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FreeNAS vs. HPE Aruba Networking Operating System

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    FreeNAS

    Score5.4 out of 10
    N/AFreeNAS is an open source operating system that allows nearly any hardware serve as a network-attached storage device. It was developed by iXsystems.N/A

    HPE Aruba Networking Operating System

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AArubaOS is the network operating system from Aruba Networks, an HPE company. ArubaOS includes AirMatch and ClientMatch, capabilities that monitor and optimize Wi-Fi power, channels, connections and bandwidth across the entire wireless network to improve user experience. Users can manage up to 10,000 APs, cluster up to 12 controllers, and segment traffic from one AP to multiple controllers with MultiZone.N/A
    Pricing
    FreeNASHPE Aruba Networking Operating System
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    FreeNASHPE Aruba Networking Operating System
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Best Alternatives
    FreeNASHPE Aruba Networking Operating System
    Small Businesses
    DiskStation
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    Medium-sized Companies
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    Enterprises
    DiskStation
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    Cisco NX-OS
    Score8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    FreeNASHPE Aruba Networking Operating System
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    FreeNASHPE Aruba Networking Operating System
    Likelihood to Recommend
    iXsystems
    FreeNAS is well suited for most storage serving scenarios, whether it be for an office file server, backup destinations, data replication across the internet, or as backend storage for virtual machines. It can serve various types of clients via a plethora of standard protocols and can easily integrate with existing infrastructure using LDAP authentication and so on. It's pretty simple to use (it helps to have at least a basic understanding of the underlying technologies) and almost maintenance-free. One scenario that springs to mind that it may not be appropriate for (yet) is as S3 storage. However, S3 functionality was added in a recent release and may have improved greatly since then. I'm sure it will eventually work very well for this.
    Incentivized
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    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    Aruba Wireless works quite well and is stable for enterprise. Once it's running, it works. Once you have it set up, you don't normally need to go in and make changes. Aruba is particularly good on pushing clients to use 5ghz (they say they use some kind of a proprietary algorithm). It may not be appropriate for smaller businesses due to cost and complexity
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    iXsystems
    • The FreeNAS web interface is modern looking. It makes tasks like provisioning drives into raid volumes easy.
    • The ZFS raid option allows you to add in an SSD as a cache drive to increase performance.
    Incentivized
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    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    • Wireless Access
    • Security/Role Management
    • Firewalling
    • Centralized Management
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    iXsystems
    • Not good for beginners as it requires deep understanding of networking and storage.
    • Most of the good and required features are not available in free version.
    Incentivized
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    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    • Documentation on Aruba website is very lacking
    • Support is hit-or-miss - they may waste a lot of time before you get to someone who has a solution
    • Some configuration items are very non-intuitive
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    iXsystems
    There were some things that can be found by other users on forums and Google and some things that were not.
    Incentivized
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    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    iXsystems
    FreeNAS effectively uses all resources really well and it is highly recommended for in premises NAS. It has unlimited ROI as it is really free and open-source. The only payment we need to pay is when we need any support from those guys. FreeNAS helps us to effectively do our work with the legacy systems as it manages all the components really well. FreeNAS although rebranded to TrueNAS will still be there until our legacy systems run.
    Incentivized
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    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    Aruba does quite a good job with GUI configuration, especially with AOS 8 - something that Cisco struggles with (maybe they came up with something new now). Aruba can also easily scale. While not on the same level, Ubiquiti has a good GUI but is lacking a good standard controller - users have to stand their own.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    iXsystems
    • Low-Cost Network Attached Storage
    • Provides additional network storage to support client & business operations
    • FreeNAS secures our data using custom encryption keys
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    • Good return on investment in terms of a working wireless network for thousands of users
    • However, troubleshooting and support may be difficult
    • Good integration with ClearPass
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots