I've dabbled with FreeNAS in the past and had such a great experience with pfSense (a similar FreeBSD-based project) that I jumped in with both feet on my home office server build. But my initial impressions were, frankly, terrible. I've got the system running and stable now, but I'm finding it difficult to recommend FreeNAS at this point. 2017 Update: I'm still running … [Read more...] about FreeNAS First Impressions
logical volume manager
macOS Sierra Includes a New Apple File System, APFS
Although not discussed in today's keynote, Apple is adding a new "universal" filesystem to iOS and macOS. Apple File System (APFS) will likely replace HFS+ as the default filesystem for Macintosh computers, iPads, and iPhones and brings a wealth of modern features. But judging from the initial developer documentation, that's not going to happen for a few more years. And there's … [Read more...] about macOS Sierra Includes a New Apple File System, APFS
How To Add a New CoreStorage Volume
After I moved my iMac move volume to an SSD, I was left with an internal hard disk drive full of data. Rather than blowing away and start again, I decided to repartition it using CoreStorage. After resizing the existing volume, I decided to create a new drive to store Final Cut Pro data. The CoreStorage createVolume command made short work of this task! Preliminary … [Read more...] about How To Add a New CoreStorage Volume
Non-Destructively Resize an Existing Drive with CoreStorage
After I moved my iMac move volume to an SSD, I was left with an internal hard disk drive full of data. Rather than blowing away and start again, I decided to repartition it using CoreStorage. My next step was to resize my existing drive to make room for a new logical volume. CoreStorage can resize a drive non-destructively, moving existing data aside and clearing capacity for … [Read more...] about Non-Destructively Resize an Existing Drive with CoreStorage
Non-Destructively Convert an Existing Drive to CoreStorage
After I moved my iMac move volume to an SSD, I was left with an internal hard disk drive full of data. Rather than blowing away and start again, I decided to repartition it using CoreStorage. The first step to storage bliss is conversion: Mac OS X can non-destructively convert an existing drive to CoreStorage! From there you're free to resize it, create new volumes, and pretty … [Read more...] about Non-Destructively Convert an Existing Drive to CoreStorage