A while back I read an interesting article on CodeProject about building a Network Attached Storage (NAS) box using a computer that would otherwise be used as a door stop or for spare parts. Being the cheap SOB that I am this sounded like a perfect project for me, but at the time I didn't have a spare computer laying around. After waiting for some time and not being able to find a free box I found that I cound buy a few parts new and use some of the spare parts that I did have laying around. To make a long story short I found a deal on NewEgg and ended up with the following;

            System Specs.           
                Biostar G31E-M7 Mobo 
                Intel Celeron 1.8 Gb Processor 
                1 GB DDR2 Ram 
                550W Power supply
                Had an old case and CD reader            
            Total cost including shipping < $200
        

I installed FreeNAS and had it set up in a short time and was very pleased with the results but as is always the case I got a bad case of scope creep. Since I use Subversion as my source control of choice I wanted to set up a repository but found it to be a daunting task, and since I didn't have an intemit knowledge of FreeBSD I went looking for alternatives to FreeNAS. My son has used Ubuntu on occasion and recommended it but not having any Linux experience I shyed away from it. But after some prodding I decided to give it a go so I installed it on VirtualBox and set it up as a server to see how easy it would be and if it would do what I wanted it to do and was astounded at the results. In this article I will relate my experiences with both products and give some insight into the capabiities, problems and comparisons between the two.