Recommend me an OS for NAS

[starbuck]

Just building a NAS from old PC parts I have and need to decide on the best OS.

These are my requirements:

To be able to run slimserver
Access and edit photos, videos and music from any pc on network(pc's/laptops have mix of
OS's ranging from XP to vista to Windows 7).
Be able to access files on PS3

I have a spare version of XP kicking about that I could use, but I've also heard of a lot of
NAS specific OS's.

NAS will be running 24/7

[aidanjt]

Sounds like a job for FreeNAS.

[Splash]

...or Openfiler. Both are free though, so you could do worse than to give both a shot. Both are also available as virtual machines so you can check out the interface etc before making a final decision.

[aidanjt]

...or Openfiler. Both are free though, so you could do worse than to give both a shot. Both are also available as virtual machines so you can check out the interface etc before making a final decision.

True, though I mentioned FreeNAS first, since it has a built-in UPnP AV service. openfiler is more like the "serious business" side of things. Although VMware server can be installed on top of openfiler, and you could have a more generic linux distro doing the UPnP AV stuff going through that. Also, it appears openfiler currently has a strong dislike for optical drives connected to JMicron chips, rather annoyingly for me.

[Splash]

True dat. I'm considering picking up another ML115 G5 while they're cheap, filling it up with 1.5Tb disks (if I can find any that *don't* have knackered firmware) and running Openfiler as SAN storage for my ESXi box. I seem to recall that there's a Conary package available that provides DLNA functionality, but it's a while since I last looked.

[directhex]

Whatever you chose, XP isn't what you need - it has a very low limit on the number of permitted simultaneous connections, specifically to prevent people from using it as a server OS

[alsenior]

Whatever you chose, XP isn't what you need - it has a very low limit on the number of permitted simultaneous connections, specifically to prevent people from using it as a server OS

we use it as our till server os at work

You can tell i had no input on that one so far its been turned on for for over a year without rebooting once

[Jay]

I would use VMWare and put FreeNas on as a VM

[CaptainCrash]

Whatever you chose, XP isn't what you need - it has a very low limit on the number of permitted simultaneous connections, specifically to prevent people from using it as a server OS

IIRC it has a limit of 10 simultaneous connections, which is probably enough for a small home network.

XP certainly wouldn't be my first choice for a server OS, but it's not a bad option if your requirements are modest - it's a familiar environment for people who might not have the time or inclination to get to grips with a Linux-based OS, and it's a piece of cake to administer a headless XP box remotely via RDP.

so far its been turned on for for over a year without rebooting once

So you could say it's actually been working quite well then?

[Splash]

The thing is... most of the pre-rolled linux based NAS OS are a piece of cake to administer through a web interface - remember if you need RDP administration you'll need XP Pro, as home doesn't support it. You don't actually *need* to know the slightest thing about linux to use them, in the same way that I don't need to know the slightest thing about linux to use my linux based streaming device.

[peterb]

I would use VMWare and put FreeNas on as a VM

Bit OTT for a home NAS box, and is it worth the added complexity of virtualisation on a box that is just sitting in a corner doing nothing but file serving? Possibly worth it if that box is also web and mailservinfg, but even a very modest spec machine will do that on a single OS installation, although of course that depends on the use it is going to get. VM isn't 'free' in terms of resources and maqchine overhead.

[Mr JB]

I am another vote for FreeNAS. Due to it being free, have loads of flexibility and the stability it needs.

[Maccer101]

I've been using FreeNAS for an entire week!!!

So far so good, still need to configure it properly though, entire OS runs off a small CF card so you can keep the HDDs purely for Data. A pretty good manual is available to get started with it too, I've heard Openfiler is good but a bit more complicated to set up.

[Jay]

Bit OTT for a home NAS box, and is it worth the added complexity of virtualisation on a box that is just sitting in a corner doing nothing but file serving? Possibly worth it if that box is also web and mailservinfg, but even a very modest spec machine will do that on a single OS installation, although of course that depends on the use it is going to get. VM isn't 'free' in terms of resources and maqchine overhead.

but he can do more with his hardware.....

[Maccer101]

Suppose it all depends on what these spare parts are and how powerful they are

[Manhattan]

I'm personally rather fond of using NetBSD for server tasks.