DingdongTP

Hi guys, I've built my first NAS on TrueNAS Core 13.0 and I'm trying to setup remote access for myself and my video editors to the SMB shares through OpenVPN. I've followed these tutorials to setup OpenVPN, configuring the remote clients to only be able to access the TrueNAS system on the server network, and use the client's internet: I installed OpenVPN Connect on the remote clients' machines, generated a unique Certificate for each client, with a unique Common Name, so multiple clients can connect to the server without sharing the same local IP, and the connection succeeds. I can connect the SMB shares on the remote clients, and have them access the server, they can read and write stuff. They are still using their internet (the external IP does not change to the server's IP), so I assume I've set up everything correctly. So my problem right now: After I've connected the OpenVPN Client, I'm constantly getting a "Session Invalided: KEEPALIVE_TIMEOUT" error, followed by a "Client terminated, restarting in 2000ms..." message on OpenVPN Connect, reconnecting the client sometimes several times a minute. Sometimes this happens right away when I connect the client, sometimes after a couple minutes, rarely after 30 minutes. This behavior never stops, no matter how much time I wait, nor after I restart the client, the server, or TrueNAS itself. I'm having a hard time finding a solution for this, as it seems there is little documentation of this situation online (I think a couple people commented on these videos I shared with a similar problem, but never got a response). Hope any of you guys can help me with this one, thanks!

I will, thanks! So it's easier for the end user to interface with a "cloud" ui, rather than with SMB network drive mapping and all that, I think I get it. And probably has the advantage of being easier to setup if the other users use a Mac computer by any chance probably. You've been a great source of help, I will try to understand if I can do all that security stuff and try to set this up ASAP, I've ordered all the parts today! Thanks once again!

Thank you so much for taking the time to help! I already have a domain name registered, because I have a Squarespace website for my work. I was currently trying to understand how to configure it for a scenario like this one with a DDNS. I can safely say my networking/Linux knowledge is severely underdeveloped, so I'm trying to learn new stuff bit by bit to try to make it right. I would say the most I've done is setup a DDNS service with duckdns or some other free service for a Minecraft server when I played with my friends in middle school . I understand DHCP, port forwarding, static IPs, MAC binding to a local IPV4 address, but that's mostly it. I don't understand anything regarding VMs or Docker containers, so I'll have to try to learn to be able to work with them. I just came out of 2 straight weeks reading and watching videos about TrueNAS Core, so I haven't had the time to explore those subjects further ahah. If I am understanding correctly, you're using Nextcloud, instead of a VPN. How would these suggestions help security-wise, compared to having OpenVPN access enabled with client certificates for each user that is accessing remotely? Or am I misunderstanding the purpose of what you said? Once again, thank you very much for the help, and I'm sorry for being such a noob regaring these subjects.

