No raid setup

[cyberbrush]

Hello.

I´d like to use a pc running FreeNAS to share content (photos, videos, music, ms office files) in my house. There are only 3 people (me, my wife and little son) using 2 windows 7 PCs and an LG SmarTV.

I have three 3TB HDDs and I wouldn´t like to use Raid, can I just format them using UFS or ZFS and share them separatedly? Currently I´m using Windows 7 to share these HDDs.
I´ll boot FreeNAS from a usb stick.

The PC that will run FreeNAS:
Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.20 ghz
12GB RAM non ECC
The three 3TB HDDs mentioned
4GB usb stick
Power Supply: 500 Watt Asus

Which filesystem should I use? UFS or ZFS?

Thank you in advance.

 

[pirateghost]

Let me ask you this. Why wouldn't you use zfs?
Does your data not matter that you can lose a single disk and lose all data on it?

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[cyberbrush]

Ok I´ll use ZFS.

I´m currently using a windows machine to share the contents, and the critical data is backed up in a external usb HDD (family photos, documents, etc); the movies most of them I have the original DVDs.

I´m really a noob so I don´t want to mess with RAID neither consume one of the HDDs space to create a RAID.

Like I said, I´m currently using windows without RAID, I´m aware that if one of the HDDs fails I´ll lose everything on it. Even if it happens I wont be able to buy another one for a long time.

Just tought that a FreeNAS dedicated PC would be way safer than same hardware running Windows 7 and being used to do everyday stuff (create texts, surf web, read email, etc).

Thanks for fast reply.

 

[pirateghost]

Using Zfs is a lot like using RAID, so I don't think you quite have a grasp on what that means. There are some great guides on these forums for you to read and understand the terminology and what ZFS requires.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[cyberbrush]

I guess I´m at least in the right place (FreeNAS 4 Noobs)... :)

For what I could watch, read, google and understand, ZFS is a file system (just like NTFS, FAT32, FAT). I guess, by your post, that it is prepared/oriented for RAID stuff.

I thought that like ntfs is better than fat32, so would zfs be better than ntfs.

I´ll research more about freeNAS. I thought it was plausible to have FreeNAS on usb stick, 3 hds "formatted" zfs and one share for each hd (sharing to pcs and TV). It would be like if I had only 1 hd, so I wouldnt be able create raid.

Thanks.

 

[pirateghost]

You can create zfs on single disk but it is not recommended.

I don't really understand the point of your setup or why you would want 3 single disks without any of the real benefits of zfs.

Sounds to me like your current setup is fine. Or maybe just a Linux/BSD desktop with shares.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[cyberjock]

Just reading this thread I'm really not sure if you really have a grasp of what FreeNAS can do for you. You should do much more homework before going this route. FreeNAS really is for hardcore pros. And even hardcore pros have lost data with FreeNAS. This isn't like Windows where you can drop in a recovery tool to get your data back if things go wrong. If your zpool gets trashed your data is literally gone unless you are willing to spend 5-figures to get it back.

So please think twice about this. FreeNAS is not forgiving for people that misconfigure their system. Forum users from days gone by are a testament to how fast you can lose data if you don't know what you are doing.

 

[cyberbrush]

Thanks for all the info guys.

I´ll try to setup using UFS instead. I already tried a test using a friend´s 320gb hdd and it worked fine, at least when I ran it for 2 days, sharing data with windows 7 and smartTV.
I´ll play safe: install it on usb stick, prepare one hdd each time (with backup using friend´s hdds), share it and test. When its fully working with all 3 hdds and sharings, I´ll forget about it in my basement.

I really liked the idea of free NAS, but I don´t have time/knowledge/skills to try out advanced features of freeNAS.

I really appreciate your attention and time with my silly idea of "home server".

One last thing: do I need to close this thread?

 

[pirateghost]

No you don't need to close it

Sent from my Nexus 5