FreeNAS vs. macOS

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FreeNAS
Score 5.4 out of 10
N/A
FreeNAS 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
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
macOS is the graphical operating system for Apple desktop devices.N/A
Pricing
FreeNASmacOS
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
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
Best Alternatives
FreeNASmacOS
Small Businesses
DiskStation
DiskStation
Score 8.8 out of 10
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 8.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Dell Unity XT Unified Storage
Dell Unity XT Unified Storage
Score 10.0 out of 10
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Dell Unity XT Unified Storage
Dell Unity XT Unified Storage
Score 10.0 out of 10
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FreeNASmacOS
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
FreeNASmacOS
Likelihood to Recommend
FreeNAS suited really well in managing our legacy systems and it handled all our network flows really well, less maintenance is required on our part. FreeNAS also gave the option to switch to TrueNAS for free as now its support is limited. The major issue that we faced was with the installation as it is really complex and required lots of time. Rest all is good and FreeNAS still works well on our systems.
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Anyone with an iPhone or iPad would benefit from having a macOS-based computer. Additionally, the learning curve for a new user is much less steep than for a Windows computer. Apple has updated its OS for 20+ years, however, still maintains the same basic functionality (turn on/off, open/close apps, etc), the same cannot be said for Windows (Windows Vista, 8, 8.1, 11).
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Pros
  • 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.
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  • Hardware and OS seamlessly work together.
  • Hardware lasts longer.
  • Elegant interface tailored for creative work.
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Cons
  • 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.
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  • Integration within a windows environment does require more work.
  • Does not play well with PCL based network printers that do not also support PS.
  • Dongles for everything
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Usability
No answers on this topic
Everything makes sense when using macOs. It sorta guides the user how to get around
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Support Rating
There were some things that can be found by other users on forums and Google and some things that were not.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
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 drives needed replacing, and so on. FreeNAS did away with 95% of that work and does a much better job too.
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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
  • Low-Cost Network Attached Storage
  • Provides additional network storage to support client & business operations
  • FreeNAS secures our data using custom encryption keys
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  • Less maintenance over time
  • User friendly makes efficient work flow
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ScreenShots