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Inspired by @FallenHero234's post: Background: Had this as an idea for a while now - was lurking around for years, until I saw that LTT video. Got in at $99 sale. Though to myself "might as well get on with it" (SO works with videos, myself toy with DAW) and got myself a refurb P520 and a couple of those EXOS refurbs. Specs: CPU: Intel Xeon W-2223 GPU: Nvidia Quadro K4000 3GB RAM: 16GB DDR4 Storage: Boot Drive: 256GB M.2 SSD Data Drive: 2x refurb 18TB Seagate EXOS X20 HDD Experience so far: Got the part last Friday, waited till Sunday to add the HDDs to the P520, opened that video and the illustrated install guide and installed - everything was smooth and straightforward. Started with Immich - what an awesome experience; transferred a number of lesser albums, right now am learning Plex was next - took a minute to figure out how to point to correct library folders, but 30 mins of lurking got it sorted. Again, a smooth performance; After that installed Actual via the Truenas UI - basically, it went fine as well and seems so far to be smooth. I guess right now I'm sort of cautiously exploring - looking at CPU load, and slowly transferring data in small chunks to relevant folders. However, am thinking of: Moving my HomeAssistant (running on a VM in VirtualBox on an old Mac Mini I had laying around); Adding more drives (the current pool is not expandable, so will redo the setup to make an expandable pool once I get the third 18 TB HDD) as well as creating additional pools, got a bunch of 2.5 HDDs & SSDs laying around: Specifically went for P520 because can fit more 3.5 HDDs and still have room for smaller drives. Other than that - pretty happy I did this and no regrets (knock on wood, haha).

We had a short outage earlier today that has since been resolved.

I would like to see first party support for placing any app behind some of the most popular VPNs (PIA, Nord, Express, Proton, Tailscale, etc), as well as custom VPNs (WireGuard, OpenVPN, etc). For example, you may install “The Lounge” IRC client and have all internet communication pass through a PIA VPN so that your home IP is not exposed while chatting. Traditional methods of doing this involve painful configuration of iptables or other firewall rules. I believe this is an area where HexOS could really simplify things: Install a VPN plugin, authenticate with it, and then simply assign an app to a VPN plugin via the app’s settings if desired. It would be fully accessible from the home network without going through the VPN, but all internet traffic would go through the VPN with a kill switch in case the VPN goes down. Thoughts?

Got it, first thing that would come to mind is if it's directly downloading to the NAS but over wireless, if there's connection issues that could be causing failed packets ect. Firstly, any reason you've chosen not to load the Downloader onto the NAS? If not the manual option is to download direct to the laptop, then manually move over (Or add a completed download location if your downloader supports it) Although, a simpler was would be to use the ARR's to simplify the process.

it makes more sense to go with an intel cpu with integrated graphics intel has quick sync which great for transcoding videos. a dedicated gpu is unnecessary for plex in most cases

@Mobius created a nice setup. An alternative could be a machine like the WTR pro N100. @Dylan, what is your experience with running Plex on a N100? Another alternative could be running HexOs on NAS devices from QNAP, Terramaster or Ugreen. See nascompares.com for guides. For a full selfbuild NAS the Jonsbo case is great. And the hardware on the list of Mobius is more then sufficient.

Network: 2,5gbe is more furture proof and works also with a 1 gbe switch. (You can upgrade your switch later) hdds: you can start with 3 hdds of 4 TB in raidz1. Then you will have 8tb of storage and you can expansie with extra HDDs videocard: given your budget and also with power efficiency in mind, it’s best to use a iGPU. (Integrated gpu in the CPU). Intel cpu’s are the better options for hardware based transcoding. (Needed for Plex or Jellyfin.

seems like what you want isn't very intense. there is this prebuilt that has been kinda popular This build is something that could work for you too https://nl.pcpartpicker.com/list/Jd292x I would however consider checking ebay to see if you can find a 8500(t) or 9500(t) and a compatible motherboard for cheap I'm not sure what the price for the jonsbo n4 is in europe so i just put in a conservative estimate for price. The Sagittarius 8 bay chassis that @Sonic mentioned is also an option.

@Insanittyx, you can build a NAS from many different types of hardware, and you can use that NAS for many different purposes. There is no generic answer. To give you a good response, you’ll need to be more specific about what you want (as @Mobius also asked). Choosing hardware is always a trade-off between component cost, performance, power consumption, and form factor. Here are some questions to consider: What do you want to use the NAS for? (Which apps, storage needs, etc.) What are your GPU requirements? (Do you plan to use Jellyfin or Plex?) How much storage do you need? How big/small should the case be? What network speed do you require? How important is power efficiency?

you can get away with used if you are on a budget or just want to spend your money wisely. you can also buy newer hardware if you have more intensive workloads or want to "futureproof" is immich the only thing you plan on using? Personally i would recommend at least 1 small nvme drive for the OS (like 128gb) but some users have 2 ssds as their boot drive for additional safety. As for storage you just need 2+ of the same kind of drive. If you know all you need is a few tb, getting multiple ssds can make sense however for the same price you can likely get 5x more hdd storage if storage density is your priority. If you lmk your budget excluding storage i can recommend you what i think is your best fit.

We want a NAS system built from TrueNas. File manager support directly through the GUI. This means that we would be able to move and upload files through a graphical interface through a browser. Folders in Hex only have the smb function and cannot be directly opened and handled with the contents.

