I currently have a very old desktop computer, in a free scratch and dent case I was given from a scrap pile. There are so many hard drives jammed into every nook, even though the case is only designed to support two additional drives. This is the server that holds my data, ISO's and backups, photos and archives from family and friends computers stored in encrypted archives. It holds recorded video and home movies I've converted from VHS to video files, moments from video games, group calls and voicemails from elderly family members. I think it's time to make an upgrade.
To start, I needed a backup solution - this isn't going to be a horror story so I'll cut to the chase and state that I purchased a QNAP 4 bay DAS so I can shove some drives in there and create a second copy of my most important data. The server currently runs windows 10, but maintaining it is a nightmare, and its end of support will be here before I know it. It's not even the Pro version.
Now that the backup is complete, I was free to start my trials. First up was bare Ubuntu - it's what I know and have grown up with over the years. I started with the desktop version but quickly reloaded the machine with the server version and no GUI. I have been through this before, during my last round of required change a few years before. Luckily, I keep a note with all the configurations and commands I’ve found, making it easy to recreate my setup.
A few weeks into this test and I was already tired of dependencies and competing services and there are a lot of options for an opensource NAS. I came across Unraid, TrueNAS (core or scale), OpenMediaVault or I could start with Synology or one of the other brands of pre-built NAS - and on top of it, should I run proxmox and then stick one of these variations on it.
I tried Unraid first, free trial since it's paid software. I was a bit worried about the docker implementation using xml, and I also wasn't sure about the implementation of XFS for the file system. I wasn't familiar with it and felt ZFS had the features that were needed. I know unraid had zfs compatibility but it was new-ish and I could always come back to Unraid if I was not happy with the other options. I appreciated the flexibility and a paid software solution was reasonably priced for what I was being given.
Also I think it HAS to run off a USB? No, that is not what I want. Maybe I'm wrong but I did not see another way with some quick searching.
Next up I tried TrueNAS Core, I chose the version based on BSD thinking it would be fun to learn (again) but I was already learning the TrueNAS Core system, and being unable to validate/verify things in the command line made me look up each thing I wanted to do. But I did like the software and felt I had TrueNAS in the final list, just maybe not Core.
OpenMediaVault is based on Debian and this felt like a good home. I easily found my way around the GUI, no issues on the CLI, setup was pretty simple and for the most part I thought this would be the one. I ran it for about a month, really trying to set it up by the book. After a while though I felt like it was holding my hand TOO MUCH, this is not criticism of OMV as it was almost my pick. For someone else, this could absolutely be a positive. Something just wasn't right for me, and I think too many things were hidden, too many tasks automated behind the scenes and I didn't have enough control. Maybe I was using it wrong, but I constantly found myself searching for settings, options, or detailed statuses - and I had to trust that everything was working as expected.
I also realized that TrueNAS Scale was based on Debian as well, and I liked Core minus the BSD part. Scale just clicked with me, I felt it was easy to find information on the forums and I loved all the options and things I could do. It used ZFS and I felt way more at home on Linux. This was the step up in complexity that I wanted. My only concern was running Kubernetes instead of Docker but since the GUI handled this, I wasn't too worried.
TrueNAS Scale became my pick. I compared features to Synology but I love building and knowing the hardware, so all the pre-built NAS's were not an option for me personally. My last consideration was using proxmox and I felt there was already a learning curve, without adding a hypervisor between the hardware and Scale. Now I know what Scale expects and can do, so I can focus my resources on hardware that complements it rather than fight for compatibility later. This post was written based on my notes over a few months of testing these systems, the whole point was to do the testing once and commit fully. Giving each one a shot was fun, and I think it's incredible that what I once considered niche software actually has a number of amazing options for users to choose from.. This experience has not only helped me be confident in my decision, but it will help me share this information with others looking to start a similar project.
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