The fastest NAS we've ever tested, the iXsystems FreeNAS Mini, went XL with a new 8-bay model. The new iXsystems FreeNAS Mini XL cures one of our only complaints about the system--limited capacity.
The system uses a powerful 8-core Intel processor running at 2.4 GHz. This is enough processing power to drive the additional disks in the ZFS environment. The new XL model retains the internal drives bays used to increase performance through ZIL and L2ARC (read and write) cache technology. iXsystems stated that the new system can support up to 48 TB of raw data depending on the RAID type used. When larger hard disk drives come to market, the figure will increase.
| Product | FreeNAS Mini XL |
|---|---|
| Price | $1,499.99 Diskless |
| CPU | Intel 8-Core 2.4 GHz with AES-NI |
| Memory | 32 GB DDR3 ECC64 GB Optional |
| Drive Bays | 8 Hot Swappable |
| RAID Levels | RAID-Z1 (RAID 5)RAID-Z2 (RAID 6)ZFS Mirror (RAID 10)ZFS Stripe (RAID 0) |
| RAID Engine | ZFS |
| Network | 2x Gigabit Ethernet2x Ten Gigabit Ethernet (Optional) |
| Network Management | Dedicated RJ-45 IPMI Port(Remote Hardware Management) |
| Read/Write Cache | Read Cache - L2ARC (Optional) Boost performance by adding a dedicated, high-performance read cache. Write Cache - ZIL (Optional) Boost performance by adding a dedicated, high-performance write cache. |
| Weight | 23.5 Pounds (Diskless) |
| Warranty | 1 Year Limited |
Since our review of the FreeNAS Mini, iXsystems has made 10-gigabit Ethernet an option for this product family. The new optional feature carries over to the XL and increases the servers' bandwidth back to the network. This allows more users to utilize the system at the same time without a larger performance decrease.
iXsystems has also made improvements to the popular FreeNAS operating system since our review. The company told us that more changes are planned for the coming year, with a focus on an easier-to-manage user interface.
The new FreeNAS Mini XL ships in a number of different configurations but starts out at $1,499.99 with 32GB of ECC DDR3 system memory. Users can opt to have iXsystems install disk drives, additional Ethernet options and cache SSDs, with the price increasing along the way.
