I have multiple systems at my home, (I believe you have too) and getting files from on Pc to another is a chore, I decided I would build a home file server. The goals I sat were quite low.
My goals:
Have a file server that I could upload and download files from, ability to easily create folders and delete them, and ability to access them with a web browser.
Nothing Special or hard right?! I looked information up and found out that Owncloud would be perfect for this task, my new goal has become to install Owncloud on my servers and anything above like plex would be great, but not a necessity.
I must warn you that my experience with setting up servers is nonexistent
neither I know a lot about web wizardry: Like I have no idea what is the deference between Ipv4 and Ipv6 or when or why to use them, what is https, well I think you understand how much knowledge I have about this thing.
The hardware I wanted to run my server was a dual core inter cpu with two HDDs
This is the operating systems I have a go and what I think about them.
Open Media Vault – This was a really nice expiriance, with slight hiccups, it was really easy to set up well at least set up to a point that it was running, it has really nice web interface, and it comes with an app center, I downloaded the OwnCloud from its build in application center, well it worked but I ran into a problem, owncloud had a 10 MB upload limit that I could not change with using information on the web. Other then that this was a very nice experience and I found a way to set up samba file share however as for owncloud I could not fix it maybe if I would ask the community the would help me out.
This are the tutorials I’ve used:
DIY NAS with Openmediavault and UDOO – pt. 2 Software Overview
This is the community forum and this is the wiki
Nas4Free – Well unlike OpenMediaVault this system runs on FreeBsd, well as a linux user I can see some differences and it takes me some time to adjust to them. Nas4Free comes with Ok web interface but i had real problems adding Hdds to the system, I could not find a way to specify what program would use what HDD, I managed to set up Owncloud on the system with using tutorials that I will specify below. overall meh! experience.
This are the tutorials I’ve used:
Install and configure a Jail inside Nas4Free How To
Install ownCloud in a Jail on Nas4Free How To
This is the community forum and this is the Wiki, this is a Channel of a Youtube user that is a really nice person and is willing to help out: locslikes (please show him some Love)
FreeNas – Just like Nas4Free this is FreeBsd but i feel this is a bit better supported by the community then nas4free, FreeNas comes with really nice Web interface and good Application center but to get the most apps in here you should be running latest freenas and the x64 version other versions have less applications available in app center. Just like in Nas4Free I had tough time in figuring out Jails and adding/ configuring Hdds (it was hell), but when I got it figured out on one Hdd because I could not add the second one it ran pretty nicely and the ability to add owncloud and other software from appcenter was good, but I must warn you that it is tougher on resources than anything I tested.
This are the tutorials I’ve used:
FreeNAS 9.x setup with Samba fileshares, OwnCloud, Bittorrent and Plex
This is the community forum and this is the Wiki
Ubuntu Server + Webmin – On ubuntu server I feel right at home, however webmin might have not been the best web interface I have used even more I will rank it as the worst, sure you can install other web interface on ubntu server but this came highly recommended by the community, but the biggest problem I encountered was broken and outdated information on the internet, sure you can see how much support there is on the web but most of the things I used just messed up my source list. I am in a situation that I can not even recommend you any guide you can follow to get this up and running, neither does webmin comes with app center so not a great expiriance, I found my self using SSH more then webmin. As I mentioned I love ubuntu server but the information on the web and webmin are not very good.
This are the tutorials I’ve used:
N/A well ok you might use his tutorial but as I mentioned you should be very careful because I anded up with a bad source list and he does not explains as good as I would want
How to Create a NAS with Ubuntu Server
This is the community forum (UbuntuFroums is a place were you can get the best support for ubuntu sure there is askubuntu but I do not like its community), askubuntu and this is the Wiki
XPEnology – Have you heard about Synology – Network Attached Storage boxes ?? well XPEnology is a community release of that operating system It comes with a very nice web interface, very nice app centere, I just love it so easy to use it so easy to add Hdds, install software etc… I just love this thing. However it is not the same thing as Synology NAS box, if you buy Synology box you will be supporting a great company and you will get a great support from the company. So I decided to acquire Synology Nas box
This are the tutorials I’ve used:
Well I did not follow this tutorial step by step I just used a small part of it, why ?? because I have other hardware, instead of usb image I used Iso Image here you can downalod iso and it’s .pat file
Install XPEnology (DSM 5.0) on the N54L
This is the community forum.
So I made my decision as I mentioned I am going to buy Synology NAS
However If you do not want to buy it I think you can find the best Os that will suit your needs.
Thank you for your time.
