8 Best Free and Open source NAS or SAN

software
http://www.how2shout.com/tools/best-free-open-source-nas-software.html

October 17, 2016 By ShoutTeam Leave a Comment

NAS aka Network Attached storage devices helps to overcome from storage problems and
gives your data a centralize place. A place from where people can access and share the data 247
through the network. There are lots of companies those offers Software +hardware NAS boxes
which are basically an out-of-box NAS solution for example Qnap and Synology are two veteran
NAS vendors.

The cost of NAS boxes depends on the features such as the amount of storage, RAM, CPU etc.
But if you want to convert your old system into a NAS box without spending hundred of bucks
then here is the solution. The Opensource Linux NAS software are light Linux Distros but
enough power to handle your storage problem. You can build your own NAS Server for your
small business by using an old or new server/PC hardware. Here is a list of some best open
source NAS Linux Operating system available on the Internet.

Best Free NAS Software: Linux Based

If you dont want to go through the whole article, then here is a quick view of NAS operating
system list. All are listed according to their popularity.

1. FreeNAS
2. NAS4Free
3. OpenMediaVault (OMV)
4. Openfiler
5. Rockstor
6. Nexenta Community Edition
7. Amahi
8. CryptoNAS

FreeNAS
FreeNAS is a most popular free and open source NAS operating system that has enterprise-class
features and enterprise-ready ZFS open source file system. It can be install virtually as well as
on hardware to create a centralized data environment. The interface it provides is a very intuitive
(web interface). It supports Windows sharing SMB/CIFS, NFS and Apple file shares (AFP),
FTP, iSCSI. Beside this, it also supports plugins to extend its functionally such as CouchPotato,
SickBeard, SABnzbd, Maraschino, HTPC Manager, etc.

One thing should be noticed before installing this OS on some Old specs system is that it needs a
good amount of RAM to work, especially when you planning to install ZFS file system.

Website Link

NAS4Free
NAS4Free is an Open Source Storage NAS (Network-Attached Storage) distribution based on
FreeBSD. NAS4Free supports sharing across Windows, Apple, and UNIX-like systems. It
includes ZFS v5000 , Software RAID (0,1,5), disk encryption, S.M.A.R.T / email reports etc.
with the following protocols: CIFS/SMB (Samba), Active Directory Domain Controller (Samba),
FTP, NFS, TFTP, AFP, RSYNC, Unison, iSCSI (initiator and target), HAST, CARP, Bridge,
UPnP, and BitTorrent which is all highly configurable by its WEB interface.

It supports ZFS and encryption services. The web interface is not much user-friendly and one
may find some difficulty while navigating and extending its functionality through plugins.

Website Link

OpenMediaVault (OMV)
OpenMediaVault is very solid network attached storage (NAS) solution based on Debian Linux.
It can be your choice if you do not want ZFS. The services it provides are SSH, (S)FTP,
SMB/CIFS, Rsync, BitTorrent client, DAAP media server, and much more. It is based on
Debian which means you will get frequent updated and patches. Its plugins directory is not much
vast but still evolving at a good pace and will keep home users happy. The web interface it
possesses is very clean and user-friendly.

Website Link

Openfiler Community edition

Openfiler is another enterprise level NAS/SAN Distro like FreeNAS. It can easily convert your
old system into an IP-based storage. Openfiler provides some very useful features such as iSCSI
target for virtualization, Fibre Channel target support and block level replication. You might face
some update problems with it.

Website Link

Rockstor: Opensource Private Cloud & NAS Server

Rocktsor is based on Centos Linux and BTRFS to provide NAS and cloud storage . It built
around a rock solid CentOs which is another good thing. It supports BTRFS which is a
filesystem like ZFS to provide high data integrity and security. It can use as personal cloud
server and SMB Cloud Server with clean and simple web GUI

Personal Cloud Server

Rockstor Personal Cloud Server allows you to create your own local private cloud to reduce the
risk and cost of public cloud.

Features

Reduce cost
Effectively scale capacity, manage privacy and performance
Access data from desktops, laptop or mobile devices from anywhere.
Move data between public cloud, Rockstor, and your devices

SMB Cloud Server

Rockstor Small and Midsize Business (SMB) Cloud Server is special build for small
businesses those require the capacity of several hundred Terabytes to capture the business
demands. You can save you crucial business data on Rockstor SMB cloud server and less
sensitive data on the public cloud. This practice will decrease the cost and increase the security
of data. Also, an organization doesnt need to rely completely on an expensive public cloud.
Features of SMB Cloud Server:

Build your Private Cloud Storage with a hybrid workflow

Seamlessly integrate with public cloud storage
Scale your storage as needs

Website Link

Nexenta Community Edition

Nexentas this edition is a free edition which basically a community version of a commercial
storage product. The free version can support up to 18TB of storage. It gives ZFS support and
based on open Solaris called Illumos. As it is a strip version of the commercial product so you
dont have worry about updated, stability and support.

It can be very useful for very small business and home users with limited features but if youre
looking for big enterprise grid functionality then you have to go for commercial Nexenta

Website Link
Amahi

Amahi cannot be considered as NAS operating system instead of NAS it is a well-known Home
server. It is a community version built around the commercial version. It is a home server with
tons of apps and plugins to expand the functionality such as WordPress, Plex media server,
OpenVPN, Own could and more. It handles your entertainment, storage, and computing needs.

You can store, organize and deliver your recorded TV shows, videos, and music to media
devices in your network. It is based on most popular distros Fedora & Ubuntu. As it is not a full-
fledged NAS so dont use it for your critical or top secret data. Also, we cannot rely completely
on their cloud system they are providing because we dont know how much secure it is.

Website Link

CryptoNAS
CryptoNAS is web based NAS server OS formerly known as CryptoBox. This NAS project is
especially focused on disk encryption. It comes as CryptoNAS live-CD and CryptoNAS-Server
package.

CryptoNAS live-CD: The live CD can use to encrypt data without bothering about complicated
technical issues. A computer running on live-CD works as a file server (NAS) that encrypts your
private data.

CryptoNAS-Server package adds a user-friendly, web-based front end for hard disk encryption
to an existing file server.