FreeNAS - Network Attached Storage using an old PC.

[matt]

For anyone that:
a) Likes to tinker with computers.
b) Wants/needs a networked storage/backup device.
c) B+ on the cheap using an old PC...

Check out FreeNAS.

I won a new laptop and we bought my wife a laptop too. We're all networked so it made obvious sense to put the old PC's to good use.

One I turned in to a web server for the occasional bit of freelancing.

The other already had an 80GB disk in it so I shoehorned another 160GB disk in (from my wife's old PC) and another 40GB I had lying around. Installed FreeNAS, and plugged it in to the network. Vista Backup & Restore is now pointing at it and backing up both laptops once a week.

Today I swapped the 40GB for a 500GB disk - £64. That's the total cost of a 740GB NAS as FreeNAS is, as the name suggests, FREE...

Just thought I'd mention it...

 

[Dave S]

Bear in mind it's still in beta, though. :wink:

cheers
Dave

 

[matt]

Bear in mind it's still in beta, though. :wink:

cheers
Dave

Like most things these days... GMail, for example.

But... FreeNAS does have stable releases.

 

[Boz62]

I've used FreeNAS as my backup data store for over 3 years now. I keep the configuration on an old USB stick and boot it from CDROM. It's been totally reliable (touch wood). It's currently in an old 1.4GHz Dell. Upgrades have gone smoothly by updating the CD using the stable releases, after backing up the configuration (just in case). I have two hard drives in it, mirrored so I can swap out one of them for off-site backup (Paranoid? Moi?).
Thoroughly recommended.
Boz

 

[RogerS]

I've actually got a 'real' LaCie NAS in a slim 19" rackmount that I'm not using. Anyone interested then please make me an offer. Tool fund in desperate need of replenishment.

 

[kityuser]

backups on magnetic media are fine, but make sure you have at least some double redundancy (raid). Disks do fail.......

I was considering the NAS PC approach a little while ago but decided against for the power reasons (leccy these days is getting expensive to leave a PC on 24/7).

There are some really quite nice "embedded" solutions available these days.

Steve

 

[wizer]

I used to use this sort of setup but, as Steve says, leccy ain't cheap atm. You could get into using WOL to boot the backup PC at a set time but this just seemed like work to me. So now I just have a sync programme which synchronises my data files on each computer and also my remote storage drive.

I don't care if I loose XP as I can have that back up and running in less than an hour.

 

[matt]

I just switch it on once per week, just before the backups are about to start.

 

[kityuser]

of course you can get these timer plugs for not much..... or like some people have said you can boot some machines from a RTC alarm in the bios.

and of course you can do most of this with an embedded solution and still use less leccy.

and of course there is wake on lan, for either a pc or embedded solution.


lots of choices, I use my mac mini left on for sunday afternoons to back everything up. (FW disks) and of course archive onto optical media.

Steve

 

[Vormulac]

I've been using freenas to run my file server for a little while now, and I have just had a problem with it. It runs off a usb key and it locked up on boot up last night and trashed the install on the usb key - it's not a problem, I just need to reinstall it on the key and it will function as before, it's just an annoyance. On the whole though I have to say I've pretty happy with it.

 

[bob321]

try windoze home server free trial for 120 days u dont even need a screen keyboard or mouse exept on install it is controled by the manegment console remote. you can by a full lisence from newegg for only ..... ...$100 it has one server lisence and 10 clients u install the client on every comp it backs up every night , if you have 2 files the same it will only keep 1 of them to save space!!!

this could work but download it on one comp then try it on another and u could have 240 days free (only an idea)

i am going to use it when i can find a few spare/unused comps

you can also get addins for movies and music

 

[Steve Maskery]

God this is depressing. I used to be, in a former life, a computer engineer. I'm out of it, although I can still probably tell you all you need to know a out Windows 95.

Anyway, in those days, backup was to floppy disk, or DLT if you were flush.

My home backup regime is tiotally inadequate and I know that one day I'm going to come unstuck. I have two internal drives and 3 USB external ones. I have copies of stuff all over the place. most of which are woefully out of date and I'd have trouble finding anything I lost.

I really need to get myself sorted, but when drives get to 1T where on earth do you put a copy anyway?

S

 

[kityuser]

God this is depressing. I used to be, in a former life, a computer engineer. I'm out of it, although I can still probably tell you all you need to know a out Windows 95.

Anyway, in those days, backup was to floppy disk, or DLT if you were flush.

My home backup regime is tiotally inadequate and I know that one day I'm going to come unstuck. I have two internal drives and 3 USB external ones. I have copies of stuff all over the place. most of which are woefully out of date and I'd have trouble finding anything I lost.

I really need to get myself sorted, but when drives get to 1T where on earth do you put a copy anyway?

S

compress and stick onto a dual layer Blue ray

Steve

 

[RogerS]

God this is depressing. I used to be, in a former life, a computer engineer. I'm out of it, although I can still probably tell you all you need to know a out Windows 95.

Anyway, in those days, backup was to floppy disk, or DLT if you were flush.

My home backup regime is tiotally inadequate and I know that one day I'm going to come unstuck. I have two internal drives and 3 USB external ones. I have copies of stuff all over the place. most of which are woefully out of date and I'd have trouble finding anything I lost.

I really need to get myself sorted, but when drives get to 1T where on earth do you put a copy anyway?

S

Ah well...if you had a Mac then your saviour would be Time Machine...


coat..get..

 

[Steve Maskery]

Roger, you've got a nerve!!!!!

S