Is HexOS suited for a small to medium size business?

[jonathanpublic]

Hey guys,

I understand that HexOS is targeting homelabs mostly. But I wonder how well it would work for a small enterprise use case.

Is a default installation of HexOS/TrueNAS secure enough to be used in an office with 15-20 employees without having to put in major effort hardening TrueNAS underneath?

For context we're growing out of a 4 bay Synology NAS. I'm debating between buying another Synology NAS with better networking (10gbe networking), or building a custom server and using HexOS/TrueNAS for the OS.

Is there any reason why HexOS would be a bad choice for an OS on a custom built file server for a business?

The reason why HexOS is attractive is because I have a lot of experience with hardware and building my own PC's but I don't want to have to micromanage the software. But it would still be nice to be able to get into the weeds on the TrueNAS layer should the need arise.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

FYI, I'm already a customer. I use HexOS on my home media server. So I know it's a good product. Planning on buying another license for buddy backup when it's available.

[PsychoWards]

TrueNAS was initially developed for big enterprise companies and later retrofitted to be also suitable for other groups as well. So, yes the system is more then suitable for business as well, the importance here is more the HW then the OS, to be able to handle the writes/reads for the amount of users. 

 

And HexOS is just building on top of this already rock solid OS and makes it easier to setup and manage and backup. And since you still have TrueNAS underneath, you have the flexibility to do what you want in TrueNAS if you would require some more advanced features not yet available in HexOS. 

 

Also Synology NAS are only working correctly nowadays with Synology drives which are just rebanded drives with a +10% pricetag

[Todd Miller]

14 hours ago, jonathanpublic said:

Hey guys,

I understand that HexOS is targeting homelabs mostly. But I wonder how well it would work for a small enterprise use case.

Is a default installation of HexOS/TrueNAS secure enough to be used in an office with 15-20 employees without having to put in major effort hardening TrueNAS underneath?

For context we're growing out of a 4 bay Synology NAS. I'm debating between buying another Synology NAS with better networking (10gbe networking), or building a custom server and using HexOS/TrueNAS for the OS.

Is there any reason why HexOS would be a bad choice for an OS on a custom built file server for a business?

The reason why HexOS is attractive is because I have a lot of experience with hardware and building my own PC's but I don't want to have to micromanage the software. But it would still be nice to be able to get into the weeds on the TrueNAS layer should the need arise.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

FYI, I'm already a customer. I use HexOS on my home media server. So I know it's a good product. Planning on buying another license for buddy backup when it's available.

Reach out to Eshtek directly because you don't need opinions.  You need uptime guarantees, not opinions.  And you need to establish who is supporting what?  TrueNAS issues may be hard to get support for so in effect, you are support.

[PsychoWards]

Esthek cannot guarantee any uptime, because the server is running locally not in a cloud?

Esthek has already made bug reports in the past to TrueNAS which have subsequently been fixed. 

Also your remark is exactly the same for Synology, but you didn't mention that... 

[Todd Miller]

Then @jonathanpublic there is your answer if you are considering this production.

I don't care about Synology.  I care that my NAS disconnects at least once a week.  I care that when it reconnects the dashboard loses sight of what apps I have, as seen below, though I have 15 active or in testing.  I care that I just spent a week replacing hard drives when I lost power and the NAS rebooted instead of shutting down and I have reported to support a couple weeks ago.  I care that I have had three pc repair folks have told me it's probable a TrueNAS problem because Windows, and 6 Linux distros, all shutdown as expected.  I care that someone asked a business question knowing that they will not get the kind of support a production environment deserves.  @jonp I say that if this is one of your ongoing financial opportunities, you are probably going to have some tough days ahead but it is seriously needed.  But right now nobody can call this anything but a great idea in a space that really needed great ideas.  Don't outkick your coverage until you fill in some gaps or make some relationships to fill gaps not in your best interest.

 

@jonathanpublic, all I have said here is null and void if you want to become a TrueNAS expert and are up for the challenge of becoming IT support as well.

[jonp]

Stay tuned... 😎