FreeNAS/TrueNAS Question

[Thaddeus_Pi]

I am planning to use an old PC as a NAS - I plan to use an SSD for the OS and two 1 TB HDDs in a RAID set up. I'll be running it on an i5 4670K with 16GB DDR3 memory.

 

SSD: https://www.amazon.ca/Kingston-Digital-120GB-SA400S37-120G/dp/B01N6JQS8C/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=KINGSTON+A400&qid=1622254767&sr=8-3

NAS Drives: https://www.amazon.ca/Seagate-IronWolf-5900RPM-Internal-3-5-Inch/dp/B07H28PKLX/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ironwolf%2B1tb&qid=1622251827&sr=8-1&th=1

 

I've never done this before - can anyone comment on this drive selection?

 

In terms of connectivity, I plan to use a wired connection via a switch/repeater (potentially over powerline) since my router ports are fully occupied - will this pose a problem?

 

Does anyone have experience with TrueNAS Core? Any quirks or things a new user should know before beginning on a NAS project?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

4 minutes ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

In terms of connectivity, I plan to use a wired connection via a switch/repeater (potentially over powerline) since my router ports are fully occupied - will this pose a problem?

 

Switches work fine, Id try to avoid powerline as it can be much slower

 

4 minutes ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

Does anyone have experience with TrueNAS Core? Any quirks or things a new user should know before beginning on a NAS project?

 

Works fine, Ive used it a bit

 

4 minutes ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

've never done this before - can anyone comment on this drive selection?

 

Id probably get a bigger hdd, doesn't cost much more and much more space.

 

Do you wan tto upgrade space in the future?

 

 

[AbydosOne]

4 minutes ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

I've never done this before - can anyone comment on this drive selection?

That price per TB is abysmal. You're a lot better off going a bit larger on the drives (4-8TB) and paying much less per TB, and giving yourself room to expand ("Data expands fill all available drives.").

[Thaddeus_Pi]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

 

Do you wan tto upgrade space in the future?

 

 

Currently I'd have a hard time filling a TB. I could future proof a bit and go higher. What would you suggest?

[Thaddeus_Pi]

Just now, AbydosOne said:

That price per TB is abysmal. You're a lot better off going a bit larger on the drives (4-8TB) and paying much less per TB, and giving yourself room to expand ("Data expands fill all available drives.").

 

A very good point - can you suggest a drive?

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Thaddeus_Pi said:

Currently I'd have a hard time filling a TB. I could future proof a bit and go higher. What would you suggest?

What are you storing on the nas?
 

If its less than a tb, id probably just use cloud storage. Should be simmilar in price, more reliable, and easy to access from anywhere. Or just put the hdd in your desktop/laptop

 

Or just get a single 4tb hdd. Whats your backup plan?

[PorkishPig]

12 minutes ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

I plan to use an SSD for the OS

Are you are aware that you will not be able to put VMs or jails on your OS drive?

12 minutes ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

SSD: https://www.amazon.ca/Kingston-Digital-120GB-SA400S37-120G/dp/B01N6JQS8C/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=KINGSTON+A400&qid=1622254767&sr=8-3

DRAMless SSDs are fine for the OS. If you plan to get a separate SSD for jails and VMs, definitely get a drive with DRAM.

12 minutes ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

Does anyone have experience with TrueNAS Core? Any quirks or things a new user should know before beginning on a NAS project?

If you're used to something like Ubuntu or Debian, FreeBSD is a serious learning curve. This isn't to say that FreeBSD is bad, it's actually nice to work with after you understand what you're doing. If you want to use Debian + Docker, you may want to consider looking at TrueNAS Scale, though keep in mind that the OS is in Alpha.

Edited May 29, 2021 by PorkishPig

[Thaddeus_Pi]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

What are you storing on the nas?
 

If its less than a tb, id probably just use cloud storage. Should be simmilar in price, more reliable, and easy to access from anywhere. Or just put the hdd in your desktop/laptop

 

Or just get a single 4tb hdd. Whats your backup plan?

 

I was planning on using the NAS for backups of family stuff - pictures, videos, important digital files etc. I had thought with a NAS I'd run a RAID set up, but that might be overkill.

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Thaddeus_Pi said:

 

I was planning on using the NAS for backups of family stuff - pictures, videos, important digital files etc. I had thought with a NAS I'd run a RAID set up, but that might be overkill.

