iXsystems updates open source storage with FreeNAS 9.2.0 release

SAN JOSE, USA: iXsystems has announced the release of FreeNAS 9.2.0. This update incorporates all the improvements made in FreeBSD 9.2, as well as a vast collection of minor and major tweaks throughout the FreeNAS web user interface.

This release is made possible through the efforts of an active and engaged FreeNAS community, said a press release.

Nearly every sub-system, including sharing services, plugin jails, storage management and user accounts, has been improved with community-submitted feedback in the form of bug reports, feature requests, forum discussions, and user-submitted patches, it added.

The biggest new addition in FreeNAS 9.2.0 is a REST API, allowing FreeNAS to be controlled remotely and programmatically. This allows for the creation of third-party applications, potentially on mobile devices, that provide alternative interfaces to FreeNAS, added the release.

The company further added that the REST API can also be used to manage multiple FreeNAS appliances simultaneously, using custom scripting or applications which configure FreeNAS automatically for specialized roles.

Almost every existing FreeNAS feature has been improved as well. ZFS performance has been increased through the use of the kernel UMA allocator by default. Encryption performance on AES-NI capable hardware is now nearly indistinguishable from non-encrypted performance, thanks to improvements to the FreeBSD GELI subsystem being incorporated into FreeNAS. Netatalk was updated to version 3.1.0, bringing a number of improvements and somewhat simplifying the interface for the AFP service. The Active Directory and CIFS services were also simplified and now have defaults that make it easier to configure both services correctly.

Dušan Lacko, a new FreeNAS user who is already contributing bug fixes and patches to FreeNAS, had this to say about his experience with the new release. "FreeNAS 9.2.0 really is an evolution of 9.1.1. The interface is more polished and the features are now easier to use. For more experienced users, the templates and Linux jails really add to the plugin system. There's amazing activity in the community and the bug and feature request tracker, and the new API has a lot of potential to make FreeNAS integration and automation easier."

More than with any release so far, FreeNAS 9.2.0 shows how much FreeNAS owes to its users and the open source community at large. Contributions to this release have come from all around the world, from open source projects to volunteers fixing bugs and submitting patches at http://bugs.freenas.org.