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Hello, I have always wanted to build my own NAS, but had never had the time to invest nor did i have time to invest in the proper amount of drive space i ideally wanted. HexOS, introduced by Linuses video on black friday, had that easy "make any hardware a NAS with easy setup" pitch that finally got me to pull the trigger. Overall Im happy that i did. The Hardware Drives: Pool is 5x WD Ultrastar 12TB and 2x 500g WD red m.2 in redundancy for HexOS CPU: 12900k RAM: 32GB DDR5 6000hz Case: JONSBO N5 NAS - Couldn't recommend this case enough for anyone that didnt want rack mounted, but wanted endless hardware options while also having a plethora of drive space. Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero The Install The installation/setup of HexOS was as simple and easy as advertised. Right down to it also asking if i wanted to use my second m.2 for redundancy. I didnt need to do anything with the hardware out of the box. HexOS recognized everything i had connected with ease. First 48 hours After the first two days i had setup my pool and several network shares. I then started to transfer around 25tb worth of data congregated between four sources. I then setup those shares as network drives on the needed devices. This is where my HexOS journey ended and embarked upon my journey of TrueNAS began. HexOS This is where i end my blog post and review of HexOS. For my use with its current capability this was perfect for me. An easy no BS install process with a nice web interface that i like to peek at time to time. Im excited to see what is in store over the long haul. Iv had to keep myself in check with hoping for some updates or abilities to test out. The fact it got me into TrueNAS and helped me setup the home server iv always wanted made my purchase worth it. TrueNAS What a flippin good tool. Iv done quite a bit and still learning. So far iv completed my Plex server migration with associated apps and it is flawless. (after a fairly lengthy few days of proper setup) Iv also setup my server 2022 test environment. This allowed me to remove my older W10 box that had two span drives as a "server". While it took a decent amount of time and i can easily see where anyone that isnt an IT professional (admittedly i even had some issues with some parts) TrueNAS is just simply amazing to me. Some of the bigger steps i took to achieve my setup: NIC work to allow my Windows 2022 server to access shares Codec Missing/Transcoding issues for Plex How to setup proper user/role access for all of the plex associated apps to work. I used a lot of forum posts and videos on YouTube. Now that im on 34 days 7 hours 29 minutes of continuous use of my new setup it feels very stout. Being able to backup devices and access files effectively from multiple units, run plex, and run my test server from one box feels good. I have two side hustle businesses in my wifes photography/Drone and my future CNC wood working and being able to work on projects out of this server is so so nice. What im looking forward to getting setup now are Replication and Snapshots configured for select file shares. Im also looking forward to new HexOS features that are not in TrueNAS. The buddy system sounds awesome and my use case for managing my fathers company from an IT prospective would be awesome to extend that type of access for backup sake. Thanks HexOS team, Thanks TrueNAS team, and thank you to the communities both orgs hold.

So I have created a second NAS and have started making videos , So keep your eyes on the guide

1. Yes, HexOS is intended to be ran "bare metal" 2 & 3. HexOS has/will have a couple ways that you can run additional software: Docker, and virtual machines. Basically Docker containers are pre-packaged apps designed for easy virtualization, and a VM is what you would use if you wanted to run a full Linux, Windows, or OSX install. In addition to eventually supporting docker images in general, HexOS will have a catalog of docker apps that are 'curated' so that the install and setup basically just a single click. Currently Plex and Immich (photo backup) have been curated. 4. Currently features are pretty limited, but development will be ramping up in coming months. Current features include basic file server (NAS) duties via SMB, and the two curated apps mentioned above. There is a ton of stuff you can do in the TrueNAS interface, and lots of users here have been posting about their experiences with that so there are some guides to follow. Eventually though you shouldn't have to use the TrueNAS interface for much of anything.

Not to nit-pick but clarity matters. HexOS IS TrueNAS. HexOS is a wrapper that is intended to simplify the deployment, configuration and management of the same utilities supported by TrueNAS. It will just take some time to build out the app support specific to HexOS.

