QNAP migration suggestions / recommendations

[k1hzw]

Hi all,

I'm currently running a QNAP TS-253D, 4gb ram, Celeron J4125 2700mhz, 4 cores, 2x 8TB Seagate IronWolf HDDs in RAID 1.

I'm pushing max capacity so thinking of purchasing something like this and another 2 Ironwolf HDDs to supplement my existing capacity.

My use case is pretty much home file backup (20+ year photo library with large RAW files) and running a plex server.

I would really like to go 100% open source so considering wiping the QNAP and installing either Ubuntu LTS or TrueNAS.

Any tips, experience or suggestions would be more than welcome.

My main question is, would you go for Ubuntu LTS or TrueNAS, are there any considerations that I should keep in mind?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jgreco]

TrueNAS has a bare minimum 8GB of RAM requirement, and that should really be 16GB if you go with SCALE. You won't be able to run more than a very trite Plex server on 8GB. ZFS and the TrueNAS middleware are the largest consumers of memory here so you might do better on Ubuntu with standard EXT filesystems, which are very memory efficient compared to ZFS.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

@k1hzw

Welcome!

1. The 253D has a 4GB flash module, which does not appear to be user replaceable. TrueNAS requires 16GB minimum to even install. You can add a M.2 slot via an optional PCIe adapter and install a M.2 SSD. The other option would be to simply connect a SSD via an external USB enclosure. Cheap USB flash drives are not recommended or supported.
2. As @jgreco mentioned you will need to upgraded to at least 8GB of RAM. Some users have been able to successfully install more memory on the TS-x53D series. https://forum.qnap.com/viewtopic.php?t=165535

 

[Arwen]

The add on device you list is not suitable for either TrueNAS or ZFS;

TR-002 - 2 Bay USB Type-C Direct Attached Storage with Hardware RAID

USB attached disks for main data storage can have multiple problems, see this;

Why you should avoid USB attached drives for data pool disks

This subject has been coming up quite often since about 2022. Perhaps because of TrueNAS SCALE has brought forth some attention to TrueNAS in general and ZFS in specific. Please note that this is about USB attached storage for ZFS data pools. On occasion, people use USB drives, (flash...

www.truenas.com

Even though some items don't apply, like connection speed, others DO apply.


Further, this is a hardware RAID enclosure as shown in the specifications, which is another problem;

Micro processor with hardware RAID

What's all the noise about HBAs, and why can't I use a RAID controller?

1) An HBA is a Host Bus Adapter. This is a controller that allows SAS and SATA devices to be attached to, and communicate directly with, a server. RAID controllers typically aggregate several disks into a Virtual Disk abstraction of some sort...

www.truenas.com