iXsystems FreeNAS Mini NAS Review

iXsystems' FreeNAS Mini incorporates enterprise features, an advanced file system and a flash cache to deliver superior performance in its price range.

By Chris Ramseyer
published

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Conclusion

If you are looking for maximum performance, the path is clear. The iXsystems FreeNAS Mini delivers the big performance some users require, while staying within the same power envelope of the big box products. The FreeNAS Mini is a fairly small pedestal system, but other companies are using the same Intel Avoton processor and RAM combination in machines that hold up to 12 disk drives in software RAID. To say the least, the FreeNAS Mini is a small form factor version of a datacenter or cold storage product often sold to the enterprise market.

That linage also comes with drawbacks. Although iXsystems has done a lot to simplify the software for those of us living in a Windows world, users can expect to learn a thing or two about enterprise environments. Admittedly, I haven't taken iXsystems' FreeNAS training, but plan to do so, if only to become more proficient with my own storage server. It has to be better than the trial and error I went through.

Don't let my own experiences (or lack of) dissuade you from purchasing a great product that not only stacks up to, but exceeds what is possible from better-known products. The iXsystems FreeNAS Mini is worth every penny for your small to medium sized office and can deliver exceptional performance, even when asked to tackle multiple roles. 

Home users simply looking for a low-cost box to store files can find any number of appropriate products for their needs. If performance is even a blip on the radar, then the FreeNAS Mini delivers as well. Available with up to 24TB of capacity (and compatible with the latest 8TB disks for up to 32TB of space), this model should be high on your list. This system also includes attractive Web 2.0 features like cloud storage, though setting them up is a bit more involved compared to what you get from QNAP, Thecus and Synology.


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Chris Ramseyer is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware, covering Storage. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

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Chris Ramseyer
Chris Ramseyer
Chris Ramseyer is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews consumer storage.
19 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Thanks for this review! I've been looking at this NAS for a while, ECC ram and ZFS where two strong points.
    Reply
  • DarkSable
    $1000 for a diskless system?

    How much is the case itself? That I might be interested in, but...
    Reply
  • hmarafi
    Thank you, a great review, if you can make a review how these devices can handle transcoding (Plex) Please.
    Reply
  • colinstu
    $1000 for a diskless system?

    How much is the case itself? That I might be interested in, but...

    The case is a Supermicro CSE-721TQ-250B which is $160.
    A great motherboard would be the X10SDV-F which is $850 (dual GBe Intel nics, Xeon-D 8 core, check Anandtech they did a great review on it). Stronger CPU than the one in this review.

    Then for $1017 you can get the X10SDV-TLN4F which includes built in 2x Intel 10GBe as well as 2x Intel GBe.
    or for $?? (probably more) the X10SDV-8C-TLN4F which is the same as above but has Hyperthreading (16 threads).
    Reply
  • Lulzon
    Can someone explain what the market for these are? The form factor and limitations in expansion make it feel consumer level, but the power packed inside and price tag feel more enterprise for small teams or high workloads.
    Reply
  • ammaross
    utilizes the DRAM as a cache for in-flight data, you'll want to stick with ECC memory to protect that information from corruption.
    Just by way of correction, ZFS has memory page checksums in addition to disk block checksums so even a memory bit corruption on non-ECC RAM can be healed on-the-fly.
    Reply
  • James Mason
    Can someone explain what the market for these are? The form factor and limitations in expansion make it feel consumer level, but the power packed inside and price tag feel more enterprise for small teams or high workloads.
    Smaller businesses. I'm thinking law firms and architectural businesses, that just have a ton of documents and pictures to store. Which would fit right in at between 4-24tbs.

    The price still seems kinda high, I'd like to see "real world use" as opposed to benchmarks but that's so difficult to actually do.
    Reply
  • BulkZerker
    All that processor for a nas... Asrock's avaton board still seems like a better choice IMO. Than again, I'm more looking at max storage vs max speed., esp considering how this nas can and will be set up.
    Reply
  • photonboy
    Price is very reasonable for small business assuming someone with enough tech knowledge to setup properly.

    If the price seems high then it's not for you, but as said this is not a consumer product for home users. You want a basic, easy solution then investigate some of the WDMYCLOUD options instead. I bought a 4TB model and added a 4TB WD Elements as backup but that's for video storage and not as reliable nor as fast as a business class solution.

    $2000 with drives for business is really not bad considering the cost to run a business, loss of data costs, and the fact you can probably write of some as a business expense.
    Reply
  • Mike Bethany
    FreeNAS with ZFS is a fantastic combination but the FreeNAS Mini needs one more drive for the RAID.

    On a side note, some guy vehemently argued against using ECC memory with ZFS. He admitted it was really stupid to *not* using ECC memory but he just couldn't admit he was wrong so he kept doubling down on dumb. His major argument? I was a few dollars off on the price of ECC memory.

    You have to love the Internet.
    Reply