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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    FreeNAS

    Score5.4 out of 10
    N/AFreeNAS is an open source operating system that allows nearly any hardware serve as a network-attached storage device. It was developed by iXsystems.N/A

    macOS

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AmacOS is the graphical operating system for Apple desktop devices.N/A
    Pricing
    FreeNASmacOS
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
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    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    FreeNASmacOS
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    FreeNASmacOS
    Considered Both Products
    iXsystems
    Chose FreeNAS
    Before swapping to FreeNAS, we'd been using plan old Linux servers running Samba and NFS with ZFS storage underneath. This worked really well for our requirements at the time but required a lot of administration when new versions came along, or new users had to be added or …
    Incentivized
    Apple
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
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    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
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    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
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    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
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    Best Alternatives
    FreeNASmacOS
    Small Businesses
    DiskStation
    Score8.8 out of 10
    CentOS Linux
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    DiskStation
    Score8.8 out of 10
    IBM AIX
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    DiskStation
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    FreeNASmacOS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    FreeNASmacOS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    iXsystems
    FreeNAS is well suited for most storage serving scenarios, whether it be for an office file server, backup destinations, data replication across the internet, or as backend storage for virtual machines. It can serve various types of clients via a plethora of standard protocols and can easily integrate with existing infrastructure using LDAP authentication and so on. It's pretty simple to use (it helps to have at least a basic understanding of the underlying technologies) and almost maintenance-free. One scenario that springs to mind that it may not be appropriate for (yet) is as S3 storage. However, S3 functionality was added in a recent release and may have improved greatly since then. I'm sure it will eventually work very well for this.
    Incentivized
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    Apple
    For the longevity of a product and intuitive design. But it is a matter of opinion, and if you are more comfortable with Windows, then stay with Windows.
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    Pros
    iXsystems
    • The FreeNAS web interface is modern looking. It makes tasks like provisioning drives into raid volumes easy.
    • The ZFS raid option allows you to add in an SSD as a cache drive to increase performance.
    Incentivized
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    Apple
    • Integrates with other apple devices seamlessly
    • Information passed between those devices is encrypted end to end (understanding that apple has the keys in some cases)
    • Compact design
    • Aesthetically pleasing
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    iXsystems
    • Not good for beginners as it requires deep understanding of networking and storage.
    • Most of the good and required features are not available in free version.
    Incentivized
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    Apple
    • Visual studio discontinued
    • Installing software only available to windows
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    iXsystems
    No answers on this topic
    Apple
    Most users find macOS logical and user friendly
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    iXsystems
    There were some things that can be found by other users on forums and Google and some things that were not.
    Incentivized
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    Apple
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    iXsystems
    FreeNAS effectively uses all resources really well and it is highly recommended for in premises NAS. It has unlimited ROI as it is really free and open-source. The only payment we need to pay is when we need any support from those guys. FreeNAS helps us to effectively do our work with the legacy systems as it manages all the components really well. FreeNAS although rebranded to TrueNAS will still be there until our legacy systems run.
    Incentivized
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    Apple
    macOS just makes sense to me. Each OS has its pros and cons.. macOS works for me. It's well designed, intuitive, and efficient. But it's not cheap... well, macOS is basically free, but you need the hardware to run it, and the hardware isn't cheap. Pick the right tool for the job and for you. And even though macOS may not be thought of in an enterprise environment, it works remarkably well if configured properly. Tools like DEP and ABM from Apple enable device management and lock them to the company. Use an MDM like Jamf to push policies and packages. Jamf can also manage accounts and authentication. JumpCloud is another great product for account management. Although it might not be all included in the box, with the right knowledge, you can build a robust and versatile enterprise Mac infrastructure. You can even do zero-touch deployment in most cases with the correct setup. And Apple employs engineers to help you get it set up right.
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    Return on Investment
    iXsystems
    • Low-Cost Network Attached Storage
    • Provides additional network storage to support client & business operations
    • FreeNAS secures our data using custom encryption keys
    Incentivized
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    Apple
    • Apple supports their hardware longer than most manufacturers, which is good.
    • Apple's hardware is more expensive than similar equipment competition, which is bad but offset somewhat by its longevity.
    • Apple in an Apple world works great.
    • Apple in a Windows world has some work to do to get things talking.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots