Free. NAS Tutorial for Windows Users – Part Two – Configuration — Stuffleufagus. You can find my Free. NAS posts/Tutorials here: In Part One we installed Free. NAS onto our server. Open a browser and type in the IP address of your server (in our example from Part One the IP address was 1.

Click back to the General Tab. Here you can rename your server. Before configuring anything else we will reboot the server and make sure that we can still login with our new credentials.

The system will only take a minute or so to reboot. Now on the CIFS/SMB page click the “Shares” tab up top.

Click the circle/plus to add a share. We’ll create a share called Data. Type Data in for the name. Enter a comment (My Data works for me).

So I'm building a media server and I bought this motherboard just to start out with. But my main question is, should I go with unRaid or freeNAS? I would rather go.

Click the box with the three dots to the right of Path. In the pop- up click on the folder name (in my case, data).

There is no printer installed on my server, and I haven’t played with that option, but the printer icon shows as well. Now I can map a network drive using the UNC of \\freenas\data. That’s all there is to it.

Building a NASBackground. I’ve been fascinated by high- volume, fault- tolerant data storage systems for a long time.

I started my data storage setup in earnest with a 4- disk RAID 5 array on an ARC- 1. Windows desktop. When that array inevitably filled up, I added another array on a second ARC- 1. That slowly filled up, too, and I knew I couldn’t just keep stuffing RAID cards in my desktop; I had to build a serious file storage server eventually. I considered many different storage options and configurations, including a large hardware- controlled RAID system on a Windows or Linux environment, a software- controlled array in a Windows- based server, a Drobo- type “keep it simple, stupid” system, and continuing to simply add more drives to my desktop computer. None of these options seemed to address all my requirements very well.

Read this interesting 2015 article about how to set up a home file server for free with FreeNAS. You will also find many more freeware reviews in countless categories. DIY SAN/NAS – fast, reliable, shared storage, with FreeNAS and switchless 10 Gbps!

I eventually stumbled upon Free. NAS, a Free. BSD- based, network storage oriented operating system that uses the ZFS file system and a web interface to configure network sharing and other settings. While most of the setup and system management is done through this web interface, but you can extend the machine’s capabilities quite a bit through the terminal via SSH. In this article, I’ll go over my hardware selections, the build and configuration process, some of the other applications I have running on the machine, and a bit of theory about how ZFS allocates array storage space and how it can be tuned to reduce allocation overhead. I want to make a quick note before diving into this excessively long article.

Data Protection. ZFS is designed for data integrity from top to bottom. RAID-Z, the software RAID that is part of ZFS, offers single parity protection like RAID 5.

I started writing the first few sections intending to create a detailed build log for my server. I took pictures and documented every step as well as I could; I had been planning this server over the span of several years, so I was understandably excited to get into it. As the article progressed, it started to shift into a combination of a build log and a tutorial. While the exact set of parts and the sequence of their assembly and configuration will likely be fairly unique to the machine I built, I hope that people undertaking a similar project will find helpful information in some portion of this article. My contact information is at the bottom of this article if you would like to get in touch with me for any reason. Contents: System Summary. The server is running on Free.

NAS 9. 1. 0 with 2x 8- drive RAID- Z2 arrays: one array with 8. TB WD Red drives and one with 4.

TB WD Red drives for a total of ~6. TB of usable space. The drives are connected to 2x IBM M1. I re- flashed to run in IT mode. The boot volume is stored on 2x mirrored Intel 5. GB SSDs. The server is housed in a Super. Micro SC8. 46 chassis with two 9.

W redundant PSUs. The system is built on a Super. Micro X1. 0SRL- F LGA2.

I’m using an Intel Xeon E5- 1. CPU (4 cores/8 threads @ 3. GHz) and 4 modules of 1. GB DDR4 Samsung ECC/registered memory for a total of 6. GB of RAM. I’m using a Noctua cooler on the CPU and I replaced the noisy stock chassis fans with quieter Noctua fans.

I got an APC 1. 50. VA Smart- UPS and stuck both it and the file server in a Lack.

Rack Enterprise Edition. I set my primary dataset with recordsize = 1. Mi. B to account for data block placement in an 8- drive Z2 array. All the data is shared via SMB/CIFS. The system hosts several different Debian- based bhyve VMs to run various services I use on a day- to- day basis (including nginx, irssi, an Open. VPN server, and an rclone client I use to back up my data to an Amazon Cloud Drive). I have scripts set up to send SMART and zpool status reports to my email address on a weekly basis and scrubs/SMART checks scheduled every 2 weeks.

I also have a script that automatically adjust the chassis fan speeds based on live HDD and CPU temps. Of course the primary purpose of the NAS is data storage. The vast majority of the data I store is from the high- resolution photography and videography I've done over the past 1.

