FreeNAS Network Attached Storage Server
Turn An Old PC into a Fileserver
Using FreeNAS, you can turn a regular PC into a fileserver. What is a fileserver? Well, NAS stands for Network Attached Storage, and that's exactly what a fileserver does—it stores your files on a network-accessible file share. As an example, consider this: if you want your whole family or office to be able to share files with each other, you need a NAS.
Why Not a Shared Folder?
Shared folders are folders that you share with other people on your network. Why not simply share a folder with your coworkers? Simple: sharing a folder means that every time someone wants to read or write files on the shared drive, your computer will be working extra hard. So when you're trying to finish up that spreadsheet, someone could decide to save a very large graphic file to your hard drive, causing a serious performance hit to your machine. A network-attached storage device's only function is to store and retrieve your files, so it is much faster. NAS also offers other methods of file transfers, such as rsync, FTP, NFS, SSH, and others—even a basic web server.
RAID for Safety
A shared folder could be lost anytime the hard drive fails on your PC. But NAS provides RAID: a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. One mode of RAID is RAID-1, which is a mirror. This means you can put two hard drives in your NAS, and force them to always mirror each other, so that if (or when) one of the drives fails, the data on the other will remain intact. RAID-0 is a mode in which the a number of drives are combined to appear as one huge, single drive. RAID provides extra extendability that cannot be achieved using any other methods, and NAS is a great solution for office backups, home backups, and other data storage—and it is virtually free using standard PC hardware.
Conclusion
We wouldn't change a single thing about FreeNAS. It is rock solid and some of us have trusted our data to FreeNAS for several years now. This is a fantastic alternative to the store-bought devices that offer no expansion, no RAID, no encryption, and painful web-based interfaces. FreeNAS grows and adds new features constantly, and it is super easy to manage through the web interface. Great project!
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