[ale] off the shelf NAS for school with Linux, Mac and Windoz PCs

[Brian Pitts]

Daniel Howard wrote:
> I looked into those as well, FreeNAS looks really good e.g., but I agree 
> with the cost issue and there is also form factor to think of.  But 
> Jim's comments about IT mentality also play here: an off the shelf 
> solution that is perceived as one that anyone can manage and is 
> supported, however dismally, will sell better than a system I cobble 
> together and offer them to manage.  Evidence of the latter is the 
> Squid/Dansguardian box William put together to do web filtering at 
> Brandon.  We showed that it did a better job of filtering than the 
> existing solution, was lots cheaper, but the district didn't buy the 
> notion until we got an off the shelf box (Securiant, runs the same FOSS 
> with a customer GUI web interface).  Hence my quest for an off the shelf 
> box to start with to make it school-IT-friendly.  Daniel
> 

I know the OpenFiler devs sell support for the software. I'm surprised
they don't sell some hardware with it installed as well. It seems like a
decent business opportunity.

-Brian