Ubuntu Server or FreeNAS Server

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Rocketninja16

Rocketninja16

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Dec 28, 2013
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Hey folks,

I'm building my first home server tonight :D!

I'm trying to decide on 2 things, first is whether to use something like freeNAS, or Ubuntu Linux.

freeNAS does pretty well everything I want it to, but where it seems to lack is providing a local web hosting service.

I want to do the basics: store data, movies, pics etc.. and be able to stream them to devices in the house, possibly have access to them from outside the house and to eventually be able to have a local php/mysql development environment.

Which one would better suit my needs in these areas? It seems like most of the plugins for freeNAS will work with Ubuntu so I might be able to go that route.

One thing I REALLY like about freeNAS though is that it has a webportal interface that you can use to admin it and it doesn't require the system to have a monitor/m & kb.

If I go with Ubuntu is there something similar that would allow me to admin remotely? I'm not good, or patient enough to do everything command line based so a gui would be ideal.

My second issue is the RAID setup.

My mobo supports hardware RAID, my question is, should I use the board's RAID system or freeNAS/Ubuntu's software RAID system?

I realize performance is better with h/w, but my concern is what happens when a drive fails? I want to go with whatever option allows me to keep the data accessible after failure.

I.E. drive 1 of a RAID 1 pair fails, I want the second drive to still be accessible to me if a) I swap a new drive in and or b) I take the good drive out and put it in another system.

Phew! Alright, that's all I think!
 
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stillblue

stillblue

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Nov 30, 2012
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If your objection to Ubuntu is web portal interface then you have several options in Ubuntu. You can use secure shell, ssh for command line work or you could install webmin on the server via ssh and have a gui remote control. I use both to control my ubuntu server that does not have the desktop installed. I used a monitor/keyboard only for the initial install and setup.
 
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Rocketninja16

Rocketninja16

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Dec 28, 2013
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That's good to hear, does the webmin allow you full functionality over the server? My kicker right now is that I haven't used either yet, or built my own server in the past so I have no experience with either of them. I do have linux experience and I could likely figure out the details on my own, but at the same time FreeNAS seems to do what I want, however it doesn't appear to be as flexible as a Ubuntu install would be.

They're both free, it all comes down to just trying it, I hesitate to dive in only because I'm planning to use this as my main back up server, as well as other peripheral functions so I just don't want to mess with it too much and maybe lose data down the road you know?

Guess we'll see how it goes.
 
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Ijack

Ijack

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Jul 30, 2008
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Webmin is not as comprehensive as the FreeNAS web interface. The overwhelming advantage of FreeNAS is that it offers you ZFS, easily the best file system for a NAS (or pretty much any other server). ZFS also handles the RAID question as very efficient RAID is built in to the file system. Being just FreeBSD at heart there is no problem in running a web server on FreeNAS, but you might then need something like Webmin to administer it if you don't like editing configuration files.

If your main aim is a NAS then FreeBSD is probably the best choice (or even better, go for Nas4Free).
 
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erodz1892

erodz1892

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Sep 9, 2011
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I have Freenas for my movie server and works great, although it really takes some time getting used to the jargon once you get the hang of it is just awesome just make sure you have tons of RAM for some reason. I am also trying Ubuntu Server on a separate machine and give them both a try.
 
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A

aDarkling

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Dec 11, 2014
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I have pretty extensive experience with Webmin managing Web Servers. This is my first time setting up a home media server. I used an old laptop & FreeNas 9.2.x.

First, if your NAS will have less than 8gb Ram available, you will not be able to use the ZFS file system. You'll have to use the lighter-weight UFS, which FreeNas has already deprecated. Not only will you then lose some of the advanced features that FreeNas gives you, but you'll be stuck in the future when FreeNas stops supporting UFS.

Second, the web portal is OK. For much of the installation & maintainance I still had to drop down to the commandline to finish setting up jails & manage directories & permissions & stuff. Although I personally am used to SSH, I really missed using Webmin's File Manager feature to handle the quick & dirty stuff. In the WebPortal category, WebMin wins.

Third, the whole Jails thing seems to be overkill for home use. Its a pseudo-VM system that isolates each of the application from each other, save through the directory interrelationships that you then have to code by hand. Most of the programs you'll be using (SickBeard, CouchPotato, Transmission, etc..) already work well together, so you really don't need that. So without any real benefit, Jail configuration & maintenance is a pain in the a** to deal with. Woe will befall anyone that has to explain how all this works to a semi-technical user, so prepare to be tied to this forever if you try to set up a system for a relative!

So if you're building a high-performance medium-to-high budget NAS using applications that could possibly go apesh*t & poop all over the system, use FreeNas. Otherwise, use one of the Linux distros & build up from there. If you're used to Ubuntu, use that. Don't make your life more difficult by using a different
 
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Josh Canfield

Josh Canfield

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Apr 7, 2015
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Thanks for all of the input above, truly helpful. So I am at the same crossroads as the original poster. Basically I have been using my Custom AMD Quad-core 2.26Ghz, with 16GB DDR3-RAM as a NAS and Business server which also runs Plex Media Server, DLNA servers and has a JBOT RAID Box with 3 2TB drives and a root drive and backup drive totalling 12TB.

My interest in FreeNAS was continued after reading their documentation. I guess right now I will be looking into running a test version of FreeNAS and seeing if it covers all of my needs.

We have a multitude of devices; Macbook Pro 15", 3 Chromecasts, 3 Tablets and 2 Smartphones and an XBOX 360 that will be connecting to it.

Now, we would love to access Plex via all devices and I'd love to use it for heavy lifting when it comes to my work (Programmer and web developer who compiles mobile apps and Android roms).

I have an ASUS RT-N66R "Dark Knight" as our router.

Any thoughts on to a simple setup to get me going? Should I stick with Ubuntu or Debian or should I go with a partitioned Ubuntu and FreeNAS setup?

Thanks.
 
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skittle

skittle

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Dec 27, 2006
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IMO the only advantage for freeNAS is easy out of the box access to ZFS, which has some nice features for a NAS. If you are going to be using it for development Debian, Ubuntu or CentOS are definitely a better option and you can still install ZFS if you want.
 
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E

ebpollock

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Oct 14, 2013
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I've been thinking about this too. My 2 cents. Ubuntu will be very versatile, and can be set up with a raid array of your choice. ZFS really isn't that transportable where as an ext4 or BTRFS system (raid array) can be mounted anywhere. One thing you didn't mention was if you wanted to run any VM's. I have used them to host itunes servers on linux servers. Web admin is a nice convenience, but just that. Read up on ZFS. My one sentence take away is that it is great until it is not, then all the data is just gone. Software RAID is better in my opinion because if your motherboard fails you must replace it with same one, where recovering a software raid array can be mounted any where. I just lost a btrfs raid 1 array (one disk dead not showing in bios and the other lost its superblock data and was unmountable without the -o flag. mounted with -o recovered and recovered the data.) I even moved the array to a different machine to double check it that it was the drives not the systems hardware. So I'm not sure what would have happened if that was a ZFS system. Make it simple, plan for disk failures, and practice recovering them with what ever system you are going to use before it gets deployed. My two cents.

Evan
 
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