Are you planning to create your own NAS (Network Attached Storage) using some old hardware and drives? Then for that self-made DIY NAS server you definitely need some OS or software to work; obviously, because the operating system is the thing that will control the functions that your NAS server will provide later. However, still, there are only a few well-known Linux operating systems that dedicatedly meant to do this job. Yet, whatever out there are quite developed to provide Linux/FreeBSD based SAN (Storage Area Network) or NAS (Network Attached Storage) solutions to enterprises, small offices, or homes.
Top Open source Linux DIY NAS software
Before listing Linux or FreeBSD distros for creating network Attached storage OS, I would like to say there is no “best operating system” either for NAS or computer. The choice of an operating system depends heavily on what you are going to do with the NAS server. In this guide, we focus on software that understands a NAS server primarily as a system for the provision of data in your office or home. With the operating systems we mention in this article, you can copy data back and forth, perform backups, along with some advanced tasks (such as establishing a VPN connection or installing a mail server) including plugins to extend OS capabilities.
Here we are about to list some best NAS solutions to help you if you are planning to data manage using open-source software in 2020.
Data on new active substance (NAS) drug launches for the year, and will report this and highlight other NAS trends and innovative drugs in our NAS Supplement to this report, which will follow. However, preliminary figures indicate that 2019 did not match the record-breaking 68 new drugs launched for the first time seen during 2018. 2-Bay NAS with SSD Boot and 10GbE for Under $200. By Brian Beeler April 9, 2021. By Brian Beeler April 9, 2021. Recently we put together a budget PC with 240GB SSD for under $150, that. (Old Model) Seagate 1TB NAS HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST1000VN000) FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONSFor 1- to 8-bay NAS Systems 24x7 NAS ApplicationsHigh Drive. Asustor AS6210T NAS Review. By Chris Ramseyer published 24 September 17. The Asustor AS6210T is a premium model with the ability to host large volumes of data, and it's powerful. Events Review 2020. January 2021 - Christmas & New Year Gallery(3D).
1. FreeNAS OS
You might be already familiar with its name. It is one of the best FreeBSD based NAS software solutions that not only provide easy to use interface but also plugins to extend features such as for the Plex server. The operating system is designed to enable a self-built NAS system based on free software.
The company behind it actually deals in NAS hardware for enterprises, however, the OS is available free of cost for the general public.
The best thing is you don’t need to have a hard drive for FreeNAS installation, a simple USB drive would be enough, of course, to save data hard drives are needed those can be managed from its graphical user interface.
In addition, the operation of the FreeNAS is extremely simple. In terms of upgrades and updates, the manufacturer and their product life cycles are released from time to time. It uses the OpenZFS file system which is highly reliable and can be configured from the admin web interface volume manager.
In addition, the operation of the FreeNAS is extremely simple. In terms of upgrades and updates, the manufacturer and their product life cycles are released from time to time. It uses the OpenZFS file system which is highly reliable and can be configured from the admin web interface volume manager.
Key Features:
- It provides easy to use graphical interface.
- Supports all major protocols for file sharing such as CIFS/SMB (Windows), AFP (Apple), and NFS (Unix).
- It makes it easy to stream and share your movies and music.
- Backup and snapshots are possible.
- Checksums ensure only error-free data gets written to disk
- Self file repair file system.
- It offers encryption on ZFS volumes.
- It offers useful plugins such as Plex, Owncloud, Minecraft, and more to use NAS more than a storage device.
- Docker and in-built virtualization support.
Best Nas 2020 Review
2. OpenMediaVault NAS software OS
OpenMediaVault (OMV) is another network-attached storage (NAS) software operating system and well-known for home or small office clouds. It is based on Debian Linux distribution, yes, the familiar one thus easy to install and manage without much system knowledge. This open-source Linux NAS software supports all major protocols such as SSH, (S) FTP, SMB / CIFS, and RSync and also can be expanded via plug-ins, for example, DAAP Media Server, Shairport – AirPlay/RAOP receiver, and more…
Open Media vault Key Features:
- It comes with a web-based user interface thus not a problem to backup and accessing the storage drives from anywhere.
