TrueNAS (Storage Layer)

💡 Quick Navigation

• 📸 Build Photos
• ⚙️ Hardware Configuration
• 📊 Pool Status
• 🏠 Home Lab Overview

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What is TrueNAS?

TrueNAS is an open-source enterprise-grade storage operating system developed by iXsystems, based on FreeBSD (Core) or Linux Debian (Scale), and powered by the industry-leading ZFS filesystem.

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🎯 Why choose TrueNAS? (Why ZFS?)

Feature	Description
Data Integrity	ZFS automatically detects and repairs bit rot
Copy-on-Write	Writes new data before overwrite, preserving consistency after crashes
Snapshots	Roll back to specific points in time; great ransomware protection
Compression	lz4/zstd compression saves space with low performance overhead
ECC Memory	Professional-grade error correction for safer data

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TrueNAS Core vs TrueNAS Scale

Feature	Core 🐚	Scale 🐳
Base System	FreeBSD	Linux (Debian)
Virtualization	Jails (lightweight containers)	Docker + K8s (full container ecosystem)
Scale Architecture	Mainly single-node	Hyperconverged and cluster-ready
Hardware Support	Conservative, enterprise-focused	Consumer-friendly, better GPU/iGPU support
Release Cadence	Stability-first	More frequent new features
Learning Curve	More traditional	Better aligned with modern DevOps

Why I chose TrueNAS Scale

1. ✅ Native Docker support - runs many services (see Home Lab Overview)
2. ✅ Kubernetes-ready - better long-term expansion
3. ✅ iGPU passthrough - useful for transcoding (e.g., Plex)
4. ✅ Hardware-friendly - works well on consumer motherboards/CPUs
5. ✅ Snapshot protection - quick point-in-time recovery for accidental changes/deletions
6. ✅ Mature system and clear permission model - safer for long-term operation
7. ✅ Strong built-ins - SMB, NFS, etc. out of the box
8. ✅ Great UI/UX - intuitive admin interface for daily operations

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⚙️ Hardware Configuration

Component	Model	Notes
CPU	Intel Core i3-13100T	4C/8T, 35W TDP (power efficient)
Motherboard	Gigabyte B760M DS3H DDR4	4 SATA, ECC memory support
Memory	64 GB DDR4	More RAM improves ZFS cache behavior
Boot Pool	2 x 256 GB M.2 NVMe SSD	Mirrored for system fault tolerance
Pool: SATASSD (Apps Data)	2 x 512 GB SATA SSD	Mirror for Apps Data/AppConfigs, better small-file I/O
Pool: RaidZ2 (Data)	5 x 4 TB HDD	Primary data pool, tolerates 2 disk failures
L2ARC Cache	1 x 256 GB SATA SSD	SSD read cache acceleration
PSU	Corsair RM750e	750W 80+ Gold
Case	Fractal Design Define 7 Compact	Quiet, many drive bays
UPS	?	Power-loss protection

📝 Storage capacity confirmed: Data HDD = 5 x 4 TB, Apps SSD = 2 x 512 GB, Boot NVMe = 2 x 256 GB (using mirror / RaidZ2 fault tolerance)

📝 Drive model TBD: add exact models (WD Red? Seagate IronWolf?)

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📸 Build Photos

🖥️ Hardware Overview (excluding HDD)

Unboxed components except HDD (CPU, motherboard, memory, case, PSU, etc.)

🔧 Assembly Process Part 1

🔧 Assembly Process Part 2

💾 HDD Group Photo

Data drives (WD Red, Seagate Iron Wolf, TOSHIBA N300)

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Basic Information

• Hostname: truenas
• TrueNAS version: 25.04.2.6
• CPU: 13th Gen Intel Core i3-13100T (4C/8T)
• Memory: ~64 GB (67,194,081,280 bytes)
• Motherboard: Gigabyte B760M DS3H DDR4
• Timezone: America/Los_Angeles

Pool Status

SATASSD

• Status: ONLINE / healthy=true
• Topology: mirror-0 (2 disks: sda + sde)
• Capacity: Total 511 GB / Used 284.7 GB / Free 226.4 GB
• Fragmentation: 38%
• Last scrub: FINISHED, errors=0

RaidZ2

• Status: ONLINE / healthy=true
• Topology: raidz2-0 (5 data disks: sdg/sdd/sdf/sdc/sdh)
• Cache (L2ARC): sdb
• Capacity (theoretical, 5x4TB RAIDZ2): usable around 12 TB (~10.9 TiB, API is source of truth)
• Fragmentation: 15%
• Last scrub: FINISHED, errors=0

Storage Strategy (Key Points)

• Data pool uses RaidZ2 + 5 HDDs: tolerates up to 2 simultaneous disk failures, balancing capacity and resiliency for long-term storage of photos, media, and documents.
• Apps Data / AppConfigs on SATASSD mirror (2 SSDs): improves random I/O and metadata performance, reducing app startup/update latency.
• System layer uses 2x 256GB NVMe boot mirror: TrueNAS remains operational if one boot drive fails.
• Layered design: RaidZ2 for capacity/resilience; SSD mirror for high IOPS and responsiveness; plus Boot mirror for system-level fault tolerance.

Apps Summary

• Multiple services run in the TrueNAS Scale Docker environment
• See full list: Home Lab Overview

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Dataset / Share Services (TBD)

• RaidZ2/DataPool
• RaidZ2/DataPool/Immich
• RaidZ2/DataPool/Docker/NextCloud/data
• SATASSD/AppConfigs
• SMB share paths / permission strategy
• NFS share paths / allowlist

Operations TODO

• Pull dataset list and document purposes
• Pull SMB/NFS share configuration
• Pull SMART + disk temperatures and create health baseline
• Create weekly inspection template (blog-ready)