What are the best operating systems for a NAS/File server?

You can use all debian packages. See More

OpenNAS

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score 25 · Answer 1

OpenMediaVault

Top Pro

Fully debian compatible

Top Con

Not many plugins

There are not many plugins available so you either need to run their Debian packages or you have to set up a Docker container. See More

NeighborlyCromCruach's Experience

Works like a charm. The only issue is that there are not many plugins available so you have to run them in docker. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian stable

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

See All Specs

Top Pro

Clean UI

Has a clean and simple to understand Web interface. See More

Top Con

Extras not integrated by default

omv-extras.org is not integrated by default. See More

NiceTlilhua's Experience

it is great and one of the best. See More

Top Pro

Easy

It is very easy to install. See More

Top Con

No way to customize partitions

The installer will always create one boot, one root and one swap partition. See More

Top Pro

Good documentation.

Top Con

Installer breaks

If you go back a step in the installer it breaks and you have to restart from the beginning. See More

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score 15 · Answer 2

EasyNAS

Init-System:systemd

It has full support for the Solaris ZFS filesystem. See More

score 11 · Answer 3

TrueNAS (formerly FreeNAS)

Top Pro

Native ZFS support

Top Con

Limited hardware support

BSD has less support for newer hardware compared to Windows or Linux. See More

Holo Deck's Experience

Personally I wouldn't use anything else for my home NAS See More

Specs

Based On:FreeBSD

Init-System:BSD-init

It uses a traditional UNIX init system. See More

Top Pro

Traditional Init-system

Top Pro

Can use plugins

It's able to use Plugins. See More

Top Pro

Solid BSD core

It runs on the stable FreeBSD kernel. See More

Top Pro

No systemd

So if some errors appear on boot the system will still boot and you can repair it via ssh. See More

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score 7 · Answer 4

Proxmox

Top Pro

Free

Free with no restrictions like missing backup facilities. See More

Specs

Platforms:Linux

score 5 · Answer 5

Rockstor

score 6 · Answer 6

XigmaNAS

Init-System:BSD-init

There is no webui to configure it. So you have to do everything over ssh. See More

score 4 · Answer 7

OpenSUSE

Top Con

Not really a nas OS

Top Pro

Extremely reliable

The packaging team is dependable resulting in system updates that come in a timely fashion and systems which rarely, if ever, break due to packaging. The versions of software that are selected and the configuration of them is typically extremely high quality. See More

Specs

Based On:Jurix>SUSE

Default Desktop Environment:Plasma, GNOME, Xfce, LXQT

Package Manager:RPM Package Manager

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score 2 · Answer 8

OviOS

score 2 · Answer 9

Amahi

Default Desktop Environment:N/A

score 1 · Answer 10

FreedomBox

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

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Answer 11

Openfiler

Based On:OpenSolaris>Illumos

Answer 12

NexentaStor