TrueNAS Scale
Testing TrueNAS Scale for my NAS project
Disclaimer: I only experimented with TrueNAS very briefly, so take this article with a grain of salt.
TrueNAS Scale
TrueNAS Scale Dashboard TrueNAS, previously known as FreeNAS, is a system I explored a while back when I was testing various operating systems. Back then it was FreeBSD-based, which still exists, it has been rebranded as TrueNAS CORE. In July 2020, iXsystems, the company behind TrueNAS announced TrueNAS SCALE which is a Linux-based variant.
The core feature of TrueNAS is its OpenZFS-based storage system which is accessible over the network. It also has built-in capabilities for running virtual machines and Kubernetes containers. TrueNAS has a marketplace for installing containerized applications, offering only iXsystems-verified apps by default. At the time of writing there were 107 such apps available. Additionally there’s a community-driven platform called TrueCharts where users can find hundreds of additional applications. According to the announcement from May, next TrueNAS Scale version 24.10 “Electric Eel” will have native Docker and Docker Compose support for apps.
For my testing I’ll be using the latest TrueNAS version 24.04.2 “Dragonfish” installed on Samsung NVMe. This version includes OpenZFS 2.2.4, introducing a fully adaptive ARC (Adaptive Replacement Cache). Previously the cache was statically set to 50% of total RAM on Linux based systems, but now it can dynamically adjust its size, using all available RAM when needed.
Create ZFS Pool
Manual Disk Selection
Under Storage --> Create Pool
General Info
- Name: vault
- Encryption: Enabled
- Encryption Standard: AES-256-GCM
Data
- Layout: Mirror
- Disk Size: 14.55 TiB (HDD)
- Width: 2
- Number of VDEVs: 2
Create pool and download the encryption key.
Add Dataset
Under Datasets --> Add Dataset
Give it a name, for example vault-share and save.
- Make new dataset active
- Scroll on right pane to Permissions and
Edit
This example creates unprotected share for testing purposes.
- Add Write permission for
GroupandOther - Select
Apply permissions recurvisely - Save
Create NFS Share
Under Shares –> UNIX (NFS Shares) –> Add
NFS Transfer Speeds
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# Mount nfs shares on desktop PC
$ sudo mount -t nfs 10.42.42.150:/mnt/vault/vault-share /opt/nfs-vault-share
Transfer speeds on vault-share
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# Writing 35GB with dd
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=/opt/nfs-vault-share/35G bs=1M count=35840 conv=fdatasync status=progress
37535875072 bytes (38 GB, 35 GiB) copied, 296 s, 127 MB/s37580963840 bytes (38 GB, 35 GiB) copied, 296.392 s, 127 MB/s
35840+0 records in
35840+0 records out
37580963840 bytes (38 GB, 35 GiB) copied, 321.135 s, 117 MB/s
# Reading 35GB file from remote
$ dd if=/opt/nfs-vault-share/35G of=/dev/null bs=1M status=progress
37507563520 bytes (38 GB, 35 GiB) copied, 320 s, 117 MB/s
35840+0 records in
35840+0 records out
37580963840 bytes (38 GB, 35 GiB) copied, 320.621 s, 117 MB/s
# Writing ubuntu-24.04 image with rsync
$ rsync --stats --progress -h ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso /opt/nfs-vault-share/
6.11G 100% 170.02MB/s 0:00:34 (xfr#1, to-chk=0/1)
Number of files: 1 (reg: 1)
Number of created files: 1 (reg: 1)
Number of deleted files: 0
Number of regular files transferred: 1
Total file size: 6.11G bytes
Total transferred file size: 6.11G bytes
Literal data: 6.11G bytes
Matched data: 0 bytes
File list size: 0
File list generation time: 0.001 seconds
File list transfer time: 0.000 seconds
Total bytes sent: 6.12G
Total bytes received: 35
sent 6.12G bytes received 35 bytes 102.79M bytes/sec
total size is 6.11G speedup is 1.00
# Reading ubuntu-24.04 image with rsync without reboot
$ rsync --stats --progress -h /opt/nfs-vault-share/ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso .
