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TrueNAS

TrueNAS

Overview

What is TrueNAS?

TrueNAS is a network-attached storage featuring all-flash and hybrid storage editions, from iXsystems headquartered in San Jose.

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Learn from top reviewers

TrueNAS as a really NAS customizable Solution

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 15, 2024
Vetted ReviewVerified User
recover files & folder information from shadow copy after delete o r damaged file, folder or disk from user computer. its a really useful dataset features. Other awesome f...
Continue reading
Jorge Arturo
Consultant - Customer Service
Asesor de tecnología de la información
Sistemas Contino
TrueNAS3 years of experience

TrueNAS in Higher Education

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 11, 2024
Vetted ReviewVerified User
Over the years I have used several large enterprise storage solutions and TrueNas is Top of my list. I started with downloading the software on older enterprise hardware, and ...
Continue reading
Sean Gordon
Director - Information Technology
Director of IT Operations
Western Seminary
TrueNAS5 years of experience

Scalable solution for new businesses that will literally scale as you grow

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 10, 2024
Vetted ReviewVerified User
It is the canonical source for all our data in our network. This solution has been a solid solution that we have used for over 10 years. It was straight forward to implement. ...
Continue reading
Verified user
Executive
TrueNAS10 years of experience

TrueNAS Mini - Fantastic piece of equipment

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 10, 2024
Vetted ReviewVerified User
We use the TrueNAS Minis in our branch offices for file shares. Excellent little units. We couldn't be happier with them.
Continue reading
Jeff Cox
Administrator - Information Technology
IT Support Specialist
GTG Peterbilt
TrueNAS3 years of experience

A Robust and Reliable Storage Solution

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 8, 2024
Vetted ReviewVerified User
I've been using TrueNAS for a bit now, and honestly, it's a game-changer for me. Before diving into TrueNAS, I was juggling external drives like it was my job. Enter TrueNAS, ...
Continue reading
Dejan Tunjic
Professional - Information Technology
Mr.
Avant IT
TrueNAS5 years of experience

Satisfied TrueNAS user for years

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 8, 2024
Vetted ReviewVerified User
I have run TrueNAS Core on small desktops to enterprise servers, in a home environment to an enterprise datacenter. Obviously better performance on the enterprise hardware, bu...
Continue reading
Jesse Furr
Administrator - Information Technology
Systems Administrator
National Board of Chiropractic Examiners
TrueNAS8 years of experience

TrueNAS a powerful solution that scales from small needs to large

Rating: 8 out of 10
March 23, 2024
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We utilize TrueNAS as a replacement for multiple legacy file servers. TrueNAS's ability to integrate with Microsoft Active Directory seamlessly allows us to create SMB and NFS...
Continue reading
Verified user
Manager
TrueNAS3 years of experience

A honest point of view as independent user

Rating: 10 out of 10
March 21, 2024
Vetted ReviewVerified User
I use TrueNAS Scale at my own since a stable release of 2 year ago, it fits perfectly my needs, it is very reliable and ongoing through the various releases demostrates a grea...
Continue reading
Verified user
Manager
TrueNAS2 years of experience

TrueNAS is great for creatives

Rating: 10 out of 10
March 20, 2024
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
As a digital retoucher I use TrueNAS as my main online storage solution, it is reliable, solid and trouble free. I also use TrueNAS as a Plex Media server, in a jail. The whol...
Continue reading
Verified user
Director
TrueNAS10 years of experience

TrueNAS - The best solution for a DIY

Rating: 8 out of 10
March 20, 2024
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
I currently use TrueNAS as my primary storage for all my files. It holds my 3D printing files, personal information files, and video recordings. It's a great system with a lo...
Continue reading
Justin Powers, MS
C-Level Executive - Corporate
Owner
Just In 3D LLC
TrueNAS2 years of experience

Stability and Reliability Unmatched

Rating: 10 out of 10
March 20, 2024
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We have been using TrueNAS to host two 150+ TB storage arrays for our video surveillance systems. On top of that each of the surveillance systems are hosted as virtual machine...
Continue reading
Verified user
Team Lead
TrueNAS3 years of experience

Provision TrueNAS and see what it can do for you!

Rating: 10 out of 10
March 20, 2024
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We switched to TrueNAS after our Microsoft Server 2022 received a ransomware attack. TrueNAS made sense to offload our storage needs.
Continue reading
Matthew Juffs
Engineer - Information Technology
Chief Software Architect
Heritage Digital
TrueNAS10 years of experience

TrueNAS for speed, reliability and support.

