![AUDHEID 8-Bay NAS Chassis[2023 New], Computer Network Attached Storage, Support 8 * 3.5" HDD+2 * 2.5" SSD Tray, Compatible MATX/uATX/ITX, Personal Private Cloud(Diskless) (Black)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71URkFfrVmL._AC_UL140_SR140,140_.jpg)
I've had a FreeNAS Mini and a Mini-XL now since 2015. The ASRock boards they used had a problem and both ended up dying. iXsystems replaced both of the motherboards even one that was just out of warranty. This wasn't their fault. It was a huge hassle but they handled it well so I really appreciated that.
The SATA DOM also failed on one system causing it to crash. A SATA DOM is a little SSD drive that gets plugged directly onto the motherboard. This is where the OS gets installed. I now use two mirrored SATA DOMs on one system and mirrored SSDs on another. Do NOT trust these devices outside of a mirrored setup.
The systems have run pretty much flawlessly otherwise. It's decent enough hardware. My main issue has been with FreeNAS and iXsystems support. They support the hardware but the software (FreeNAS) is community supported.
I started running some software in a plugin which was causing the system to reboot itself. I submitted a ticket but they couldn't seem to figure out why it was rebooting.
After dealing with this for several weeks (maybe months) I dug into the debug package they have you upload and found out right away why: the plugin I was running was triggering a ZFS bug causing the system to crash. I don't know why they acted like they couldn't figure out what was happening. The issue was right there in the logs I uploaded, but it's as if they never looked at them.
It's been several months now and no real updates on the issue. Thank goodness this wasn't being used for anything serious or I'd be in real trouble.
Support on the forums is also disappointing. Most of the time just one guy responds and he's usually extremely petulant if you have the audacity to challenge anything he says (which is sometimes flat out incorrect). He's a real pain to deal with. At some point I just ended up ignoring the guy completely.
Beyond poor community support, I've had several issues with FreeNAS since upgrading to 11.2 (which they are slowly fixing, to be fair). Reporting has been broken in various ways for a long time now for example. Last update I got on the issue was that this would be fixed in 11.3.
There have been many other issues with 11.2 that I won't get into here. Overall I don't really feel comfortable running FreeNAS for anything I rely on any more for a variety of reasons, some of which I touched on.
If you're a casual user, I recommend sticking with Synology or Qnap because managing FreeNAS/ZFS still takes a lot of technical expertise to do right (on top of the many issues you might deal with).
If you're a sysadmin or otherwise highly technical I recommend buying the hardware yourself and using FreeBSD, OmniOS, or some ZoL distro directly (I moved to FreeBSD). It's more work setting it up at but much less hassle to manage in my experience so far (as an experienced Unix Admin).
You can get better hardware for less if you build it yourself. That said, if you don't want to mess with building a server yourself, then this system is a perfectly decent server for running ZFS as long as you understand the downsides, some of which I listed above. You'll be paying more for less server but they DO set it up, test it, and warranty the hardware and you can run any OS you want on it.
Additional Details
Small Business
Shop products from small business brands sold in Amazon’s store. Discover more about the small businesses partnering with Amazon and Amazon’s commitment to empowering them.
Small Business
This product is from a small business brand. Support small.
Customers also search
Page 1 of 1Page 1 of 1
Videos
Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1
Videos for related products
2:36
Click to play video
Easy-to-use NAS with several RAID options
Troy Rutter
Videos for related products
6:41
Click to play video
Installing AS-T10G3 into a Lockerstor Gen2 NAS
A+NAS
Videos for related products
1:40
Click to play video
Had this for a 3 years now, Let me show you how it performed
S&S Entertainment :)
Videos for related products
4:16
Click to play video
Introducing the TR-004: A 4-bay USB 3.0 DAS RAID expansion
Qnap
Videos for related products
1:55
Click to play video
ASUSTOR AS40, AS52, AS53 Quickstart Guide
A+NAS
Videos for related products
7:49
Click to play video
QNAP TS-464 4-Bay NAS with Dual 2.5GbE Ports Review
Geekanoids
Videos for related products
3:50
Click to play video
Synology DS220+ I show you my NAS Drive Setup
The French Glow
Videos for related products
5:21
Click to play video
Upgrading the RAM on your Lockerstor Gen2 NAS
A+NAS
Product Description
Manage Data Like a Pro With FreeNAS
The FreeNAS Mini is a compact yet powerful Network Attached Storage (NAS) system that allows you to bring enterprise-class data protection and storage capabilities to the home or office.
Despite its small stature, the FreeNAS Mini is serious storage for those that are serious about keeping their data safe.
WD Red NAS Hard Disk Drives
FreeNAS Minis come standard with WD Red HDDs, the preferred drive of FreeNAS. WD Red HDDs are purpose built, optimized and tested for demanding NAS applications.