6.11G 100% 103.44MB/s 0:00:56 (xfr#1, to-chk=0/1)
Number of files: 1 (reg: 1)
Number of created files: 1 (reg: 1)
Number of deleted files: 0
Number of regular files transferred: 1
Total file size: 6.11G bytes
Total transferred file size: 6.11G bytes
Literal data: 6.11G bytes
Matched data: 0 bytes
File list size: 0
File list generation time: 0.001 seconds
File list transfer time: 0.000 seconds
Total bytes sent: 6.12G
Total bytes received: 35
sent 6.12G bytes received 35 bytes 108.25M bytes/sec
total size is 6.11G speedup is 1.00
# Reading ubuntu-24.04 image with rsync after reboot
$ rsync --stats --progress -h /opt/nfs-vault-share/ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso .
6.11G 100% 106.87MB/s 0:00:54 (xfr#1, to-chk=0/1)
Number of files: 1 (reg: 1)
Number of created files: 1 (reg: 1)
Number of deleted files: 0
Number of regular files transferred: 1
Total file size: 6.11G bytes
Total transferred file size: 6.11G bytes
Literal data: 6.11G bytes
Matched data: 0 bytes
File list size: 0
File list generation time: 0.001 seconds
File list transfer time: 0.000 seconds
Total bytes sent: 6.12G
Total bytes received: 35
sent 6.12G bytes received 35 bytes 112.22M bytes/sec
total size is 6.11G speedup is 1.00
Testing Troughput with iperf3
TrueNAS had iperf3 already installed so running the tests was straightforward.
TCP Tests
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# Run basic TCP test
$ iperf3 -c 10.42.42.150
Connecting to host 10.42.42.150, port 5201
[ 5] local 10.42.42.228 port 37432 connected to 10.42.42.150 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr Cwnd
[ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 114 MBytes 954 Mbits/sec 0 395 KBytes
[ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 112 MBytes 943 Mbits/sec 0 395 KBytes
[ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 112 MBytes 941 Mbits/sec 0 395 KBytes
[ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 112 MBytes 940 Mbits/sec 0 414 KBytes
[ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 113 MBytes 947 Mbits/sec 0 414 KBytes
[ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 112 MBytes 940 Mbits/sec 0 414 KBytes
[ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 112 MBytes 940 Mbits/sec 0 414 KBytes
[ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 113 MBytes 945 Mbits/sec 0 414 KBytes
[ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 112 MBytes 940 Mbits/sec 0 414 KBytes
[ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 939 Mbits/sec 0 414 KBytes
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.10 GBytes 943 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.10 GBytes 941 Mbits/sec receiver
# Run basic TCP test with 10 parallel streams
$ iperf3 -c 10.42.42.150 -P 10
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 51.6 MBytes 43.3 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.01 sec 51.5 MBytes 43.1 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 7] 0.00-10.00 sec 103 MBytes 86.7 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 7] 0.00-10.01 sec 102 MBytes 85.4 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 9] 0.00-10.00 sec 141 MBytes 118 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 9] 0.00-10.01 sec 140 MBytes 117 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 11] 0.00-10.00 sec 103 MBytes 86.5 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 11] 0.00-10.01 sec 102 MBytes 85.4 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 13] 0.00-10.00 sec 103 MBytes 86.5 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 13] 0.00-10.01 sec 102 MBytes 85.4 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 15] 0.00-10.00 sec 142 MBytes 119 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 15] 0.00-10.01 sec 141 MBytes 118 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 17] 0.00-10.00 sec 103 MBytes 86.1 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 17] 0.00-10.01 sec 102 MBytes 85.2 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 19] 0.00-10.00 sec 104 MBytes 87.1 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 19] 0.00-10.01 sec 103 MBytes 86.1 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 21] 0.00-10.00 sec 142 MBytes 119 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 21] 0.00-10.01 sec 141 MBytes 118 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 23] 0.00-10.00 sec 142 MBytes 119 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 23] 0.00-10.01 sec 141 MBytes 118 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.11 GBytes 951 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.01 sec 1.10 GBytes 941 Mbits/sec receiver