Rating: 10 out of 10
March 13, 2024
Vetted ReviewVerified User
I've been using TrueNAS / FreeNAS (in earlier years) for out companies iSCSI Datastore in VMware. It allows me to make use of older hardware to make secondary / primary NAS /...
Continue reading
Rob Anderson
Technician - Information Technology
System Administrator
Lee's Sheet Metal
TrueNAS3 years of experience

TrueNAS if you care about your data

Rating: 10 out of 10
September 27, 2022
Vetted ReviewVerified User
After exploring lots of other options and coming quite close to making a bad decision, I was able to avoid compromise and buy a TrueNAS system for my storage needs. I'm using ...
Continue reading
Dustin Sallings
Engineer - Engineering
spy internetworking
TrueNAS1 year of experience

TrueNAS Review

Rating: 10 out of 10
September 15, 2022
Vetted ReviewVerified User
I've been using TrueNAS for about 5 years now, mostly in lab environments. It's been running solid for those 3 years, through upgrades from FreeNAS 11 to the current TrueNAS r...
Continue reading
Colin Mackay
Administrator - Information Technology
Senior System Administrator
Home Lab
TrueNAS5 years of experience
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Jorge Arturo
Asesor de tecnología de la información
Sistemas Contino (Information Technology & Services, 51-200 employees)
Sean Gordon
Director of IT Operations
Western Seminary (Higher Education, 51-200 employees)
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Pricing

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TrueNAS

TrueNAS

Free

What is TrueNAS?

TrueNAS is a network-attached storage featuring all-flash and hybrid storage editions, from iXsystems headquartered in San Jose.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Product Details

What is TrueNAS?

TrueNAS is a universal data platform that enables users to adopt a modern, open-source approach to store and protect their growing data. TrueNAS harnesses the ZFS file system to provide unified storage (File, Block Object, and Apps) with the reliability and performance demanded by virtualization, backup, and many other data-heavy workloads. The TrueNAS CORE edition (formerly FreeNAS) is based on FreeBSD for unified scale-up storage. The TrueNAS SCALE edition is based on Debian Linux for either scale-up or scale-out solutions and offers Linux Containers, VMs (KVM), and scale-out ZFS storage capabilities. Both versions are free to use and work well on a variety of hardware.

TrueNAS Integrations

TrueNAS Competitors

TrueNAS Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

TrueNAS is a network-attached storage featuring all-flash and hybrid storage editions, from iXsystems headquartered in San Jose.

TrueNAS starts at $0.

Synology DiskStation, Dell PowerScale, and HPE StoreEasy 1000 Storage are common alternatives for TrueNAS.

The most common users of TrueNAS are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(47)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

TrueNAS has been widely praised by users for its intuitive interface and versatility in various use cases. Users have found it easy to spin up virtual machines, conduct testing, and sandboxing. It is also commonly used for setting up a Plex media server and storing documents, downloads, and media backups. The integration of TrueNAS with security protocols like ActiveDirectory, LDAP, and Kerberos networks ensures file and folder-level security. Additionally, the ZFS Filesystem in TrueNAS provides data safety in the event of hard drive failure. Its compatibility with UPS allows for power outage notifications. TrueNAS is also utilized for home security camera monitoring and recording through ZoneMinder instances. Users have reported using TrueNAS in professional environments for long-term file storage and spinning up virtual machines for testing purposes. Furthermore, in the video production industry, TrueNAS plays a crucial role in storing camera data and referencing it during edits. Educational institutions rely on TrueNAS as part of their core criteria for Networking and SMB solutions. Organizations choose TrueNAS as their main on-premises storage solution, particularly for photo and video media storage. With features like SSD-based caching, a 10GB Ethernet port, and expandable network connectivity, TrueNAS offers speed and cost-effectiveness. It is frequently used as an iSCSI Datastore in VMware for primary NAS/iSCSI servers and nightly backups of VMs. Home users benefit from using TrueNAS Core as their business data management tool or home media server due to its simplicity and reliability. TrueNAS is often implemented as a backup/sync server, replacing tape backup systems to enable snapshots and reduce file recovery time. Integration with Nextcloud makes it scalable for file sharing, collaboration, and cost reduction purposes. In server set-ups, TrueNAS serves as a SAN providing simplicity of management, high availability configuration, and excellent support. Its fast performance and power make it ideal for mission-critical backups. Users prefer TrueNAS over Docker containers or virtual machines for its efficiency in managing, storing, and sharing data. It is especially recommended as an inexpensive enterprise-grade storage option for low-cost high-performance NAS systems. TrueNAS Scale, whether installed on a Virtual Machine in VMware Workstation Pro or on dedicated hardware, offers a solid software and user experience. Users have found it easy to install and appreciate its good performance and various applications for advanced testing. For those requiring fast and robust performance in primary data centers, the all-flash devices like TrueNAS M40 are the preferred choice. Lastly, users have had positive experiences with the salespeople and support teams from iX Systems, the parent company of TrueNAS. This level of satisfaction with both the product and the company further demonstrates the trust and reliability that users have in TrueNAS.