Highlights
- Drive Bays: Six Total - Four Hot-Swap (3.5”), Two Internal (2.5”)
- Ultra-Secure ZFS Filesystem w/ RAID
- 8-Core 2.4GHz Intel Processor | 16GB of High-speed ECC Memory
- 2x 1GbE NICs + Remote Management
- Powered by FreeNAS: #1 Open Source Storage OS
- WD Red Hard Disk Drives
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
Powerful Web InterfaceAccess and manage your FreeNAS Mini from any computer or mobile device on your home or small business network. The full-featured user interface makes it easy to monitor performance, create shares, and set up administrative tasks like periodic snapshots and replication all from a web browser. To manage multiple FreeNAS Minis, download TrueCommand, a unified management interface for FreeNAS and TrueNAS systems. |
Maximum NAS PerformanceThe FreeNAS Mini delivers impressive performance in a small form factor, allowing fast access and transfer of data from multiple clients simultaneously. You can also supercharge your system performance by adding SSDs or 10-gigabit networking. |
Self-healing Data ProtectionThe FreeNAS Mini will safeguard your precious data with the safety and security of its self-healing OpenZFS (ZFS) enterprise-class file system. ZFS protects your data from drive failure, data corruption, file deletion, and malware attacks. |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
Beyond Storage: Plugins and VMsChoose from a suite of free Plugins that extend the functionality of your FreeNAS Mini. Plugins like Plex Media Server, NextCloud, Crashplan, and Zoneminder, help stream media, share files, automate backup, and even control surveillance cameras. |
Flexibility and Power to ServeShare files, backup desktops and laptops, store and serve high definition video and audio content, and deploy plugins and VMs to further extend the capabilities beyond data storage. No matter what your data needs, the FreeNAS Mini offers the power and flexibility to serve. |
Server-Class HardwareUnder the hood is hardware horsepower typically only found in data centers and unmatched by anything in its class: 8-core Intel processor, 16GB of high-speed ECC RAM (upgradeable to 32GB), dual 1-Gigabit Ethernet, full IPMI remote management, and optional flash read & write cache. And last but not least, WD Red HDDs come standard on all FreeNAS Mini's with disks included. WD Red HDDs are the preferred drives of FreeNAS. |
|
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeNAS Mini (Diskless) | FreeNAS Mini (8 TB) | FreeNAS Mini XL (24 TB) | FreeNAS Mini XL (48 TB) | |
| Drive Configuration | None | 2 x 4 TB Drives | 8 x 3 TB | 8 x 6 TB |
| Hot-Swap Drive Bays (3.5”) | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
| Included Storage | None | 8 TB | 24 TB | 48 TB |
| Maximum Raw Capacity | 24 TB | 24 TB | 48 TB | 48 TB |
| Processor | 8-Core Intel - 2.4 GHz | 8-Core Intel - 2.4 GHz | 8-Core Intel - 2.4 GHz | 8-Core Intel - 2.4 GHz |
| Memory | 16 GB | 16 GB | 32 GB | 32 GB |
| Cache Drive Bays (2.5” Internal) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Compare with similar items
 | TrueNAS Mini X (Diskless) | TERRAMASTER F2-210 2-Bay NAS Quad Core 1GB RAM DDR4 Media Server Personal Private Cloud (Diskless) | Synology 2 bay NAS DiskStation DS220j (Diskless), 2-bay; 512MB DDR4 | TrueNAS Mini X+ Compact ZFS Storage Server with 5+2 Drive Bays, 32GB RAM, Eight Core CPU, Dual 10 Gigabit Network (Diskless) | QNAP TR-004 4 Bay USB Type-C Direct Attached Storage (DAS) with hardware RAID (Diskless) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Rating | (46) | (14) | (1895) | (3942) | (28) | (442) |
| Price | From $1,195.00 | $1,149.00 | $159.99 | $189.99 | $1,459.00 | $215.00 |
| Sold By | Available from these sellers | iXsystems | TERRAMASTER | Amazon.com | iXsystems | Triplenet Pricing INC |
| Hard Disk Size | 16.0 GB | 0 TB | 0.00 TB | — | 32 GB | — |
| Hardware Interface | Ethernet | Solid State Drive | USB 3.0, Ethernet, SATA 6.0 Gb/s | USB 3.0, Ethernet, SATA 6.0 Gb/s | Solid State Drive | USB 3.0 |
| Item Dimensions | 9.4 x 9.4 x 8.3 inches | — | 8.96 x 5.26 x 4.68 inches | 8.86 x 3.94 x 6.5 inches | — | 8.62 x 6.31 x 6.63 inches |
FreeNAS Mini is an excellent storage server!
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2020
The FreeNAS Mini is exactly what I required for an in-home storage server. I only wish I were able to purchase the larger version for double the storage capacity. I connected it to my Linux-based video server, and the two work like a champ. I set it up in a RAID configuration, and have protected storage. Prior to my purchase, I looked into cloud storage of various types, and found the cost to be prohibitive. For the one-year cost of off-site cloud storage, I am able to purchase a server that I can use for many years. I am quite pleased with the purchase!!
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2020
Images in this review
