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How to setup a free network storage system that supports NAS (Network Attached Storage).  Instead of storing files on your computer, why not have a server dedicated to your music, movies and photos?  What if you wanted to backup your media, you could do this too.  There are several manufacturers that make these for purchase such as Netgear’s ReadyNAS, D-Link, or Drobo.  What I’m going to show you however, is to setup one up by just using an old computer or laptop that you may have lying around along with old harddrive, regardless of their size.

The nice thing about using FreeNAS (the software in this article) is that it supports using harddrives that are different sizes including external USB.  So you’ve got some old 80, 20 & 100GB drives you’d like to actually use, well this is your answer.

First thing is that you need to download FreeNAS from their website http://www.freenas.org, and select the Download link in the blue bar across the top.  There are several options to choose from.  FreeNAS LiveCD which allows you to setup the system by running it from the CD and never needing to install the software on a harddrive and also USB.  This will be the version in this tutorial.  FreeNAS Images allows you to install it locally on the system to a harddrive or a USB thumb drive.  The last option is FreeNAS VMware Image which is pre-installed as a virtual machine that can be ran from VMware Workstation, VMware Player or other virtualization platforms.  Useful for testing environments.

Download the FreeNAS Image for your system.  You will notice that there are some with AMD64 after the version and some with i386.  Choose the AMD64 if you would like 64-bit support or i386 for older systems.  i386 will be the one to download for this tutorial because it is supported on almost any system hardware.  Once it is downloaded, burn it to a CD with the software of your choice.

Next you need to gather all of the harddrives you want to build together and attach them to your computer, either internally or using USB external harddrives.   Boot the computer with the CD in the CD-ROM tray and begin the installation.

There will be a list titled “Console Setup” with numbers 1 – 9.  Press 9 then Enter.  Another screen will appear with a blue background.  There will be another list 1 – 6.  The first three are for new installs and the last three are for upgrading.  Select number 3 for this installation and press Enter.  Press Enter on the following screen to install.  The next screen prompts for the installation CD.  If you have multiple CD-ROMs select the one with the installation CD and press Enter.  The following screen is where you will select the medium to be installed to.  Select which drive you want, again this could be a USB thumb drive, external drive or internal.  Once selected, press Enter. Leave 128 for the default size of the OS and press Enter.  You will then have the option for swap space, this is optional.  For best performance select Yes and press Enter.  Leave the default size for the swap file partition and press Enter.  The installation will begin.  It will state when the FreeNAS has been installed and to press Enter to continue.  The installation will go back to the blue background screen and this time select Exit.

Next are optional settings.  The “Console Setup” will be displayed again with the 9 options.  Here you can set the IP Address of the server (recommended but not required.  If you know your IP Address network scheme enter a valid IP). I suggest setting an IP address.  The easiest way to provide an appropriate IP Address is to go to your computer that is used to access the internet and open a Command Prompt or Terminal window.  If this is a Windows operating system you may click on Start then Run and type “cmd” without the quotes.  A black screen will appear.  Type “ipconfig” without the quotes.  You are looking for a number that commonly start with 192.168.x.x or 172.16.x.x or 10.x.x.x.  The “x’s” indicate a number.  Write down the number same numbers accept for the last.  The last number we are going to set to 200.  So for example it should look like this: 192.168.1.200.  You will also need to note the Subnet mask, example 255.255.255.0.  Also note the Default Gateway, example 192.168.1.1.  If you are in Linux open a Terminal window and type ifconfig and write down the same information as above.

Now go back to the installation of FreeNAS and press 2  (Set LAN IP Address) and press Enter.  A new window will appear and select No for DHCP and press Enter.  At the next screen enter the IP Address noted from above, ie  192.168.1.200 and press Enter, then select the appropriate number for your subnet mask and press Enter, then enter the Default Gateway IP Address noted from above and press Enter.  For DNS enter the IP address of your Default Gateway and press Enter.  Select NO for IPv6.  Once the configuration has been set press Enter.

 Select 3 and press enter to create a password for the Administrative Web Interface.   It will warn that the ‘admin’ password will be reset to ‘freenas’ press Enter.  The last step is not required but I always do this to ensure it is set.  Press Enter to exit and then press 8 (Shutdown) and Enter to shutdown the system.  Once it has successfully shutdown take it to a location where it can be connected to the network.  Power on the computer and immeditely remove the CD from the CD-ROM if not done previously.

Now go back to your normal computer and open a web browser.  In the address space type the IP Address you assigned to the FreeNAS server, ie..192.168.1.200 and press enter.  Once in your browser you should now the prompted for login information.  Provide the username: admin and the password: freenas.

Now to setup your system.  This will be a basic installation as there are many options to configure.  We are going to setup a share for a Windows environment.  This share can also be used for your Xbox 360 or PS3 to stream music, movies and photos.

First, select Disks from the top menu then Management.  On the right you will notice a “+” button, click it.  There will now be a top item labeled Disk with a drop-down menu next to it.  Locate the disks you would like to add.  Be sure not to select the disk that has the FreeNAS installation on it.  Select a disk from the list then select SoftwareRAID from the drop-down next to Preformatted File System (to learn more about the other types please read additional documentation from the FreeNAS website).  Press the Add button at the bottom.  This will then take you back out the screen with the “+” but you should now see 1 disk.  Repeat this until you have added all of the disk then click Apply Changes button.

Second, select Disks from the top menu then SoftwareRAID.  If the disk you have are all the same size, click RAID 5 near the top.  If the disk are of different sizes, click JBOD.  Click the “+” on the right side of the page.  Enter any name you like in the Raid name box.  Leave Balance algorithm as the default.  Select all of the disk in the box next to Provider.  Put a Check in the box below to Create and initialize RAID, click Add.  Click Apply Changes.  You should now see the name given above and on the right side of the page under Status it should be “UP”.

(Optional) Third, select Access then Users and Groups.  Click the “+” on the right and fill out the information while choosing Admin as the Primary group.

Fourth, select Services CIFS/SMB and put a Check in Enable box located on the right of the page.  Leave the authentication as Anonymous, specify your Workgroup if needed and edit any names you would like.  Once completed click Save and Restart.  Now select the Shares tab and click the “+” on the right.  Give the share a name (this is what will be displayed when browsing the network) and a Comment.  Enter “/mnt” without the quotes in the space next to Path then click Add.  Then click Apply Changes.

Now you have setup your remote network media.  To test the connection in Windows click on Start the Run.  Type 192.168.1.200 and press Enter.  A window should appear with the name of the share that was given in the previous step.  You can now begin to move your media to this location.

If you would like for this to be accessible from an Xbox 360/PS3 select Services from the top menu, then UPnP.  Enable it on the right and enter a name.  Select Xbox 360/PS3 from the drop-down list next to Profile.  Click Save and Restart.

Go to your Xbox 360 or PS3 and access your music, movies or photos.  It will stream the media across the network.  This also includes .avi/xvid movies.

Enjoy your free new server for storing and backing up data.