best NAS OS

[jjakajonas]

Hello everyone.
I have decided to take my old windows home server 2011 down and replace it with a better NAS.

I have decided to base my build on a Lenovo thinkstation S30 system.

The thing is now to decide on the OS.
I have been looking on open media vault and CasaOS.

What OS would be the most noob secure (and future proof) OS to use?

 

[PigLover]

Take a look at TrueNAS core (BSD Based) or TrueNAS Scale (Linux based, but a bit less mature than core). Worlds better than OMV or Casa.

 

[jjakajonas]

I can try install TrueNAS before I transfer my files and see if I can figure it out.

 

[reasonsandreasons]

I'll second TrueNAS Scale and Core. If you're a home user Scale is probably better (as you'll likely want to run containers like Plex), but Core brings a level of speed and stability Scale can't yet match. I run both and find them very straightforward to use, plus or minus the vagaries of managing SMB permissions. It's really not that bad, though.

 

[Tech Junky]

Just use Linux and install samba for file sharing.

 

[jjakajonas]

It's more for the easynes of it.

I run Home Assistant on a raspberry pi and wanted to integrate some tools between them.

 

[Tech Junky]

easynes

Well, you can do it the easy way or the right way.

Using a full fledged OS though doesn't restrain you to one particular activity though. Once you have the file sharing setup it's a done deal. If you want to expand features though by adding additional apps to the mix it's easy to do and you don't have to mess with containers for each one. You get better performance from the system as well.

When I started my journey years back my intent was to slim down the number of devices needed and rolled in 5-6 of them into a single box that now acts as my router, switch, AP, DVR, NAS, etc. Unlocking the potential for wire speed VPN by using a full CPU and not some POS router. Rolling the data into the main network device means no bottlenecks of traditional moving data from PC to server as it's all right there.

Using a full OS also tends to mean less HW compatibility issues you run into with things like BSD. More HW options that are just easier to work with rather than hunting google for why stuff doesn't work.

 

[jjakajonas]

That was kinda the back thort for open media vault and CasaOS do to it's (as I understand it) a service with a web interface on top of a Debian (cli only) server.

Then there was a bunch more expandability down the road.
Also with the xeon chip I'm running made it possible for me to run ECC memory so I got 32 GB of those in it to.

 

[Tech Junky]

web interface on top of a Debian (cli only) server.

There are things you can do still like that. I have an assortment of web pages to control things but it's usually faster to do it by cli. Webmin is kind of a catch all and gives you terminal access as well from within. But for those who like to click rather than type it would suffice.

 

[jjakajonas]

That also open a possibility to run fog (so I can administer the computers in the home)

The main use btw is mostly file storage and jellyfin or Plex (not decided yet and are a whole nother can of worms for another day).

 

[louie1961]

Open Media Vault is OK. Its built on Debian, which is a plus to me. There's some quirks with it: their community bugs me (always "my way or the highway"), their approach to ZFS seems dodgy to me, and the main developer has done some releases lately with some apparent issues in them (like the system stops working and you have to do a work around. The last one was a NFS glitch). But I still use it. I don't think TrueNAS (either flavor) is easy nor is it for a beginner. If you want dead simple, go buy a Synology NAS. Otherwise I like the ide of just running Debian and configuring SMB yourself.

 

[i386]

I like and use windows server ._.

 

[jjakajonas]

Open Media Vault is OK. Its built on Debian, which is a plus to me. There's some quirks with it: their community bugs me (always "my way or the highway"), their approach to ZFS seems dodgy to me, and the main developer has done some releases lately with some apparent issues in them (like the system stops working and you have to do a work around. The last one was a NFS glitch). But I still use it. I don't think TrueNAS (either flavor) is easy nor is it for a beginner. If you want dead simple, go buy a Synology NAS. Otherwise I like the ide of just running Debian and configuring SMB yourself.

That don't sounds promising...

I like and use windows server ._.

