS2003 :-P
 
i think the Linux approach would be a valuable learning experience for you.

Either you'll think
A - I hate Linux
B - I can't believe I didn't do this sooner
or C - A because of B

:)
 
Second ubunutu. I mean, any distro (except the specialized ones for specific purposes) will do the job for you, but ubuntu is a pretty easy install, has some built in GUI tools for SAMBA on the default install, is pretty easy to get support for, etc.
 
I recently started with linux and have found debian to be well documented. I must admit that I do a lot on the command line though. Unless you linux box has a screen + keyboard etc. make sure you get PuTTY.
 
Yeah server edition is for setting up streamlined, no-nonsense, no frills, and most importantly, secure, servers. thus, no gui install (well, not really anyway) Starting out, use the regular desktop ISO. You can still run the server software, there's no connection restrictions or anything like that, and it will be a heck of a lot easier for you.
 
Neural said:
Yeah server edition is for setting up streamlined, no-nonsense, no frills, and most importantly, secure, servers. thus, no gui install (well, not really anyway) Starting out, use the regular desktop ISO. You can still run the server software, there's no connection restrictions or anything like that, and it will be a heck of a lot easier for you.
Click to expand...

That was going to be my next question, if I would run into any limitations, but that was just answered.

Thanks for all the help guys, looks like I'll be going with Ubuntu.
 
anyone got any experience with FreeNAS ? i always wanted to try that distro, but since the only hard drive i have is an 4GB one, (besides the HDD on my computer) i don't think it's time worthy testing it ... Besides, i use it as a server (with CentOS)
 
unreal4u said:
anyone got any experience with FreeNAS ? i always wanted to try that distro, but since the only hard drive i have is an 4GB one, (besides the HDD on my computer) i don't think it's time worthy testing it ... Besides, i use it as a server (with CentOS)
Click to expand...

I know relatively little about linux, but needed to set up FreeNAS briefly a few weeks ago. The install was amazingly simple, there was one slightly quirk to the web front end which slowed me down by a couple minutes while I worked it out but apart from that it was a really simple install.
 
I tried to install FreeNAS once. I failed. Maybe it was a bad burn, maybe it was a compatibility problem with the hardware I was loading it on, but I didn't dig into it that much, honestly. Easier to just load ubuntu and get SAMBA up and running.

It lacks good user authentication and security, from what I've read, meaning it wouldn't be so great for the corporate world. If ever had an older box laying around here and had a need for additional network storage I'd give it a whirl again. Looks like there's a lot of potential in this project.
 
Neural said:
I tried to install FreeNAS once. I failed. Maybe it was a bad burn, maybe it was a compatibility problem with the hardware I was loading it on, but I didn't dig into it that much, honestly. Easier to just load ubuntu and get SAMBA up and running.

It lacks good user authentication and security, from what I've read, meaning it wouldn't be so great for the corporate world. If ever had an older box laying around here and had a need for additional network storage I'd give it a whirl again. Looks like there's a lot of potential in this project.
Click to expand...

indeed, it would just be great if i could get my 20GB+ mp3 collection on some machine like that, and they would be easily accesible from any machine on my internal network :D under any OS :D

am i right about that concept ? Is it possible ?
 
Yes, it will suffice for that. It will do SMB (windows file sharing) NFS (primarily used for UNIX variants) and FTP. So if you're running Linux, BSD, windows, or MacOSX, you should be golden!

Just don't try it with any exotic hardware :) (I was testing on a dual Xeon with an Adaptec 8-port SATA RAID controller (overkill yes, but it's just a test rig).
 
tnx for your quick response :D

my server hardware isn't exotic at all:

Code: 
Modelo	Celeron (Mendocino)
Frecuencia	367.51 MHz
Tamaño Del Caché	128 KB
Bogomips	736.19
Dispositivos PCI	00:00.1 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE]
00:01.1 Class ff00: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] ACPI
00:0f.0 Multimedia audio controller: C-Media Electronics Inc CM8738
00:0f.1 Communication controller: C-Media Electronics Inc CM8738
00:10.0 Ethernet controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 530/620 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter
Dispositivos IDE	hda: SAMSUNG SV0431D (Capacidad: 4.02 GB)

with 160MB of RAM. CentOS (server installation without X) runs smoothly :D

the only bad thing of this machine is that when u install joomla, the system is 20 seconds busy to generate the home xDD

the good thing is that that machine is made of hardware that i have collected trough the years, from endless bad machines :p but hey, the time spend to make that machine was a fine hobbie.

 
Neural said:
Just don't try it with any exotic hardware :) (I was testing on a dual Xeon with an Adaptec 8-port SATA RAID controller (overkill yes, but it's just a test rig).
Click to expand...
PS: It's probably an Adaptec driver problem. Marvell sata FTL.
 
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