Is FreeNAS right for the job?

[cms3333]

So I’ve searched but haven’t found a specific answer to my situation.

Can I setup a FreeNAS box at an “offsite” location that my home computer(s)/devices can backup to? Is this the best solution? Or would it be better to just subscribe to a CrashPlan type service? Is there a better solution I'm not thinking of? I've been tasked with finding a way to backup our pictures so we won't lose everything incase something happens to the house. I’m not a fan of the cloud backup services because of the recurring costs. I also want to move away from the single drives (my passport, backup plus, etc) that I have been using locally for backups since I haven’t had great luck with how long they last.

As of right now this would only be used for file backups but as I learn more about FreeNAS and its capabilities the scope could grow.

Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[Ericloewe]

It's possible, but significantly easier to manage if there's a first FreeNAS server on the local network that clients backup to. From there, stuff can be replicated over to the second one.

Of course, you can bypass the "first" one, but bandwidth will be especially problematic.

Other than ensuring a good enough connection, you'd just need a VPN - which you can handle with a jail, but might preclude the cheapest options for a server.

 

[jgreco]

It's extremely heavyweight for basic backups. A basic competent FreeNAS system probably runs $500-$1000 without the drives - a small platform like the HP Microserver Gen 8 plus 8GB of memory is at the bottom of that potential lineup.

Backups are easier if you have a local FreeNAS and can then replicate the data across. Chatty network protocols such as CIFS don't perform well over the network, and depending on what software you use to back up, that could be a problem. Round trip latency kills throughput.

However, it should certainly be possible to install something like BackupPC in a jail on the remote NAS machine and then set up something like rsyncd on the local PC, which eliminates the intermediate step. The performance on this is not great but usually acceptable (we're doing that here, but not in a FreeNAS jail). rsync is a pretty decent protocol.

 

[cms3333]

So what I'm hearing is that I could use a FreeNAS setup but it wouldn't be ideal, especially with only one box. Considering that the setup I am looking at is around $700, that's 7 to 11 years of cloud service. I'd prefer to have another option since I'm just not wild about the idea of cloud storage. Any suggestion?

 

[jgreco]

Perhaps. I honestly respect what you're trying to do (cloud avoidance ++++), because I see many "cloud" offerings as outsourcing a problem from being under your control to being handed to some random third party whose technical competence isn't assured, and whose business plans might not include continued operation after they've taken some money from you ... at which point it is wicked difficult to re-in-house the problem.

There are a lot of little NAS appliances available out there of various competence levels. Netgear ReadyNAS is one of the less expensive ones. Get one for home and one for remote, I'm pretty sure they support rsync, and they're only around $125 each. Add whatever disks you feel appropriate. The Synology units are also well-respected but a good bit more pricey. Kinda the Lexus of little NAS units.

 

[cms3333]

Thanks for your help. I think I'm going to go with a Synology DS214se. Price is right and seems to have the features I need. Thanks again!