Home
| Calendar
| Mail Lists
| List Archives
| Desktop SIG
| Hardware Hacking SIG
Wiki | Flickr | PicasaWeb | Video | Maps & Directions | Installfests | Keysignings Linux Cafe | Meeting Notes | Linux Links | Bling | About BLU |
Edward Ned Harvey wrote: > ... it's really unfortunate that you have a preference for Linux as a > NAS. Because it's certainly not the best solution, unless you have some > really specific linux-only application, or something like that. > > In terms of performance, reliability, speed, backups, and every > characteristic that I can basically think of mattering in a NAS, I would say > solaris/opensolaris/ZFS would be the better solution. In addition to the previously mentioned FreeNAS/ZFS option, there are a few other blended solutions: Debian user-space w/FreeBSD kernel: http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7295 Not sure if this would offer any advantages, like access to newer ZFS drivers. (I doubt it.) Likely not production ready. Debian user-space w/Solaris kernel: http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3561411/Solaris-Kernel-in-Debian-Distro.htm http://www.nexenta.org/ http://debian.fmi.uni-sofia.bg/~toncho/myblog/archives/229-Nexenta-vs-Debian-GNU-kFreeBSD.html This is production ready, supposedly, and you can opt for commercial support from Nexenta. Nexenta is an OS specifically targeted at the NAS market. (Previously discussed in the BLU archives.) There is also a derivitave project, which morphs Nexenta OS into a desktop, by blending in Ubuntu user-space; not sure why): http://www.stormos.org/node/4 I'd be curious to hear from anyone using the free versions of Nexenta. And for the sake of completeness, eventually you'll be able to do ZFS-like things with native Linux via Btrfs[1] and AFS-like things with Ceph[2], which is layered on top of Btrfs. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Btrfs 2. http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7744/1.html The biggest down-side to a pure-Linux NAS today is that there are compelling features available in the non-Linux solutions, and the Linux equivalents are still a few years off. So whether you go with a Linux stopgap solution, or break with uniformity by going with a special purpose OS for your NAS, it'll likely need to be completely redone in a few years. -Tom -- Tom Metro Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA "Enterprise solutions through open source." Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/
BLU is a member of BostonUserGroups | |
We also thank MIT for the use of their facilities. |