DIY Old Computer as File server for small business

[nodols3]

---

Guys,

Good day!

I would just like to ask if naay nakatry ug gamit diri for file servers kanang mga old personal computers.
Pwede na ba kaha ang Core 2 Duo or lower nga specs. How many or how much computing power of the followings do I need:

1. RAM - pila ka Gigabytes?
2. Hard Disk space - RAID or unsa pa gani na?
3. CPU SPec - Core 2 Duo or lower pwede ba?
4. Video Card - ?
5. Keyboard, Mouse, printer and other peripherals - ??
6. Motherboard - dapat gyud daghan ug SATA slots?
7. What OS do I need - Pwede ra ba ang windows XP or windows 98? - Linux dili ko kamao gud mo setup. So I prefer windows nalang. But if naay maka tudlo or if dali ra ang linux as what I thought, then why not.

I'm planning to use it to serve about 10 to 15 PCs ra, some will connect to it via wifi most will connect via LAN.

Any specs you guys can advice?

[lloyd_joy]

pwede kaayo bro. gamit nko gani, older pa anang plano nmo... allow me to share again... my file server is a PD 925... allow me to share the full spec...

Cpu: Intel Pentium D 925
Cpu cooling system: Deep Cool Alpha 30 (95W compatible)
Mobo: Asus P5KPL-AM
Ram: Kingston ValueRam 4GB DDR2 800 MHz (2 x 2GB)
Gpu: Asus EAH5450 512 VRAM DDR3
Psu: Antec EarthWatts EA-380D
HDDs: 2 x 2TB Toshiba (Hitachi) DT01ACA200 on Raid1 and a Samsung 40 GB SATA... file system is on ZFS
Chassis: SAMA
OS: FreeNAS release 8.3.0 (64 bit)... installed on a 4GB SanDisk Cruzer Fit USB drive...
NIC: Intel Gigabit


allow me to share the pic... its on the right side of the bunch... once up & running na ang FreeNAS box, no need na ang monitor, keyboard & mouse nya.




a system w/ 8 to 16GB or more would be better... as required by FreeNAS but mine, is still very acceptable. tried to connect 6 pcs (both wired and wireless) at the same time to the NAS box and doing activities at the same time too... so far, the 4 GB system just provided ample juice to all of them.

for the OS, naa daghan... FreeNAS, Openfiler and Open Media Vault to name three... dali ra gyud kaayo ni sila...

[papaechoromeo]

I'm also using freenas OS for 2 years already with no problem so far.

[nodols3]

pwede kaayo bro. gamit nko gani, older pa anang plano nmo... allow me to share again... my file server is a PD 925... allow me to share the full spec...

Cpu: Intel Pentium D 925
Cpu cooling system: Deep Cool Alpha 30 (95W compatible)
Mobo: Asus P5KPL-AM
Ram: Kingston ValueRam 4GB DDR2 800 MHz (2 x 2GB)
Gpu: Asus EAH5450 512 VRAM DDR3
Psu: Antec EarthWatts EA-380D
HDDs: 2 x 2TB Toshiba (Hitachi) DT01ACA200 on Raid1 and a Samsung 40 GB SATA... file system is on ZFS
Chassis: SAMA
OS: FreeNAS release 8.3.0 (64 bit)... installed on a 4GB SanDisk Cruzer Fit USB drive...
NIC: Intel Gigabit


allow me to share the pic... its on the right side of the bunch... once up & running na ang FreeNAS box, no need na ang monitor, keyboard & mouse nya.




a system w/ 8 to 16GB or more would be better... as required by FreeNAS but mine, is still very acceptable. tried to connect 6 pcs (both wired and wireless) at the same time to the NAS box and doing activities at the same time too... so far, the 4 GB system just provided ample juice to all of them.

for the OS, naa daghan... FreeNAS, Openfiler and Open Media Vault to name three... dali ra gyud kaayo ni sila...

Questions bro.

Cpu: Intel Pentium D 925 - ok ra gyud diay bisan dili kaayo taas ang specs sa CPU.

