Topics
Browse everything TrueNASGuide publishes by category and tag: every topic covered here, with the most recent guides listed under each one.
Tags
- #truenas 21
- #zfs 17
- #homelab 7
- #truenas-scale 7
- #hardware 6
- #ecc-ram 3
- #raidz 3
- #smb 3
- #arc 2
- #backups 2
- #comparison 2
- #data-protection 2
- #migration 2
- #nas 2
- #plex 2
- #pool-design 2
- #recordsize 2
- #shares 2
- #snapshots 2
- #storage 2
- #troubleshooting 2
- #truenas-core 2
- #zvol 2
- #apps 1
- #backup-strategy 1
- #beginners 1
- #block-storage 1
- #budget-nas 1
- #compression 1
- #containers 1
- #cpu 1
- #datasets 1
- #degraded-pool 1
- #disk-health 1
- #disk-replacement 1
- #hard-drives 1
- #hba 1
- #home-server 1
- #ipmi 1
- #iscsi 1
- #jellyfin 1
- #mirror 1
- #monitoring 1
- #motherboard 1
- #nas-build 1
- #nas-drives 1
- #nas-os 1
- #nextcloud 1
- #nfs 1
- #openmediavault 1
- #performance 1
- #permissions 1
- #pool-expansion 1
- #raidz-expansion 1
- #ram 1
- #recovery 1
- #replication 1
- #resilver 1
- #samba 1
- #scrub 1
- #setup 1
- #smart 1
- #system-requirements 1
- #transcoding 1
- #tuning 1
- #unraid 1
- #vdev 1
- #volblocksize 1
- #zfs-send 1
- #zpool-import 1
Categories
hardware 7 posts
- TrueNAS SCALE Requirements: Minimum Specs vs Real NeedsTrueNAS SCALE needs an x86_64 CPU, 8 GB RAM, a 16-20 GB SSD boot drive and two matching disks. What apps, VMs and an N100 mini-PC actually need.
- Best Motherboard for TrueNAS Home Server: 5 Picks for 2026The best TrueNAS home server motherboards compared on SATA ports, ECC, IPMI and Intel NICs, from a W680 server board to a low-power N305 NAS board.
- Best CPU for TrueNAS SCALE 2026Compare the best CPUs for TrueNAS SCALE in 2026 across file serving, Jellyfin transcoding, ECC support, virtual machines, and idle power.
- TrueNAS RAM Requirements by WorkloadTrueNAS RAM sizing for file sharing, apps, VMs, iSCSI, directory services, L2ARC, and deduplication, based on official workload guidance.
- Best Hard Drives for TrueNAS NAS in 2026The best hard drives for TrueNAS NAS must be CMR, not SMR — ZFS will punish the wrong choice. Here are the top picks by workload, budget, and bay count.
- Best Budget NAS Build for Home: What Actually Works in 2026A practical guide to the best budget NAS build for home use: Intel N100 platforms, ZFS-compatible drives, TrueNAS SCALE setup, and the backup plan.
zfs-fundamentals 5 posts
- ZFS Snapshots Explained for Beginners: How They WorkA ZFS snapshot is an instant, read-only copy of a dataset at one moment. Learn how they use space, how to restore files, and why one is not a backup.
- RAIDZ1 vs RAIDZ2: Parity, Resilver Risk, and Which to PickRAIDZ1 survives one disk failure, RAIDZ2 survives two. What that means for usable capacity, resilver risk, and how to choose at each vdev width.
- What Is a Zvol? TrueNAS Zvol vs Dataset ExplainedA zvol is a raw ZFS block device for one iSCSI target or VM disk; a dataset is a shared filesystem. Learn which to create and why volblocksize is fixed.
- ZFS Tuning on TrueNAS: ARC Max, Recordsize, lz4 vs zstdLearn which recordsize suits media, VMs and databases, when to raise zfs_arc_max, when zstd-3 pays off over lz4, and which ZFS tunables to leave alone.
- ZFS RAIDZ vs Mirror: Capacity, IOPS, and Resilver RiskChoose 6- to 8-wide RAIDZ2 for media and bulk storage, or two-way mirrors for VMs and databases. Compare usable capacity, fault tolerance and growth.
getting-started 3 posts
- How to Set Up TrueNAS SCALE: From Bare Metal to First ShareA practical step-by-step guide on how to set up TrueNAS SCALE — hardware, installation, pool creation with RAIDZ, datasets, SMB shares, and backups.
- TrueNAS SCALE vs Unraid vs OMV 2026: 5 Factors ComparedTrueNAS SCALE, Unraid and OpenMediaVault compared on filesystem, expansion, apps, hardware and cost, with a clear pick for each type of home NAS build.
- TrueNAS SCALE vs CORE vs Community Edition (2026)SCALE is now TrueNAS Community Edition; CORE is legacy FreeBSD. See which to install, Docker apps vs jails, KVM vs bhyve, and how pools migrate.
data-protection 2 posts
- TrueNAS Scrub: What It Does and How Often to Run ItA TrueNAS scrub verifies every used block's checksum and repairs bad data from redundancy. See how often to run it and what its errors mean.
- TrueNAS Snapshot and Replication StrategySnapshots protect against accidents. Replication protects against fires. Here is a practical TrueNAS snapshot schedule and replication setup for a home.
sharing 2 posts
- TrueNAS SMB vs NFS vs iSCSI: Pick by Client and WorkloadLearn when TrueNAS needs SMB for desktop folders, NFS for server mounts or iSCSI on a zvol, and when one dataset should use both SMB and NFS.
- How to Set Up a TrueNAS SMB Share: Users, ACLs & AppsCreate a TrueNAS SMB share step by step: make a dataset and user, set NFSv4 ACLs, start SMB, connect clients and avoid the apps-dataset error.
troubleshooting 2 posts
- TrueNAS Pool Degraded? Fix It by Replacing the Failed DiskDegraded means one disk dropped out and your data is still intact. Find the failed drive by serial, swap it, resilver, and get the pool back to online.
- TrueNAS Pool Import Failed or I/O Suspended: zpool FixesDecode zpool import states, reconnect missing disks, roll back after a crash, clear suspended I/O, and import read-only to copy your data off.