Want to turn a desktop PC into a FreeNas Server

[CuXe]

Hi All,

I a complete and total noob to FreeNas. I would like to re-purpose a desktop computer I have; and turn it into a FreeNas server so that I can stream videos to my roku using Plex. I have quite a few questions, I hope you can help me out.

Current Setup: I have a ton of 1GB+ videos stored in my Windows 8 laptop. I am currently streaming these videos to my roku via the PLEX media server (wirelessly). This is not efficient as my lappy's hard drive is only 500GB and I have to keep my "work" laptop always on.

Problem 1: This desktop is running windows 7 and I have some media files I want to keep. There is only 1 hard drive inside this desktop.

Problem 2: I want to keep this tower fully functional (for video streaming purposes) without having to connect a keyboard, mouse and monitor. I think windows won't boot unless certain peripherals are connected. I also thought about putting linux mint to dual boot but I don't know if I'll face the same issues due to peripherals not being connected.

Question 1: Will NAS run fine if I don't have peripherals attached?

Question 2: Can FreeNas dualboot with windows 7 so that I could still access the files I have on the windows 7 hard drive or will I be forced to install FreeNass in a new hard drive?

Scenario 1: If FreeNas can't dual boot and I have to install it in a clean hard drive, will I be able to access the files stored in the windows 7 hard drive once I plug it back into the desktop SATA connection? I would like to migrate the files from the windows 7 HD to the NAS HD.

Question 3: How do I transfer over 400GB worth of videos from my windows 8 lappy to my NAS desktop?

Question 4: Can I connect to my NAS remotely from my work computer or cellphone? (via teamviewer or any other remote connection apps)

Thank you in advance :)

 

[pirateghost]

1. It will boot fine just as a Windows PC will. It merely requires the basics INSIDE the computer, not necessarily keyboard/mouse/video...This is not an OS limitation at all.

2. This doesn't make sense. A NAS is meant to be a SERVER which means it should be on all the time. If you have a need to dual-boot, you should just stay on Windows. FYI, the documentation covers a lot of these items... including how you should install FreeNAS. In addition to this, you can access an NTFS formatted disk, but only in read-only mode, as NTFS should not be attempted to read/write in a FreeNAS system.

3. over the network. wireless will be slow, wired would be preferred.

4. teamviewer? You realize that FreeNAS has no GUI, right? It is administered over a web interface. You could use OwnCloud for remote access to your files.


All that said, it sounds like you should just stick with Windows or some Linux distro of choice. Your stipulation of keeping Windows on the machine for 'streaming' purposes, whatever that means (you can use Plex Media Server just fine on FreeNAS), seems to point to you just needing to create some shares on an OS you are familiar with...your hardware is most likely not acceptable for FreeNAS.