# Run basic TCP test with 10 parallel streams in reverse
$ iperf3 -c 10.42.42.150 -P 10 -R
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 113 MBytes 95.1 Mbits/sec 334 sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 94.2 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 7] 0.00-10.00 sec 113 MBytes 95.0 Mbits/sec 284 sender
[ 7] 0.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 94.2 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 9] 0.00-10.00 sec 113 MBytes 95.1 Mbits/sec 304 sender
[ 9] 0.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 94.0 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 11] 0.00-10.00 sec 113 MBytes 94.9 Mbits/sec 284 sender
[ 11] 0.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 94.2 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 13] 0.00-10.00 sec 113 MBytes 94.9 Mbits/sec 301 sender
[ 13] 0.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 94.0 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 15] 0.00-10.00 sec 113 MBytes 94.8 Mbits/sec 302 sender
[ 15] 0.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 94.0 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 17] 0.00-10.00 sec 113 MBytes 94.9 Mbits/sec 327 sender
[ 17] 0.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 94.0 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 19] 0.00-10.00 sec 113 MBytes 95.1 Mbits/sec 313 sender
[ 19] 0.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 94.0 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 21] 0.00-10.00 sec 113 MBytes 94.9 Mbits/sec 402 sender
[ 21] 0.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 94.0 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 23] 0.00-10.00 sec 113 MBytes 94.8 Mbits/sec 311 sender
[ 23] 0.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 94.0 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.11 GBytes 950 Mbits/sec 3162 sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.10 GBytes 941 Mbits/sec receiver
UDP Tests
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# Run UDP test with 1000 Mbit/sec connection
$ iperf3 -c 10.42.42.150 -u -b 1000M
Connecting to host 10.42.42.150, port 5201
[ 5] local 10.42.42.228 port 57600 connected to 10.42.42.150 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Total Datagrams
[ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 114 MBytes 957 Mbits/sec 82577
[ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 114 MBytes 956 Mbits/sec 82532
[ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 114 MBytes 957 Mbits/sec 82590
[ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 114 MBytes 956 Mbits/sec 82562
[ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 114 MBytes 956 Mbits/sec 82526
[ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 114 MBytes 957 Mbits/sec 82590
[ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 114 MBytes 956 Mbits/sec 82545
[ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 114 MBytes 957 Mbits/sec 82587
[ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 114 MBytes 956 Mbits/sec 82532
[ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 114 MBytes 956 Mbits/sec 82561
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.11 GBytes 956 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/825602 (0%) sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.11 GBytes 956 Mbits/sec 0.011 ms 0/825580 (0%) receiver
# Run UDP test with 1000 Mbit/sec connection and with 10 parallel streams
$ iperf3 -c 10.42.42.150 -u -b 1000M -P 10
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 95.2 MBytes 79.8 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/68907 (0%) sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.01 sec 95.2 MBytes 79.8 Mbits/sec 0.038 ms 0/68907 (0%) receiver
[ 7] 0.00-10.00 sec 95.1 MBytes 79.8 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/68879 (0%) sender
[ 7] 0.00-10.01 sec 95.1 MBytes 79.7 Mbits/sec 0.080 ms 0/68879 (0%) receiver
[ 9] 0.00-10.00 sec 143 MBytes 120 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/103284 (0%) sender
[ 9] 0.00-10.01 sec 143 MBytes 120 Mbits/sec 0.210 ms 0/103284 (0%) receiver
[ 11] 0.00-10.00 sec 95.4 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/69076 (0%) sender
[ 11] 0.00-10.01 sec 95.4 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.133 ms 0/69076 (0%) receiver
[ 13] 0.00-10.00 sec 95.0 MBytes 79.7 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/68806 (0%) sender
[ 13] 0.00-10.01 sec 95.0 MBytes 79.6 Mbits/sec 0.227 ms 0/68806 (0%) receiver