Following this post: I have tried to learn more and look out for solutions for my setup, and I've come to a hardware and software list that I would like help with, to sanity check my choices, and to get you guys' input on this, as this is my first NAS build. Hardware-wise, I've selected these components (haven't bought them yet, so feel free to give advice on better component choices): Case: E-ATX Antec P101 Silent Black (109,9€) - 8 HDD 3.5'' bays, so it helps me expand in the future; Motherboard: MSI MAG B550 Torpedo ATX (141,9€) - 2.5Gbit LAN built in, 6 SATA ports that as far as I know don't share any bandwidth with any m.2 slots, so I would only need an HBA card if I installed 8 disks CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G (199,9€) - Built in graphics, so I don't need to have a discrete GPU if I need to troubleshoot something of if the board can't post in headless mode; RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-3200MHz (117,9€) - Gives me room to upgrade to 64GB in the future by just adding 2 sticks; PSU: Seasonic Core GM 500W Semi Modular 80PLUS Gold (59,9€) - By my calculations 500W is enough to power this whole system, even if I add 8 HDDs; OS Drive: SSD 2.5" Kingston A400 120GB TLC SATA (23,9€) - Cheapest SSD I could find to run TrueNAS on; Cache Drive: M.2 2280 KIOXIA Exceria 250GB 3D TLC NVMe (28.9€) - Fast sequencial and random read and write speeds (should I have 2 of these in mirror for redundancy?); Storage: 4x Seagate Exos X18 18TB (299,08€ each) - 54TB available in Raid z1, very good €/TB ratio, with room to add 4 more drives in the future if I need to increase my storage; TOTAL COST for the Hardware (excluding drives): 629,50€. Software-wise, this is what I'm inclined to choose: OS: TrueNAS Core - ZFS, good performance for the storage, as I'm going to be reading and writing mainly video files to the NAS (I work in video production, said so in the post mentioned earlier); LAN File Access: SMB share, mapped to a network drive on my editing machine; Remote File Access: OpenVPN or Nextcloud (this is what I REALLY need help with) - I need to be able to access the storage remotely, as well as having my remote editors be able to download footage from the NAS to edit on their machines, and then upload the final exports back to the NAS. I also need my clients to be able to upload recorded footage to the NAS, and download final exported videos from it. I want some setup where I can configure users, each user having different permissions to access specific folders. Example: I have access to everything; Editor has access to "raw footage" folder, "projects" folder and "final exports" folder; Client only has access to "raw footage" folder and "final exports" folder. Do both of these solutions offer no bottleneck to speed when accessing remotely? I want the internet speed to be the only bottleneck in remote access, if possible. What are the pros and cons to OpenVPN vs Nextcloud? Is there another solution I'm not thinking of? Sorry for the long post, hope you can give me a hand in this journey building my first NAS. Thank you!

Speed is going to be a concern, because even though I'm probably not editing all my projects on the NAS, I will be downloading and uploading a lot a big video files on the NAS frequently, so I wouldn't like that process to be slow. Currently I'm trying to understand the disadvantages of going with a solution from QNAP/Synology, instead of going with TrueNAS. The Backblaze solution is one I'm seriously thinking of adding as well, but as a bulk offsite backup, not as a working system, thanks for the tip!

I like Windows as a user, but I don't want to deal with Windows on my NAS ahah, that's a good video though, thanks! Currently my main decision is coming down to one of these solutions, that's what I mainly need advice on.

I love building computers, I'm just a bit hesitant about the software side of things, not the hardware side. I don't have a lot of experience outside Windows machines. Do you have any recommendation on reading material / videos for me to learn how to setup that? Currently I have 1Gbps down and 300Mbps up, with room to upgrade in the future.

Hi guys. I'm a video producer and the time has come where I need to upgrade my storage solution to a proper NAS with redundancy. My plan is for it to act as a file server/backup storage, but not to necessarily edit footage directly from it, so super fast speed is not a priority. For context, I've never setup a NAS before, but I've built more than 10 computers at this point. Main things I require for my NAS: Scalability - I'm thinking of starting with 3 12TB drives and I want to be able to upgrade it in the future without messing all the redundancy and having to rebuild the whole thing (minimum 5 HDD bays). Remote access - I want to be able to access the NAS outside my local network and have 1 or 2 trusted remote video editors being able to upload/download footage from the NAS to edit locally on their machines. Good things to have but not mandatory: 2.5Gbit networking for me to be able to move/edit stuff on LAN without any network bottlenecks. I've watched Linus' video on the Jonsbo NAS build, and it got me intrigued, as I thought it maybe would be a cool solution to my issue right now. What I need help with: QNAP/Synology solution for ease of setup or custom build with TrueNAS or similar? If custom build, recommendation on parts that would be good for this scenario? Amount of RAM needed for the NAS to work comfortably without bottlenecks? (assuming a 64TB drive size) How to setup easy remote access for my editors (VPN,SSH, FTP, other) without losing tons of bandwidth for remote users? How would this work security-wise? Other important stuff I might have overlooked? As I said this will be my first experience with the NAS/Server side of computers, so all help and tips would be appreciated. Thank you very much for your help guys.

bump

Yeah, that's why I put the first store there, that's the one I think has the best prices, but if the website loads slowly for you, no problem, thanks for the help anyway!

Thanks for the help, I left some different stores in the main post if you want to try to check them out, and a cheat sheet with translations for the main menus.

