I found TrueNas scale to be what fits my needs but I tried unraid (trial) and open media vault first. Also not this is not my first rodeo as I’ve done “from scratch” Ubuntu, and bsd.

I just built a server from older parts off eBay. An i7 2600, Asus p8z77, a Silverstone c382 nas case, 32gb of 1333, a pny P600 video card and a 9200+8i hba card. Then I used TrueNas on an SSD and another SSD for docker containers and cache.

4k Plex streaming no issues, system is fast and the only issue I had was the old Asus boards don’t use pwm fan control.

Open Media vault just confused the heck out of me, I ran it for a few months and donated money to the team for their effort but it was too restricting for my needs. It was definitely a capable nas os but it didn’t feel like it fit my style which is more hands on.

TrueNas has snapshots and replication. I run 4 12tb disks for my live data, striped raid 1’s. Then I have two more 12tb’s in a raid 1 for my replication read only. It’s not enough space if I filled my live drives but I havent needed more yet for the backup. And I can always expand my backup set.

I also have a qnap tr004 das with some random drives in a hardware raid 5. That’s my third copy I do every so often.

The funny part is I didn’t want to pay for a Synology but ended up spending more on parts. However it’s incredibly powerful for what it does so I’m using that as my “happy little mistake”. It’s going to last a long time and run as many services that I could possibly want as a home user.

I run Heimdall too. Simple and looks good. Let’s my gf easily get to my stuff.

I’m using Open Media Server on a PC. Docker for Plex and a DAS for data storage. It isn’t simple but it’s not hard and it’s been stable and easy to use after you figure out setup and get used to where things are in menus. It’s basically a nas with docker albeit a little slower because it’s USB storage.

The DAS seems limiting because it’s USB. I’m limited on speed, and configuration. It works fine for what it is but it’s basically just a giant USB drive.

I purchased the TR004 because it was cheap and I needed storage. I don’t know what I would have done differently but I feel as though I’m limited by this device instead of enhanced.

A normal HBA/Controller with attached drives in a server would be my ideal I guess. Not possible at this time so I’m working with what I have!

I did that with this giant server I have, but I hate running that thing. This computer I’m using now is honestly a pretty small, proprietary computer and it has no extra headers, it’s pretty packed inside. I will be testing unraid after i’m done with OMV. Thanks for your help and suggestions.

Having a normal HBA would have made my choices a lot easier. Dealing with the DAS complicated it but everyone was pretty helpeful so I think I’m on the right track now.

“why fix what isn’t broken?” are words to live by and if I were a smarter man I’d listen.

I’m joking, kind of, I think we all have to fight off that “grass is always greener on the other side” type of thinking because my life would be better if i just had…or if i just did…or if i only changed…and then i’m back on selfhosted asking for advice again.

The data import will be a challenge all on it’s own. I’ll end up probably splitting the data onto a drobo nas and some 4tb hdd’s I have laying around to give myself some redundancy. Bring the DAS online, format it with the new file format whatever that may be, and reimport the data. PITA but doable.

It’s part of the reason I’m asking because as my data grows, this import process is going to be the most difficult part so I’d like to lock something in for a while.

I am interested in home assistant too so your experience is valuable. Thanks!

Thanks for that! I am more limited by the USB DAS and it sounds like that eliminates TrueNAS for now. I care about my data but I have a drobo too I use for a second backup and also really important stuff is also in the cloud. I’ll finish testing with OMV and then use the trial for unraid. Even if it’s just the serial number, having a USB sticking out the back seems weird, this motherboard doesn’t have a way for me to add an internal USB port.

Same, for as long as I can remember. Great app.