Using strong tags for key points and questions, here is the HTML format for the text:
Summary:
1. FreeNAS is reliable and fast for any kind of storage, including VMs or databases.
2. TrueNAS is commercially-supported, while FreeNAS is community-supported.
3. TrueNAS has performance and usability optimizations not included in FreeNAS.
4. High-Availability (failover) is only available in TrueNAS.
5. FreeNAS code base merged with TrueNAS, becoming TrueNAS CORE.
6. TrueNAS is not ideal for home or small business users who need to expand storage.
7. FreeNAS requires a minimum of 8 GB ECC memory.
8. ZFS-based systems like FreeNAS rely on RAM for caching, impacting performance.
9. TrueNAS requires a minimum of 16 GB RAM, with 8 GB being the minimum for FreeNAS.
10. For most home users, 16 GB of RAM is recommended for FreeNAS.
Questions:
1. Should I use FreeNAS?
2. Which is better: TrueNAS or FreeNAS?
3. Is FreeNAS discontinued?
4. What are the disadvantages of TrueNAS?
5. How much RAM does FreeNAS need?
6. Why does FreeNAS need so much RAM?
7. Does TrueNAS really need 16GB RAM?
8. What is the minimum RAM for FreeNAS?
Answers:
1. FreeNAS is awesome for any kind of storage, including VMs or databases. It is reliable and fast. If you have a robust backup strategy and a second box for replication, it is highly recommended.
2. TrueNAS is commercially-supported, while FreeNAS is community-supported. TrueNAS has performance and usability optimizations specific to the hardware used, which are not included in FreeNAS. High-Availability (failover) is hardware-dependent and only available in TrueNAS.
3. In March 2020, iXsystems announced that the 12.0 release will merge the FreeNAS code base with that of their commercial TrueNAS offering. FreeNAS will become TrueNAS CORE while TrueNAS will be renamed TrueNAS Enterprise. This change became official with the release of TrueNAS 12.0 on October 20, 2020.
4. The major downside to ZFS-based systems like TrueNAS is the inability to expand storage with a new drive for home or small business users. It is designed for data centers where building a whole new array for more storage is feasible.
5. According to documentation, FreeNAS requires a minimum of 8 GB (ECC) memory.
6. FreeNAS itself does not require much RAM, but ZFS requires RAM for caching, which is critical for performance. If there is not enough memory to store all required metadata, data access can become slower.
7. 8 GB is the minimum RAM requirement for FreeNAS, and it is not recommended to go below that. For most home users, 16 GB is a very good sweet spot. If you plan to run lots of jails like Plex or Minecraft, considering 32 GB of RAM would be beneficial.
8. According to documentation, FreeNAS requires a minimum of 8 GB (ECC) memory.
Should I use FreeNAS
FreeNAS is awesome for any kind of storage, including VMs or database because it is really reliable and fast. If you can have a robust backup strategy, and maybe a second box for replication, it would be a no-brainer.
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Which is better TrueNAS or FreeNAS
TrueNAS is commercially-supported, while FreeNAS is community-supported. There are performance and usability optimizations in TrueNAS that are specific to the hardware we use and therefore aren't included with FreeNAS. High-Availability (failover) is hardware-dependent and only available in TrueNAS.
Is FreeNAS discontinued
In March 2020, iXsystems announced that the 12.0 release will merge the FreeNAS code base with that of their commercial TrueNAS offering. FreeNAS will become TrueNAS CORE while TrueNAS will be renamed TrueNAS Enterprise. This change was made official with the release of TrueNAS 12.0 on October 20, 2020.
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What are the disadvantages of TrueNAS
The major downside to ZFS-based systems like TrueNAS is that for a home or small business user you can't expand the storage with a new drive when you're running low on space. It's designed for data centers where you can afford to build a whole new array when you need more storage.
How much RAM does FreeNAS need
According to documentation FreeNAS require minimum 8 GB (ECC) memory.
Why does FreeNAS need so much RAM
FreeNAS itself uses not so much, depending on number of enabled services. But ZFS requires RAM for caching, that is critical for performance. If memory is not enough to store all required metadata, then data access becomes slower.