Cpu cooling system: Deep Cool Alpha 30 (95W compatible) - Kinahanglanon gyud nga high end ang cooling bro?
Mobo: Asus P5KPL-AM

Ram: Kingston ValueRam 4GB DDR2 800 MHz (2 x 2GB) - Wala kay lags from this amount of RAM bro? --

Gpu: Asus EAH5450 512 VRAM DDR3 - I've read nga dili kaayo need nga taas ang specs sa GPU, dili kaha overkill siya gamay bro?

Psu: Antec EarthWatts EA-380D - Pwede ba bisan baratohon lang nga ingon ani bro? - gamay ra budget gud.

HDDs: 2 x 2TB Toshiba (Hitachi) DT01ACA200 on Raid1 and a Samsung 40 GB SATA... file system is on ZFS - Unsay gamit sa Samsung nga 40GB nga SATA bro? not enough ang Raid nga 2x2TB?

Chassis: SAMA - Specialized nga chassis?

OS: FreeNAS release 8.3.0 (64 bit)... installed on a 4GB SanDisk Cruzer Fit USB drive... - Kani need gyud ko study pa ani.
FreeNAS is Linux? How do you install this? Do you need special knowledge para ani? Also how do you interconnect with other PCs?
I know naas internet ang answers, but I'd rather get instructions from here ninyo mga experts ug experienced na ani.

NIC: Intel Gigabit - LAN card? sorry bro.. totally newbie gyud.. Network Interface Card is the same as Lan card raman diba?
What's so special with a gigabit card bro? Naay special features?
Also ngano man naa raman sa USB flashdrive ang iyang OS gi install dili pwede sa HDD nalang ikuyog?

All in all very nice setup bro..

Which one ang mas maayo kaha:

FreeNAS, Openfiler or Open Media Vault??

And lastly since nagkatag naman tanan questions nako diha, ang pinaka importante diri nako ibutang sa ubos. Here goes.

How much ang na gasto nimo sa imong setup bro?
And if i stripdown nako ang akong setup to the cheaper models pila pud kaha sa imong tanaw ang ako magasto?

[lloyd_joy]

^ bro,

had placed my answer below your inquiries...

Questions bro.

Cpu: Intel Pentium D 925 - ok ra gyud diay bisan dili kaayo taas ang specs sa CPU.
Ans: yes, pwede ra dili taas ang spec. even the lower powered Atom can be used as a file server.

Cpu cooling system: Deep Cool Alpha 30 (95W compatible) - Kinahanglanon gyud nga high end ang cooling bro?
Ans: pwede ra stock cooler... dili man ni high end cooler akoang gamit... sakto lang ni sya kay 95W CPU compatible man sya... wla naman nako an stock cooler sa PD maong ning palit ko aning sa Deep Cool...

Mobo: Asus P5KPL-AM

Ram: Kingston ValueRam 4GB DDR2 800 MHz (2 x 2GB) - Wala kay lags from this amount of RAM bro? --
Ans: so far, wala ra ma'y lags sa 6 PCs na akoang gi connect nya... na nag access sa storage nya at the same time. For FreeNAS, on ZFS system, the more the system ram, the better would be the performance of the FreeNAS box. In ZFS ang FreeNAS version 8.3.0, 4GB is usuable, 6/8GB is good, 16GB is better, 32GB would be the best. As required and reflected on the FreeNAS document, for 1TB available storage, there should be 1GB of system memory...

Gpu: Asus EAH5450 512 VRAM DDR3 - I've read nga dili kaayo need nga taas ang specs sa GPU, dili kaha overkill siya gamay bro?
Ans: no need to have a high spec GPU. no need for a discrete GPU man gani labi na 8GB ang system mem or more sa FreeNAS box. pwede ra on-board or on-die ang iGP na gamiton. extra man ni nako maong akoang gi gamit para pud, ang 4GB na system ram, dili ma kuha-an. ZFS file system man akoang gigamit. if below 4GB ang system ram, UFS ra ang pwede sa file system... dili pwede mag ZFS.

