Rockstor uses CentOS’ Anaconda installer, which makes it fairly simple to install. You can use Rockstor to access your data via popular network protocols including Samba/CIFS, Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), Network File System (NFS) and Secure File Transport Protocol (SFTP). You also get the ability to resize a pool by adding or removing disks and even change its RAID profile without losing your data and without disrupting access. Rockstor lets you arrange the available space into different RAID configurations and give you control over how you want to store your data. This streamlines the process of creating a share and also allows the distro to expose the filesystem’s capabilities consistently all throughout the interface. RockStor is another Linux-based NAS server distro that’s based on CentOS and focuses solely on the Btrfs file system. The project is complimented with an extensive support infrastructure with plenty of documentation to handhold first time users. For instance you can turn your NAS into a torrent client to download data directly into the NAS storage or use it to stream stored music across the network. The server is modular and can be extended with a variety of official and third-party plugins. The server also has an extensive permissions system to control access to the shared volumes and folders.

It supports all the popular deployment mechanisms, including several levels of software RAID, and you can access the data it holds using all the popular network protocols such as SSH, SMB/CIFS, FTP, Rsync, etc. OMV is straightforward to rollout and simple to manage, thanks to its well designed browser-based user interface, which makes it suitable for even non-technical users. Besides desktops, it can also be installed on several ARM-based single board computers like the Raspberry Pi.

The Debian-based Open Media Vault (OMV) is a NAS solution designed for home users and small businesses.

Best free media server software