FreeNAS vs Ubuntu as a server
#31
for home server needs I would definatley use Flexraid.
It is simple and just works. I have been using it just over a year and have had one hdd fail and it rebuilt no problem.

Because of the fact that it runs on windows I can keep ember running to scan for new media and add metadata

It also acts as a nzb downloader.
AND i run a program called Orb which streams my media to my iphone or any other pc when im out and about.

The reason I went with flexraid over unraid is simple, on windows I can do alot more, my home server can do alot more tasks that are required of it rather than if I was just using unraid.
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#32
If anyone is interested, FlexRAID just got a new beta today. This one includes the Tx engine which is what allows for many parity drives (as many as you want).

http://www.openegg.org/forums/posts/list/467.page
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#33
cg5150 Wrote:If anyone is interested, FlexRAID just got a new beta today. This one includes the Tx engine which is what allows for many parity drives (as many as you want).

http://www.openegg.org/forums/posts/list/467.page

More information, albeit somewhat outdated on FlexRAID.

Quote:Similarities between FlexRaid and unRAID:
N+1 parity protection
able to use HDDs of various sizes
easy expand array and / or parity disc
loss of 2 disks won't destroy entire array (this suggests FlexRaid isn't striping data)
HDDs sleep when not in use

FlexRaid pros vs. unRAID:
free (but not explicitly freeware or open source; license is less than bare bones)
flexibility on host OS
flexibility on host hardware
more amenable to application / server consolidation (eliminates much of the unRAID customization activity)
create parity for data (discs, partitions, folders, files) that lives virtually anywhere (including remote data)
unlimited number of data drives for a single parity drive
parity may be spread across multiple drives
unlimited number of parity configurations
data integrity capabilities
multi-threaded

FlexRaid cons vs. unRAID:
immature product (still on v1.0 RC1)
limit of one protected data path per hard drive to maintain protection from hard-drive failure (data "unit of risk" capability promised in future to facilitate multiple protected data paths per hard drive)
doesn't automatically re-compute parity after file modification or deletion (i.e., snap-shot RAID)
currently command line management (GUI and web promised in future)
virtually no documentation
lack of current user community

FlexRaid unknowns:
32 vs. 64 bit OS compatibility ==> confirmed compatible on 32 and 64 bit systems
which Linux flavors supported? ==> all supported...tested on Ubuntu
data presented as single volume vs. shares vs. individual disks ==> governed by OS
write speed ==> dependant on system configuration...not limited by FlexRAID
ease of array expansion (new data and / or parity disk) ==> very easy
security
HDD sleep capabilities ==> governed by OS
product support ==> so far so good
resource utilization ==> much better in v1.0 RC3
system requirements
speed of product maturation ==> so far so good

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#34
osirisjem Wrote:More information, albeit somewhat outdated on FlexRAID.



source

That is old info by about a year or so.
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#35
avus m3 Wrote:That is old info by about a year or so.
Actually its older than that - the original post was from 2008. Several things in there are incorrect as both UnRAID and FlexRAID have changed quite a bit since then.
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#36
I use NasLite by server elements.
I'm still running with the old version. The new version allows you to turn any pc into a SMB/CIFS, NFS, AFP, FTP, HTTP and RSYNC file server. It can boot up from a variety of sources from floppy, usb or from one of the hard drives.
Mine has worked flawlessly for over 6 years now. I have changed the mother board as the original one packed up, but it was about 15 years old.
I access the server from a variety of machines, and operating systems. My pc is XP pro, wife's laptop is Vista Home, kids PC is XP pro and of course our XBMC which is running under Linux 10.04.
Just my 2p
If you can't fix it with a hammer you have an electrical problem.
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#37
NASLite is good. I used to use FreeNAS myself, but switched over to FlexRAID because I wanted to run the server on Windows for some other applications I needed on there.
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#38
I added a cache drive to my unraid box yesterday. Writes went from ~22MB/s to ~85MB/s. Big Grin
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#39
Huh Speed either dropped off or I misread something. Now it is down to only 75MB/s.
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#40
Is anyone concerned about stability using a windows + flexraid? When I was planning my setup, I didn't want anything that could damage my files, so I made a simple ubuntu file server and was done with it. I eventually plan to use flexraid once I have enough drives. I am planning to build a windows htpc that does all the scraping and ripping over the network.
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#41
I am currently using FreeNAS but am considering a switch to Ubuntu Server. I still need to weight my options. I want to run torrents, SABnzbd, Couch Potato, Sick Beard, etc.

Would be nice to automate fan art and all of those goodies as well... not quite sure which platform would best suite my needs at this time!
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#42
I'll toss another vote for an Ubuntu + mdadm [software] raid solution. Can run any apps you want + tons of online documentation to help you out. Ember Media Manager running in Virtualbox does a very nice job of offline media management.

Recently had a power supply fail on my server...mdadm resync interrupted 4 times during debugging of the problem and finally once sorted out and resynced everything still 100% fine.

I get 110 MB/s writes over gigabit to the mdadm raid5 plus very flexible...the other solutions offer pros/cons as well but I don't see as many positives if you want to do other things on your server.

My $0.02
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#43
Does anyone worry about bit rot? Other than ZFS it seems to me this is a potential issues for all the systems.

I use an unraid server and keep mirror copies of everything on a Win7 desktop machine. I still worry about corruption creeping in undetected. When a drive fails the repair is simple - rebuild from parity (or mirror or backup). If files become corrupt through bit rot it's not clear to me how the stuff we're talking about here catches it.

With unraid I can run the parity check whenever i want (usually monthly) and I suppose that should catch it but I'm not sure where that would leave me. I think it would reveal that I have a problem but I wouldn't know which of my 5 data disks or parity disk actually suffered the bad bit.
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#44
Has anyone used ZFS FUSE for Ubuntu? I wonder if I can import my existing zpool (RAIDZ) from my FreeNAS system and easily convert to Ubuntu... that would make my switch much easier.

At this time, I am still trying to determine how feasible it is to run everything I desire on my current FreeNAS. This could potentially be easier than backing up all of my data and starting from scratch with Ubuntu.
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#45
Yes. You can import from FreeNAS. You can always import older, you can never import newer.

FreeNAS/FreeBSD is stuck on something like version 14. ZFS Fuse is something like 23.

I do use ZFS Fuse on my girlfriend's server. No redundancy, just 1 disk in a zpool. It scrubs weekly. She's not got anything important on the drive, I just want an early warning on when it is going to start failing.
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