- Based on Debian, thus easy maintenance of updates using the apt command.
- Web-based administration, User management, Scheduled jobs, Multilanguage support, Service announcement via DNS-SD, and Plugin system.
- In terms of networking, it supports Link aggregation, Wake On Lan, and IPv6 support.
- Openmediavault provides a wide range of options to manage the storage volumes such as GPT partitions, RAID JBOD/0/1/5/6/, Quota feature to restrict user, SHare Management, EXT3/EXT4/XFS/JFS filesystem support, and more…
- It is faster and lighter weight and one best NAS OS even some people prefer it over FreeNAS.
3. XigmaNAS (formerly NAS4Free)
XigmaNAS was earlier known as NAS4Free. If you want to create your own DIY NAS box, it provides an easy-to-manage file server to provide data storage and smaller server tasks such as media services with little effort.
It also based on FreeBSD just like FreeNAS, actually, it had been developed using the code of FreeNAS, and later in 2018, NAS4Free was renamed XigmaNAS. It can be used with USB sticks, memory cards, or hard drives and SSDs as boot media. It is also possible to boot it from a live CD or a live USB stick.
XigmaNAS has extensive documentation directly on its own website, thus installation and handling would not be a big pain.
Like FreeNAS, XigmaNAS server functionalities can also be expanded using its extension based system. For example, you can save data related to BitTorrent directly on the NAS hard drives. Conversion of NAS server into a media server is also possible using the Plex media server extension that allows to manage media data in a visually appealing manner and to stream it to other devices. Or you can install an interface that also makes access from smartphones in a more convenient way.
Like FreeNAS, XigmaNAS server functionalities can also be expanded using its extension based system. For example, you can save data related to BitTorrent directly on the NAS hard drives. Conversion of NAS server into a media server is also possible using the Plex media server extension that allows to manage media data in a visually appealing manner and to stream it to other devices. Or you can install an interface that also makes access from smartphones in a more convenient way.
Key Features of XigmaNAS:
- Complete management via a web interface
- Software raid (0,1,5) and optional file encryption
- File systems: ZFS v5000 (Feature Flag), UFS, Ext2 / 3, FAT, NTFS
MBR and GPT partitions - Disk encryption with support for cryptographic hardware acceleration,
- Numerous network protocols such as CIFS / SMB (Samba v4.x), FTP, NFS, TFTP, AFP, RSYNC, Unison, SCP (SSH), iSCSI (initiator and target), HAST (Highly Available Storage), CARP (Common Address Redundancy Protocol ), Bridge, UPnP and BitTorrent
Services such as UPNP server, iTunes server, iTunes / DAAP server, web server, torrent client, etc. - Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
- Monitoring with email alarm
- Monitoring of hard disk drives and solid-state drives (SSDs) via SMART
4. Rockstor – Centos based Linux NAS solution
This Linux NAS software is slightly different and has a more stable base that is CentOS. The biggest difference between FreeNAS and Rockstor is it uses the Btrfs file system, which is very similar to ZFS used by FreeNAS. Btrfs is a so-called CoW (Copy-On-Write) file system and developed by Oracle to provide high read and write performance and to handle fault tolerance, repair, and easy administration.
Rockstor supports the protocols/features AFP, Active Directory, LDAP, NIS, NTP, NUT-UPS, SFTP, and SNMP. Shares can be made available via NFS and Samba (Smb / CIFS). The SMART function for hard drives has also recently been supported.
It only supports 64-bit modern systems with at least 2Gb RAM and for best out of it, 4 to 8Gb is recommended depending on the number of data hard drives used.
Rockstor offers the possibility to integrate plugins via Docker. The plugins are available as containers, which Docker virtualizes on the host system.
Apart from the traditional NAS system, it can be also used as Personal Cloud Server and SMB Cloud Server, which we can set as per the requirement and data availability.
Best Nas Devices
Key Features of Rockstor:
- Linux, BTRFS based open source storage OS with Bitrot protection, checksums, compression and other advanced filesystem features
- Copy-on-write Snapshots
- File sharing is possible across all major systems such as Linux, Mac, Windows, and Mobile devices.
