OT: FreeNAS: The Free NAS Server

[taharka]

Interesting project, I plan to set up one of these next month :-))

FreeNAS: The Free NAS Server

What is FreeNAS ?

FreeNAS is a small (less than 16Mo) Operating System based on FreeBSD 6
that provide Free Network-Attached Storage services (CIFS, FTP and NFS).

What is NAS ?

NAS here mean Network-Attached Storage (it's not the same than a Network
Access Server).

>From the Wikipedia, here is the NAS definition:

Network-attached storage (NAS) systems are generally computing-storage
devices that can be accessed over a computer network, rather than
directly being connected to the computer (via a computer bus). This
enables multiple system to share the same storage space at once, and
often minimizes overhead by centrally managing hard disks. NAS systems
usually contain one or more hard disks, often arranged into logical,
redundant storage containers or RAID arrays.

Because NAS devices enabled utilised logical file system storage in
local area network, the performance of NAS devices heavily dependent on
NAS devices cache memory and network interface overhead.

The protocol used with NAS is a file based protocol such as Network File
System (NFS) or Microsoft's Common Internet File System (CIFS).

NAS was developed to address problems with direct attached storage,
which included the effort required to administer and maintain "server
farms", and the lack of scalability, reliability, availability, and
performance. They can deliver significant ease of use, provide
heterogeneous data sharing and enable organizations to automate and
simplify their data management.

Details at, http://www.freenas.org/

taharka

Lexington, Kentucky U.S.A.