Computing on Demand PC News & Reviews
If you are the type to roll your own NAS, then you will most likely have looked at various operating systems to complete the package. There are a ton of them out there, but if you are looking for a smooth install with your brand new RocketRaid 2720 controller, look no further than NAS4Free.
I have been experimenting with a slew of different packages including: OpenMediaVault, Zentyal, OpenFiler, ClearOS, SMEServer, and just plain old Linux OS with Webmin installed. Although they all offer something a bit different, rolling new hardware into any of them can be a pain. However, as far as compatibility goes, I haven’t found one variant yet that was as easy as NAS4Free to get going. In my scenario, I run an SSD for the OS drive and have the HighPoint RocketRAID controller handle the rest of the hard drives with a couple of breakout cables. Although the aforementioned card is a RAID card, I prefer to let ZFS do the talking.
To get the RocketRaid 2720 going in NAS4Free, all you have to do is edit one simple line of code in your configuration. To do so, you have to ensure that you have the SSH server enabled and that you are permitting root access.
Open up your favorite ssh command line utility (for me it’s putty), login to your NAS4Free server and enter the following
nano /boot/loader.conf
Enter the following at the bottom of the file
hpt27xx_load="YES"
Press Ctrl-X to exit and save when prompted. Reboot and enjoy!
You may have to import disks in NAS4Free as they probably won’t show up when you reboot.
