iXsystems TrueNAS Mini X+ Compact ZFS Storage Server with 5+2 Drive Bays, 32GB RAM, Eight Core CPU, Dual 10 Gigabit Network (Diskless)

In 2014 I set up a couple FreeNAS boxes that I made from scratch. These were in large CPU towers and running FreeNAS 9.1/9.2. They ran very well for me, but were challenging for me to set up (I am not an IT professional, but I am an engineer and generally OK with technical stuff). I have had to replace a power supply and some other small hardware items, but overall I was very happy once they were up and running. I had zvols set up and SCSI drives so Windows would see them. I set up a QNAP NAS a year or so ago to replace one of the FreeNAS boxes. This purchase replaces the other FreeNAS box.The first impression when unboxing is very good. The NAS is packaged very well. The packaging is made for the device. They don't just put the NAS in any old box that is laying around. The packaging is very thick and the NAS should arrive safe and sound even if your delivery person is not very careful. It certainly gives confidence that thigs will go well. I love the form factor. The QNAP and TrueNAS products are compact and take up a lot less room than my but full tower boxes.The install for me went very well, much better than the original setup in 2014. I purchased the diskless NAS and put in 5x 8TB hard drives in RAID-Z2. It was not clear to me if the TrueNAS software would already be installed if I purchased the diskless system and I was happy to see that software was installed. It is installed somewhere internally (no USB stick like my old setup). Mine came with the last version of FreeNAS (12.?). I updated to TrueNAS through the FreeNAS 12.? dashboard before adding any drives. No USB imaging or downloading files. Just select upgrade and 5 minutes later I was on TrueNAS. I imagine future boxes will ship with TrueNAS.The other "concern" I had was the network connections. It has dual 10 GbE network connections. My network is 1 GB ethernet. Would I need special adapters or cables? Nope, the ports look just like standard ethernet connectors. I am not using the 10 GB capabilities, but I had no problem connecting to my network. Transfering files from my old NAS to TrueNAS through my Windows 10 computer shows 30-50 MB/s in the copy progress window.In 2014 I installed the software on a USB device and booted from it. I had to hook up a monitor and keyboard so I could respond to the prompts to get the box up and running and could then manage it from a computer on my network. This Mini X+ came with the software which booted up without prompts so I could just connect in from a computer on the network and NOT have to hook up a keyboard and monitor. I just had to look at my modem to find what IP address it was running on. Maybe not a big deal, but it made things very easy.TrueNAS is so much easier to set up than FreeNAS 9.1 was. Everything is point and click, intuitive, lots of support documents on the TrueNAS site to get the basics set up. Managing permissions was easy. I selected to use ZFS Datasets instead of the zvol/SCSI set up. It was very easy to set it up to share and recognize the "drives" on multiple computers on my network. I am using Windows 10.I had been running a Plex server from my computer even though the media was on the old NAS. With my new setup I have Plex running on the TrueNAS box and it only took a few clicks to set it up. Several good YouTube videos to help set up the permission/user. Much easier than I expected.I find the QNAP and TrueNAS devices to be similar. I went with QNAP a year ago because I did not want to hassle with the setup process and wanted a small form factor. If I had known how nice the hardware is, and how easy the new releases of FreeNAS/TrueNAS are, then I probably would have gone with them instead. Both NAS's are working well and are easy to manage, but I like the TrueNAS better at this point. The TrueNAS interface is easier for me to use.Just be aware that with TrueNAS, once you set up your RAID-Zx pool you cannot add to it. You can add another pool, but if you put in 4x 8TB drives in RAID-Z2 then you will have the storage space of two drives (16 TB nominal) and two parity drives. You cannot later add a 5th drive to the box and expand the pool so that you can have 24 TB of storage space. If you set up all 5 drives initially, then you can get the 24 TB of storage space and two parity drives. I believe that the QNAP system does allow their storage pools to be expanded by adding drives (I could be wrong, but that is what the documentation says). The point - buy all the drives that you are going to need when you set up the TrueNAS box.

IXsystems Minis are maybe the only NAS' the average person can buy that meet all the following requirements:- New- Prebuilt- TrueNAS pre-installed- 4+ drive bays (5 in this case)- At least one 2.5" drive bay for SSD caching- 2 Ethernet ports with hardware offloadingIf this NAS even had the first four things there I'd still call it excellent but this machine goes above and beyond. Worth the money if you want to have TrueNAS with no fuss.

The Mini X+ is a beautiful machine, and perfect my intended use case of reliable home file storage. As an IT professional, I've come to the conclusion that there is no substitute for ZFS when you want the greatest possible assurance that your data will be preserved intact. And the TrueNAS Mini line is the turnkey solution for ZFS file storage in a small affordable package.I bought the Mini X+ when it was first released because it offered several advantages over the previous FreeNAS Mini models. The space in the machine is better optimized, with almost all the available front panel space being utilized by five 3.5" hot swap bays and two 2.5" hot swap bays. Previous models required opening the case to access some of the 2.5" drives. This 5+2 layout, together with the upgraded CPU and RAM, is a nice compromise for someone who wants a more powerful machine than the previous E/E+ models, but not quite as large as the XL models. My X+ also came with dual onboard 10-gigabit ethernet, which is backward compatible with 1-gigabit switches. It also has a low-profile PCIe expansion slot, which I haven't had the need to use yet. The really killer feature is the IPMI management port with HTML5 iKVM — I have never needed to attach a monitor and keyboard to the machine, because it is so much easier just to manage everything through my web browser.The TrueNAS Core web GUI is fantastic, and getting better with every release, but it does have a learning curve. Be aware that some technical understanding is needed to get the most out of the capabilities of your NAS. I think this is intrinsic to the technologies involved, rather than any design decisions by the iXsystems team. Other NAS manufacturers try to make their web GUIs look like computer desktops, with flashy apps and buzzwords, in an effort to make them seem user-friendly, while TrueNAS is no-nonsense, all the options that you need, no more and no less. For power users, you can do even more things with plugins and jails, and almost anything is possible for those who dig into the command line.The TrueNAS Mini line, unlike TrueNAS Enterprise machines, does not come with software support, but it does come with a limited hardware warranty (read the fine print). Nonetheless, when I've needed support, I've been very satisfied. There is a built-in tool in the TrueNAS Core GUI for filing bug reports, which I used once in the early days of TrueNAS 12. My bug got fixed in the very next release, after they kept me updated about the progress of the fix. There are tremendous benefits to the open source nature of TrueNAS, with very active community forums and a lot of online information. And whenever I've had occasion to talk directly with the folks at iXsystems, they've been a very friendly and helpful bunch, based in the USA.I would recommend the TrueNAS Mini line to anyone who wants the very best in storage technology on a small scale, and who is willing to make a minor intellectual investment in configuring it. The open-source TrueNAS Core can also be installed on your own homebuilt hardware, but in pricing out the parts I wanted, I found that it was not much more expensive to just buy the Mini X+, which provides not only a beautiful and compact enclosure, but also the peace of mind that it was designed by experts, and includes "enterprise" features like the IPMI and ECC RAM.

I purchased Truenas for two things, access personal files away from my home network and a Plex media server. So far, I've not been able to setup access to my files when away from my home network nor have I been able to setup a working Plex server. Right now it's a local file server only. I don't care for the attitudes on the help boards and the videos I've seen make absolutely no sense and geared towards linux systems. Had I known setup was going to be so challenging I would have stayed with Synology. Their setup is very simple. My advise to anyone looking to do the same is to go with Synology.Update 04/06/2024. Got the Plex server up and running. Works pretty good. Seems quicker than Synology. Still working on file access.