I have used windows server for years...
But it's just to expensive to keep buying new licenses to keep up the security.
Therefore I turn Linux now.

 

[ttabbal]

ZFS: I really like the reliability. There are even some options to expand raidz volumes now on Linux. For Linux based, proxmox is nice. Solaris based setups work great, but Oracle bugs some people. There's also BSD based options. They all have pros and cons. It depends a lot on what features and such are most important to you. TrueNAS simplifies the NAS side with a nice GUI. I do most of that on Proxmox using CLI, just because I'm used to it.

Another possible option is Unraid. I know it's really popular, not ZFS based, but seems like most people using it haven't had problems. Has some similar options for virtualization to Proxmox. I believe it is paid, though I'm not sure what the fee structure is like. I have not used it myself though.

Just to give a couple of options. Note that ZFS isn't the end-all and you don't have to use it to have a good NAS. I personally like it, but there are options in every OS to pick from. BTRFS seems to be similar to ZFS, but is newer. Different pros/cons for all of it. Just in Linux you have those two, mdadm for filesystem-agnostic RAID, and a huge list of possible filesystems to choose from. I would suggest using something a lot of people use. Just for ease of help and searching. If you decide to run some oddball setup, you might not have a lot of people able to help. That can be really annoying when you have some weird error.

 

[Tech Junky]

ZFS

Don't forget you have to break it to grow it too. Mdadm is easy to add more drives to the mix and expand. I ran mine for years with no issues before switching to all ssd and just getting a whopping 16tb u3 drive.

 

[gea]

Most resource efficient for ZFS is Solaris Unix with native ZFS where ZFS comes from or an Opensource Solaris fork like OmniOS with Open-ZFS. They are very trouble free on updates. Part of Solaris based operating systems is a unique easy to setup multithreaded SMB server as the alternative to SAMBA. It offers nfs4 ACL (feature covers fine granular Windows ntfs ACL with inheritance, Posix and traditional Unix permissions like 755), unique Windows SID as user reference instead Unix uid/gid, local SMB groups (can contain groups) and ZFS snaps=Windows previous versions without special settings.

 

[ttabbal]

Don't forget you have to break it to grow it too. Mdadm is easy to add more drives to the mix and expand. I ran mine for years with no issues before switching to all ssd and just getting a whopping 16tb u3 drive.

raidz only, and unless you are using a newer version. They added the ability to grow raidz a while back. It's not perfect, but it's not horrible. For a number of years, I've been running striped mirrors. I can expand or add anytime. Either add a pair to the stripe, or just replace individual drives. Usually, I add a new, larger drive to the mirror creating a 3-way mirror. Then remove the old smaller drive and repeat for the other one. Or at the same time if I have enough ports to connect the new drives.

That should not be taken as a criticism of mdadm. I have never had a problem with it either. Just making sure the options are as clear as I can make them. There is no perfect setup, only different pros/cons.

 

[jjakajonas]

I'm more like the trail and error type.

The thing is more to find a starting point.
I have worked with CentOS before for making a Apache based web server in cli.
So I'm not totally new to Linux.

I also like the open aspects of using full fledge OS instead of the tailored editions.
Simply because I have a tendency to build on to what I already have.

A bonus is if I can connect between the NAS and my home system to have one place to keep an eye on the whole network setup in one place.
And for that sole purpose TrueNAS and OMV those who looks more promising.
For the open and expandability is OMV and CasaOS.

Or maybe even just a full Linux OS where I do it all the hard way.

 

[Tech Junky]

Or maybe even just a full Linux OS where I do it all the hard way.

It's not that hard. Install the OS, Add the packages for mdadm /smb4k and create the share under /mnt add the user to the group for SMB and create your raid or just share individual drives.

Where it gets hairy is deciding on which FS and which level of raid to use. Other than that it's simple and plenty of how to posts across the web. Part of the mdadm setup I found had a scheduled check/rebuild that ran weekly as well.

 

[jjakajonas]

I will try to make a test setup before I make the "production" one.