Overall, TrueNAS has proven to be a highly versatile and user-friendly solution for a wide range of use cases. Whether it's for personal media storage, professional file management, virtual machine deployment, or data backup, TrueNAS provides the necessary features and performance to meet the needs of its users. The ability to integrate with various security protocols, collaborate through Nextcloud, and serve as a reliable SAN or backup server makes it a valuable choice for businesses and organizations of all sizes. With its affordability, speed, scalability, and excellent customer support, TrueNAS continues to be a preferred storage solution for many users across different industries.

Robust and Reliable File System: Many users have praised the ZFS file system in TrueNAS for its robustness and reliability, providing them with peace of mind for their storage needs.

Seamless Integration with Mac and Linux Machines: Several reviewers have appreciated the seamless integration of TrueNAS with Mac and Linux machines. This integration allows for easy sharing of data through protocols like SMB and NFS, enhancing collaboration among different operating systems.

Flexibility and Stability of Software RAID: The flexibility and stability of the software RAID in TrueNAS has impressed many users. They have highlighted how it allows for customizable storage configurations, providing them with a reliable solution for their specific needs.

Confusing User Interface: Some users have reported that they find the user interface of TrueNAS to be confusing and not intuitive, which can make it challenging to configure and perform tasks efficiently. This issue has been mentioned by multiple reviewers, highlighting the need for improvements in terms of usability and navigation.

Challenging Initial Installation Process: The initial installation process has been described as quite challenging by some users, requiring significant effort and time. Several reviewers have expressed their difficulties during the installation phase, suggesting that a more streamlined and user-friendly approach would greatly enhance the overall experience.

Lack of Certain Functionalities: Users have expressed their desire for additional functionalities within TrueNAS. Specifically, there are requests for better VNC support for VMs and Jails, improved DLNA services for seamless video asset serving, and increased plugin integrations. These suggestions indicate that there is room for enhancement in these areas to meet the diverse needs of users effectively.

Reviews

(1-25 of 38)

TrueNAS as a really NAS customizable Solution

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 15, 2024
JA
Jorge Arturo
Asesor de tecnología de la información
Sistemas Contino (Information Technology & Services, 51-200 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
3 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
recover files & folder information from shadow copy after delete o r damaged file, folder or disk from user computer. its a really useful dataset features. Other awesome feature is the plugins either from IXsytem or from the community. this last has a extensive apps catalog that the user can install and customize.
Pros
  • plugins some like backup
  • Dataset from shares with shadow copy
  • Shares : SMB NTF iSCSI
Cons
  • more graphical interface to admin features like plugins, jails, list are well but a tiles aproach will be better
  • allow bulk upload/download/update to Groups or user accounts from SMB shares.
  • some script language template featured to create/config/change/delete storage pools /dataset or shares .
Likelihood to Recommend
freebsd with linux or windows based ecosystem give to the TrueNAS the fiability and resilience to the system deployment with featured integration, network security from the basic to enterprise grade requirements. and a very compromised community support and development.

TrueNAS in Higher Education

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 11, 2024
SG
Sean Gordon
Director of IT Operations
Western Seminary (Higher Education, 51-200 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
5 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Over the years I have used several large enterprise storage solutions and TrueNas is Top of my list. I started with downloading the software on older enterprise hardware, and with this next project we are deploying 3 TrueNas hardware solutions along with 3 Host servers all purchased from TrueNas. A Mini-R storage solution is serving NFS shares directly, and the other solutions, a M30 and Mini-R will run all of our virtual infrastructure and backup-storage. Having a dual controller option was an absolute must on this project. I would highly recommend checking out TrueNas, or at the very least give the sales engineers a call and talk through your project to see if TrueNas is a good fit.
Pros
  • Ease of Use
  • Production Speed
  • Reliability and uptime
  • Cost to operate
Cons
  • Better explanations on how Caching works with RAM and SLOG
Likelihood to Recommend
In my honest opinion, TreuNAS is well suited for all areas of service from the small mom and pop, to full scale enterprise. I have had a lot of fun with using TrueNas as a simple place to drop FTP files to now getting ready to deploy full scale Virtual environment on a HA storage appliance purchased from TrueNAS.

