A couple of questions prior to (maybe) moving to FreeNAS..

[tiro_uspsss]

Hello all!
I have a couple of questions I would like to ask prior to possibly moving to FreeNAS (from Windows Server 2012 R2). This is my personal file server, not production/company.

1) can FreeNAS run VMs? IE, FreeNAS is the host OS - not FreeNAS in a VM ;) but instead VMs in FreeNAS - possible?

2) Is there a plugin / feature that allows running a website (or multiple websites)? What about an email server function?

3) Is the following hardware spec suitable for running FreeNAS - storage will only be configured in either stand-alone HDDs or mirrored ('RAID1') - no RAIDZn:

2x Intel Xeon E5620
6x 4GB ECC+REG DDR3 (may upgrade to 12x 4GB ECC+REG DDR3)
M1015 (@IT) + Chenbro CK23601
SuperMicro X8DTE
Mellanox Connect-X2 (10GbE NIC - will only be directly connected to one other PC)

The total number of HDDs is around 15 & total raw storage is ~30TB.

 

[danb35]

can FreeNAS run VMs? IE, FreeNAS is the host OS - not FreeNAS in a VM ;) but instead VMs in FreeNAS - possible?

With FreeNAS 9.3, you can create a jail with VirtualBox installed; under VirtualBox, you can run whatever VMs you choose. FreeNAS 10, as I understand it, will support bhyve, which is a different virtualization system about which I know very little.

Is there a plugin / feature that allows running a website (or multiple websites)? What about an email server function?

Neither of these is available as a plugin, but both could readily (well, as readily as in a basic FreeBSD system, anyway) be set up inside a jail.

Is the following hardware spec suitable for running FreeNAS

Looks mostly decent, though I'm not sure about the Mellanox NIC--I seem to recall hearing that they aren't the most compatible. iXSystems uses Chelsio 10G NICs, FWIW. Instead of the Chenbro card, you could use a SAS expander backplane in your server (a SuperMicro SC846EL16, for example).

 

[tiro_uspsss]

With FreeNAS 9.3, you can create a jail with VirtualBox installed; under VirtualBox, you can run whatever VMs you choose. FreeNAS 10, as I understand it, will support bhyve, which is a different virtualization system about which I know very little.

excellent!

Neither of these is available as a plugin, but both could readily (well, as readily as in a basic FreeBSD system, anyway) be set up inside a jail.

ah yes, that method is also viable, thank you!

Looks mostly decent, though I'm not sure about the Mellanox NIC--I seem to recall hearing that they aren't the most compatible. iXSystems uses Chelsio 10G NICs, FWIW. Instead of the Chenbro card, you could use a SAS expander backplane in your server (a SuperMicro SC846EL16, for example).

mmmm.. I hope they are :(

 

[tiro_uspsss]

post #3 is of interest... :

https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...nnectx-2-en-10gbe-cards-work-in-freenas.5608/

so when is FreeNAS moving to 10.1? :D

 

[cyberjock]

post #3 is of interest... :

https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...nnectx-2-en-10gbe-cards-work-in-freenas.5608/

so when is FreeNAS moving to 10.1? :D

No ETA at present. Sorry, cannot say more.