Proxmox to replace TrueNAS box

[mjl4878]

So I'm relatively new to homelab and below is my current setup.
Box 1 - TrueNAS, 4790k, 16gb, 256gb SSD, 4x2tb 5400 drvies (ZFS Pool), 3x12TB (ZFS Pool)
Box 2 - Proxmox, Intel N100, 16gb, 256gb ssd, 512 nvme

So I started with box 1 and it's currently running mostly media applications, plex, sab etc along with my SMB shares. Primarly use the larger pool and haven't done anything yet with the smaller one. I have since picked up box 2 and been running Proxmox on it with some lighter apps, PiHole and some dashboards and organization stuff.

I'm realizing that I greatly prefer using Proxmox over TrueNAS mostly for the way that it handles the app installs, but my drives are stuck in box 1.

Thinking of swapping box 1 over to Proxmox as well, but worried the overall experience with the nas side of things being less optimal, but also want all the apps that it currently runs to be done on the same system.

Seems like running TrueNAS inside of Proxmox as a vm/container does not make sense to fully utilize the drives. Should I just setup everything on Proxmox and run Samba through a container?

Also suggestions on what to do with the smaller pool?

 

[justinclift]

... does not make sense to fully utilize the drives.

That's not super clear what you're meaning?

Hmmm, you can pass through entire drives to a VM, so TrueNAS in the VM would still be managing them directly.

 

[mjl4878]

That's not super clear what you're meaning?

Hmmm, you can pass through the entire drives to a VM, so TrueNAS in the VM would still be managing them directly.

Mostly just letting TrueNAS manage the ZFS pool, and if it isn't is there a good reason to run that?

 

[justinclift]

If you like the TrueNAS web interface for managing your shares then that's what it's for.

You can pass the whole (raw) disk devices through to TrueNAS, so it is the one managing those specific disks (rather than Proxmox) and therefore its own ZFS pool.

 

[steliosK]

Hi! I am also having relevant questions, but I am just starting out with self-hosting.

You can pass the whole (raw) disk devices through to TrueNAS, so it is the one managing those specific disks (rather than Proxmox) and therefore its own ZFS pool.

Are there any drawbacks to this? E.g. with backups or migrations? I am asking because I see most people around are suggesting using HBA cards if TrueNAS is virtualized in Proxmox, to get SMART etc. For my hardware, I didn´t get one, and I am wondering what's the best choice for drives directly plugged to the motherboard (or at most a card like this).

Also rounding back to the initial question, is there any drawback to skipping the TrueNAS VM altogether and sticking to Proxmox for all of it?

 

[Dunuin]

E.g. with backups or migrations?

Restore is problematic as you can't restore a backed up "disk passthrough" disk over a new physical disk.
And for migrations you don't want passthrough so it could be migrated.

I am asking because I see most people around are suggesting using HBA cards if TrueNAS is virtualized in Proxmox, to get SMART etc. For my hardware, I didn´t get one, and I am wondering what's the best choice for drives directly plugged to the motherboard (or at most a card like this).

Best is to run TrueNAS bare metal. If that is not possible (electricity bill or initial purchase or hardware), passing through a HBA is the next thing closest to that. That way TrueNAS can handle the real physical disks instead of working with virtual disks so you skip the additional virtualization/abstraction layer.

Also rounding back to the initial question, is there any drawback to skipping the TrueNAS VM altogether and sticking to Proxmox for all of it?

PVE is no NAS. It's missing all the features you want a NAS OS to do. No user/group management, no ACL/right management, folders not browsable, no NFS/SMB server, no sync to cloud storage providers, ...
Could all be done with PVE, but you will have to install, set it up, keep it secured and updated yourself via the CLI.