Scalable solution for new businesses that will literally scale as you grow

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 10, 2024
Verified User
Executive in Corporate
Arts & Crafts Company, 1-10 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
10 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
It is the canonical source for all our data in our network. This solution has been a solid solution that we have used for over 10 years. It was straight forward to implement. The most challenging task was to plan the pools and grouping of disks in those pools. I have no need to look for another solution as this provides sufficiently for our current needs.
Pros
  • web GUI or CLI for administration
  • provides for Linux, Windows, Mac client interoperability
  • easy basic deployment
Cons
  • web GUI in managing ZFS. You wind up on the CLI to administrate the devices and the pool.
  • With Scale, it provides the capability with for clustering storage, though seems to be growing in maturity. Core does not provide that due to FreeBSD limitations. Given having to migrate to Scale, I look forward to having a solution in hand as the need for clustering becomes a need in the future.
Likelihood to Recommend
Storing bulk data that is shared by one or more people. Makes backups simpler and avoids data duplication across a network of storage devices as it is administrated in one place.
Being able to host jails/containers on top provides for one less server and access to the data is virtually local.

TrueNAS Mini - Fantastic piece of equipment

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 10, 2024
JC
Jeff Cox
IT Support Specialist
GTG Peterbilt (Transportation/Trucking/Railroad, 201-500 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
3 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use the TrueNAS Minis in our branch offices for file shares. Excellent little units. We couldn't be happier with them.
Pros
  • Ease of use
  • Ease of setup / install
  • Community support
Likelihood to Recommend
The TrueNAS Mini boxes have been fantastic file servers for branch office needs. The minis will probably not work for high performant front line needs like a database server, but that's not their intended audience either.

A Robust and Reliable Storage Solution

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 08, 2024
DT
Dejan Tunjic
Mr.
Avant IT (Information Technology & Services, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
5 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I've been using TrueNAS for a bit now, and honestly, it's a game-changer for me. Before diving into TrueNAS, I was juggling external drives like it was my job. Enter TrueNAS, and suddenly, all my storage woes seem like a thing of the past.
A few reasons I like it are:

Find My Stuff: Everything’s in one place. Movies, music, work files – you name it. I can get to it from any device at home, which is super handy.

ZFS is Magic: Heard about ZFS? It's this techy thing that basically makes sure my data doesn’t get corrupted. Knowing my files are safe is a big relief.It Grows with You: Started with just a couple of old drives I had lying around. As I needed more space, adding more was a breeze.

Snapshots keep several versions of your files so you get a layer of protection incase things go really bad. Which is a huge +
Pros
  • Snashots for data protection
  • Easy to setup
  • Streaming media
  • Upgradability
  • Features
Cons
  • Initial setup
  • How to setup Jails (In general)
  • R Sync
Likelihood to Recommend
Any mild short comings are more things that take a little more work rather than big deal breakers. Simply put its possibly the best system that just works all the times and allows you to get into it for home Lab and extend that knowledge to the work force which is a HUGE deal!

Satisfied TrueNAS user for years

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 08, 2024
JF
Jesse Furr
Systems Administrator
National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (Non-Profit Organization Management, 11-50 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
8 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I have run TrueNAS Core on small desktops to enterprise servers, in a home environment to an enterprise datacenter. Obviously better performance on the enterprise hardware, but even the small desktop deployments weren't slow.
Pros
  • Runs on anything
  • Reliable on reliable hardware
  • Lots of ways to connect
Cons
  • Maybe too steep of a learning curve for Joe User
  • UI not as slick as Synology yet
  • No tiering storage levels yet (hot, cold tiers)
Likelihood to Recommend
I have run TrueNAS Core on small desktops to enterprise servers, in a home environment to an enterprise datacenter. Obviously better performance on the enterprise hardware, but even the small desktop deployments weren't slow. The expandability through jails is a really nice feature, to be able to add on Plex, Nextcloud, etc. with just a few clicks is very attractive.

