FreeNAS Mini

IxSystems' FreeNAS Mini is a powerful NAS with management software based on the open-source FreeBSD, a version of Unix. To be clear, this is not a NAS for lightweight storage administrators or newbies. It's best suited for those who know or are willing to learn the Unix commands that are necessary to get the most from this storage device.

That's no small task for Unix noobs, but there'll be one very clear benefit for those who are up to the challenge: The FreeNAS Mini clocked the highest Read speed we've tested to-date for an SMB NAS. This is a powerful device that has tons of functionality, but it's tempered by the difficult learning curve if you are used to working primarily with Windows environments, and a lack of automated features such as automatic RAID array re-build found in competing SMB NASes.  Still, if you are a storage geek, the FreeNAS Mini will be addicting to use and learn about, with plenty of capabilities and high customizability.

Specs
The FreeNAS has the word "Mini" appended to its name, but it's not that small. It has four bays and when fully loaded with 3.5" SATA drives, weighs over 17 pounds. The device measures 8 by 12.5 by 8.5 inches (HWD).

While many of the current SMB NASes on the market use Intel's energy-saving Atom processor, the Free NAS Mini ships with Intel's Core i5-3470T CPU @ 2.90GH. iXsystems also throws in a generous 8GB RAM.

There are quite a few ports on this NAS that I have not seen in other small business-class NASes. On the rear panel are several USB ports, including two USB 3.0 ports. USB ports are on most NASes today. Not as common are other ports on the back: a FireWire port, an eSATA connection, both DVI and HDMI ports, line in/out AV ports, and an S/PDIF Out port for digital audio.

Ironically, with all of these ports, there is only Gigabit Ethernet port. Most SMB NASes with similar specs ship with dual Ethernet ports for link aggregation or link failover. It would be better, perhaps, if iXsystems lost the more antiquated ports like FireWire and added a second LAN port by default. A company representative did state that customers can request a second or third Ethernet card added built-to-order.

The only indicators on the device are a blue LED that lights when the system is fully booted and another LED that flashes red when there is a problem with a drive (as I discovered when I pulled a drive with the NAS running to test drive recovery).

The device is available diskless ($795); and in storage capacities of 4TB ($1095), 8TB ($1295), 12TB ($1495), and 16TB ($1695).

Setup
I installed four 3TB Western Digital Red disks that iXsystems shipped with the FreeNAS. Disk installation is tool-less and easy but the NAS needed a restart before the drives were recognized and displayed in the interface—something I've not encountered after installing drives in other NASes.

To set up, a Quick Start Guide is included in the packaging. The guide provides instructions on setting up the NAS via a console screen. The NAS is connected to a monitor (using an included DVI-VGA adapter) and then to a network. When the NAS boots, the console screen displays and walks users through the initial setup.

Most other NASes let you locate, connect to, and configure your NAS with a desktop network finder. This is bundled software that typically comes with a NAS that will tell you what the IP address of the NAS is once it's connected to your network. After you have the IP address, you can open a browser, point to that IP address and configure the NAS.

This is an easier process because you don't have to go through the hassle of connecting the NAS to a monitor. But even if you don't use the console setup—remember that the FreeNAS Mini is tailored for power users and IT. Any of these folks should be able to easily find what DHCP-IP address is assigned to the FreeNAS and then connect to its management GUI via a browser, which is what I did.

Really, anyone that's used to working with networking devices and NASes should have little to no issue with its setup.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/hqbKEIcAdVA/0,2817,2425956,00.asp
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