Resolved Anyone Ever Use NAS4Free?

I had some thoughts about turning my old XP computer into a file server / network attached storage (NAS) type of thing. Many folks like using a program called FreeNAS, but my old machine has only 1GB of RAM, and I think FreeNAS requires at least 4GB to function smoothly.

NAS4Free is more suited for older, less powerful machines from what I've read, and I thought about giving it a spin in Live Mode where it boots from a USB stick.

This is all new territory for me, so all comments are welcome.

For what it's worth, my old motherboard is an MSI MS-6738.

 

Ah, well, scratch that.

The motherboard supports booting from USB, but the computer booted from the HD instead - in spite of me changing the boot order.

I downloaded the Live CD iso version and burned it to disk instead. The drivers loaded OK, but when I chose to run the program from the menu, I got some kind of message saying the board doesn't support long boot. (whatever that means) Next, I was given a list of DOS commands, but DOS is not one of my strong points, so I aborted.

 

I think my problem may have been because I had inserted the PNY USB drive into a slot on a USB card instead of a native slot on the motherboard. Nevertheless, I had to set the boot order to USB-harddrive before the system would boot from the PNY. confused After some final configuring of NAS4free on XP, I opened a web page in Windows 7 and typed in the proper URL to bring up the NAS4free sign-in page.

It appears the best way to go (and for faster boot times) is to install the server software on the harddrive, but according to the tutorial, that would wipe out the entire drive - including three extra partitions.

This is all new territory for me, so I am not sure if want use NAS4free, or disable XP so that it can't connect to the web. My main desire was to eliminate the extra monitor, keyboard & mouse from the old machine so I could have more desk space in my home office - and yet still have access to the XP computer.

 

Well, I finally accomplished my (partial) goal of creating a home server (of sorts). The tutorial was very helpful, but it left out a bit or two of vital info, so I had to think my way through it.

The old MSI board is too slow to boot from a USB drive, so I used the new Dell for experimental purposes instead. I installed NSA4free from a CD onto the USB drive, and then after some minor configuration of the server software, I opened a web page to the proper address and finished up from there.

I now have a mini-server with two mapped drives showing in my network to play with for the time being.

Is it possible to access a home network server from the repair menu? I had planned to store image backups on a network harddrive in case Windows 7 corruption left my computer unbootable.

I had planned to install a KVM switch at one time, but I could not find one that could plug into the Dell's USB and the MSI's PS2 ports.

 

Is this unusual?

The USB drive is almost brand new, but boot times are painfully slow considering how small and lightweight the NAS4free OS is (24MB - I think).



As for the Windows Remote Desktop option, I'll need to disable XP from connecting to the web, soon, but I haven't quite figured that part out yet. My AT&T Netgear 7550 modem/router has an Advanced / Connection Configuration page with a Configure Static DHCP Reservation portal. Inside that portal you can edit:

1. Host Name
2. IP Address
3. Mac Address

Would changing any of the above (except for the Windows 7 machine's settings) block XP from connecting to the web?

 

Wow, this server business is more involved than I thought. I really don't have the proper education to understand even the least involved basics of setting up groups and users - at least I can't seem to duplicate what I did earlier.

I can follow Simon's steps on the first page (except that I am using USB drives instead of harddrives), but after I set up a public group and a user or two, in Advanced: File Manager; my folder hierarchy is:

DIRECTORY: Home > Storage​

Simon's set up is:

[admin] Directory: /mnt/Storage​

 

Fixed.

My mistake was using the wrong credentials (User credentials) to sign-in to the "Advanced: File Manager" folder tree. You are supposed to use the same administrative credentials to enter the administrator's folder tree that you use to sign-in to the NAS4Free GUI with.

You can sign-in to the folder tree with User credentials, but you can't manage the root folders from there.

If any of you want to try this own your own, you can install Nas4Free on a virtual machine (I used Oracle's VirtualBox) for practice. To make things work, I installed FreeBSD on a virtual drive, and then I installed NAS4Free from a CD. You'll need to set the slider to about a gig of RAM, and make the virtual HD at least 2 GB in size. Once you get the hang of things, maybe you could turn an old PC into a home-based server. I haven't made up my mind about the old XP machine just yet, but at least I think I can make a go of, now, if I decide to make a server out of it.

Installing and Configuring NAS4Free on a Windows Network

Simon's tutorial is the best on the web that I've seen yet. Just take your time, and if you have any questions, Simon is more than willing to assist if I can't help any.

 

There is a setting to bypass DHCP on NAS4Free, is that what you are referring to?

In addition, the default file format in NAS4Free is UFS. Some have said (in random Google searches) that ZFS is less prone to file corruption, and it had me wondering if I should consider the latter.

 

1. Do you want to use DHCP for the interface: (Yes / No) No
2. Enter new LAN IPv4 address: 192.168.1.250 (default address, but can be changed – this must be the static address you were referring to, or it's the servers private LAN address)
3. Enter new LAN subnet mask. Subnet masks are entered as bit counts (as in CIDR notation): (24 is default)
4. Enter IPv4 gateway:
5. Enter DNS IPv4 address:
6. Do you want to configure IPv6 for this interface? (Yes/No) No

I have everything set to default, or left blank, except that I changed choice number 2 to something else. If I fill in choices numbered 4 & 5, I assume the server can be accessed from the web? Simon's blog has a tutorial about configuring NAS4Free for web access, but he uses the GUI for that...

Configuring Remote Access for NAS4Free​

 

Everything seems to be working OK, although I can access the virtual server from Windows 7 or XP whether I enter gateway / DNS settings or not. Seems odd that a NAS4Free box can be seen in the network without these two extra settings.

LAN subnet mask was already defaulted to 255.255.255.0, so I didn't have to change that.

 

Thanks!