How to use FreeNAS to set up a home server

1 of 5

@MarcoChiappetta

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2243748/turn-old-pc-hardware-into-a-k...

Jun 2, 2014 3:30 AM

PC lovers tend to collect a lot of hardware as the years roll by. Instead of leaving it to
collect dust, why not repurpose it as a file-slinging server?
Several free and open-source operating systems run extremely well on a wide array of
older hardware. One in particular, FreeNAS, is extremely stable, easy to set up, and
laser-focused on storing and sharing files across your home network. All you need is a
working system with a reliable hard drive (or three) and a little time to configure
everything.

FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD, itself born of BSD, a version of Unix developed at the
University of California, Berkeley. FreeBSD is a full-fledged server operating system,
but FreeNAS has been optimized strictly for file serving and storage. It supports
SMB/CIFS (Windows file shares), NFS (Unix file shares) and AFP (Apple File Shares),

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plus FTP and iSCSI. FreeNAS also works with an array of plug-ins for things like
automated network backups, BitTorrent downloading, a Plex Media Server
(http://www.pcworld.com/article/2020227/meet-plex-the-media-streamer-that-willmake-you-forget-netflix-and-hulu.html), MiniDLNA and much more. The FreeNAS
website (http://www.freenas.org/) has an extensive FAQ (http://doc.freenas.org

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/index.php/FAQs) and community section (http://web.freenas.org/get-help/) that's

definitely worth checking out.

2015/02/24 02:08 PM

How to use FreeNAS to set up a home server

2 of 5

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2243748/turn-old-pc-hardware-into-a-k...

FreeNAS is compatible with all supported FreeBSD hardwarevirtually every x86

platform (per the FreeBSD website (http://www.freebsd.org/)), and it supports an
extensive array of chipsets and network controllers.
Ideally, FreeNAS should be installed on a small SSD or even a flash drive (though
standard hard drives also work fine in a pinch), and the system should feature one or
more reliable hard drives for bulk storage. To emphasize reliable: Weve framed this
article around using spare hardware, but you shouldn't use abused or utterly ancient
drives for mission-critical storage.
When using the UFS (Unix File System (http://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/Unix_File_System)), FreeNAS doesnt require much memory or processing power.
Just about any system with 2GB or more of RAM should do.
The more advanced ZFS (Zettabyte File System (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZFS)) is
highly reliable and offers an array of features to preserve and protect data, but it also
has much more overhead. FreeNAS recommends at least 8GB of RAM for optional
performance with ZFS.

To set up FreeNAS youll need to download the installation ISO file

(http://web.freenas.org/download/) from the FreeNAS website. If you have an optical
drive, burn that ISO to a disc (http://www.pcworld.com/article/253764
/back_up_a_bootable_cd_or_dvd.html) and then boot from it the way you would any
other bootable CD (http://www.pcworld.com/article/226935
/how_to_boot_from_a_windows_dvd_or_another_optical_disc.html).
Installing the OS to a flash drive is handier, and it frees your actual hard drives to store
your files. It's a bit more complicated to set up on flash: Though it requires only minimal
storage space (we ran it on 4GB and 8GB flash drives), it can't share the drive with
other data.

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(https://cms-images.idgesg.net/images/article/2014/05/iso-extract-100300523-orig.png)
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For flash drive installations, youll also need a file compression/decompression utility
(or file archiver), like WinRAR (http://www.rarlabs.com/) or 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/),
that can open ISO files, plus a disk image writing utilityId suggest Win32Disk Imager

2015/02/24 02:08 PM

How to use FreeNAS to set up a home server

3 of 5

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2243748/turn-old-pc-hardware-into-a-k...

(file:///C:/Users/Sticky/SkyDrive/PC%20World/FreeNAS%20guide/free-nas-piece
/sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager).
Once youve downloaded the ISO, mount it in Windows by right-clicking its file icon and
selecting Mount, or open it in your file archiver (we used WinRAR) and extract the file
named FreeNAS_x64.img.xz. You'll wind up with an image file named
FreeNAS_x64.img, which youll need to write to the flash drive to install the OS and
make the drive bootable.

Next, insert your flash drive, run Win32 Disk Imager, and select the FreeNAS_x64.img
image file. In the Device drop-down menu on the right, make sure your flash drives
drive letter is selected. Hit the Write button, and Win32 Disk Imager will take care of the
rest. It shouldnt take more than a minute or two to write the disk image to the drive.
Insert the flash drive into the machine you want to use with FreeNAS, boot to the drive
(http://www.pcworld.com/article/226935
/how_to_boot_from_a_windows_dvd_or_another_optical_disc.html), and the OS
should launch. Whew.

(https://cms-images.idgesg.net/images/article/2014/05/freenas-menu-100300525orig.jpg)

After booting to the flash drive, youll ultimately see a simple text menu with 11 options.
By default, FreeNAS will be configured to use DHCP. Assuming that's how your
network is set up, it should acquire an IP address and list it right at the bottom of the
menu. Thats how youll access FreeNASs browser-based interface. Command-line
jockeys can configure many options right from the text menu, but its definitely easier
and more intuitive to log into the web GUI.
(https://cms-images.idgesg.net/images/article/2014/05/password-100300521-orig.png)

The first time you hit the FreeNAS IP address, youll be prompted to set an
administrator password. Note, however, that the default user name is not "admin" or
"administrator," but "root," which is the Unix system's rough equivalent of a Windows

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admin.
Youll have to follow a few steps to configure your storage volumes and make them
accessible to other systems on the network. First, hit the Storage > Volumes > Volume
Manager section and select the hard drives youd like to use with the operating system.
Critical note: Any hard drive you select to use with FreeNAS will be utterly wiped.

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(https://cms-images.idgesg.net/images/article/2014/05/drives-100300522-orig.png)

2015/02/24 02:08 PM

How to use FreeNAS to set up a home server

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2243748/turn-old-pc-hardware-into-a-k...

Youll also need to select the file system, enable any services or protocols of choice,
create and name a shared folder, and set folder permissions. It's pretty straightforward,
and this article (http://www.pcworld.com/article/255596
/how_to_convert_an_old_pc_into_a_modern_server.html) walks you through the
process. You can access your FreeNAS server just like any other shared PC on your
network (typically via Windows' Network settings (http://www.pcworld.com/article
/172326/windows_7_home_networking_guide.html)).
If youd like to enable advanced FreeNAS capabilitieslike hosting an FTP server, or
installing some plug-insthe FreeNAS community (http://web.freenas.org/get-help/) is
a great place to start, as is PCWorld's own guide to advanced FreeNAS configurations
(http://www.pcworld.com/article/258383
/a_hands_on_guide_to_advanced_freenas_server_configurations.html).

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2015/02/24 02:08 PM

How to use FreeNAS to set up a home server

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