Psu: Antec EarthWatts EA-380D - Pwede ba bisan baratohon lang nga ingon ani bro? - gamay ra budget gud.
Ans: pwede ra bisan unsa bro. planoha lang gyud na ang capacity sa PSU, maka support sya once mag gamit ka'g multiple HDDs in the future. more than enough ang 350W na PSU... check lang sa Ampere ratings nya (a must for multiple HDDs) kay inig switch "ON" sa server/NAS box, mao ni ang time na mo peak ang Ampere requirement.

HDDs: 2 x 2TB Toshiba (Hitachi) DT01ACA200 on Raid1 and a Samsung 40 GB SATA... file system is on ZFS - Unsay gamit sa Samsung nga 40GB nga SATA bro? not enough ang Raid nga 2x2TB?
Ans: extra HDD naman nko ang old Samsung 40 GB. wla ra nko gi kuha sa system. naa pud nya ang redundant copy (back-up) sa akoang mga work related files. pwede ra ni sya kuha-on sa system. for the current RAID1 storage nako, more than enough ra for now. total files nko kay 600+ GB ra man pud. hinay2x ra ni ug tubo kay nag sige man pud ko'g download ug mga documentary movies diri. i planned to add another 2x2TB HDD (the same brand & model) and configure it on RAIDZ2... i know na usik2x lang ni'g money ba... hehehe... hobby2x lang man ni pud para ma tambalan ang "What if?" na question sa akoang utok... hehehe...

Chassis: SAMA - Specialized nga chassis?
Ans: nope. tabla ra ni ang current chassis nko for a generic one. ordinary chassis model ni sa SAMA...

OS: FreeNAS release 8.3.0 (64 bit)... installed on a 4GB SanDisk Cruzer Fit USB drive... - Kani need gyud ko study pa ani.
FreeNAS is Linux? How do you install this? Do you need special knowledge para ani? Also how do you interconnect with other PCs?
I know naas internet ang answers, but I'd rather get instructions from here ninyo mga experts ug experienced na ani.
Ans: FreeNAS was based on FreeBSD. mao ni ang step:

1. Download the ISO file (either 32 bit or 62 bit FreeNAS OS) from FreeNAS 8 | Storage For Open Source.
2. Write the ISO file into a blank CD for it to be bootable and a FreeNAS OS installer repository.
3. Install the OS into a USD drive or any removable drive... It "MUST" be bootable. Set-up the mobo's BIOS for this.
Note: Do not install the FreeNAS OS into any HDD. If you'll install it on a HDD, you can not use the extra storage since the disk will be used exclusively by the FreeNAS OS.
4. Follow the steps during the installation.
5. Once set-up, you can have a full control of the FreeNAS box using the web browser of all PCs attached into the network.
You can use the IP address as can be seen on the FreeNAS OS. Once set-up, you can remove the monitor, keyboard & mouse of the NAS box.

NIC: Intel Gigabit - LAN card? sorry bro.. totally newbie gyud.. Network Interface Card is the same as Lan card raman diba?
What's so special with a gigabit card bro? Naay special features?
Also ngano man naa raman sa USB flashdrive ang iyang OS gi install dili pwede sa HDD nalang ikuyog?
Ans: Yes, NIC is the LAN card. A gigabit network system (gigabit NICs, gigabit switch or gigabit router and CAT5e or CAT6 cables) are all required to have a full gigabit system. Mas better ni sya compared to a 100 Mbps network system kay faster man sya. Mas preferred ang Intel based Gigabit NICs kay fully supported ang drivers nya sa FreeBSD/FreeNAS. Ang uban, fully supported man pud pero, dili "Plug & Play" for its Gigabit compatibility as what I've experience on my B-Link gigabit NIC based on Via VT6120 chip set...

For the FreeNAS OS inquiry, please refer to the answer above, on your OS inquiry.



All in all very nice setup bro..