- GUI installer
- Customizable Dashboard
- Rockstor supports file backup with Rsync, Apple Time Machine, and Windows Backup.
- Resource monitoring with SNMP.
- Add-ons for media streaming, backups, cloud storage, and more.
- And more…
Learn more:
Challenges drive innovation in a momentous year
Nas Cloud Drive
The year 2020 will certainly be a year that we will never forget. Covid-19 has seen borders close, countries lockdown, and physical distancing change the way we work and live. For the postal sector, letter volumes decreased significantly, and workers put their lives on the line to continue delivering mail. But new opportunities arose – ones that fostered inclusion for the entire postal industry and ones that enabled posts to capitalize on the booming e-commerce sector.
Prior to the global widespread outbreak of Covid-19, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) kicked off its year with its High-Level Forum on wider postal engagement – something which became essential during 2020. The event examined how the UPU could deepen private sector engagement. Following the meeting, a task force was set up to propose the way forward. Recommendations from the task force will be fed into the strategy developed for the next four years of the UPU’s business cycle.
Due to the global pandemic, however, the UPU had to make the difficult decision to postpone its 27th Universal Postal Congress, which was to be held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in August 2020. Congress will now be held in August 2021 in Abidjan.
Speaking in March, Hussein said, “I want all of UPU’s many stakeholders to know that, in this difficult time, we will continue to offer you a world-class service and to uphold our postal mandate as a UN specialized agency.”
As part of this commitment, in March the UPU strengthened its relationship with the UNI Global Union – the representative for postal workers worldwide, to help support postal operators and their unions to take informed and pro-active approaches to safeguarding the health of workers and customers.
As a result, posts adopted contactless delivery methods, staggered working rotas for staff, and deployed millions of PPE items – both for employees and for local communities and businesses. The UPU also assisted with the delivery of PPE. In July, the union reported that it had provided 1.2 million masks to least developed countries as part of a joint project with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
The UPU also worked hard to ensure that cross border deliveries could continue. In April, the UPU joined a campaign launched by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to help keep cargo planes moving as governments suspend passenger flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UPU also worked with countries to develop new cross border routes. In a world first, mail-only trains from China helped clear the huge backlog of mail destined for Europe and deliver medical supplies in April. The use of the rail network to deliver mail is a success for the Universal Postal Union’s Supply Chain Team, which championed the rail network for the delivery of mail between Europe and Asia.
During the pandemic posts played an important role in keeping communities connected. In April, the UPU launched a new project to highlight this – an online resource center to collect stories regarding how posts are delivering social and financial services to their citizens. “It shares case studies on successful examples in the hopes of encouraging policy-makers around the world to collaborate with their posts on similar services,” said Hussein.
An Post, for example, has provided activity books for children and carried out daily visits for the elderly. Australia Post, meanwhile, set up its Pharmacy Home Delivery Service at the end of March to deliver citizens much-needed medicines. And in France, La Poste helped deliver spare school computer equipment to children in need.
The UPU also worked closely with posts to help them improve their services. In March, it met with high-level representatives from the Government of Côte d’Ivoire to boost the participation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the country’s e-commerce market as part of the eTrade for All project.
The union also launched a new E-commerce Guide, which charts the explosion in smartphone applications. The guide sets out the UPU’s capacity building and technical assistance to posts to help them succeed in the e-commerce market.
Meanwhile, in July using UPU’s PosTransfer standards, Haypost and Russian Post launched new money transfer systems in the CIS region. The transfer system will offer financial services to individuals living in the remotest areas of Armenia and Russia.
These are just some examples of how the UPU’s work has supported posts throughout 2020. The union continues to innovate. One example in 2020 was the launch of a new blockchain project to create a digital marketplace to host, trade and track crypto-stamps. Furthermore, in August the UPU’s Postal Technology Centre created the eCom API, a package of application programming interfaces (APIs) that builds a comprehensive e-commerce solution. And more recently the UPU has revealed that it will develop a new environmental sustainability program as part of the UPU 2021-2024 Strategy.
