FreeNAS or TrueNAS?

[Rivers]

I am new to FreeNAS (or I should call it TrueNAS instead) so this question is probably answered for many times.
As TrueNAS 12.0 is about to release, should I just install TrueNAS 12.0 rc1 on my new machine or should I install FreeNAS11.3?
If I go for 11.3 will I be able to upgrade the system to 12.0 when the stable version is released?

I should not have problems with hardware support as I have one of the TrueNas mini machines from ixsystem.

 

[Apollo]

Isn't iXsystem pre-installed already, if so, this makes this post moat.

 

[Constantin]

11.3 is likely still being used for minis because that’s a current release while 12 is in the process of being beta tested. When I bought my XL it also needed an software upgrade to be current. Nothing new there.

As I understand it, transitions from 11 to 12 are possible but if you modify your pool to take advantage of 12.x features then downgrading your NAS back to 11.x likely requires a pool nuke and rebuild.

So far, the greatest ongoing complaints I’ve witnessed in the forums centers around the documentation for 12.x (as in being incomplete) and the usual issues with jails, VMs, and like functionality extensions beyond a simple storage server.

If you’re only after a simple storage server then going 12 RC1 from the get-go is likely worth the risk. That said, regardless of the NAS software you end up choosing, have a backup or two of all important data and ideally a qualified, cold spare drive for your NAS as well.

 

[Rivers]

Isn't iXsystem pre-installed already, if so, this makes this post moat.

Ah is that so? My machine haven't arrived (and it's secondhand), I wasn't expecting it to come with the OS installed.

11.3 is likely still being used for minis because that’s a current release while 12 is in the process of being beta tested. When I bought my XL it also needed an software upgrade to be current. Nothing new there.

As I understand it, transitions from 11 to 12 are possible but if you modify your pool to take advantage of 12.x features then downgrading your NAS back to 11.x likely requires a pool nuke and rebuild.

So far, the greatest ongoing complaints I’ve witnessed in the forums centers around the documentation for 12.x (as in being incomplete) and the usual issues with jails, VMs, and like functionality extensions beyond a simple storage server.

If you’re only after a simple storage server then going 12 RC1 from the get-go is likely worth the risk. That said, regardless of the NAS software you end up choosing, have a backup or two of all important data and ideally a qualified, cold spare drive for your NAS as well.

Thanks for the reply! I did notice FreeNAS's documentation is more detailed. Will the documentation also be merged in the future? For now I think I will try to install 12RC1 when it arrives.

 

[vzbptbcs]

If I install TrueNAS 12 RC1 right now, am I on the stable or beta release branch?
Will I receive updates to future beta versions, or not?

If possible, I want to install TrueNAS right now and then stay on the stable branch asap.
I'm asking this because I've seen software where you can't downgrade to stable once you entered the beta branch.

 

[Constantin]

My understanding is that you should be able to switch from 12.0 beta to 12 stable since the pool flags / features will be the same.

The incompatibility of 12.x Pool features with FreeNAS 11.x is likely one of the reasons that the developers choose to increment to version 12 (aside TruNAS merger).

If this is a production environment, I’d stick to the tried and tested 11.3u5 or wherever we are now. Early reports re 12 suggest no major bugs with the core storage functions, so your use case matters also.

 

[vzbptbcs]

If this is a production environment, I’d stick to the tried and tested 11.3u5 or wherever we are now. Early reports re 12 suggest no major bugs with the core storage functions, so your use case matters also.

It is a home environment.
And I'm planning to use FreeNAS only for basic storage. No plugins, jails or VMs.

I guess I'll install TrueNAS 12.

 

[Rivers]

For anyone who's interested, my system does have a satadom installed with TrueNAS 12.

Sorry for the confusion! I can't spell...

 

[vzbptbcs]

my system does have a statdom installed

Sorry, but what does "statdom" mean? I've never heard that before.
(I've searched for it but couldn't find anything.)

 

[jgreco]

I assumed it meant "SATADOM" and almost edited the post to reflect it.