I could probably go through and delete about 9. I would rather keep everything around so I can pretend that maybe some day, someone will be interested in looking at them (maybe I'll have very patient kids?).

I look at this use case as a modern version of the boxes full photo albums and slides my parents and grandparents kept in their basement for decades and never looked at. Even if no one ever looks at my pictures and videos, it's still be a really fun project to work on. By the way, if you're interested in looking at some of my favorite photographs, you can find them here! Photos. The server is on the top shelf with the UPS on the bottom. A view from the side. The network equipment on top of the table is also connected to the UPS. The other computer on the left (my main desktop) is not on the UPS.

A shot of the inside of the system. Another view of the inside of the system. Note the strip of wood tied to the top of the HDD fan wall. This is to prevent air from flowing back over the top of the wall, thus cutting the flow through the drives. Here is a screenshot of the mounted share. The Free. NAS devs recommend not going under 2.

Open. ZFS devs say 1. See here for more info. Parts and Price List. Part. Make/Model. Qty$ Per $ Total. From. Chassis. Super.

Micro SC8. 46. 1$2. Bay. Motherboard. Super. Micro X1. 0SRL- F1$2.

Amazon. CPUIntel Xeon E5- 1. Super. Biiz. RAMSamsung M3. A2. G4. 0DB0- CPB (1. GB)4$8. 0$3. 18. Amazon.

HBAIBM M1. 01. 52$7. Bay. PSUSuper. Micro PWS- 9. P- SQ2$1. 18$2. 36e. Bay. Backplane. Super.

Micro BPN- SAS- 8. A1$2. 50$2. 50e. Bay. How Is Install Windows 7. Boot Device. Intel 5.

GB SSD2$5. 3$1. 05. Amazon. CPU Cooler.

Noctua NH- U9. DXi. Amazon. 12. 0mm Fan. Noctua NF- F1. 2 i. PPC 3. 00. 0 PWM3$2. Amazon. 80mm Fan. Noctua NF- R8 PWM2$1. Amazon. UPSAPC SUA1.

RM2. U Smart- UPS1$3. Bay. SSD Cage. Super. Micro MCP- 2. 20- 8. N1$2. 5$2. 5e. Bay. SAS Cable. SFF- 8.

SFF- 8. 08. 74$1. Amazon. HDD Screws.

Super. Micro HDD Screws (1. Amazon. Lack Rack. Lack Coffee Table. IKEATax. Tax. 1$1.

Data Drive. WD 8. TB Red (8 + 1 Spare)9$3. Amazon. Data Drive. WD 4. TB Red (Already Owned)8$0$0- Data Drive. WD 4. TB Red (Spare)1$1.

Amazon. Total (No HDD): $2,7. Total (HDDs): $3,0. Grand Total: $5,8. Parts Selection Details. My primary objectives when selecting parts were as follows: Allow for up to 2. Be able to saturate a gigabit ethernet line on SMB/CIFSHave a quiet enough system that it can sit next to me in my office.

Redundancy and overall system stability were also obvious objectives and led me to select server- grade components wherever appropriate. Here’s a breakdown of the reasoning behind each part I selected: Chassis: Super. Micro SC8. 46 – I purchased this used on e. Bay for $2. 00 shipped. It retails for close to $1. I considered the Norco RPC- 4. Super. Micro chassis is much higher quality and has better thermal design (i.

The specific chassis I purchased came with an older version of the SC8. I had to buy a different backplane. The PSUs the chassis came with are really loud, so I purchased some quieter ones. The stock system fans are also loud, so I replaced those too. More information on the replacement backplane, PSUs, and fans below. I currently have 8 open drive bays to allow for future expansion.

Motherboard: Super. Micro X1. 0SRL- F – This is Super. Micro’s basic LGA2. An LGA1. 15. 1- based board would have worked but the SC8. ATX boards and the full ATX versions of Super. Micro’s LGA1. 15. ATX mounting holes, so I could have saved a fair bit of coin there.

LGA2. 01. 1 will also allow me to add more RAM if I ever need to. CPU: Intel Xeon E5- 1.

With 4 cores/8 threads at 3. GHz, this has the highest single core clock speed in this family of Xeons, which is really nice for SMB/CIFS. I had to get it on Super. Biiz because it’s typically only sold to systems integrators, but it was a painless experience despite my initial misgivings. RAM: Samsung M3. 93. A2. G4. 0DB0- CPB (4x. GB, 6. 4GB total) – This is one of the Super.

Micro- recommended RAM models for the X1. SRL- F motherboard; all the other models are really hard to find. I went with ECC RAM because scary cosmic radiation (and because the Free.