DNS 323 vs PC+FreeNAS?

[french_guy]

Hi,

I can buy a Dlink DNS 323 for $170, or build a PC (AMD SEMPRON-LE1100 + mATX ECS board+1Gb RAM+mATX case) for the exact same price!!!
What would be the smartest choice?
I like the Dlink since it has good reviews, it's ready to use and certainly power efficient and small
But I was wondering what could be the assets of the FreeNAS solution vs the Dlink DNS 323?
I plan to install 2 x 500Gb SATA 3.0Gb/s seagate drives, and make Raid 1

thanks

 

[retro77]

Need to include cost of OS in your calculations....

 

[MrLinux]

FreeNAS is (as the name says) Free...
Using a PC as a NAS (from personal experience) will give a far better data transfer rate, however the power consumption will be significantly higher.
Also (last time I used it) FreeNAS only supported true hardware RAID not Soft/Fake RAID.

 

[bobbknight]

Go with Free NAS it does soft ware raid and it's BSD based and very secure.

 

[french_guy]

Actually, I need a central storage, safe (with raid 1) to store all my digital pictures and share with my 4 PCs
I need something "simple" I guess, and probably 2x500Gb will be the good size
Is FreeNas will be faster than the DNS (have to know that 3 of my PC use Wifi - "g")?
Can FreeNAS be programed to shut down every night, and start when I access it (or something like that)?

Thanks

 

[french_guy]

OK, I spent some time on Internet, trying to find the cheapest solution to build my Home NAS with FreeNAS
Motherboard = ECS AMD 690G (Newegg)
CPU = Sempron LE-1100 (45W) (Newegg)
Mem = 512 Mb DDR2 800Mhz (Newegg)
Case = PowerSpec 300 W mATX (Micro center)
Total price is $125.....Cheaper than the Dlink DNS 323 at $166 (Centralcost.com)
Should I expect some particular issues with that config, or it should be fine? Anyone running this config (or at least one of the component?)

Thanks

 

[walkair]

Hi, french_guy

OK, I spent some time on Internet, trying to find the cheapest solution to build my Home NAS with FreeNAS
Motherboard = ECS AMD 690G (Newegg)
CPU = Sempron LE-1100 (45W) (Newegg)
Mem = 512 Mb DDR2 800Mhz (Newegg)
Case = PowerSpec 300 W mATX (Micro center)
Total price is $125.....Cheaper than the Dlink DNS 323 at $166 (Centralcost.com)
Should I expect some particular issues with that config, or it should be fine? Anyone running this config (or at least one of the component?)

Thanks

Its all great, but where is your RAID card? Unless you want to go with software-based RAID (too many disadvantages too list), you should either have RAID card embedded on your motherboard or have an external one.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30571/77/

Hopes it helps,
walkair.

 

[Translucency]

FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD and thus has advanced software RAID capabilities. Software RAID is not inferior to Hardware RAID in theory, infact it has advantages since you do not depend on any particular piece of hardware anymore. Should some piece of hardware fail you can build a totally different box and it'll work like you haven't changed a thing. That's something that won't work on Windows or hardware RAID.

the geom_mirror driver actually lets you select various read techniques (priority, load-balancing, split and round-robin). Even Areca doesn't let you choose this specific, and it impacts on read performance.

Anyway, your config looks fine, though i would go for a Athlon 64 X2 3800+ EE SFF (35W) because its even more power efficient and dualcore gets used nicely and also comes in handy for the future. I got this cpu for like 30 euros in europe, check what the difference is with your vendor.

Also, i do suggest investing on a good power supply, and not something that comes with the case. Though this adds some cost, its also an investment in reliability. Cheap OEM power supplies are often quite bad. Though its ATX, an excellent power supply would be Amacrox 400W Silent, its fan-less so doesn't have a fan and its one of the most energy efficient power supplies if that's a priority to you.