Network attached storage, or NAS, devices are essentially external hard-drives connected to a network to allow many computers to share the same files. These devices are becoming a popular way to maintain access to files across an office network, allowing the same user to work at different machines on the same files. As some of these devices become more affordable they also become more attractive for use with home networks, but cheaper solutions exist for those with an old PC and a little time to spare.

A NAS setup is superior to using USB storage to move files and documents around not only because there is no chance of losing it. A NAS server can be set up to include encryption of files and various file backup schemes, meaning files are on the whole safer. Building one of these servers is made much simpler by FreeNAS, a BSD-based operating system designed to work with minimum hardware requirements.

The BSD core of FreeNAS may mean unfamiliar naming on hardware but it also assures stability and security. CD drives are called things like acd0 while hard drives are named ad1 or ad3, which takes some getting used to. Once intial setup is complete though there is very little interaction with the system and its strange names, just the shares it provides to the network.

FreeNAS is designed to make the setting up of a NAS server relatively straight forward, and to allow maximum space for file-sharing, as it can be run from the CD or installed to a USB memory stick as well as the usual install-to-hard-drive. The CD image is a lean 42MB and can be downloaded from the FreeNAS site.