Synametrics Technologies

The joining of Syncrify and FreeNAS seems like a marriage made in heaven. Synametrics has an article on how to install Syncrify on FreeNAS, but It could be beyond the ability of some users, or too much trouble for others. The article was created on 6/22/2010, and was last updated on 3/25/2015. Perhaps nothing has changed since then, or maybe it’s not a priority and they aren’t staying on top of it. At least that’s my thinking and why I’ve decided not to go that route.

I’ve been using a two computer approach. One Windows computer running Syncrify, and a separate computer running FreeNAS. The Windows computer connects to the FreeNAS through a dedicated network card with iSCSI. Not optimum, but it works. I’ve considered using a single Windows computer with a quality hardware RAID controller, but the cost of a good controller and my preference for RAIDZ2 over Windows based RAID systems has kept me from doing so.

What I would like to see is an officially supported plugin for FreeNAS that would create a one click installation experience. What do I mean by officially supported? I mean that Synametrics would make a commitment to stay on top of keeping their plugin compatible with newer versions of FreeNAS, and that they would give support to their paying customers to resolves issues regarding the plugin.

So what would be the advantages of the plugin? FreeBSD, the operating system that FreeNAS is based on, is a very stable and free OS. FreeNAS has taken FreeBSD and turned it into a very powerful storage appliance that pretty much anybody with some computer skill and a bit of time can install, configure, and maintain without ever getting their hands into the OS. Everything is done with a web interface. FreeNAS supports the ZFS file system which is considered by many to be a step above older software and hardware RAID systems. If you want to store a lot of data, and protect it from loss due to hard drive defects, then FreeNAS is a good option. FreeNAS also includes hard drive encryption for those that worry about such things. Syncrify is very powerfull backup software, but the integrity of its backups relies on the dependability of the storage medium. Therefore, marrying Syncrify with FreeNAS seems like a natural choice.

So what does Synametrics gain by spending the resources to create, maintain, and support a plugin? Well, other than just improving their product for their current customers, I believe that it would be very good targeted advertisement for the company and could lead to new sales. It would allow more people to build a very powerful backup and storage system, and it would expose a large number of current FreeNAS users to Syncrify. Users that may have never heard of the product. Within FreeNAS is a list of available plugins. If Syncrify was among those options then it wouldn’t be much more than a single click away for people to try out Syncrify. Give a new installation a 30 day trial, and then let it fall back to the Personal version. Keep in mind that FreeNAS is used by many IT professionals. Just the kind of people that Synametrics might want to bring on board. .

 Rob