Speaking in July, Hussein summarized the key to Covid-19 recovery for the postal sector, “During the pandemic, postal workers have been viewed as essential workers; courageously making the rounds in the face of the deadly virus. Almost every postal operator has been able to adapt and change their business model during this crisis. That is an incredible achievement. If we continue that spirit of innovation, I believe the momentum from the Covid-19 pandemic will drive the industry forward long after the crisis has ended.”
Prior to the global widespread outbreak of Covid-19, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) kicked off its year with its High-Level Forum on wider postal engagement – something which became essential during 2020. The event examined how the UPU could deepen private sector engagement. Following the meeting, a task force was set up to propose the way forward. Recommendations from the task force will be fed into the strategy developed for the next four years of the UPU’s business cycle.
Due to the global pandemic, however, the UPU had to make the difficult decision to postpone its 27th Universal Postal Congress, which was to be held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in August 2020. Congress will now be held in August 2021 in Abidjan.
Speaking in March, Hussein said, “I want all of UPU’s many stakeholders to know that, in this difficult time, we will continue to offer you a world-class service and to uphold our postal mandate as a UN specialized agency.”
As part of this commitment, in March the UPU strengthened its relationship with the UNI Global Union – the representative for postal workers worldwide, to help support postal operators and their unions to take informed and pro-active approaches to safeguarding the health of workers and customers.
As a result, posts adopted contactless delivery methods, staggered working rotas for staff, and deployed millions of PPE items – both for employees and for local communities and businesses. The UPU also assisted with the delivery of PPE. In July, the union reported that it had provided 1.2 million masks to least developed countries as part of a joint project with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
The UPU also worked hard to ensure that cross border deliveries could continue. In April, the UPU joined a campaign launched by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to help keep cargo planes moving as governments suspend passenger flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UPU also worked with countries to develop new cross border routes. In a world first, mail-only trains from China helped clear the huge backlog of mail destined for Europe and deliver medical supplies in April. The use of the rail network to deliver mail is a success for the Universal Postal Union’s Supply Chain Team, which championed the rail network for the delivery of mail between Europe and Asia.
During the pandemic posts played an important role in keeping communities connected. In April, the UPU launched a new project to highlight this – an online resource center to collect stories regarding how posts are delivering social and financial services to their citizens. “It shares case studies on successful examples in the hopes of encouraging policy-makers around the world to collaborate with their posts on similar services,” said Hussein.
An Post, for example, has provided activity books for children and carried out daily visits for the elderly. Australia Post, meanwhile, set up its Pharmacy Home Delivery Service at the end of March to deliver citizens much-needed medicines. And in France, La Poste helped deliver spare school computer equipment to children in need.
The UPU also worked closely with posts to help them improve their services. In March, it met with high-level representatives from the Government of Côte d’Ivoire to boost the participation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the country’s e-commerce market as part of the eTrade for All project.
The union also launched a new E-commerce Guide, which charts the explosion in smartphone applications. The guide sets out the UPU’s capacity building and technical assistance to posts to help them succeed in the e-commerce market.
Meanwhile, in July using UPU’s PosTransfer standards, Haypost and Russian Post launched new money transfer systems in the CIS region. The transfer system will offer financial services to individuals living in the remotest areas of Armenia and Russia.
These are just some examples of how the UPU’s work has supported posts throughout 2020. The union continues to innovate. One example in 2020 was the launch of a new blockchain project to create a digital marketplace to host, trade and track crypto-stamps. Furthermore, in August the UPU’s Postal Technology Centre created the eCom API, a package of application programming interfaces (APIs) that builds a comprehensive e-commerce solution. And more recently the UPU has revealed that it will develop a new environmental sustainability program as part of the UPU 2021-2024 Strategy.
Speaking in July, Hussein summarized the key to Covid-19 recovery for the postal sector, “During the pandemic, postal workers have been viewed as essential workers; courageously making the rounds in the face of the deadly virus. Almost every postal operator has been able to adapt and change their business model during this crisis. That is an incredible achievement. If we continue that spirit of innovation, I believe the momentum from the Covid-19 pandemic will drive the industry forward long after the crisis has ended.”