UPDATE: As of 11/8, we have updated the ISO installer to run on version 25.04.2.6 of TrueNAS SCALE. Existing users should NOT reinstall to get this version. You can update from within the Activity card on the Dashboard (or the Notification). Hello and thank you for joining the HexOS beta program! You are an elite and vital part of this project and your participation is greatly appreciated. This post contains all the information you will need to get started with HexOS and how to communicate with our team during your beta experience. Disclaimer Beta Products, Software, and any related Services are still in development, and therefore, you are advised to safeguard important data, to use caution, and not to rely in any way on the correct functioning or performance of the products, software, or any related services. Beta Products and Services are provided to you “AS IS”, without any warranty whatsoever. Expectations During your participation in the beta, we expect you to do the obvious: use and test the software. But we also expect you to communicate with us when things don’t go right or if you’re having trouble. Please post feedback and let us know about your experiences, good and bad. That being said, please remember that this is beta software and early access. HexOS has a long and healthy roadmap ahead. Quickstart Guide For those that just want to get started, here’s the TLDR: Download the ISO here: https://downloads.hexos.com/TrueNAS-SCALE-25.04.2.6-HexOS.iso or https://hexos-downloads.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/TrueNAS-SCALE-25.04.2.6-HexOS.iso (SHA256 Checksum: e8ed99a322affe0969b82b866161a9f6acbc1561e3cc7b2efb2bf120ffe2e856) Use a tool such as Balena Etcher to image a USB flash device with the ISO. Boot your server from the flash device and install the OS to preferably an SSD. When given the option, opt to create the admin password in the installer (do not select the option to "Configure using WebUI"). Remove the flash device and reboot your server when the install is complete. From another device (mobile, tablet, desktop) that is on the same LAN as your server, login to https://deck.hexos.com using your HexOS credentials. Follow the instructions to complete your server configuration. NOTE: As of the 24.10.2.2 build of this ISO, configuring the admin password via the webUI option has been removed from the installer. However, if you select to create an admin password, but then attempt to "cancel" that process, the ISO will proceed with an installation with no admin password set. This is a known bug and the TrueNAS team will be addressing this in a future update to the ISO. Just don't cancel out of creating the admin password in the installer ;-). Hardware Requirements Booting HexOS is designed to support a wide variety of x86 hardware (Intel or AMD). The minimum requirements are a 2-core 64-bit CPU, 8GB of memory, and a 16GB or larger SSD boot device. However, depending on your needs for performance and applications, more resources may be required. Storage Pools Pools are made up of storage devices based on size and type (HDDs vs. SSDs). Storage devices in each pool need to be roughly the same size*. The OS boot device cannot be a part of a pool. Expandable pools require a minimum of 3 devices and can be grown one device at a time. Non-expandable pools can be created with 2 devices. Initial pool width should not exceed 8 devices. Maximum expanded pool width should not exceed 12 devices. At least one storage pool must be created to use HexOS. *In the event of slight variations (e.g. 240GB and 256GB), devices can be grouped, but total capacity for the pool will sacrifice the larger device’s excess storage. Build Recommendations HexOS has been designed so that a relatively modern PC can be easily transformed into a very viable home server. This means using standard HDDs/SSDs and using onboard controllers for storage/networking. However, since we’re based on TrueNAS, our hardware support is actually rather vast. For more detailed hardware recommendations for advanced builds, please refer to the TrueNAS SCALE Hardware Guide. Installing in a VM As HexOS is based on TrueNAS SCALE, it can be installed as a virtual machine as well. While the process should be fairly self-explanatory, please see the TrueNAS SCALE documentation for additional instructions on VM installation. Setup and Configuration Once the OS has been installed and rebooted, you will use a web browser on the same network as your server to register your system and complete the setup process. This can be a PC, tablet, or mobile device. Using a capable browser, login to https://deck.hexos.com. Beta 1 Features Our first release is focused on providing a streamlined user experience for setup and configuration and laying the framework for what’s to come. The main features of Beta 1 include: Setup and configuration wizard Configure your home server in minutes with ease. Analyze system health, with warnings for SMR HDDs. Auto-configure storage pools to safeguard against device failures. Securely manage your server remotely via Command Deck. Storage device management Detect error states and conditions and report through the dashboard Highlight individual storage devices and their respective faults Replace devices from storage pools due to failure or preventative maintenance Expand pools as little as one device at a time Folders and users Create and share folders over your local network. Easily manage permissions for secure access. Apps One-click deploy Immich as a personal photo library app. One-click deploy Plex as a home media server. Automatic folder creation for app storage. Dashboard / UI Access key statistics like CPU, memory, network, and storage usage at a glance. Monitor storage health and see alerts for errors or degraded pools. Manage multiple servers from a single, unified interface. Enjoy mobile-responsive design for effortless navigation on any device.

Managed to fix the problem. Go into True NAS interface from Settings in Hex. Go to 'Apps' menu, click 'Configuration' drop down button, click 'Choose Pool', select your storage pool then click 'Choose' - the app service will then start, go back to HexOS and install Immich again and all will work.

First debug step would be to go into the Truenas ui and watch the running jobs (top right corner) and see what shows / fails as you click install on hex. Additionally, ensure you created your Hex install with the pools at the same time. some people have created their hex install, skipped the pool creation and this skipped the docker install/setup, meaning apps won't get installed correctly.