C3H+Network+Attached+Storage

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Today's NAS
In October 2010 staff replaced Windows PCs with Macbooks and eliminated use of the Network Attached Storage (NAS). This QNAP NAS device was moved to the Soundroom to allow easy push-button backup and remote archive of Soundroom recordings from the Olympus Digital Recorder. QNAP NAS devices have a button which invokes an rsync copy on any device attached to the USB port on the front of the NAS. At present, there is work underway to program the button to also send the audio file to a secure web site for later processing.

Archived information:
In late 1Q2009, a QNAP NAS device was acquired and replaced a 5+ year old [|Snap Server 4100] in the C3H wiring closet. The Servant Keeper testing in April 2009 was hosted and the PowerChurch+ (PC+) software testing is currently hosted on this device. Backup images from the Retrospect software on each PC has been retargeted to the QNAP TS-209 from the [|Snap Server 4100]. The Snap Server 4100 was donated through Recycles,org to the local Triangle Independent Animal Rescue group.

Prior attempts
There were several attempts at installing a useful [|Network Attached Storage (NAS)] device at C3HUU circa 2002-2004. The last, most successful was the [|Snap Server 4100] installed circa 2004. Prior attempts used a [|Linksys NSLU2], a [|Kurobox] (Buffalo Linkstation, but open sourced), and the fastest staff PC as file servers. All of these options had limitations, the [|Snap Server 4100] is noisy and has no "standby" mode, so it runs hot constantly, like having a 150W light bulb on all the time in the wiring closet.

QNAP NAS
A [|QNAP NAS]has been purchased to provide remote, automated off-site backup for selected data such as the Church Management System (ChMS) data backup. The QNAP series of NAS devices has very good support and documentation which allows a novice system administrator to quickly setup and maintain file system services. The QNAP series also has some other nice features we may well implement:
 * Ability to [|replicate from one TS-xxx NAS to another remotely and keep selected subdirectories (folders) backed up offsite]
 * Support for [|setup of a TS-xxx NAS as a Windows Primary Domain Controller] and have ONE place for Windows workstation passwords
 * Notes from working with TS-109a (home) and TS-209 at C3HUU

Future NAS & Backup
Testing is underway to enhance and provide a recipe for reliable setup of single or multiple "appliances" such as a QNAP NAS for other churches who do not have as much volunteer effort put into IT Services design and maintenance as C3HUU has. In addition to the commercial QNAP NAS and several competing commercial products, two VERY promising candidates which can transform an older PC into an "IT Appliance" including NAS and other Backup services are:
 * [|FreeNAS] - more FreeNAS info below
 * [|OpenFiler] - more OpenFiler info below

Each of the above projects has garnered a tremendous amount of work over the past couple of years and each software package can be setup as very reliable "NAS appliances". Each can be extended to include programs such as [|BackupPC] to provide one time setup and forget of the file and backup services. This combination of open source software (free) and reusing older PC hardware could replace use of commercial products at C3HUU which currently includes the QNAP NAS, Mirra Server, Mirra client and Retrospect client software on each PC. Our intent in documenting this work is to make available our lessons learned to other similar size churches and non-profits who struggle with increasingly challenged budgets and often less volunteer and staff time for adequate IT Services.

Another utility under investigation for PC backup and management, especially if a staff member or C3H ITS is using a PC to host special very important files or programs, is the Norton Ghost program. Ghost v9 has been acquired for testing, which is the oldest release which supports Vista, reportedly supports Windows 7, and offers reasonable performance for creating DVDs for backup/recovery.

Most churches, even large ones, don't spend so much time protecting their PC (and Mac) based data. In this church the IT Services group has rebuilt two PCs over the last 5 years from scratch due to hard disk failures and human error. We have a real desire to never have to do that again even with current backup data on hand. One thing not noted above: our weather in the summer includes frequent enough hurricane or strong storm induced power outages that EVERY PC and IT appliance is connected to a UPS. For $35-$45 a UPS in each office is cheap insurance against loss of data. Not to mention decreased staff downtime due to PC outages.

FreeNAS
[|FreeNAS] appears to have the longer history of several Open Source projects to develop simple to install, but highly reliable NAS software for knowledgeable people to "roll their own" NAS devices in homes or small businesses. FreeNAS has several distinct advantages in this class of software:
 * Install is simple, and setup is very straightforward, IF you follow the manual (free) or other [|online resources] that walk you through NAS server setup.
 * Major features may be added and many are working on these extensions such as for [|BackupPC integration with FreeNAS] and documenting them on the web.
 * Possible to shutdown [|FreeNAS] on one PC and take the data disks to another PC with identical FreeBSD configuration details (translation: if the PC hardware fails, but disks still work, MAY be able to migrate the hard disks to another PC).
 * Usable as a [|Windows Primary Domain Controller (PDC) by customizing Samba]
 * If the PC used supports it, the entire boot image and customization data can be put on a Compact Flash or SD flash card. Otherwise, a bootable CD and diskette drive make for a simple, if not customizable install. Optionally, [|FreeNAS] can be installed to hard disk to allow for greater customization.

Some downsides:
 * [|FreeNAS] really is meant to chunk up filesystems per disk or RAID collection of disks, one can define and share "folders", but the integrated tools are really "disk" level
 * Less mature integration, lacks any tape utilities other than tar
 * Security: the hardware console has no password, though the hardware console can be disabled and a FreeNAS server put in a locked room
 * redundant disk setup (RAID) requires over an hour per 250GB, and must be setup initially

OpenFiler
[|OpenFiler] has a more "product" approach, in that the documentation is for sale, along with a few high end features and consulting. The base software is Open Source and free to download as well as very highly functional. OpenFiler is the simpler to install, but some setup requires either purchase of the documentation, lots of hunting on the internet, or experience setting up Linux servers. Several advantages of [|OpenFiler]: Downsides:
 * Includes many more features in the base code than [|FreeNAS], such as replication to another site, screen virtualization, and tape utilities.
 * more mature GUI with a great deal of information at a glance and laid out logically
 * hardware console is more secure, uses password access
 * really annoying to find features not documented well without paying 30 euros for the documents
 * default install is to hard disk, can't find a way to make a CD or flash media boot with the few disks you can fit in most commercial PCs reserved for data (minimum TWO for data)
 * Linux kernel used [|rPath Linux] doesn't have as long a track record as the FreeBSD operating system in server such as [|FreeNAS]

Notes on setting up replication and other testing are on the C3HTest Wiki.