iXsystems TrueNAS Mini R - Rackmount ZFS Storage Server with 12 Drive Bays, 32GB RAM, Eight Core CPU, Dual 1/10 Gigabit Network (Diskless)

Underpowered. The 8-core Atom is not up to the task even paired with official iX 64G DDR4 RAM and most of it free for use by ZFS cache. The boot pool is on the included NVMe SSD and apps on 3 x Micron 5400 MAX mixed-use SSDs in ZRAID. The 3 x WD Red 5400 RPM NAS drives that form my backup pool are what this slowpoke unit is actually built for based on where the bottlenecks lie. I am apparently the sucker who finances TrueNAS operations for the rest of the community that is smart enough to NOT review official TrueNAS hardware, thereby luring me into paying for their own freeloading. Take it from me, Nextcloud and TrueNAS are bosom buddies but not on official TrueNAS hardware that can't so much as, across 8 Atom cores, handle one login to feel faster than a stable 56K modem connection while on my WiFi7 MLO/10G LAN. Take a page from my benevolence and call out vendors who bait-and-switch with hardware that won't deliver, just to get their foot in the door and sell you outrageous support contracts for equally underpowered hardware considering what your hardware requirements might be at the time you decide to spend that sum of money. And no, saying apps aren't officially supported and said functionality being provided "as-is" claiming a commitment to core storage functionality does NOT get iX off the hook because they advertised such capabilities that can't be filled with Atom given this OS is not as lightweight as Synology DSM, unless one uses lightweight apps like ddns-updater and rysnc daemons for essential functionality. Not even Vaultwarden by itself, such efficient code, is fast enough to auto-fill my browser by retrieving credentials from the TrueNAS host, let alone essential WebDAV with Nextcloud and a bunch of add-on and plugins, integrated with Immich and productivity apps.

Setup was straightforward, though there is a small learning curve if you’re coming from something like Synology. That said, the added flexibility and capabilities of TrueNAS make it well worth the effort. Performance has been excellent and very stable. The 10gig built in NIC is fantastic and an added plus as it is standard transfer speeds are only limited by drives mounted. The unit is surprisingly quiet — it sits right next to me in my office, and my printer is noticeably louder. If you’re looking for a compact rackmount NAS with strong performance, expandability, and enterprise-level features, this is a great choice. Highly recommended for anyone who wants more control over their storage.

I have had my Mini R running for about a week now. From a software and hardware side, it has been an absolute dream. It comes preconfigured with TrueNAS Core, and upgrading to TrueNAS Scale was as simple as a change in the web ui followed by a reboot. Performance has been more than sufficient for my needs. My configuration is as follows, for anyone that may find it useful: - Added 32GB Ram Upgrade from iX Systems store to bring total memory to 64GB. - 6x WD Red 6tb CMR drives in RAID-Z2 for data pool, 2x Samsung 960 EVO 1tb drives in mirror for app pool - Running Plex, Nextcloud, Vaultwarden via truecharts Pros: - Everything is pre-installed, no need to fiddle around with installing OS - Very quiet and low power draw compared to my old PowerEdge R710 - Looks attractive in the rack (your wife probably won't care about this one) - Running TrueNAS on "official" hardware has given me zero driver / compatibility issues - Enclosure management in UI is great (yes, it works in SCALE as well) - Modern IPMI works without java / flash Cons: - You are paying a premium for a turnkey solution. You could probably build this same system for cheaper if you have the spare time and knowledge - This system works great for NAS / basic applications, but don't expect to do multiple transcodes or run VMs on it. As mentioned in the "Pros", it is very low power usage, but this comes at a cost. For our application, this was beneficial but your situation may be different - You really need square holes on your rack to properly mount this (more details below) - The power supply does not report wattage use, so you will need a UPS or similar smart power strip if you wish to monitor power usage. GOTCHAS: - The rails include adapters to mount it in a threaded rack, but in my rack they did not line up. I ended up having to drill out the adapters and secure it with nuts on the other side. This took several hours and is less than ideal - The 10bge ports will not negotiate with a 10/100 port. You will need at least a 1gbe port to get it on your network. Overall, this system is perfect for our applications. With transcoding disabled in plex, I have had 5 simultaneous streams going at the same time with no issue. Your situation may differ, so bear that in mind if you decide to purchase this.

In just over 60 days: Came with bad CMOS battery. Then it wouldn't power on. Then it took forever to boot. Then it started having ECC errors. Then IX wouldn't support it. NOW: It's in the dump because I can't trust it, or IX with my data. The response from IX: " Thank you for calling in. to recap it looks like this is a Mini system purchased through Amazon without software support. With that being said your best options if it turns out to be software related will be to reach out to our 3rd party gainframe or review the community forums for answers. If it does seem to be hardware related returning through Amazon will be the quickest turn around time for hardware related issues. " The sad thing is we are looking at two Dell ME5 storage arrays with 200TB of raw each. I bought this to try to convince them to look at IX. The picture of the IX in the trash went to my boss this morning. This thing is a complete waste of money, and probably a hundred hours of my time.

This is really hard to review. Hardware-wise, it is great and checks many boxes. Software-wise, it is robust and has multiple variables. So why the bad review? A couple of things to be aware of: first is the size. It is huge. It barely fit within my rack. It is also heavy. But those details are on the website. Something that is not is the drive cages. They are very bad in my opinion. They easily twist and bend out of shape. And they are hard to insert & lock into place. It is way too easy to break the plastic locking mechanism (it's not metal). My replacement, a QNAP 8 bay rack-mount has much better trays. I acknowledge that it holds fewer drives. But the sleds are firm, don't twist, and have metal connectors. Software-wise - be ready for a learning curve. It is not ready out of the box. I purchased for a small business where I wear multiple hats (including IT). The options are dizzying, and one has to have multiple hours to figure it out. Documentation isn't very helpful. Tech support suggested that I post on the community forum. I still have open tickets asking for help. I have been working on computers and IT for close to 20 years now, so I'm not new. Because I am doing multiple roles, I opted to return it and replace it with something less powerful but much easier to work on. Do your homework first! If you do not have a dedicated IT person, make sure that you're ready to learn this software. It is not easy.