Which one ang mas maayo kaha:

FreeNAS, Openfiler or Open Media Vault??

thanks bro... depende ra siguro gyud sa need nato. FreeNAS ra akoang nasuwayan. Its 100% free. ang Openfiler kay naa'y "Payed version" na sila. pero, ang "Free version" nila, 100% usable ra gihapon... ang naka lahi siguro, full functions/support and Payed Version then ang Free version kay limited lang. ang OpenMediaVault kay 100% free pud...

[lloyd_joy]

@ TS,

for your intended apps diay, na mag serve sya'g 10 to 15 PCs at the same time, you'll be better off to have more system RAM (if your OS is FreeNAS on a ZFS and Raid configuration)... pero, mag depend hinoon ni sya sa intended use sa attached PCs... unsa man ang gamit sa mga naka attached PCs? would the File Server, just be a file server and its usage will be plainly work and "No multi-media/ entertainment" involved... like, watching movies during working time or something? check sa sa imohang target usage ani nya then the HW dayon...

[nodols3]

^ bro,

had placed my answer below your inquiries...





thanks bro... depende ra siguro gyud sa need nato. FreeNAS ra akoang nasuwayan. Its 100% free. ang Openfiler kay naa'y "Payed version" na sila. pero, ang "Free version" nila, 100% usable ra gihapon... ang naka lahi siguro, full functions/support and Payed Version then ang Free version kay limited lang. ang OpenMediaVault kay 100% free pud...

Very nice info bro, dako kaayo ug tabang nako.

Sa imong tanaw bro pila kaha dapat budget nako if I were to build a decent pc to serve as fileserver using as NAS?

I'm planning to use 1TB or 2TB (undecided) in raid, also a decent low cost branded PSU, and at least 8GB of RAM.
OS is FreeNAS.
Akong intended use niya is for small business setup. Like:
1. 10 to 15PC's - mga 10 ka desktop and more or less 5 laptops in wifi.
2. Sa office dili man tingale kalikayan naay mag store ug mga video files, so I guess a minimum server activity on multi-medias... like watching movies during working time.
3. Also main purpose gyud niya is for database handling. Example kanang quickbooks, naa man gud na database. I'm planning to centralize the database on the server.

Pila kaha akong minimum plus contingency sa budget ani bro?

Out of Topic: Just a thought...Pwede ba pud kaha ni siya himuon nga web server? Example maghimo ko ug website then kani siya ang akong gamiton nga server.

[lloyd_joy]

^ ah i see...

if you have the old HW katong Core 2 Duo na CPU, try lang sya sya bro para dili ka mag shell out ug redundant amount. basin for your purpose, ok ra sya... its performance would be acceptable based on its intended application. ang HDD lang sa unahag palit ug ang PSU if dili ni sila available. pero, if wala pa, you can purchase for a SB or IB celeron CPU... and a H61 mobo... an 8 GB system ram will do. but for future proofing, basin mag puno ka'g HDD then mo dako ang files, you can slap a 16 GB system ram for the FreeNAS box... business application ra ba, para pud stable sya if mag dungan ug access ug large files ang workstations sa network. this is a "nice to have" though... again, an 8 GB FreeNAS system would suffice

for the PSU, stay away from those generic ones... better na you'll purchase those PSU's that are rated at 80 Plus efficiency... you just need a true rated 270W to 350W range for the NAS box... this is more than enough pa man gani. gamay ra man need sya'g wattage kay wala ma'y discrete GPU or pwede ra butangan ug discrete GPU na wla'y external power connector (6 or 8 pins)... para pud, maka abot ang load ug 50% to maximize the highest rating efficiency sa PSU.

for the budget, mao ra man ni ang minimum HW requirement kun mag buy ka ug new HW... no idea ko sa price list dha sa atoa. maka hatag ug price ang uban na bros/sis' nato diri sa istorya...

