🔹 Object Storage (S3-Compatible)
1. MinIO
- Type: Object storage (S3-compatible)
- Server: Yes
- Client:
mc(MinIO Client) - Highlights: High performance, Kubernetes-native, scalable from edge to core.
- Use case: S3 replacement, cloud-native storage, hybrid cloud.
- URL: https://min.io
🔹 Distributed File Systems
2. Ceph
- Type: Unified (block, object, file)
- Server: Yes (
ceph-mon,ceph-osd, etc.) - Client: Kernel mount (CephFS), RBD, librados, S3 interface
- Highlights: Petabyte scale, self-healing, CRUSH algorithm, tightly integrated with OpenStack and Kubernetes.
- URL: https://ceph.io
3. GlusterFS
- Type: Distributed file system
- Server: Yes
- Client: Native FUSE client or NFS/Samba exports
- Highlights: Easy scaling, brick-based volume, geo-replication.
- URL: https://www.gluster.org
🔹 iSCSI / Block Storage
4. TargetCLI / LIO (Linux iSCSI Target)
- Type: Block storage over iSCSI
- Server: Yes (
targetcli) - Client: Any iSCSI initiator (Linux
iscsiadm, Windows iSCSI) - Highlights: Native to the Linux kernel, great for bare-metal ESXi or multipath SAN-style setups.
5. Open-iSCSI (Client)
- Type: iSCSI client
- OS: Linux
- Usage: Connect to any iSCSI target (including FreeNAS, LIO, etc.)
- Command:
iscsiadm
🔹 SMB / NFS (Traditional File Sharing)
6. Samba
- Type: SMB/CIFS server
- Server: Yes
- Client: Native Windows or
mount -t cifson Linux/macOS - Highlights: Compatible with Active Directory, widely used for Windows shares.
7. NFS (Kernel or ganesha)
- Type: Unix-style file share
- Server:
nfs-kernel-server,nfs-ganesha - Client:
mount -t nfs, kernel client - Highlights: Lightweight, great for Unix systems, widely supported in enterprise environments.
🔹 High Performance / Cloud-Native / Modern Use Cases
8. SeaweedFS
- Type: Fast distributed file system
- Server: Yes
- Client: REST API, FUSE, S3 gateway
- Highlights: Small disk footprint, excellent for warm/cold storage and image/video hosting.
- URL: https://github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs
9. MooseFS / JuiceFS
- MooseFS: POSIX-compatible distributed filesystem.
- JuiceFS: Cloud-native filesystem backed by object storage, optimized for big data workloads like Spark or Presto.
🔹 GUI-Based NAS Distros (with server and client components)
10. TrueNAS CORE / SCALE
- Type: ZFS-based storage OS
- Server: Web GUI, iSCSI, NFS, SMB, S3, etc.
- Client: Native OS support (NFS, SMB, iSCSI)
- Highlights: Enterprise-grade features (ZFS, snapshots, replication) in a free/open source package.
- URL: https://www.truenas.com