[ 15] 0.00-10.00 sec 143 MBytes 120 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/103478 (0%) sender
[ 15] 0.00-10.01 sec 143 MBytes 120 Mbits/sec 0.297 ms 0/103478 (0%) receiver
[ 17] 0.00-10.00 sec 143 MBytes 120 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/103268 (0%) sender
[ 17] 0.00-10.01 sec 143 MBytes 120 Mbits/sec 0.122 ms 0/103268 (0%) receiver
[ 19] 0.00-10.00 sec 94.9 MBytes 79.6 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/68720 (0%) sender
[ 19] 0.00-10.01 sec 94.9 MBytes 79.5 Mbits/sec 0.406 ms 0/68720 (0%) receiver
[ 21] 0.00-10.00 sec 95.0 MBytes 79.7 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/68790 (0%) sender
[ 21] 0.00-10.01 sec 95.0 MBytes 79.6 Mbits/sec 0.048 ms 0/68789 (0%) receiver
[ 23] 0.00-10.00 sec 142 MBytes 119 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/102976 (0%) sender
[ 23] 0.00-10.01 sec 142 MBytes 119 Mbits/sec 0.041 ms 0/102976 (0%) receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.11 GBytes 957 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/826184 (0%) sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.01 sec 1.11 GBytes 956 Mbits/sec 0.160 ms 0/826183 (0%) receiver
# Run UDP test with 1000 Mbit/sec connection and with 10 parallel streams in reverse
$ iperf3 -c 10.42.42.150 -u -b 1000M -P 10 -R
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 118 MBytes 98.6 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/0 (0%) sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 114 MBytes 95.6 Mbits/sec 0.060 ms 2534/85106 (3%) receiver
[ 7] 0.00-10.00 sec 118 MBytes 98.6 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/0 (0%) sender
[ 7] 0.00-10.00 sec 114 MBytes 95.6 Mbits/sec 0.065 ms 2534/85106 (3%) receiver
[ 9] 0.00-10.00 sec 118 MBytes 98.6 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/0 (0%) sender
[ 9] 0.00-10.00 sec 114 MBytes 95.6 Mbits/sec 0.086 ms 2534/85106 (3%) receiver
[ 11] 0.00-10.00 sec 118 MBytes 98.6 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/0 (0%) sender
[ 11] 0.00-10.00 sec 114 MBytes 95.6 Mbits/sec 0.068 ms 2534/85106 (3%) receiver
[ 13] 0.00-10.00 sec 118 MBytes 98.6 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/0 (0%) sender
[ 13] 0.00-10.00 sec 114 MBytes 95.6 Mbits/sec 0.069 ms 2534/85105 (3%) receiver
[ 15] 0.00-10.00 sec 118 MBytes 98.6 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/0 (0%) sender
[ 15] 0.00-10.00 sec 114 MBytes 95.6 Mbits/sec 0.072 ms 2534/85105 (3%) receiver
[ 17] 0.00-10.00 sec 118 MBytes 98.6 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/0 (0%) sender
[ 17] 0.00-10.00 sec 114 MBytes 95.6 Mbits/sec 0.071 ms 2534/85105 (3%) receiver
[ 19] 0.00-10.00 sec 118 MBytes 98.6 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/0 (0%) sender
[ 19] 0.00-10.00 sec 114 MBytes 95.6 Mbits/sec 0.070 ms 2534/85105 (3%) receiver
[ 21] 0.00-10.00 sec 118 MBytes 98.6 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/0 (0%) sender
[ 21] 0.00-10.00 sec 114 MBytes 95.6 Mbits/sec 0.068 ms 2534/85105 (3%) receiver
[ 23] 0.00-10.00 sec 118 MBytes 98.6 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/0 (0%) sender
[ 23] 0.00-10.00 sec 114 MBytes 95.6 Mbits/sec 0.068 ms 2534/85104 (3%) receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.15 GBytes 986 Mbits/sec 0.000 ms 0/0 (0%) sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.11 GBytes 956 Mbits/sec 0.070 ms 25340/851053 (3%) receiver
Conclusion
TrueNAS SCALE’s core features were straightforward to use, although I primarily focused on ZFS and sharing capabilities, so it’s difficult to assess the ease of managing containers and virtual machines. The primary reason I didn’t explore those features further was because soon after installation I discovered the operating system wouldn’t allow me to utilize the NVMe drive where the OS was installed for anything else. The prospect of sacrificing the entire 500GB NVMe solely for the OS wasn’t appealing.
From a security perspective, the system seems somewhat open out of the box. The web UI access isn’t HTTPS by default, and the local terminal is accessible via a USB keyboard and monitor. This places the burden of security hardening on the user, potentially requiring those with less technical experience to study documentation and tutorials.
Overall, TrueNAS SCALE appears to be a solid product, and it’s a shame that the OS takes the entire disk. Otherwise I would have invested more time exploring its other features.
TrueNAS Videos
Lawrence Systems on YouTube is an excellent resource for learning more about TrueNAS.
This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.