[bmcclure937]

Yeah. Apple dropped official ZFS support from OSX. They initially planned to include it.

[Superorb]

You can subscribe without commenting. not sure if you knew.

I know, but I'm lazy and it's 1 less click and a scroll to the top

[dr_bones]

so long ntfs - I lost some GB of data when I put a disc back to win box and it "chckdsk" it.

welcome ext4 on Archlinux (moved from Freenas) :
I used console version on USB stick with sshd for remote mgmt + nfs
+ some other tools like podcast downloader + mpd with httpd for music navigation etc.

does anyone know a easy way to put web gui on it


ZFS was too complicated for me as a start - I still have this classic way of thinking of storage (device -> filesystem -> catalouge tree)

[avus m3]

I have read that ext4 will pursue speed at the cost of data reliability. I need to do some more research.

[vikjon0]

poofyhairguy

That is a big benefit, and is why Flexraid is pretty cool. Maybe after the developer gets live parity worked out (and someone else runs it for at least one year with no data loss) I will switch over...

Have you considered a move? If I understand it correctly flexraid now support both real time and snapshot redundancy.

I am considering flexraid because I want one single multipurpose server. If I wanted a designated storage server I would read up on the open filer. An open source SAN at home sounds very interesting!

[avus m3]

I've been running ZFSGuru for a year now and love it! It is a very simple way to have a FreeBSD system with the latest LSI controller drivers and ZFS feature set all managed from a web gui. Check it out:

http://zfsguru.com/forum

[sdellutri]

Very interesting thread, I am now considering to split apart my HTPC into a separate server and client. I am currently using a single HTPC unit which has now grown to 5 hard drives (1 SSD for boot and 4 of the WD Green 2TB drives). I am interested to share the content to more clients in my home and to reduce the noise in my theater.

Question:
Are you guys leaving your servers powered on 24x7? or are you using some power management to shutdown, hibernate, or standby the systems and then use wake on LAN to start them back up when a client wants to stream some media?

thanks!

[xbmcg]

Very interesting thread...

I will check out the flexRaid thing, however, they write it will expire after 6 monts or an year, because of beta, and a release is not there.

BTW. I have had a WD 2 TB Green HD, that just stopped to work and I read a lot on the internet, that this drives have known issues with controller failures due to thermic problems.

Have anyone out there also had trouble with the WD 20 EADS drives so far?

I am considering to switch the manufacturer for my mext drives...

[sdellutri]

I have 3 of these drives and just got a new EARS version and have not had any problems. They are in use almost all the time.

Very interesting thread...

I will check out the flexRaid thing, however, they write it will expire after 6 monts or an year, because of beta, and a release is not there.

BTW. I have had a WD 2 TB Green HD, that just stopped to work and I read a lot on the internet, that this drives have known issues with controller failures due to thermic problems.

Have anyone out there also had trouble with the WD 20 EADS drives so far?

I am considering to switch the manufacturer for my mext drives...

[thethirdnut]

I have EADS + EARS. Both have worked well running 24/7. Also have a daily smartctl script running.

Trick is to build a server with low power parts.

[fhenning09]

Ubuntu server has no UI so can be a bit intimidating to a beginner, but if you were planning to use OpenSolaris then I assume you know your way round a cli.

If you want a file store, with some basic features like back up scheduling and/or a torrent client then a conventional NAS will be more than sufficient.

But if you are looking for a system that can host couchpotato, sickbeard, sabnzbd, automated tasks (sort TV, embermm), TV back end (MythTV or TVHeadend etc), WAN remote access to administer it all from (a web interface, VPN, SSH); then you need a full server and imo you are best off using ubuntu server/desktop (or other linux distro if you prefer).

(I know there are some NAS that are capable of doing some of the above, but I think they are better handled by a full featured server)

Edit: As far as I can find on the ubuntu forums and guides, ubuntu's raid is fine with 4k sectors, and can in fact mix 4k and 512b drives in the same array (although I don't think any one would actively recommend it).

Ubuntu UI is easy enuf jus add appropriate package to handle task:
http://www.webmin.com/

or another nice Webui:

http://www.zentyal.org/

[woodensoul2k]

I don't know if anyone has suggested it but Snapraid with Ubuntu (I use Debian Stable) works really well. You can have up to 6 parity drives. Snapraid can spin down drives when not in use to save on the power and very similar to Flexraid snapshot. Set this up with webmin (If you want a UI to make shares and do other tasks on just Ubuntu Server) and you're good to go. The following is for 12.04 but I am certain this works for other version as I did use it for Debian.

Ubuntu install guide:
http://zackreed.me/articles/72-snapraid-on-ubuntu-12-04

[jht3]

while i sort out my parts list and save my pennies, i've been playing with Snapraid in a test VM, and this plus a pooling solution like AUFS is the way I think i'm going to go. instead of building the os from the ground up, i found a distro called Openmediavault that combines a lightweight debian base with a nice web mgmt console. apparently created by a former FreeNAS developer. if it runs on debian, you can get it working, but pre-built packages are available for everything i want (sab, sickbeard, couchpotato, headphones, transmission, calibre, virtualbox, snapraid, aufs).