Install on usb drive. From openmediavault. Step 1: Follow the 'install OMV to a Drive' method and select your USB-Flash-drive as target drive.

After looking around a bit I'm down to playing around with one of the above. I understand they aren't that closely related and there are plenty of other products to choose.

For one reason or another (which I won't go into) I have eliminated the others. My goal is simply serving files (SMB), browser based remote interface, some type of RAID (low on the requirement list) and hopefully MySQL. FreeNAS - appears to be the leading candidate. Although I'm confused as to why it hasn't been updated in a long time? Ubuntu - endless features which I could migrate to - such as installing Kodi (been there already).

Not sure how slick remote access is by default. Although I believe you can install some pretty good apps for such. Open Media Vault - Perhaps it's the clean interface but I have taken a shine to it. The developer also appears to be very active and keeps the base OS (Debian) updated. I understand you can't install it on a flash drive which is fine. I have a UNIX background so terminal and vi doesn't scare me but I'd prefer a browser based interface (if possible). I'm wondering if anyone has used OVM and what their experience has been?

I'd say remote access and ease of keeping the system up to date being the most important. I maintain a offline backup so RAID has little value. Of course performance matters to some extent and from what I have read OMV appears to serve files the fastest.

Im currently demoing nas os' too. I found openmediavault to have terrible support.

There is no written documentation at all and the forums seemed to be manned by few people. Im a newb at this stuff and found zero help so i ditched that one.

Freenas is where its at at the moment imo. People usually choose freenas for the file integrity features since it will protect against datarot.

The cons for me are that its a bit advanced, u will prob be fine with your background, and in order to take full advantage of the zfs filesystem, you absolutely need a server grade mobo and memory that supports ecc, and they recommend 1GB of ram per TB of storage. I was going to buy the thinkserver ts140 but i cant right now. So i settled on unraid. I love my FreeNAS system. It was a steep learning curve to get it setup but it is rock solid now. My only concern is that it is so solid, if I ever have to rebuild it I won't remember how I did it.

I had no experience with linux, or even building my own computer before setting up my FreeNAS box though. The information is readily available and there are knowledgable people on the FreeNAS forum who basically walked me through the entire setup process. Ubuntu is a different animal (although I admittedly know little about it other than trying it a few times on a couple old computer), it can be used as a server but if you are talking running Kodi on it, it sounds like you are wanting your server to act as both front end and back end. FreeNAS is an excellent backend option but is inappropriate for front end duties. You would need a client PC running either openelec or some other simple OS for your front end. I'm not sure what you mean by saying it hasn't been updated in a long time.

It is regularly maintained and there are regular software updates available probably on average once every 1-2 months. With a server running a pretty basic linux command line OS there isn't a lot to update. Generally there is no need for the newest, latest, and greatest features like you have in a consumer OS. Examples Of External Drivers Of Change. All you need is something that is reliable and serves the files properly. I think back to how I was managing my digital media just one year ago and my FreeNAS system has changed everything.