Brand New to FreeNAS

[SmackTalk]

Hello All,

I am brand new to this concept of FreeNas, and I dont know where to start.

My current situation is I have a working server running ESX 5, which will be hosting VM's, etc. I have an old computer with 3GB of RAM, and I need to get some HDD's installed, but I don't know what I will need.

I have a few questions. First, is FreeNAS a stand alone OS, that runs on baremetal? Second is this, is it possible to have the ESX server run as a dummy, and have the Operating systems stored on the FreeNAS box? Or what would be the point in having FreeNAS in conjunction with an ESX host?

Third question is what are the benefits to using FreeNAS as opposed to just buying 3TB of disk space and running it on the ESX host?

Sorry, I am very new to all of this. If I am not including any important details, please let me know.

I appreciate any responses to my questions. thanks!

 

[Ericloewe]

Let me be brutally honest: If you can't be bothered to read any documentation (Official documentation, Cyberjock's guide, the stickies...), you'll find few people here willing to help you.

Start here.