 

Id probably just get a cloud solution here. Should be cheaper and more reliable. And often intergraes better.

 

Id say raid is probably overkill for home backups, and if you want data to be safe, get backups of the nas.

[Thaddeus_Pi]

1 minute ago, PorkishPig said:

Are you are aware that you will not be able to put VMs or Jails on your OS drive?

DRAMless SSDs are fine for the OS. If you plan to get a get a separate SSD for jails and VMs, definitely get a drive with DRAM.

If you're used to something like Ubuntu or Debian, FreeBSD is a serious learning curve. This isn't to say that FreeBSD is bad, it's actually nice to work with after you understand what you're doing. If you want to use Debian + Docker, you may want to consider looking at TrueNAS Scale, though keep in mind that the OS is in Alpha.

 

I was not aware. In fact I'm such a rookie I wasn't even aware of the term 'Jails' as it refers to storage. Would you be able to explain?

[Thaddeus_Pi]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id probably just get a cloud solution here. Should be cheaper and more reliable. And often intergraes better.

 

Id say raid is probably overkill for home backups, and if you want data to be safe, get backups of the nas.

My router has a USB port which I could use to plug in a hard drive into. That sounds like it'd be a better solution?

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

My router has a USB port which I could use to plug in a hard drive into. That sounds like it'd be a better solution?

Yea for a simple backups that would work fine. Id just get a cheap external hdd for this use. A full nas seems overkill for your uses

 

3 minutes ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

 

I was not aware. In fact I'm such a rookie I wasn't even aware of the term 'Jails' as it refers to storage. Would you be able to explain?

Jails let you run apps and plugins. Do you plan on using things like plex here?

[Thaddeus_Pi]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Yea for a simple backups that would work fine. Id just get a cheap external hdd for this use. A full nas seems overkill for your uses

 

Jails let you run apps and plugins. Do you plan on using things like plex here?

No to the plugins. Yes to simple backups.

 

Would you be able to suggest a drive? I've googled around and there seem to be many and quite a few price points. I'd like something reliable which will last. I don't need mountains of storage, but I do need some growing room (say 1-4TB).

 

 

[PorkishPig]

1 minute ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

I was not aware. In fact I'm such a rookie I wasn't even aware of the term 'Jails' as it refers to storage. Would you be able to explain?

Jails are used for the virtualization of applications on TrueNAS Core. This will only really apply to you if you plan to use plugins, or create your own jails. If this is strictly a storage server, this is irrelevant.

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 minutes ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

No to the plugins. Yes to simple backups.

 

Would you be able to suggest a drive? I've googled around and there seem to be many and quite a few price points. I'd like something reliable which will last. I don't need mountains of storage, but I do need some growing room (say 1-4TB).

 

 

Id really suggest going cloud storage here, simpler, more reliable and works anywhere.

 

But here is a cheap 4tb externalhttps://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-Drive-Black/dp/B07VTW2LPX/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=4tb+external+hdd&qid=1622321715&sr=8-4

 

All the external hdds will work fine, and you won't need a superfast drive here.

[Thaddeus_Pi]

7 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id really suggest going cloud storage here, simpler, more reliable and works anywhere.

 

But here is a cheap 4tb externalhttps://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-Drive-Black/dp/B07VTW2LPX/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=4tb+external+hdd&qid=1622321715&sr=8-4

 

All the external hdds will work fine, and you won't need a superfast drive here.

 

By cloudstorage you mean like google drive or onedrive?

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 minutes ago, Thaddeus_Pi said:

 

By cloudstorage you mean like google drive or onedrive?

 

Yup, thats what Id use here.

[Jarsky]

The idea of a NAS at home is typically to centralise data for an 'always-on' availability, and as a second copy of your data. 

If you're just wanting to backup, then thats what cloud solutions like @Electronics Wizardy suggested are best for. 

 

Consider that cloud services means that when you sync this data to the cloud, you now have an offsite backup, that protects you from theft, fire, flood, electrical and just general failures. As well as accidental deletion. 

 

iDrive, BackBlaze, Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon Drive, etc....

 

Backblaze is $5/m (billed annually) for unlimited storage. 

[Thaddeus_Pi]

Thanks everyone for their input!