Hey man, probably that "Newegg Portugal" is shipping from the US, that's why the shipping is so expensive. In Portuguese stores, because of Covid I can get everything with free shipping. I would stay away from Newegg as a parts seller. I'm going to edit the original post though, and up the budget to 1300€. Edit: I've checked PCPartPicker, and the stores there are wayyy too limited, I'm going to provide links to some reputable stores in the main post.

Bump

Anyone still here who can help me? Thanks!

Thank you, any additional info you need just holla at me!

Hey guys, I'm looking to build a Desktop and as I'm a little out of the PC world for some months, I am outdated in what parts to pick, so I'm looking for help here. I'm migrating from a laptop setup that has a ruined motherboard (i7 8750HQ, 16GB RAM, GTX 1060 6GB, 144Hz 1080p IPS screen). I am based in Portugal, so my currency is Euros and I'm probably buying from one of these stores: https://www.pcdiga.com/ , https://www.globaldata.pt/ , https://www.assismatica.pt/ , https://www.chip7.pt/ , https://www.nanochip.pt/ If you can't translate the websites, "Componentes" means components, "Armazenamento" means storage, "Periféricos" means peripherals. I game a bit (Shadow of the Tomb Raider, CSGO, highly modded Skyrim, Civilization V and VI) and I work in video production (1080p footage on Premiere) and photography (Lightroom and Photoshop). I require 32GB of RAM for my normal workflow as I multitask a lot. I also need a monitor with good color accuracy, nothing over the top though (resolution-wise, 1080p is enough, 144Hz preferable). I'm also looking for a decent keyboard, if you guys want to recommend something (white backlight is all I need, mechanical switches appreciated but not mandatory). If I can keep the overall cost below 1400€, that would be my sweet spot. Thanks for the help, guys!

No help on here?.....

Windows 10 Version 1803, Compilation 17134.345

Hey guys, I'm having a problem with my start menu on Windows 10 for quite a while now, to the point where it becomes too annoying to ignore. My Start Menu keeps the "new" tag on every single program I install, even after I dismiss the tag on the programs, and clear the "recently added" section of the menu. I just need to reboot Windows or restart the Explorer process, and every program becomes tagged again and the "recently added" list now has more than 30 entries. What I have tried so far: -Rebooting the computer -Restarting Explorer process -Clearing every tag and the list -Disabling the recently added list on the system settings (it activates automatically again as soon as I close the settings window) -Updating Windows to the latest version (I don't use the Insider program) -Pulling my hair from my head in desperation Thank you for your help!

Okay guys, so I removed the caddy from my computer, then I realized I couldn't find my small screwdriver to remove the drive from the caddy, so I put the caddy back into the computer, turned it on and guess what? Same old "plug it off and back on again" the drive shows up in explorer with everything inside. Sorry for the trouble folks, and thank you for your help.

So you recommend I try and plug the drive into my desktop computer internally?

Yes I do, failed to mention in the main topic but the drive is an 2.5" internal HDD in a laptop (but easily removed, as it sits in the dvd caddy).

UPDATE: I checked again and now it disappeared completely from disk management....

So, trying to keep it short: I have an Internal HDD where I store everything in my computer except programs which go to my boot SSD. I was trying to access one folder in my HDD and it said it was empty. I found it odd so I rebooted my pc to see if it was just a Windows 10 bug (you know Windows 10). The thing is, after the computer initialized, the drive went completely missing from "This PC", so I went to disk management to see what was going on, and I found my HDD labeled as "Disk 1", Unknown and not initialized. I then tried to initialize the disk, but if I try to do it with GTP, it says it doesn't have the required storage space to use GTP, and if I try MBR, it says that the system could not locate the specified file. Is there any hope for my drive? I have everything that I care about in there, I have made some backups, but my last one is over 2 months old and as I take lots os photos, there is still a great amount of non backed-up files. The disk nor the pc are old as well, both turning 1yo next month. Thanks for your help

And does media creation tool keep my files? I know it keeps them if I download and run it from the PC I want upgraded, but through USB I don't know, the only option I see on the computer I want to run the USB is "Install Now", there is nothing about any update or keeping my data, and I really don't want to lose all my data.