TrueNAS a powerful solution that scales from small needs to large

Rating: 8 out of 10
Incentivized
March 23, 2024
Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Non-profit Organization Management Company, 201-500 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
3 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We utilize TrueNAS as a replacement for multiple legacy file servers. TrueNAS's ability to integrate with Microsoft Active Directory seamlessly allows us to create SMB and NFS shares for our users and groups. TrueNAS's ZFS replication has enabled us to have off-site data copies to ensure we can recover from a hardware issue or if there is a site catastrophe.
Pros
  • Multiple methods for data sharing
  • Easy to navigate interface
  • Ability to replicate data
Cons
  • Backup agents for desktop backups
  • Ability to load balance between multiple servers
Likelihood to Recommend
The ability to run an Opensource solution or have Enterprise support is really where TrueNAS shines for us. We can use the software for small projects as well as spin-up test systems to test configurations and features. Then ultimately implement in our hardened and supported Enterprise solution.

A honest point of view as independent user

Rating: 10 out of 10
March 21, 2024
Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Computer Software Company, 1-10 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
2 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I use TrueNAS Scale at my own since a stable release of 2 year ago, it fits perfectly my needs, it is very reliable and ongoing through the various releases demostrates a great effort to make always a better product each time. I use the containerization and it is excellent for my purposes as the NAS feature also are. I believe that actually this great piece of software can be valuable for a wide range of needs starting from the very advanced NAS capabilities to virtualization and containerization features. It's reliable and the upgrade process between the releases it's fast and effective. It's great product that works really.
Pros
  • NAS features
  • Containerization
  • Hardware compatibility
  • Low hardware requirements
Cons
  • none in my honest opinion
Likelihood to Recommend
Great for every storage needs, I use TrueNAS Scale, from home to business,it's great for the containerization features that permits the deploy of various applications and can be usable either in a home lab or a development lab and either to run a business enviroment used on small to large hardware.

TrueNAS is great for creatives

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
March 20, 2024
Verified User
Director in Other
Graphic Design Company, 1-10 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
10 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
As a digital retoucher I use TrueNAS as my main online storage solution, it is reliable, solid and trouble free. I also use TrueNAS as a Plex Media server, in a jail. The whole iteration backs up to Backblaze. I built my own NAS and this has proven to be a very cost effective route to having immediately available storage.
Pros
  • Cross platform availability
  • Easy functionality
  • Customizable to end user needs
Cons
  • Setting up permissions/ACL could be easier
Likelihood to Recommend
Online backup. Media server. You can do pretty much anything you want with jails - Plex media server, Nextcloud, reverse proxy, ad blocker etc., I have a LAGG connection to double throughput out and this helps with network speed, even on 1 GB. There is a great online community too.

TrueNAS - The best solution for a DIY

Rating: 8 out of 10
Incentivized
March 20, 2024
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I currently use TrueNAS as my primary storage for all my files. It holds my 3D printing files, personal information files, and video recordings.<br><br>It's a great system with a lot of functionality that I am still figuring out. With such a versatile system, it is easily scalable and workable for all systems.
Pros
  • Scalability
  • UI
  • Versatility
Cons
  • The UI is a bit bland
  • The differences between Cobia and Bluefin can be stated more clearly
Likelihood to Recommend
The ability to easily expand the storage is great. The ZFS built in is fantastic and I was able to get rid of my raid cards for this. Regarding the well suited, it can easily be manipulated to whatever you need it to be. Whether it's a VM host, a regular NAS, or even an application host, it's great.

Stability and Reliability Unmatched

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
March 20, 2024
Verified User
Team Lead in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 11-50 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
3 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We have been using TrueNAS to host two 150+ TB storage arrays for our video surveillance systems. On top of that each of the surveillance systems are hosted as virtual machines on their respective storage node. This setup has been solid from day one, providing the stability and reliability that one would expect from enterprise applications.
Pros
  • Virtualization
  • Large storage management
  • Stability
Cons
  • Occasionally buggy UI
Likelihood to Recommend
TrueNAS is well suited for a multitude of applications. I've used it for fileshares needing to be accessed by both MacOS and Windows users and it was greatly having the ability for both of them to use their native protocols.

Provision TrueNAS and see what it can do for you!

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
March 20, 2024
MJ
Matthew Juffs
Chief Software Architect
Heritage Digital (Computer Software, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
10 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We switched to TrueNAS after our Microsoft Server 2022 received a ransomware attack. TrueNAS made sense to offload our storage needs.
Pros
  • Fit and forget.
  • Reliable
  • Great Performance.
  • Low Utilisation.
Cons
  • Dashboard customisation.
Likelihood to Recommend
It is well suited to storage-only needs but also capable of being a virtual/container platform. It works on a wide variety of hardware.

TrueNAS for speed, reliability and support.

