TrueNAS For Content Creators?

As part of our drive to give the right solution to our customers, Tom wrote a post on the use of UNRAID for Content Creators. Unraid isn't the only solution though. We run TrueNAS internally for many reasons, and a tonne of those apply to Content Creators too!

If you have:

• a larger team or media production house
• a massive amount of data that needs to be on-site (think hundreds of terabytes and above)
• a neurotic need to never lose data, ever

then read on for more!

Wait… But What's a NAS?

Let's back up a step. A Network Attached Storage system, or NAS, is a set of hard drives. They live on a device that is not your computer. If you've never used one before, some high level benefits:

• Many people can use it in the same house/company/etc at the same time
• Allows easy remote access if you're working remotely
  • Think "the cloud," except your data isn't training Elon's new AI bestie
• Operating System Agnostic
  • That one guy in the office who needs to use a Mac for... Photoshop(?) now doesn't hand back a USB that your laptop can't even read

TrueNAS uses ZFS for advanced data protection

ZFS is truly amazing. You don't have to take my word for it; check out this video from Tom Lawrence where he goes over ZFS in depth. Or if you've watched the first 15 seconds of that and are thinking "No! I didn't need another bachelor's degree," this one is a lot less verbose.

Or if you hate watching videos (you're reading a blog post after all), here's the high level benefits:

• Scrubbing
  • Allows for periodic integrity checking of all data
  • Identifies and corrects issues before they become critical
• Checksums
  • ZFS uses checksums for all data and metadata
  • Detects and corrects silent data corruption without user intervention
• Snapshots
  • Allows point-in-time copies of the file system
  • Enables easy recovery from accidental deletions or modifications
• Copy-on-Write
  • Ensures that data is never overwritten in place
  • Prevents partial writes and maintains data consistency

If you're already thinking "ugh, please just take care of it for me," reach out and we can take care of the whole process for you!

Core vs Scale

"But wait, I've done some Googling™️ and I've found that there are 2 versions! What gives?!"

Congratulations, Padawan, life is hard. Now, besides angry and outdated Reddit posts, let me give you a quick rundown of the differences:

Core

• Based on FreeBSD
• More mature and stable
• Better suited for traditional NAS use cases

Scale

• Based on Debian Linux
• Newer, with a focus on scalability and containerisation
• Better for hyperconverged infrastructure and running VMs/containers

Both use ZFS. Both have a well-tested update history. But the potential of containerising is huge for some audiences.

Especially for users who aren't full-on "Big Corporations," TrueNAS can also be an app server for you. Some simple ideas:

• Document solutions like Nextcloud
• Photo viewers like Immich or PhotoPrism
• VPN apps like Tailscale

They run directly on the device that has your storage mounted. So if your network isn't AAA grade, this will likely speed things up.

Psst! If you want us to fix that whole slow networking thing for you, let's have a chat!

So What Are The Key Differences?

As you've likely gathered, if you've read our Unraid post, there's quite the number of differences between TrueNAS and Unraid. They might both be NAS platforms but they have some key pros and cons when compared to each other.

Benefits

Scalability

A key feature of TrueNAS Scale is cluster expansion. This sets it apart from many NAS solutions, including TrueNAS Core and Unraid. Here's a more detailed look:

Users can start with a single node and then grow to a multi-node setup as their needs change. This flexibility enables incremental growth without the need for a complete system overhaul. As you add nodes, the system uses distributed storage. It spreads data across available nodes to boost performance and redundancy. This approach uses all nodes' combined storage. It boosts data access and fault tolerance.

Furthermore, the cluster configuration provides high availability through failover capabilities between nodes. If a node fails, the system ensures access to data by redirecting operations to working nodes.

This cluster expansion feature is especially useful for businesses with rapid data growth. It helps future-proof their storage infrastructure. It allows for massive scaling without requiring major system overhauls.

Data Integrity

TrueNAS offers superior data integrity benefits due to its use of the ZFS file system. ZFS uses end-to-end checksums for all data and metadata. It constantly verifies the accuracy of the stored information. This proactive approach lets the system find and fix silent data corruption. This is a common issue in large storage systems that other file systems often miss.

ZFS's copy-on-write feature boosts data integrity. It never overwrites data in place. Instead, it writes changes to a new location before switching the metadata pointers. This method prevents partial writes. It keeps data consistent, even if there is a sudden power loss or system failure.

Also, ZFS has a self-healing feature. It can repair corrupted data "on the fly," using redundant copies. This all happens without user intervention. TrueNAS's combined capabilities make it very resistant to data loss and corruption. It gives users peace of mind when storing critical, irreplaceable data.

Free and Open Source

TrueNAS Scale is free to use. It is a great option for users wanting enterprise-grade storage at a low cost. This lets users spend their budgets on hardware, not on pricey software licenses.

Anyone can look at the code that makes TrueNAS work. This means many people can check it for problems. It's harder for bad actors to hide secret ways to get into your data. You can trust that TrueNAS isn't doing anything nefarious with your information.

Because TrueNAS is open-source, it doesn't depend on one company. Even if the main people who make it stop, others can keep it going. This means the storage system you set up now will continue to work for a long time.

Drawbacks

Whilst TrueNAS is great, we realise that it's not for everybody.

Extra Complexity

TrueNAS is a powerful storage system, but it can be tough to learn at first. It has lots of advanced features that can be confusing for new users. This means it might take more time to get comfortable using it. Also, with so many settings to manage, it's easier to make mistakes. They could slow your system or, in rare cases, corrupt your data.

Getting TrueNAS up and running, and keeping it working well, takes time and effort. You'll probably need to read a lot of instructions and spend time fixing issues to make sure everything works right. TrueNAS also often needs better, more expensive computer parts to work its best. This means you might have to spend more money at the start than you would for a simpler system.

If you need basic file storage, TrueNAS might be more than you need. It has many features that you might not use, which can make simple tasks more complicated than they need to be. For some users, these extra features might get in the way of simply storing and sharing files.

Additional Planning

TrueNAS requires more planning before you start setting it up. You must carefully plan your storage and features. This means figuring out how many drives you'll need. You'll also need to set up your storage pools and choose your data protection level. It's not something you can just plug in and start using right away.

This extra planning can be a bit of a hassle, especially if you're used to simpler storage systems. You might spend hours researching RAID levels. You might also debate the best network setup. Or, you might try to understand complex features like snapshots and replication. This planning can improve the system in the long run. But, you can't jump in and start using TrueNAS.

For some users, this need for careful planning might feel like overkill. If you just want to store and share some files on your network, you might find all this setup frustrating. It's like needing to plan out a whole garden when all you want to do is plant a few flowers. This extra work can be a real downside for those who prefer a ready-to-use solution.