Ubuntu – Best NAS solution for windows workgroup? freenas or openfiler

openfilersambatruenasUbuntu

we have small network of 15 computer. we want to store data in nas box with raid configured so that it can be accessed by all users. it will be document, excel, pdf and database files.
what is best solution use freenas – openfiler or setup ubuntu server with samba.
these is a widows workgroup enviroment.

thanks a lot for reply. a comparison on various site states that free nas is slower open filer. how reliable is raid setup with both os. in production environment which will be more durable solution considering it will use CIFS/SMB FOR WINDOWS WORK GROUP

Best Answer

A Comparison FreeNAS vs OpenFiler,

If you are big business, and don’t have the internal resources to setup and manage a SAN, Xinit Systems has different support services for you. But don’t forget that the FreeNAS developers will also welcome your business, and will gladly (I’m sure) help you setup a FreeNAS-based SAN.

If you are a home user and just need a NAS server (most home users will have no need for a SAN), either one should do just fine. Your choice will likely depend on whether you are more comfortable with a Linux-based system or a BSD-based one.

Further,

In the conclusion Linuxbsdos.com writes, “The main difference between FreeNAS and Openfiler is that one is a network-attached storage (NAS) server, while the other serves as both a NAS and a SAN (Storage Area Network) server. The SAN feature of Openfiler is what makes it appealing to enterprise and business users.”

The reason for this is that the reviewer didn’t know that FreeNAS also has iSCSI target capabilities and they only list iSCSI initiator in the feature list of FreeNAS.

Which probably led to some updates in the initial article.

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