> CPU: Intel SB/IB Pentium or Celeron
> Mobo: H61 chipset based mobo
> NIC: Intel based Gigabit NIC (network interface card)... i suggest na kani ang gamiton sa FreeNAS box for compatibility purposes.
> System Ram: 8 GB (2 x 4GB)... no need for those uber expensive modules. just get the basic ones like the Kingston ValueRams or equivalent
> HDD: better, get the 2TB variant. gamay ra man sila price difference sa 1TB variant. then you can opt for the Green models... no need for those expensive ones like the WD RE or WD Red models or equivalent from other manufacturers... these high performance drives are "nice to have" though. You can use the WD Green, Hitachi or Toshiba (Hitachi) HDDs. sa akoang na case, ning opt ko to buy the 2 x 2TB Toshiba (Hitachi) kay green drives man sila... gamay ra'g need ug power...
> PSU: a 270 to 350 true rated will do. a 500W PSU is an over kill for a NAS box kay dili ma abot ang 50% load to achieve its highest efficiency rating
> Chassis/Case: you can use those generic ones kay dili mana for show ang NAS box (file server) naa ra man sya sa daplin. a mid/high level chassis/case will do also but, an over kill napud. if mag generic level, make sure lang na more than 1 ang 3.5" drive bay nya para if mag puno ug HDDs, dili lisod mangita'g converter from 3.5 to 5.25"... naa ra man hinoon mapalit ani but, basin lisod ni pangita-on dha sa atoa.

allow me to share the drive bay sa akoang gi gamit na chassis... again, generic level model ni sa SAMA sya... the chassis have 4 x 3.5 drive bays... duha sa taas, below the 5.25" drive bay (tua did2 akaong gi taod ang 40GB Samsung HDD) then ang 2 x 2TB, mao ning naa sa pics...




a nice to have also is to have a Gigabit network for faster transfer speeds and bigger band width capability... Don't forget to use a UPS for your FreeNAS box kay "business application" ra ba ni... and "back-up your data" always...

for the web server application, no idea ko ani ra ba bro... pwede ra siguro... mag research ta ani...

[nodols3]

^ ah i see...

if you have the old HW katong Core 2 Duo na CPU, try lang sya sya bro para dili ka mag shell out ug redundant amount. basin for your purpose, ok ra sya... its performance would be acceptable based on its intended application. ang HDD lang sa unahag palit ug ang PSU if dili ni sila available. pero, if wala pa, you can purchase for a SB or IB celeron CPU... and a H61 mobo... an 8 GB system ram will do. but for future proofing, basin mag puno ka'g HDD then mo dako ang files, you can slap a 16 GB system ram for the FreeNAS box... business application ra ba, para pud stable sya if mag dungan ug access ug large files ang workstations sa network. this is a "nice to have" though... again, an 8 GB FreeNAS system would suffice

for the PSU, stay away from those generic ones... better na you'll purchase those PSU's that are rated at 80 Plus efficiency... you just need a true rated 270W to 350W range for the NAS box... this is more than enough pa man gani. gamay ra man need sya'g wattage kay wala ma'y discrete GPU or pwede ra butangan ug discrete GPU na wla'y external power connector (6 or 8 pins)... para pud, maka abot ang load ug 50% to maximize the highest rating efficiency sa PSU.

for the budget, mao ra man ni ang minimum HW requirement kun mag buy ka ug new HW... no idea ko sa price list dha sa atoa. maka hatag ug price ang uban na bros/sis' nato diri sa istorya...

