How much space for boot device

[balanga]

How much space do I need on the boot device to load TrueNAS?

 

[sretalla]

How much space do I need on the boot device to load TrueNAS?

The boot device needs to be 8GB and you can't have anything else on it, so it's not a case of having enough "free space".

There's no harm in it being much bigger than that. (if it's over 64GB and is not connected via USB, a SWAP partition of 16GB will be created)

 

[elvisimprsntr]

16 GB min, 32 GB recommended.

I bought 8 GB eUSB DOMs, but the formatted capacity was 7.5 GB which TrueNAS would not install because it was too small.

 

[sretalla]

I bought 8 GB eUSB DOMs, but the formatted capacity was 7.5 GB

Right... it needs to be able to see 8GB of capacity, so bigger is obviously better.

Also, the recommendation is to use SSDs so the smallest ones are already huge in comparison.

 

[balanga]

16 GB min, 32 GB recommended.

I bought 8 GB eUSB DOMs, but the formatted capacity was 7.5 GB which TrueNAS would not install because it was too small.

What is a eUSB DOM? Never come across the term before...

 

[ThreeDee]

I run a 32gb M.2 SSD I got off of ebay for $10'ish US shipped.. been working great. I used to run a 120gb SSD that was attached via a SATA to USB cable and was powered by the internal USB port on my old setup... I bought 2 used 120gb SSD's for $20 on [H]ard|Forums

 

[Redcoat]

What is a eUSB DOM?

Try Google.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

What is a eUSB DOM? Never come across the term before...

USB flash drive for embedded applications, e.g. COTS NAS

Industrial Grade Embedded USB (eUSB) Flash Drive / USB DOM

 

[joeschmuck]

I bought 8 GB eUSB DOMs, but the formatted capacity was 7.5 GB which TrueNAS would not install because it was too small.

That was unfortunate. I myself would recommend a single 16GB capacity SSD or larger, whatever was on sale at the time. 120GB SSDs are very cheap these days and that is probably the largest I'd buy as a boot device for this project. If you need to use a USB Flash Drive boot device then I'd recommend a 16GB USB 2.x version, not a USB 3.x unless it had excellent heat dissipation. And I would never recommend a USB hard drive.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

That was unfortunate. I myself would recommend a single 16GB capacity SSD or larger, whatever was on sale at the time. 120GB SSDs are very cheap these days and that is probably the largest I'd buy as a boot device for this project. If you need to use a USB Flash Drive boot device then I'd recommend a 16GB USB 2.x version, not a USB 3.x unless it had excellent heat dissipation. And I would never recommend a USB hard drive.

My NAS units don’t have any spare SATA ports or bays. I am currently using external Crucial X8 USB3 M.2 SSDs, which are QLC flash. I have two 16GB SLC eUSB DOMs on order I plan to use and repurpose the X8s as part of my 3-2-1 backup strategy.

 

[joeschmuck]

Glad to hear that you have a plan to move forward and use the devices for another project. This is off topic but I've been thinking about a fully SSD TrueNAS box. My storage needs are not very large in the big scheme of things so it may be affordable for me in a few years when I need to replace my spinning rust drives. I may rebuild my pool to use four 2TB SSD's in a RAIDZ format, but I'd rather have a RAIDZ2 format. Things to think about. Then I could get a light case since my heat production would be much lower. Dang, now I want to place my order for the SSD's. But I can wait. I suspect I have 2 years left on my current drives, maybe SSD prices will plummet by then :)