DATA STORAGE REVIEWER'S GUIDEEnterprise Storage from Deskside to Datacenter

FreeNAS® Mini™ & Mini XL™ | FreeNAS® Certified™ | TrueNAS®

© 2017 iXsystems, Inc. All rights reserved

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IntroductionThank you for taking the time to review an award-winning iXsystems storage system.

This guide provides an overview of the features and market positioning of the iXsystems FreeNAS Mini, FreeNAS Mini XL, FreeNAS Certified Servers, and TrueNAS storage arrays. The goal of this document is to help align your experience and expectations with each product’s respective capabilities. Please consult your contact at iXsystems or email marketing@iXsystems.com if you have any questions at any stage in the review.

OverviewApplies to all iXsystems storage products.

Built on OpenZFS - All iXsystems storage systems leverage the OpenZFS enterprise file system for unrivaled data integrity, protection, and flexibility. OpenZFS is more than a consumer-grade file system as it was designed from the ground up for scalable and secure enterprise data storage. OpenZFS delivers a wide array of enterprise-grade features including: point-in-time snapshots, snapshot clones, selective rollback, replication, configurable block sizes, quotas, thin provisioning, compression, and much more. In addition, each iXsystems storage product is compatible with and can exchange data with any other TrueNAS or FreeNAS storage system that has available space, regardless of its configuration.

Powered by FreeNAS - FreeNAS is the world’s most popular software-defined storage operating system and is developed by iXsystems. With over 9 million downloads, FreeNAS is the undisputed leader in software-defined storage and is 100% Open Source software.

Enterprise-Grade Components - Server-grade components such as ECC RAM and out-of-band management (IPMI) deliver enterprise-grade data integrity protection and system management. These are the same features found on every storage system we sell, regardless of whether it’s designed for use in the home or data center.

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Guaranteed Compatibility - Purpose-built FreeNAS Mini, FreeNAS Certified, and TrueNAS hardware take the guesswork out of building and supporting a software-defined storage system.

Powerful User Interface - A web-based graphical user interface controls every configurable aspect from volume management to file and block sharing services. This powerful user interface is consistent with every FreeNAS and TrueNAS storage product that iXsystems sells.

Unified Storage - NAS or SAN? It’s both! NFS, SMB, and AFP provide file storage and iSCSI provides block storage. Additionally, fibre channel is available on TrueNAS arrays. Every common operating system and application is supported and directory service integration is built-in. FreeNAS and TrueNAS can also provide backing storage for VMware, XenServer, Hyper-V, Proxmox, KVM, and other virtualization solutions.

Plugins and VMs - FreeNAS provides a rich ecosystem of add-on software through Plugins and Virtual Machines. Popular add-ons include the Plex media server, Nextcloud, and the Bacula backup system.

Open Source Ecosystem - The driving principle at iXsystems is the belief that Open Source technology has the power to change the world through its process of open and collaborative innovation. Building products and services around this open ecosystem enables us to be successful and helps us empower our clients to do the same.

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FreeNAS enjoys a vibrant Open Source community of users, consultants, and developers around the world who share their experiences through forums, blogs, social media, and code!

We encourage you to experience FreeNAS for yourself by downloadingit from the FreeNAS website and installing it on a virtual or physical machine.

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FreeNAS Mini and Mini XLThe ultimate SoHo platform for the world’s number one storage OS

The FreeNAS Mini and FreeNAS Mini XL represent the distillation of over 20 years of experience with enterprise hardware and software into an entry-level storage product that delivers enterprise-class features at a price tailored to the small office/home office (SoHo) market.

The FreeNAS Mini and FreeNAS Mini XL are the ultimate personal FreeNAS system for a base price of under $1,000 USD. There is a FreeNAS Mini under nearly every desk at iXsystems and it plays a key role in our product development and support. We believe that every home and small office deserves enterprise-class on-premise storage and are committed to making that storage affordable and easy-to-use.

Product Placement

Targeted at users that want a more capable and powerful NAS than a commercial NAS, the FreeNAS Mini and FreeNAS Mini XL are enterprise-class storage systems designed to compete with the highest-end products offered in the SoHo NAS market.

The hardware specifications and performance for typical SoHo workloads are both best-in-class. The enterprise-class OpenZFS file system provides significantly greater data integrity protection than the ext4 and Btrfs file systems offered by competing products, though the tradeoff of a superior enterprise file system is a slightly higher price point due to the elevated hardware demands.

Both the FreeNAS Mini and the FreeNAS Mini XL come in a desktop form factor and use an 8-Core 2.4GHz Intel® Atom® CPU with AES-NI, which allows it to also encrypt data at rest with little I/O impact. The FreeNAS Mini has four drive bays allowing scaling of capacity up to 24TB, while the FreeNAS Mini XL has eight drive bays allowing scaling of capacity up to 48TB. Both have two 1GbE ports supporting block, file, and object protocols and can be optionally upgraded to dual-port 10 gigabit Ethernet using either SFP+ or Twinax.

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FreeNAS Certified ServersRackmountable FreeNAS systems

FreeNAS Certified storage servers represent the ultimate mid-capacity rack-mountable platform for the world’s number one software-defined storage OS. FreeNAS Certified storage servers are designed for self-sufficient multi-user organizations with in-house FreeNAS expertise. Available in hybrid and all-flash configurations with raw capacities of up to 432TB, FreeNAS Certified storage arrays are available in 1U, 2U, and 4U configurations and can be further customized in consultation with our Sales Engineers.

Product Highlights

Enterprise Ready - Adds rack-mountability, redundant power supplies, a three-year hardware warranty, and up to two CPUs per server-class motherboard.