Rating: 10 out of 10
March 13, 2024
RA
Rob Anderson
System Administrator
Lee's Sheet Metal (Construction, 51-200 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
3 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I've been using TrueNAS / FreeNAS (in earlier years) for out companies iSCSI Datastore in VMware.
It allows me to make use of older hardware to make secondary / primary NAS /iSCSI Servers.

I also use these servers to do nightly backups of all our VMs. The ability to use TrueNAS Core software
has really helped us out in the last 3 years especially.

We don't have to wait on new expensive hardware to get a new NAS / iSCSI server running. The chip shortage
has made it a very scary proposition to try and acquire new hardware in the face of such a shortage should we
have a failed server. It has let me leverage previous investments in hardware to cover any shortages in storage
availability.
Pros
  • iSCSI Datastores for virtualization.
  • NFS store for unix storage or backups over networking.
  • Very fast performance, sometimes outclassing SSD arrays even in NFS.
  • The ZFS filesystem has given use much greater flexibility.
  • Using their newer servers we could in theory scale to any height of required storage.
Cons
  • Better explanations of what a 'jail' is.
  • Update the UI to support easier creation or clearer creation of new arrays.
  • More plugin integrations.
  • The ability to run scripts to copy things locally such as to a usb RDX hard drive.
  • Proper USB 3.0 support.
Likelihood to Recommend
Their free TrueNAS Core has been an incredible boon. Using older hardware to create a great lab / array TrueNAS is amazing. NFS Targets for running VEEAM backups over a 10Gb network it worked amazing. Using the ISCSI for datastores in VMware worked amazing as well. I do hope they put some more work into the Virtual Machine UI. I don't know that I'd use TrueNAS to host VMs in a production environment.

TrueNAS if you care about your data

Rating: 10 out of 10
September 27, 2022
DS
Dustin Sallings
Engineer in Engineering
spy internetworking (Information Technology & Services, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
1 year of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
After exploring lots of other options and coming quite close to making a bad decision, I was able to avoid compromise and buy a TrueNAS system for my storage needs. I'm using this for software engineering support but the bulk of the usage is video production where TrueNAS both stores the data coming off of cameras but is also referenced by the NLE when doing all the edits/prints.
Pros
  • Peace of mind (ZFS)
  • Integration with Mac and Linux machines (SMB and NFS)
  • Time Machine backup service was a plus I didn't expect
Cons
  • DLNA services could be better for serving video assets (Plex integration is good, but complicated)
  • Built-in dashboards aren't super well-organized
Likelihood to Recommend
TrueNAS is ideal for anyone who wants to store data without worrying too much.

The only area where TrueNAS isn't as ideal is if you're trying to prioritize budget over data safety.

TrueNAS Review

Rating: 10 out of 10
September 15, 2022
CM
Colin Mackay
Senior System Administrator
Home Lab (Information Technology & Services, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
5 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I've been using TrueNAS for about 5 years now, mostly in lab environments. It's been running solid for those 3 years, through upgrades from FreeNAS 11 to the current TrueNAS release. I use it only with storage and sharing in mind, no VM's or jails and on my older Dell R510 system, it's run flawlessly.
Pros
  • ZFS is an amazing filesystem. Saved me from accidental deletes.
  • NFS / CIFS sharing works as expected.
Cons
  • UI interface is solid, but could use more robust sharing options; using the 'exports' formats right in the GUI
Likelihood to Recommend
About the only place I couldn't see it running as well, is where entire array deduplication would be required. Otherwise, it's pretty solid for just about everything, save SAN.

Easy and hassle-free integration

Rating: 10 out of 10
September 15, 2022
AB
Alexander Baese
IT-Stack Engineer
Techvance (Information Technology & Services, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
1 year of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We are mainly using TrueNAS as a Storage Service Provider for our local network. Storing Data, Sharing Data and processing Data through various channels. The management of ZFS Storage is kept really simple in the UI and can be left untouched when it is all setup.<br>Therefor providing a higher level of management without that big of a learning curve.
Pros
  • SMB Shares
  • Video transcoding via GPU and Docker Containers
  • Hosting mulitple fundamental network Services
Cons
  • Heavy loads on the host can interrupt container services heavily. "Always reserved ressources" option might be helpful
Likelihood to Recommend
Limited by your own capabilities. TrueNAS offers a wide range of possibilities to extend your usage of your appliance / hardware. Centered around a NAS / Storage Device you can implement various sharing services, virtual machines and containerized workloads. So far it handles all our usecases pretty good and you are only limited by what you know about those technologies.A real keeper and a alternative to virtualization focused products.

