Which NAS-software for a low end device? It must use all disks for the OS/settings, support encryption etc.

[lagrave]

I have a LaCie NAS with an Atom-CPU, 8 GB memory and 5 disks. I used to use LaCie's own "NAS OS" on this device but it doesn't support encryption, which is vital to me. However, it had some features I really liked, mainly that it used 200 MB or so on all 5 disks in a mirrored configuration (RAID1) for the OS and settings. So whatever happened, the OS would never ever fail to boot or be an issue. I really want a new OS to work like that/it must be reasonably easy to set it up in that way.

I am gonna run RAID6, or the corresponding ZFS RAID level.

I have looked at FreeNAS, but it requires 16 GB of memory. I have also tried Xigmanas but it really Really REALLY forces you to store settings/boot from a USB drive and is just wasteful - if I use some part(ition) of a disk for the OS, all other disks must be formatted exactly like that, with two partitions, where one is just wasted. If you have to split all disks into two partitions just because the system disk looks like that, why not use that second partition for the OS like how LaCie had it setup?

This is for a mostly Mac environment. Performance doesn't matter, I will use this NAS for Time Machine (the built in backup solution in MacOS) 90+ % of the time, which will run during the night.

What are my options?

Thank you!

 

[sfx2000]

Since you are Mac focused, here's a tip...

Synology

Those old LaCie NAS boxes are well beyond support, so perhaps time to donate them to the e-waste pile and have them responsibly recycled...

 

[lagrave]

Since you are Mac focused, here's a tip...

Synology

Those old LaCie NAS boxes are well beyond support, so perhaps time to donate them to the e-waste pile and have them responsibly recycled...

Why? If I use an up-to-date Linux/FreeBSD - there is nothing wrong with it as long as its performance is acceptable for the purpose.

 

[sfx2000]

Why? If I use an up-to-date Linux/FreeBSD - there is nothing wrong with it as long as its performance is acceptable for the purpose.

LaCie hasn't done NAS boxes for a very long time...

Looking back, the last Atom based unit was a 32-bit Intel Atom D410/510, which rules out most modern OS platforms...

From a practical perspective - they're underpowered compared to what is on the market these days for a 2 to 4 bay NAS box...

From a pragmatic view - it's just really old hardware dating back to the early 2010's - and the concern there is that things will just fail - capacitors dry out, power supplies start to get a bit limp under load, etc...

 

[dosborne]

Being old and unsupported isn't really an issue in my perspective. I run 3x D-Link NAS boxes from 2008. They perform today just as well as they did starting in 2008. The 3rd is essentially a spare part units in case one of the other fails. They aren't "internet facing" so no security concerns with outdated operating systems. I wouldn't truest just 1 as my only backup option, but as part of a larger overall operation, don't just discard something because it is old.

However, if the encryption is mandatory, then you are looking at something that exceeds the designed capabilities so for that reason I would say move on the something better.

 

[lagrave]

Being old and unsupported isn't really an issue in my perspective. I run 3x D-Link NAS boxes from 2008. They perform today just as well as they did starting in 2008. The 3rd is essentially a spare part units in case one of the other fails. They aren't "internet facing" so no security concerns with outdated operating systems. I wouldn't truest just 1 as my only backup option, but as part of a larger overall operation, don't just discard something because it is old.

However, if the encryption is mandatory, then you are looking at something that exceeds the designed capabilities so for that reason I would say move on the something better.

Encryption works with Xigmanas. And the performance is perfectly fine.

 

[lagrave]

LaCie hasn't done NAS boxes for a very long time...

Looking back, the last Atom based unit was a 32-bit Intel Atom D410/510, which rules out most modern OS platforms...

From a practical perspective - they're underpowered compared to what is on the market these days for a 2 to 4 bay NAS box...

From a pragmatic view - it's just really old hardware dating back to the early 2010's - and the concern there is that things will just fail - capacitors dry out, power supplies start to get a bit limp under load, etc...

1. My device is 4-cores 64-bit: "x64-embedded på Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU D2701 @ 2.13GHz"

2. LaCie looks much better than any other NAS I have seen on the market today.

3. I have never used it. I bought, realised it didn't support encryption and put it away. I didn't think of using an alternative OS until recently.

Besides, for RAID6/RAIDz2 2 disks aren't enough and 4 disks are really inefficient.

So back to the original question: is there some easy-to-setup solution that fits my requirements?

 

[sfx2000]

1. My device is 4-cores 64-bit: "x64-embedded på Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU D2701 @ 2.13GHz"

It's a 2 core 4 thread CPU, closely related to the OG atoms - die shrink to 32nm and a bizarre Imagination Tech GPU...

Anyways, any solution for modern SW, you'll likely be CPU bound..

2. LaCie looks much better than any other NAS I have seen on the market today.

The industrial design is nice, granted...

3. I have never used it. I bought, realised it didn't support encryption and put it away. I didn't think of using an alternative OS until recently.

Besides, for RAID6/RAIDz2 2 disks aren't enough and 4 disks are really inefficient.

For a 4-disk NAS - RAID10 is an option, another is BTRFS, which is lighter weight than ZFS...

Googling around, I did find this, which is getting Debian on that box, along with ZFS...

Debian Bullseye + ZFS on Lacie 5Big NAS Pro

Could be a lot of fun as a science project, but if one is serious about having a NAS box in 2025, there are better choices...

I do encourage reviewing the SE4200 thread, as this does kind of go through the same level of effort...

Intel SS4200-E Lives Again

I finally got a NAS that's new to me--the Intel ss4200-e. So now that this unit is well over a decade old, I'm wondering about some things about the unit: did anyone ever figure out if 2gb memory did anything more than the 1gb memory? Did upgrading the cpu to a Celeron 450 (or something...

www.snbforums.com

Good luck and enjoy!