> CPU: Intel SB/IB Pentium or Celeron
> Mobo: H61 chipset based mobo
> NIC: Intel based Gigabit NIC (network interface card)... i suggest na kani ang gamiton sa FreeNAS box for compatibility purposes.
> System Ram: 8 GB (2 x 4GB)... no need for those uber expensive modules. just get the basic ones like the Kingston ValueRams or equivalent
> HDD: better, get the 2TB variant. gamay ra man sila price difference sa 1TB variant. then you can opt for the Green models... no need for those expensive ones like the WD RE or WD Red models or equivalent from other manufacturers... these high performance drives are "nice to have" though. You can use the WD Green, Hitachi or Toshiba (Hitachi) HDDs. sa akoang na case, ning opt ko to buy the 2 x 2TB Toshiba (Hitachi) kay green drives man sila... gamay ra'g need ug power...
> PSU: a 270 to 350 true rated will do. a 500W PSU is an over kill for a NAS box kay dili ma abot ang 50% load to achieve its highest efficiency rating
> Chassis/Case: you can use those generic ones kay dili mana for show ang NAS box (file server) naa ra man sya sa daplin. a mid/high level chassis/case will do also but, an over kill napud. if mag generic level, make sure lang na more than 1 ang 3.5" drive bay nya para if mag puno ug HDDs, dili lisod mangita'g converter from 3.5 to 5.25"... naa ra man hinoon mapalit ani but, basin lisod ni pangita-on dha sa atoa.

allow me to share the drive bay sa akoang gi gamit na chassis... again, generic level model ni sa SAMA sya... the chassis have 4 x 3.5 drive bays... duha sa taas, below the 5.25" drive bay (tua did2 akaong gi taod ang 40GB Samsung HDD) then ang 2 x 2TB, mao ning naa sa pics...




a nice to have also is to have a Gigabit network for faster transfer speeds and bigger band width capability... Don't forget to use a UPS for your FreeNAS box kay "business application" ra ba ni... and "back-up your data" always...

for the web server application, no idea ko ani ra ba bro... pwede ra siguro... mag research ta ani...

Thanks a lot for sharing bai, very very useful information indeed. I'm sure magamit ni sa uban readers who are planning to make their own file servers.

More questions bro.

Why do you opt to buy ani:

CPU: Intel SB/IB Pentium or Celeron Mobo: H61 chipset based mobo

Is it for power consumption consideration and efficiency?

Also about backing up, I guess need gyud siya ug separate nga another 2TB?
I've checked diri sa ato almost double pud ang price sa 1TB if himuon ng 2TB.

Another is unsay significance sa WD RED or GREEN? Dili ba diay generic ra ng mga models nila? or mao gyud na sila nga mga drives ang intended for servers? 5400 RPMs raman gihapon na sila?

What do you think about Seagate? Personally I prefer Seagate actually, I don't know kay murag naanad nalagn pud hehe.

Another question is how about administration of access rights, dali raba pagcontrol if kinsa ra imong ganahan ipa access sa file server bro? Makaya sa FreeNAS?

[lloyd_joy]

You're welcome bro... below are my answers... i'm not a master ha... hobby ra man ni nako ang PC DIY... my field of work is different but i'm in the semiconductor industry man hinoon... I'll answer your inquiries the best as i could... based on my actual experiences and references from the net...

Thanks a lot for sharing bai, very very useful information indeed. I'm sure magamit ni sa uban readers who are planning to make their own file servers.

More questions bro.

Why do you opt to buy ani:

CPU: Intel SB/IB Pentium or Celeron Mobo: H61 chipset based mobo
Ans: Barato lang man ni sila today then, gamay ra'g kaon sa kuryente labi na ang "T" variants nila ug powerful as a NAS CPU... the faster the CPU (even a single core one), the better it is since Samba will only use "one" core... since, it is single threaded... these CPUs are 64 bit and it is highly recommended to use the 64 bit variant of FreeNAS, ZFS file system with a 6 or 8 GB of system ram as minimum for better performance specially on multi-user (from the FreeNAS discussion)... a 4 GB system will do ra man gihapon based sa akoang personal experience on multiple PCs... an even the old Pentium D 925 CPU, performance is very acceptable.

to add lang... had converted my mini-ITX rig to a FreeNAS box gabi-i. wala man ning dayon ug palit ang akoang amigo kay waka siya gihatagan ug go signal ni wifey nya. mao ni ang set of HW nya... CPU: SB Pentium G840; ram: 8 GB (2x4GB Kingston Blu), PSU: SAMA 270W (75% efficiency... just an ordinary class PSU w/ 120 mm fan and black painted shell); mobo: ASRock H61M-ITX w/ an on-board Gigabit NIC... removed the 40 GB Samsung HDD from the PD 925 FreeNAS box ang slapped it inside the G840 FreeNAS box. so far, igo ra ko nag transfer sa akoang work related files for back-up... wala pa ko naka utingkay ug maayo nya...


