FreeNAS: Turn old PC hardware into a home server with FreeNAS

PC lovers tend to collect a lot of hardware as the years roll by. Instead of leaving it to collect dust, why not repurpose it as a file-slinging server?Several free and open-source operating systems run extremely well on a wide array of older hardware. One in particular, FreeNAS, is extremely stable, easy to set up, and laser-focused on storing and sharing files across your home network. All you need is a working system with a reliable hard drive (or three) and a little time to configure everything.What is FreeNAS?FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD, itself born of BSD, a version of Unix developed at the University of California, Berkeley. FreeBSD is a full-fledged server operating system, but FreeNAS has been optimized strictly for file serving and storage. It supports SMB/CIFS (Windows file shares), NFS (Unix file shares) and AFP (Apple File Shares), plus FTP and iSCSI. FreeNAS also works with an array of plug-ins for things like automated network backups, BitTorrent downloading, a Plex Media Server, MiniDLNA and much more. The FreeNAS website has an extensive FAQ and community section  that's definitely worth checking out.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here