HexOS indeed the primary OS however it is built off of and heavily related to Truenas Scale. HexOS uses docker apps which already has an established catalogue of apps. However the HexOS team will be manually configuring these existing apps to be more easily installed with 1 click Apps that have not been manually configured can still be installed but you may have to manually set permissions and locations. If there is a docker app then it is most likely supported such as jellyfin At the moment there are only 2 apps that support 1 click install in this beta (plex and immich) but the list will grow I'm not too sure what you mean with the "Windows? Mac? Linux?" part. I haven't looked into game servers myself but someone already made a guide for hosting a minecraft server. you can run a plex or other similar service with transcoding You can sync files from Android/iOS photo/video for longer backup There are multiple apps that can be used for this like immich for videos and photos You can sync files to some cloud storage providers not all cloud storage providers are supported and i can't remember which ones are no longer supported off the top of my head You can access files from your Windows desktop easily, allowing "basic" users functionality similar to what they currently experience with Google/OneDrive Your server will show up on your network and you can treat it like any other folder. There are some features that cloud providers can provide that are pretty annoying to setup such as creating a link to share with anyone

An excellent resource I have used for years is Pc Part Picker. Makes it really easy to filter for things like number of drives a case supports https://pcpartpicker.com/products/case/ I'll also shout out Sliger. They make SFF cases, and rack mount cases, and have a few rack cases with capacity for 10 HDDs in the front. https://sliger.com/products/rackmount/storage/ Also keep in mind that products like this exist! It converts 3x 5.25 front panel bays to 5x 3.5" HDD hot swap bays! https://a.co/d/a8WEwz5 (there are cheaper options too that aren't hot swap)

I just want to say 8 to 12 bays of 3.5" HDDs will never be all that quiet, they are also going to be using a decent amount of electricity even at idle. Both of those can be solved by using SSDs but thats a very expensive solution. I generally recommend Jonsbo cases, the n3 would hit your minimum requirements and the n5 would meet your ideal. but like ubergeek said we can provide better help if we knew your budget and what you plan to use the nas for (ex. multiple plex streams)

My man is doing it again!!

I love these kinds of posts - even if it is theoretical it may be just the thing that sparks anothers curiosity and ingenuity. That's innovation.

Local Hex UI is coming and was confirmed. it will arrive with the launch of V1 in the coming months. Quote from the hexos.com roadmap;

Love reading experience posts like this. Sounds like a solid build and and couldn't be more suited towards HexOS. Enjoy the journey

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.

@SignedAdam Firstly, I want to congratulate you on your success in getting HexOS running on that ReadyNAS machine. That is an impressive bit of tinkering, even if it is not an ideal piece of hardware for HexOS! With that said, I think you may have some misconceptions about what HexOS' is, it's intended role, and how it works. This is simply incorrect. HexOS is a fully functional TrueNAS install, with the HexOS UI connector added on. It literally is TrueNAS in every sense. The structure of HexOS' software stack is this: Linux, with software packages such as ZFS on top, then the TrueNAS API. Above the API, HexOS and the TrueNAS GUI co-exist. They operate at the same level. If you need a NAS OS that is light on RAM usage then HexOS may not the best product for that use case. HexOS' mission is to make high performance NAS and home hosting accessible to the masses by adding ease of use to the existing power, security, flexibility, etc of TrueNAS (a core part of which is the ZFS filesystem). The only reason the HexOS project is able to do that without taking 10+ years of development is because TrueNAS is a mature and stable product. The team's mission is to bring TrueNAS to more users, not to expand TrueNAS' hardware compatibiliity. I understand that you want to be able to have your cake and eat it too, but in the case of using HexOS on something like a ReadyNAS box it may not possible to get useful performance. We can't win every battle, and in this case the hardware specs may simply be insufficient for a good experience. I fully support experimentation and trying things, and I'm very pleased to see that it is possible to get TrueNAS installed one those units, but I want to encourage you to be realistic about what is possible and not. We can't win every battle, and in this case the hardware specs may simply be insufficient for a good experience. So by all means, please continue to experiment! I want to see what you can accomplish! I just want you to go into it understanding that you're going off the beaten path and official support should not be expected! 😅