Is it for power consumption consideration and efficiency?
Ans: Yes bro... as well as the actual cash outlay during its purchase...


Also about backing up, I guess need gyud siya ug separate nga another 2TB?
I've checked diri sa ato almost double pud ang price sa 1TB if himuon ng 2TB.
Ans: ah i see... diri sa akoang lugar, reasonable and justifiable ra sila'g price difference. just to give an example. i'll choose Toshiba (Hitachi) HDDs for comparison for all capacities... 1TB priced @ 429 rmb (roughly 3,003 php)... 2TB priced @ 639 rmb (roughly 4,473 php)... 3TB priced @ 6,293 php)... delta nila on the price: 1TB & 2TB (1,470 php)... 2TB & 3TB (1,820 php)... 1TB & 3TB (3,290)

Another is unsay significance sa WD RED or GREEN? Dili ba diay generic ra ng mga models nila? or mao gyud na sila nga mga drives ang intended for servers? 5400 RPMs raman gihapon na sila?
Ans: WD Red and WD Green line of drives are almost the same... naa lang na puno na improvement and WD Red... jus to name one like, designed sya for a NAS application w/ the software and RAID configuration on SOHO. both of them can be use on a RAID configuration... but, ang Green line, not preferable if gamiton sa RAID controllerrs (HW RAID) kay taas ug idle/sleep time sya. i-tagak sya sa controller kay mag tuo ang controller na guba ang drive kay wala mo function dayon... but, there is a fix on this one man hinoon from WD. but for FreeNAS, dili ni siya makita na problema kay software RAID man ang implementation sa FreeNAS. WD Green drive is "ok" for FreeNAS on RAID configuration or any other software RAID implementation.

ang WD Red, intended sya for servers for SOHO then ang WD Green, intended sya for personal storage and servers for SOHO. but definitely, not on Enterprise solutions... kani sila, ang speed nila kay between 5,400 to 7,200 rpm... fixed speed, dili changeable... pwede mag 5,500 ang isa ka drive... then ang isa, pwede mag 6,200 rpm... pero, naa to'y nabasahan nako from a 3rd party lab na ang speed sa WD Green, naa sa 5,600 rpm lang... dili ko maka locate sa link na...

for a HDD on a file server, a 5,400 rpm drive is enough...

naa'y mga Enterprise Class HDDs for server use gyud on all RAID configurations... either w/ SATA or SAS interface... kani sila, a nice to have kay designed for high reliability... bisan physical vibrations or sudden shock, maka sukol ni sila kay lagi, intended sila sa enterprise application like a rack server and more... brutal kaayo ang environment ani... dili mag silbi ang mga desktop or consumer level HDDs... then, kay high performance man ni sila, high DC power user pud ni sila sa system... my last statement is only true for a HDD requirement...


What do you think about Seagate? Personally I prefer Seagate actually, I don't know kay murag naanad nalagn pud hehe.
Ans: ok ra pud ang Seagate bro... at present, naa ko diri isa na Seagate drive (gamit sa entertainment rig & running 24/7)... 360 GB capacity lang... 4.5 yrs na ni nako and still kickin'... ang 160 GB Seagate HDD diha sa balay namo kay more than 6.5 yrs na, very much alive as an OS and application drive pud...

Another question is how about administration of access rights, dali raba pagcontrol if kinsa ra imong ganahan ipa access sa file server bro? Makaya sa FreeNAS?
Ans: Yes bro, dali ra kaayo ang administration nya... sa web browser (any PC na naka connect sa network) sya i-access... user friendly kaayo ang GUI nya. full function gyud sa as a "server"... you can control the access rights of the individual user... kaya kaayo ni sa FreeNAS OS... full function for free sya...

hope na ka'y nakuha na idea ani bro...