Freenas or Synology

[r0k]

I tried FreeNAS for a bit, using a existing box I had with ample performance and memory. But the issues I had was with problems with permissions and buggy UI. (I had to constantly log in remotely and fix it by hand... I could just as well have set up my own Linux box to do this.).

Synology on the other hand was a pleasure to set up a complex raided system, and the permissions and file sharing worked out of the box.

Synology's new DSM 4.0 OS also makes the competition look like toddlers.

I'd have loved to support FreeNAS, but I do enough Linux tinkering at work... I want zero hassle at home.

I agree. I have the DS212J which is ARM based and sips power even when I'm using it. DSM 3.2 is Linux based anyway and I can run pretty much anything I want (ARM binaries of course).

I'll sit firmly planted in the FreeNAS arena in this case. I've been running it for several years now on two different sets of hardware and a few different drive setups.

I use it to store all of our digital media as well as personal files we want "mostly" protected. It is currently serving files for OS X, Windows, and Linux without a problem, I've done iSCSI with it previously during testing. It currently has 6 x 2TB drives and 2 x 1.5TB drives installed.

I can get over 100MB/s read and write to the shared volumes on it without a trouble and it just chugs along. I've had dedicated Windows servers, Linux boxes and a Hitachi DF600 storage array in place and this outperforms them all, is more energy efficient (not hard when comparing to a DF600) and is very easy to manage and maintain.

For me the down side of FreeNAS is the hulking 200 Watt pig of an old PC (old Dell desktop) I have lying around available run it on. It costs roughly $100 a year to leave a 100 watt load on 24 hours 365 days so it doesn't take very long for a "free" PC to wind up costing me 200 bucks just for leaving the thing on. Now if I can find a low power fanless PC, I'll definitely give FreeNAS another look. But if I have to shell out over a couple hundred bucks for a low power PC, I would have to ask myself why not simply pick up a Synology unit?

 

[bwhinnen]

I do appreciate the power consumption comments, I really do. My problem is not the ongoing power consumption rates in reality as these can be managed, just because a power supply is rated at XW doesn't mean it draws XW, but I know you know that. And of course I will not argue that a full blown Intel processor will draw more power than an ARM processor That would be silly, nice, but silly.

The problem I have is my FreeNAS box cost me around $500 - $600 (excluding drives). That includes RAM, CPU, PWR supply, mother board, cables, case etc. I can run 8 x SATA II HDD's off of it and I do use the space. To get something equivalent in the Synology (or any other vendor for that matter) range would mean a much greater outlay. It is unfortunate as it would be nice to have a nice unit rather than an ugly looking PC case For instance a DS2411+ would cost me around $1600 here, that is $1000 more than my current box cost me, more than I can justify to the Minister of Finance

But I do completely understand where you are coming from, and if I only required 4 x drive bays I would be looking at something along these lines