Flexible - Offered in hybrid-flash or all-flash configurations for the most intensive general-purpose medium and large office use.

Product Placement

FreeNAS Certified storage arrays are designed to compete with office storage products from QNAP, Synology, and Drobo, plus the entry-level to mid-range products from NetApp, Dell/EMC, and HP.

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TrueNASAward-winning enterprise storage solutions

TrueNAS enterprise unified storage arrays are available in hybrid and all-flash configurations with up to 5PB of raw storage capacity for mission-critical, high-capacity, and performance enterprise use. TrueNAS arrays are iXsystems’ flagship storage systems and feature a combination of redundant, highly-available storage controllers, tool-less and modular hardware, performance enhancements, 3rd-party vendor certification/validation, and five-star 24/7 support. TrueNAS shares the FreeNAS codebase, giving a familiar UI to FreeNAS users with enhanced features and a custom-designed high-performance hardware platform, resulting in an unprecedented price/performance ratio for mission critical file, block, and virtualization workloads.

Product Highlights

Enterprise-Grade Hardware - Supports dual controllers, each with multi-core CPUs and a tool-less, modular architecture that allows for simple end-user replacement of disks, power supplies, fans, and storage controllers. TrueNAS high-availability configurations allow for zero-downtime component replacement, upgrades, and non-disruptive software updates. TrueNAS also includes standard enterprise features like IPMI out-of-band management, enclosure management, and a global status notification light.

Enterprise-Grade Software - All-inclusive license includes a full suite of enterprise features such as thin and thick provisioning, inline-compression, deduplication, snapshots/clones, replication, remote monitoring and management, a self-healing file system, RAID, dynamic caching, and multiple file and block protocols, among others.

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Enterprise-Grade Fabrics - Supports up to 40Gb Ethernet and 8Gb Fibre Channel to meet the needs of enterprise environments.

Powerful User Interface - The web-based graphical user interface controls every aspect of the storage array from monitoring, provisioning, and replication as well as multiple file and block sharing services, including SMB, AFP, NFS, S3-objects, WebDAV, iSCSI, and Fibre Channel. All TrueNAS models can provide backing storage for OpenStack, Apache Cassandra, Apache Hadoop, SQL server, VMware, XenServer, Hyper-V, Proxmox, and KVM virtual machines as well as other data-heavy and performance-sensitive applications. The TrueNAS user interface is based on the FreeNAS user interface, allowing for a true “drive one, drive them all” user experience.

Vendor Certification - Veeam, VMware, and Citrix certified to guarantee compatibility with these enterprise solutions.

VMware Integration - TrueNAS supports VAAI file and block integration, VMware snapshot integration, Storage IO Control (SIOC), and Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS). A vCenter plugin is also available, allowing VM admins to provision and manage TrueNAS from within VMware.

White-Glove Support - Backed by award-winning 24/7 global technical support provided by our Silicon Valley-based support and engineering team.

Product Placement

Customers that compare iXsystems to incumbent legacy storage vendors find that TrueNAS provides superior overall value. It reduces initial cost and accelerates ROI, while its enterprise-grade features, like compression, thin-provisioning, encryption, snapshots, and replication are all-inclusive at no extra cost. This combined with the TrueNAS storage footprint, flexible management, and award-winning white glove support help reduce storage TCO. TrueNAS is a proven block, file, object, and virtualization storage platform with vendor integration like VMware VAAI and backup to the cloud. Talk to your iXsystems representative to determine exactly how TrueNAS can meet the needs of your workload.

DCIG, a storage analysts’ group, gave the TrueNAS Z35 its highest ranking of “Recommended” in their 2016-2017 iSCSI SAN Utility Storage Array Buyer’s Guide saying that the TrueNAS Z35 has the best value of any array and has the lowest cost per GB and the highest density of any Recommended array. View our press release for details on DCIG’s ranking of the TrueNAS Z35.

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Getting Started

FreeNAS Mini and Mini XL

The FreeNAS Mini and Mini XL are shipped ready to go. Insert the disks (removed for shipping), plug into an existing network, add power, and go. Refer to the included Quick Start Guide for complete setup instructions and a basic config-uration example. A comprehensive FreeNAS User Guide is available from the GUI and also available online at doc.freenas.org. Task-specific instructional videos are available at: youtube.com/user/FreeNASTeam.

FreeNAS Certified Servers and TrueNAS

FreeNAS Certified and TrueNAS storage systems are unboxed and racked similar to other enterprise computer systems. Refer to the included TrueNAS Unified Storage Array Basic Setup & Deployment document for setup instructions and assistance with the basic configuration of the TrueNAS hardware.

The comprehensive TrueNAS User Guide can be found online at https://support.ixsystems.com/truenasguide/truenas.html.

Many FreeNAS User Guide conventions apply directly to TrueNAS and experienced FreeNAS users will feel right at home. VMware users should review the vCenter and VAAI sections. The ZFS Primer chapter provides an overview to basic OpenZFS concepts and management techniques.

Virtualization Users: While most virtualization solutions support both iSCSI and NFS, we have found that most VMware and Hyper-V users choose iSCSI and XenServer users choose NFS. iSCSI on TrueNAS takes advantage of vCenter while NFS will take advantage of the built-in flash-based Separate Log Device (SLOG). Both take advantage of VAAI operations.

Thank you again for taking the time to review an iXsystems storage system. We want your review experience to be as informed and efficient as possible. Do not hesitate to contact your iXsystems representative if you have any questions about iXsystems and our Data Storage systems.

© 2017 iXsystems. FreeNAS and TrueNAS are registered trademarks of iXsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.