Free and Easy to Use

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
September 14, 2022
Verified User
Technician in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 1-10 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
1 year of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
My organization uses TrueNAS Scale to run file servers for local data storage and backup and host Windows virtual machines. This solution is far superior to manually setting up a Linux server distro with all the packages and configurations for file shares and virtual machines. While I'm accustomed to using the terminal, I welcome the in-browser graphical UI which anyone can use. Remote administration has never been easier for me and my colleagues, with even those unfamiliar with Linux being able to pick up on things very quickly due to the intuitive design. We deploy NAS and server solutions for clients which can be remotely accessed by us for easy maintenance and administration.
Pros
  • The ZFS file system is remarkably robust and reliable.
  • Installing applications and virtual machines is easy.
  • Management and creation of permissions and datasets is intuitive.
Cons
  • TrueNAS Scale is less mature than TrueNAS Core
Likelihood to Recommend
TrueNAS can be used in the majority of situations, whether it be a home NAS, an enterprise storage server, or a school computer lab.

Easy to set up and use, unbeatable price

Rating: 10 out of 10
September 14, 2022
JS
Jim Stevens
Systems Engineer
Activar Inc (Plastics, 201-500 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I setup TrueNAS Scale on a decommissioned engineering desktop I salvaged from being recycled in order to replace a 15 year old NAS appliance that was being decommissioned. It was incredibly simple to install and get going off the bat. I've had no performance issues with my setup, and am pleasantly surprised with the various applications (containers) I was able to get up and running with relative ease having never used a TrueNAS system before. I can't wait to really get into the weeds and test out the more advanced features of the system (potentially even serving as a sandbox hypervisor environment)!
Pros
  • Ease of setup
  • Flexibility of hardware options
  • Performance
Cons
  • Learning curve for some features
Likelihood to Recommend
For someone who likes to tinker and play around with additional bells and whistles, TrueNAS is great! For people who just need a basic storage device, it may be a tad overkill.

FOSS in Education is excellent with TrueNAS Scale

Rating: 10 out of 10
August 27, 2022
RM
Robert Mizen
IT & Networking Professor
Polhemsskolan (Government Administration, 501-1000 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
1 year of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I teach the next generation of students who go out directly after education to work in Networking and SMB solutions. FOSS has been a large focus, and TrueNAS is part of a core segment of our criteria on Raid, Storage, and Networking. I use it at home and also at the large server lab, where we have around 20 servers running TrueNAS Scale.
Pros
  • Scale allows for Apps to utilise TrueNAS to run in containers
  • Software raid in TrueNAS is really flexible and stable
  • Scale being based on Linux has now meant integrations are growing rapidly
Cons
  • TrueNAS Scale just needs time, IMO. It's maturing quickly
Likelihood to Recommend
If you need RAID storage, it's a very obvious choice. Also, being Open source and secure. It gives IT Admins a great say over security and control. Adding in Scale and other features mean that it can and will fit many environments. Linux environments work great on Scale, but you can use it within mixed as we do now.

Excellent product for small business

Rating: 9 out of 10
August 19, 2022
PJ
Peter Johnston
Security Architect
9099018 Canada Inc. (Information Technology & Services, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
4 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I use TrueNAS as the main on-premises storage solution for my organization. My typical use cases involve photo and video media storage for both PC and Mac end-users. I wanted a storage solution that offered both speed and cost effectiveness, and with SSD-based caching, 10GB Ethernet port and available free PCI-E slot, I have a good balance and am able to add additional network connectivity for LAG and teaming as needed.
Pros
  • Allows multiple end-user platforms to share data
  • Allows me to leverage plugins, and community developed applications.
  • I can run virtual machines without the need for expensive and complex virtual infrastructure.
Cons
  • The configuration of SMB sharing permissions is not as intuitive as it could be.
  • AD integration with multiple DCs does not always fail over to the secondary server.
Likelihood to Recommend
This small business NAS is the perfect balance of capability and cost. The hardware is fast enough with an enterprise feature set because it's based on TrueNAS and can leverage all of the high-end features not typically seen in SOHO NAS solutions. I also found their support material to be comprehensive and accessible. While the admin console/interface is well laid out and mostly very intuitive, it is more complex than many competing solutions in this price range. This is likely due to the enterprise class feature set so it really isn't avoidable.

