FreeNAS 11.1 released

The FreeBSD-based NAS system FreeNAS has been released in the new version 11.1, which brings several new features.

The changes in the changelog affect OpenZFS, which is said to have become faster, especially when processing snapshots and large files. In addition, hardware support has been improved and cloud sync capabilities with Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure Blob Storage, Backblaze B2 and Google Cloud Storage have been added. Files can be easily synchronized with these services, which is useful for offsite backups. Many changes also affect virtual machine capabilities, from support for non-US keyboard layouts to RancherOS Docker instances.

After the Corral experiment, FreeNAS seems to have turned the corner again and has been easy to install as usual. Of course you should always have a backup available when updating the OS on a NAS, in my case I haven't updated the second FreeNAS that mirrors the data yet. FreeNAS 11.1 is available on the project page for Download8 Gigabyte RAM is recommended and a 64-bit processor is mandatory.

Release Notes FreeNAS 11.1:

operating system
FreeNAS 11.1 is based on the FreeBSD 11.1-STABLE operating system, which
includes numerous performance improvements, new and updated drivers, new
features, and bug fixes.

OpenZFS

OpenZFS has seen many improvements. Users will notice a significant
speedup when listing a large number of snapshots or deleting multiple
snapshots and large files.

The scrub and resilver algorithm implement substantial speed improvements
which will be most noticeable on fragmented pools.

Resilver Priority has been added to Storage. Resilvering, which rebuilds
the storage array, can now be run at a higher priority at configurable
times and days of the week.

hardware support
The hardware watchdog has been reenabled for recent firmware versions of
AsrockRack C2750D4I. the BMC bug which required the watchdog to be
disabled is resolved with the 00.30.00 or newer BMC firmware version

IPMI
The Identify Light button has been added to identify a system in a rack
by flashing its Unit ID light.

cloud support
Cloud Credentials has been added to System, providing a secure connection
with cloud service providers. Supported services include Amazon S3, Azure
Blob storage, Backblaze B2, and Google Cloud Storage.

Cloud Sync has been added to Tasks, giving the capability of synchronizing
files or directories with remote cloud storage.

virtual machines
VMs have received significant improvements, including:

- support for non-US keyboards.
- selecting which NIC is used by the VM, and setting the MAC address for
  the VM NIC.
- specifying the sector size used by the emulated disk.
- selecting the VNC screen resolution, the IP address to bind to, the VNC
  password, and the option to use the Web version of VNC.
- the option to create a Docker instance based on RancherOS.

Services
The Netdata real-time performance and monitoring system has been added.

The SNMP MIB has many improvements, including the ability to send SNMP
traps for new alerts.

time machine
Support for per-backup OS X Time Machine quotas has been added.

Alerts
The Send Test Alert button has been added to Alert Services, making
testing of notification services simpler.

The complete list of features is available at
http://doc.freenas.org/11/intro.html#new-features-in-release.