First Homelab Build – Looking for Beginner-Friendly NAS Advice

General
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Hello all,

I’m fairly new to the homelab world, and I’m just now starting to build out my first one. I’m currently just looking to set up a basic NAS for file storage, media, and backups. I’m looking into both TrueNAS and Unraid, and I have to be honest with you, I don’t really know which one will be easier as a beginner with limited Linux experience.

I’m currently spinning up an old Dell OptiPlex with 16Gb of RAM, and only have a couple of 4TB drives to build with. My primary concerns are reliability, and easy remote access. Also, I want to be able to protect my data on the server, so I’m looking at RAID or something to that effect. I don’t need all the extra features; I just want something that works, and I can learn.
I came across this website:https://forum.45homelab.com/t/truew-nas-hex-os-book-configuration/devops-Interview-questions but still need some advice .

I was wondering if anyone would recommend spinning up TrueNAS versus Unraid for someone starting to learn? Are there any beginner guides/youtube videos to help get me started?

Thanks again for any insight, the community is already proving very helpful, and I look forward to some day contributing once I have much more experience!
Regards
jobinim

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Hello Jobinim, Welcome to the forums.
I’m sure someone else will jump in here with more details and opinions, But I will offer this over simplification since you are just starting out.

Both can be fine file server solutions.

If you have a bunch of hard drives that are the same size, go with trueNAS. If you have several random drives of various sizes go with Unraid.
TrueNAS is free, Unraid has a low cost and I believe a still free to try for 30 days option.
You say you are a beginner so I don’t think you are trying to spin up containers for other services, but both can do this. I feel Unraid has better container support. ( you might need some more memory either way if you are doing more than file serving).

Whichever one you choose, you still need a backup solution. Raid can still fail and Unraid can still experience bitrot.

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Let me suggest that you opt for a system supporting Z File System (ZFS)
You can learn more about ZFS at ZFS Handbook

ZFS has several advantages not found in Taiwanese RAID systems. First, SunMicrosystems developed ZFS shortly before the Oracle buy-out. ZFS combines RAID and filesystem functions in an integrated software base. No virtual volume manager.

ZFS organizes a group of disks into a Pool with the Pool having ZVOL (raw block device) or FileSystems. File systems can be given a quota or allowed to grow to fill the Pool. Pools can be a JBOD, RaidZ1, RaidZ2, or RaidZ3 in the larger cases (needs 5 drives).

File systems can contain file systems so you can make a bento box out of your storage.

ZFS does snapshots and snapshot replication. You can send snapshots to a second system at home or at a trusted location (mum’s laundry room?). The state of the filesystem will be schlepped to the replication target. You can revert to any prior snapshot in the event of a mishap. Many SOHO users keep a primary system and a secondary maintained from primary system snapshot replication. These are all vendor-independent capabilities of ZFS.

45HomeLab is staking out some aggressive price points for robust, easily repurposed personal/SOHO use cases. These are 1 and done cases. The cases accept standard catch of the day components and a failed system element is “easily” replaced. (well, the wrench-work is easy. Some systems management may be required.)

45HomeLab offers the cases bare bones, or plus wiring and storage backplane, plus power supply, or built and burned in.

45Drives has an extended version of Cockpit that includes 45Drives hardware maps, ZFS support, scheduled task support, and some other things not in stock Cockpit. 45Drives maintains a supporting GitHub repository with source and DNF modules. The repository has the scripts to go from Rocky Linux 8 to a 45Drives system. The instructions are in the KnowledgeBase.

I have an HL-4. 45HomeLabs manufactures in Nova Scotia, Canada. Sadly, the tariff situation remains fluid. (I’m hoarding maple syrup).

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I guess it depends on how much you already know. If you don’t understand things like linux permissions and basic linux commands, I would probably start with plain old Debian (or the flavor of Linux you prefer) and set up SMB from the command line. Having a good working knowledge of basic linux system admin tasks/skills will make your life easier when you move to something like Unraid or TrueNAS

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When I was looking for a NAS many years ago, I settled on FreeNAS (at the time) as it was ZFS based. ZFS solves many storage issues including backup (snapshots + replication), offsite backups (snapshots + replication + Internet), and recovery (snapshots + replication). Brian Moses’ Blog led me in that direction as that was what he was doing at the time.

At the time (2017 or so), 2 disk redundancy appeared to be a necessity given the tendency for disks to fail in an age range. A second failure could happen hot on the heals of a first. Often the second would fail while the replacement for the first in reconstruction. RAIDZ2 ZFS meets the demands of this use case.

When picking a NAS product, remember that it is there for storage first and application support second. Third party easy add-ins for virtual machines and applications will sour if you can’t recover from a failed disk without data loss. Or a second failed disk while restoring the first. ZFS passes these tests. And ZFS has solid procedures both from OpenZFS and FreeBSD. For comparison, review the UnRAID documentation. Then decide which product you would rather use when a storage failure recovery must be preferred. There are only 2 kinds of disks in the world, those that have failed and those that are about to fail.

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