After getting through the steps required to setup a local network storage solution - I thought I would publish my steps for others that are doing the same thing. Not exactly security related but once the Solaris developers implement encryption into ZFS it will be :) The needs for the solution were simple - a network (IP) based storage solution which is both reliable, meets performance needs and doesn't break the bank. There are many people who would argue that a hardware based RAID array with it exposed through some NAS protocol would be a much easier solution to this need, but I'm intentionally trying to be cheap. The steps: 1. Hardware installation Easiest part - install SATA disks on a supported platform for OpenSolaris. No details here unless someone wants them. 2. Software installation OpenSolaris 2008.11 - 1 CD image found here . Burn the ISO, boot into the liveCD, double click on the "Install Solaris" icon on the desktop, and follow the instructions. I u