Using the FreeNAS for more than just storage

[STREBLO]

I was wondering what people's opinions are about using the FreeNAS for more than just network attached storage. I know FreeBSD has the ability to run all sorts of things such as Web servers, owncloud, plex etc, but I was wondering how it works running things on the FreeNAS in a jail. I have considered using the FreeNAS for only storage, running another Linux server and running all the "plug-in" type stuff on that and using the FreeNAS for only storage and backups. For people who have used the FreeNAS for more than storage how well has it worked for you? Would you recommend using it to someone who is starting from scratch?

 

[DrKK]

FreeNAS is a FreeBSD appliance. Anything you install in a jail space runs (more or less) like it would run on FreeBSD. FreeBSD, generally speaking, is considered to be at least as cuspy/efficienct/good as any Linux flavor. In fact, most people at the top of the food chain would probably give it the edge as a server operating system.

I run mail servers, mumble, cloud storage, DNS server, an IRC bouncer, and other things, all from my FreeNAS, and have done so for years. The performance is outstanding, and the reliability is top of the line.

So while FreeNAS is purely a storage appliance, I personally think it shines as a more general BSD appliance, that happens to have a nice filestorage GUI on it.

I wouldn't change it for Ubuntu or anything else, even for $1000.

 

[STREBLO]

Yeah I'm not talking about replacing FreeNAS, I'm definitely using it. What I meant is always wondering if I should have the FreeNAS server running only as a storage appliance, and having another server running Linux with all the plug-in type stuff on it and just interfacing with the FreeNAS storage.

I want to run all the stuff on the FreeNAS but I was just wondering how well it works for more than just storage.

 

[pirateghost]

It works excellent for running things in jails, assuming your hardware meets the requirements. I run Minecraft, multiple databases (mongo, mariadb), teamspeak, crashplan, plex, downloaders, home automation stuff, etc. I love it.

 

[STREBLO]

That's great to hear, I'm so stoked to finish my build now. Just need a few more parts.

 

[DrKK]

if I should have the FreeNAS server running only as a storage appliance, and having another server running Linux with all the plug-in type stuff on it and just interfacing with the FreeNAS storage.

What I'm trying to tell you is that I use *MY* FreeNAS for all the stuff you're talking about, and more, and wouldn't want to run it on anything else.

 

[Jailer]

home automation stuff

Tell me more about this home automation stuff. Is it something you set up yourself or is it controller software for smart items?

 

[jgreco]

A certain amount of the home automation stuff is Java based, as are other things like the Ubiquiti Unifi wireless AP controller. Having an always-on platform for these sorts of things is nice, though on the other hand, these days SoC based controllers like the ISY-994i (Insteon/X10/Z-Wave, etc) could mean that maybe that's a better choice where there's something like a powerline interface involved. As a lot of this stuff becomes Internet based, though, instead of proprietary radio wave based, it would definitely be useful to have an always-on platform available.

obDisclosure: was abusing the home fileserver for this purpose ~15 years ago! I was kinda an early entrant into the home automation arena.

 

[gpsguy]

x10?

I was kinda an early entrant into the home automation arena.

 

[jgreco]

x10?

Yes, X10, but then that totally sucked, so I then went with Smarthome's pre-Insteon product line, whose name currently escapes me. It was PLM based and the switches had a very unique LED bar running up and down the entire side of the Decora paddle. Turned out there was too much RF noise around the house. They had a variant of that which also supported a dedicated hardwire line for the control signalling, but by the time I could swallow the idea of paying to replace the PLM stuff, they were introducing Insteon. I hopped on that bandwagon, which has had its ups and downs, the downs of which include that the early firmware on these devices kinda sucked, and they don't let you upgrade them. Plus I seem to have one or two failures per year, but usually in the older devices, so that could be worse.

The thing that the Insteon really offered that nothing else reasonably priced at the time offered was that I could make lighting scene status work correctly. With kids and a wife, for example, it's very common for someone to leave one of the various basement lights on and then walk upstairs, where there's absolutely no hope of being aware of that. So the basement has several scenes, including "Basement On", "Basement Walk", and "Basement Off". On turns on all lights. Walk turns on a few select lights to make it safe to walk. "Off" turns off all the basement lights. That all works fine within the Insteon as-supplied model, but what I *really* want is scene status. If all the basement lights are off, I want the "Basement Off" keypad button to light, indicating that all basement lights are in fact off. This is a huge weakness of Insteon - the devices are only capable of simple operations. But a controller like the ISY-994i can sit there and monitor everything that's going on, and keep track of it. So every button press event causes a re-evaluation of whether or not each scene is "in state", and if the state status changes, then a keypad LED update is broadcast.

http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/6135-pre-purchase-information-on-capabilities-sought/

The sad reality is that these last ~10-15 years, I've been too busy to actually go and write the home automation controller that I actually *want* so I end up compromising.

 

[pirateghost]

Look at home-assistant. Python based.

https://home-assistant.io/

 

[Jailer]

My "project" is really quite simple in design but I want to make it accessible locally via my LAN to control and change things if needed. I all want to do is control a furnace fan based on temperature in 2 zones (upstairs and downstairs) to move some of the heat from my wood stove in the living room to the downstairs. Simple, just need to actually sit down and start working on it instead of taking about it.

For my use I was thinking something running in a jail that can control either a rpi or arduino or both. This is something along the lines of what I'm thinking about.

 

[jgreco]

Look at home-assistant. Python based.

https://home-assistant.io/

Hmm, that looks vaguely interesting. Maybe I can bang that into working with the Napco panel.

 

[Fuganater]

Back to the original question... if you build a good enough machine you only need 1. Most people here have several things going on on their FreeNAS box other than file storage.

 

[STREBLO]

Back to the original question... if you build a good enough machine you only need 1. Most people here have several things going on on their FreeNAS box other than file storage.

Yea I thought that was the case but I'm new to FreeNAS so I wanted to make sure I was using it as intended.

 

[Deleted47050]

I am debating the same thing. Having everything running on one box would be quite advantageous for sure, so one day I might go this route. For now though, I keep a separate ESXi/Xenserver/random hypervisor host that runs all my server applications just so I can experiment with different technologies and keep up with the updates in the field.