The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/VoNpo on 2025-06-22 20:19:19.
Hi,
I'm building a NAS for home use and I'm struggling with choosing an operating system.
I think this is a fairly neutral place to ask about this, although it will certainly cause debate and strong opinions in both directions.
I've used Linux as my main operating system for a few years now, so the terminal is not a spooky place for me, I've also built some bash scripts for my system.
I've used unRAID for a few years before, and I don't want it as my new operating system anymore. Long story short, it doesn't protect for bitrot, and if an error occurs, there's no information about what happened where and whether it was fixed or incorrectly written to the parity disk etc...
Although my use case is mainly a media library, I value data integrity very highly.
Transferring media from disks to NAS is a very time-consuming task and I don't want to do it twice!
The need is only for NAS use.
Docker, VMs, etc. are used on a separate server. (I don't want "All-In-One" box like unRAID was, I had too many unrecoverable system freezes etc because of apps and don't want to do these kind of "plug off" resets to my nas)
I'm struggling between Truenas Scale and Linux+Snapraid+MergeFS. At the moment I am leaning more towards the Snapraid system. The use is mainly as a media server, but also important data such as personal photos and files.
Planned structure:
Frequently changing and more critical data: -> ZFS Mirror (NVME or SSD)
Static data, such as videos and photos, etc.: -> Snapraid with 2x parity (HDD)
All data is first stored in a ZFS mirror pool, which works in the same way as the cache of the unRAID system. This provides real-time data protection, snapshots, etc. Data going to long-term storage is edited if necessary and sha256 sums are manually created for it using a script, so checksums can be checked later if necessary, for example when transferring to another system. The transfer to the Snapraid disks is done on a scheduled basis using a script (or manually if necessary), and the snapraid sync is run immediately after the transfer. This way, static data is not unprotected in the system. Important data, such as personal photos, etc. is easy to replicate to all data disks, so in the event of a disaster, the data is stored at 1:1 on multiple data disks. Of course, backups should also be in update, but that is another story.
On the other hand, the achievements of all this would be easily accessible directly via ZFS. The biggest problem with it, however, is poor expandability.
It seems unreasonable to buy small disks that meet current needs, for example 6x8TB disks for a RaidZ2 package, because these can fill up very quickly. On the other hand, for example, filling up 6x20TB can take years, so I end up paying quite a bit for unused space. The Snapraid system could be updated disk by disk, and the data protection is not even worse compared to the ZFS system, not to mention that in the worst case scenario, with ZFS, data loss is "all or nothing" situation. With Snapraid, losing all data due to disk failures is practically impossible.
I am also attracted to the idea of having all the settings in config files, so the system can be easily restored to exactly the way it was. For this reason, I have considered switching to NixOS on my desktop. If this seems usable to me, the NAS operating system could also be NixOS or alternatively Debian or Ubuntu server.
https://perfectmediaserver.com/ - this site gave me inspiration for this snapraid system.
Have you been in a similar situation, what solution did you end up with? Of course, opinions for and against are also welcome.
However, I don't deny that, ZFS is certainly a better system, poor expandability, and "All or nothing" in the worst case scenario are just such big minuses on my list that I have considered other systems. I know that the ZFS package can be expanded nowadays, but as far as I understand, this is not very straightforward.
