TrueNAS

You want ZFS to be the centre of the NAS. You care about snapshots, replication, datasets and storage integrity. You are comfortable learning storage concepts before storing important data. You want a free community edition and are happy to self-support or use community resources. You are building a more structured NAS, backup target or lab storage server.

TrueNAS is an operating system based on the OpenZFS file system. There are actually two different versions of TrueNAS: TrueNAS Core and TrueNAS Scale. TrueNAS Core has been available since 2005 (formerly known as FreeNAS) and is based on FreeBSD. TrueNAS Scale was released in 2022 and is based on Debian-Linux. They’re both similar, but different at the same time, so I urge you to learn about their differences if you decide to use TrueNAS. Regardless of which version you use, TrueNAS is open-source and free, unlike Unraid.

You absolutely can build your own NAS. For many NASCompares readers, a DIY build is the most interesting and rewarding route. TrueNAS, UnRAID, OpenMediaVault, standard Linux and Proxmox-based storage servers can all deliver excellent results when paired with suitable hardware and sensible backup planning. The trade-off is that DIY shifts responsibility from the vendor to the user. You choose the motherboard, controller, memory, boot device, case, cooling, power supply, drive layout, filesystem, update policy, remote-access method and backup plan. That freedom is powerful, but it is not free. T

You want an easier DIY NAS route than TrueNAS. You plan to mix drive sizes and expand gradually. You care heavily about Docker apps, media services and VMs. You are moving from a turnkey NAS and want less friction. You accept a paid licence in exchange for a more guided software experience.