Freedom to build and deploy anywhere

Rating: 10 out of 10
August 09, 2022
Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 1-10 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
2 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use TrueNAS to maximize the value of our existing datacenter hardware into new storage solutions. While there is a still a place for Nimble and 3Par, TrueNAS gives us the flexibility we need to create data pools from our un used physical inventory for staging, deployment, backup, or other various activities with the datacenter.
Pros
  • ZFS datapools
  • Nested Virtualization
  • iWARP, RDMA
  • iSCSI
Cons
  • Virtualization support could use more features
  • User and group management is a unique challenge
  • Access to more detailed configuration options
Likelihood to Recommend
TrueNAS is best suited for creating flexible data pools from just about any combination of storage architecture. Something that is unmatched in traditional hardware accelerated RAID, A the while, you can still use TrueNAS to build upon RAID arrays, its strength is building arrays in combinations that your old RAID controller can not.

All the while, its biggest strength comes with a little extra cost when rebuilding or resilvering a ZFS array in the event of a problem. Complicated arrays or arrays on older hardware will take quite a bit of time.

Does what it promises, and more

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
August 09, 2022
Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Military Company, 1-10 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
1 year of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
If you just want it to work and be expandable without having to reference dozens of help files and web pages to get it configured, try TrueNAS.<br><br>TrueNAS provided an automatic solution after the team spent several days trying to make other solutions work on top of RedHat. Configuration and control is a breeze through the web-based GUI, and it is easy to expand the storage and add other applications to the Jails.
Pros
  • Easy to manage users and access to different shares
  • Shares remount natively under Windows11 and xNIX derivatives, providing easy integration
  • Jails let you try other applications on the server without affecting NAS operations
Likelihood to Recommend
Backup (continuous and incremental) and file sharing. Also using to share video training as Plex Server.

TrueNAS Core: Certainly Value for Money.

Rating: 10 out of 10
August 09, 2022
je
jason edhouse
Brand Manager
ATHOME.NOW (Computer Networking, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
1 year of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I have been using TrueNAS Core at home now for the past 12 months, as means to manage my business data and as a home media server. To be honest it took me a little bit of time to get my head around it, but once I understood the fundamentals the rest was like learning to bake a cake. I have an old HP Proliant dual processor box which handles it very well, I stacked it full of SSD and away I went. TrueNAS Core just made itself at home, no glitches and of it went. I love it, and I love that it is free more than anything else.
Pros
  • Security is its best function. By utilising the jail system.
  • Encryption throughout the entire system. Most diverse.
  • It's not built on Linux.
Cons
  • More functionality for video cards and hardware rendering
  • Have a TrueNAS Core GUI
  • Better HELP options.
Likelihood to Recommend
I was previous an unRAID user. I found that unRAID users were particularly unhelpful and I was very frustrated with it. Someone suggested that I try TrueNAS Core for my media server needs. I installed it and found that it worked well and graphically displayed very well how my storage pools were coping with space, my various processor cores etc basically how my server was functioning which unRAID didn't do particularly well at the time.

Amazing NAS

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
August 09, 2022
HC
Howard Clarke
System/Network Administrator
Findhelp Information Services (Non-profit Organization Management, 51-200 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
2 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Currently, we are using TrueNAS as a backup/sync server for our fileserver which replaces the HP tape backup. By doing so we can do snapshots and reduce file recovery time. My next step is to move our fileserver from windows to a second TrueNAS which will be integrated into our Windows AD domain.
Pros
  • ZFS filesystem rocks.
  • iSCSI (Internet Small Computer Systems Interface).
  • OS updates.
  • Clean user interface.
  • Snapshots.
Likelihood to Recommend
Good ISCSI, backup, and storage server. Windows is better at file-level permission control.

TrueNAS review

Rating: 10 out of 10
August 09, 2022
GP
Geoff Paget
Owner Operator
Pagets Gadgets (Computer Networking, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
TrueNAS
1 year of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I am just using it as a home server at the moment but am looking at helping the typical home user to set up and use it for server backup use as it's so simple to use. It basically solved all the issues with Windows file and folder share that never works with Windows.
Pros
  • It runs on a very low-power computer and is easy to set up and run.
  • Simple to use and set up.
  • Easy to add apps for other easy-to-use solutions in home.
  • Very easy to add more storage as well.
Cons
  • It was a little complicated updating Plex as it needs to be done manually.
  • It would be an improvement if the RAM use was less and automatic.
Likelihood to Recommend
It's a very simple solution to create a home server to use for storage backup that can be shared everywhere on any device which is so hard to do using Windows share.
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