Does TrueNAS really need 16GB RAM
8GB is the minimum for FreeNAS and do not go below that. You aren't as special as your mommy told you and you risk your data if you think you are. For most home users 16GB is a very good sweet spot. If you plan to run lots of jails like Plex or Minecraft you should consider going with 32GB of RAM.
What is the minimum RAM for FreeNAS
According to documentation FreeNAS require minimum 8 GB (ECC) memory.
What is jail in TrueNAS
Jails are a lightweight, operating-system-level virtualization. One or multiple services can run in a jail, isolating those services from the host TrueNAS® system. TrueNAS® uses iocage for jail and plugin management.
Do you really need 16GB of RAM for TrueNAS
If you don't have enough memory, performance may suffer, but the system should be perfectly stable with that much storage and 16GB of RAM. Total space in the array should be around 36TB, but usable space will only be about 20TB and taking into account the 80% limit, you should try to keep usage under about 16.5TB.
Why is FreeNAS slow
FreeNAS RAM acts as a cache and the transfer goes fast until RAM is filled, then it goes slow because it is waiting for the disk to catch up. The total process can't finish until everything has flushed from RAM to disk on the FreeNAS side.
Is 8GB of RAM enough for FreeNAS
All loads are different, and 8GB is average safe-side recommendation.
Is 16GB RAM enough for TrueNAS
If you don't have enough memory, performance may suffer, but the system should be perfectly stable with that much storage and 16GB of RAM. Total space in the array should be around 36TB, but usable space will only be about 20TB and taking into account the 80% limit, you should try to keep usage under about 16.5TB.
Can TrueNAS run without GPU
Truenas (The host) requires a GPU to function.
Can I run TrueNAS with 8GB RAM
With 8GiB of RAM, you'll have enough to run your system and the jails – plex, owncloud, and a small Debian VM.
What CPU do I need for FreeNAS
A 64-bit Intel or AMD processor. (While FreeNAS does support 32-bit environments, you'll want 64-bit to utilize the ZFS file system to it's potential. More on that later.) A system board with a decent amount of SATA ports.
How stable is TrueNAS
Although TrueNAS SCALE 22.12. 1 Bluefin is stable, the developers do not recommend it for enterprise users running mission-critical applications.
Are TrueNAS jails better than virtual machines
Generally speaking, it's better to use jails when you can as they require less resources from the host (or only as many as actually used, rather than a reserved amount for the whole VM even if under-utilised). It's also simpler to share/mount your storage into the jail than it is to do NFS to a VM.
Is 128 GB RAM overkill
Unless you're editing 8K resolution videos or planning to work with multiple RAM-demanding programs simultaneously, 128 GB is overkill for most users as well. Those who run workloads that demand upwards of 128 GB will probably already know how much RAM they need.
How much RAM does FreeNAS ZFS need
With ZFS, it's 1 GB per TB of actual disk (since you lose some to parity). See this post about how ZFS works for details. For example, if you have 16 TB in physical disks, you need 16 GB of RAM. Depending on usage requirements, you need 8 GB minimum for ZFS.
How much RAM does ZFS need
2GB of
Have enough memory: A minimum of 2GB of memory is recommended for ZFS. Additional memory is strongly recommended when the compression and deduplication features are enabled. Improve performance by setting ashift=12: You may be able to improve performance for some workloads by setting ashift=12 .
Does TrueNAS need 16GB RAM
@RangerM2, if you're the only one accessing your SMB share on an occasional basis, you're probably fine, but you'd definitely need 16 GB of RAM to have your system stretch its wings to handle constant SMB access from more than 2 systems.
How much RAM does a NAS need
For basic use, 4GB or 8GB will suffice. If you have a business Synology NAS, we would recommend at least 16GB. If more people open and save their work on the NAS at the same time, this is very demanding for the RAM. Keep in mind that not all RAM modules are suitable for your Synology NAS.
What is TrueNAS good for
TrueNAS harnesses the ZFS file system to provide unified storage (File, Block Object, and Apps) with the reliability and performance demanded by virtualization, backup, and many other data-heavy workloads. The TrueNAS CORE edition (formerly FreeNAS) is based on FreeBSD for unified scale-up storage.
Is 1 TB RAM overkill
On most systems, RAM is one of the worst limiting factors when running virtual machines. With 1TB of RAM, this is no longer a concern. That much RAM lets you spin up dozens of virtual systems without impacting overall system performance.
