abirdman2026

TBH as much as I would like to make deeper videos on this, I just know it has/will be done by those better at it - and by those who have an audience/following centred around that kind of deployment. I am well aware that my videos/articles will not be as useful to someone once their training wheels come off - and that's ok, it's kinda the whole remit of NASCompares (retreading the intro to the video a bit here). I am gonna get back to a long overdue plan to cover proxmox more, as I think there is a decent % of turnkey NAS users who have got a system, really expanded into Docker and VMs and suddenly realised how inefficient turnkey can be compared with running prox on bare metal, so that will likely be the next big video off the back of this comparison. So maybe a splinter off that? ...Also, re: fries vs chips. Let's not fall out over this.. it's not about who is right and who is absolutely, positively, fundamentally and unquestionably wrong here.

So, bit awkward (and I hope this did not offend) but I am the host of the YouTube channel NASCompares (no, me neither!) and I have been working on a long overdue comparison of UnRAID and TrueNAS, but from the perspective of someone migrating away from turn-key (Synology, QNAP, etc) and a big, BIG part of the intimidation those users have is the 'Support'. I think it's fair to say that a decent chunk of UnRAID is the general reliance on community-backed support and advice (LLMs and AI Agents are making it easier of course, but we all know where that data is getting crawled and ripped from!!!) so for the video I wanted to show a slice of what the community support for a green NAS DIY'er would be - and to be frank, you guys f'ing NAILED IT (as did the TrueNAS community too in their respective post here - https://forums.truenas.com/t/new-truenas-user-looking-for-some-light-in-the-darkness/67158/8 ). I genuinely and sincerely hope none of you were offended by this light subterfuge, and for wasting your time a bit. But @MowMdown , @Arbadacarba , @DcDuke and @Veah , You guys are 10/10 pillars of your community! Here is an unlisted ad-free link to the video I am working on and it's linked to the specific section about your community - https://youtu.be/OKm_Movd9P4?si=eaWrde4Q11jDnw-_&t=1038 Cheers for being BLOODY BRILLIANT!!!

Thanks for the incredibly prompt reply chaps - genuinely appreciate the thoughtful replies and you are a credit to the community!

Hi everyone! I’ve been a Mac and PC user for over 20 years, but I am brand new to the NAS world. I’m planning my move to a centralized home/studio storage setup and wanted to get some community feedback on my proposed layout, app choices, and beginner tips before setting everything up. My Hardware SpecsNAS Hardware: Aoostar WTR Max RAM: 16GB DDR5 RAM HDDs: 5x 12TB HDDs SSDs: 4x 1TB NVMe M.2 SSDs Use Cases & WorkloadsActive Editing (Mac & PC): Photo editing (Photoshop) and 4K video editing (Final Cut Pro). Direct library editing across network shares. Media Server: Running Plex for about 5 active family/client users. Backups: Centralized backup target for 5 machines total (3 Windows PCs and 2 Macs using Time Machine). Proposed Storage ConfigurationMain Hard Drive Array: 5x 12TB HDDs with 1 Parity Disk (48TB usable space) for bulk storage and media archiving. NVMe SSDs #1 & #2: Configured as a Write/Read Cache Pool for array ingest and system files (appdata, Docker containers). NVMe SSDs #3 & #4: Configured as a separate fast NVMe Storage Pool (e.g., Mirrored) dedicated specifically for active Final Cut Pro and Photoshop scratch/project files. Questions for the CommunityStorage Layout: Does this split between Array, Cache Pool, and dedicated NVMe pool make sense for my workflow, or is there a better way to structure 4x 1TB NVMe drives on UnRAID? Final Cut Pro over SMB: Are there specific SMB settings or plugins (e.g., Apple SMB fruit extensions) I need to enable for Final Cut Pro libraries to work reliably over the network without file locking issues? Apps & Plugins: Which Docker containers or plugins would you consider "must-haves" for a setup like this (e.g., for Time Machine management, Plex, PC backup tools)? Hardware & RAM: Is 16GB DDR5 memory sufficient to start with for Plex + Cache + video editing, or should upgrading to 32GB/64GB be my immediate priority? Tips & Pitfalls: Any beginner tips or pitfalls to keep in mind for a first-time UnRAID user? Excited to join the community and hear your thoughts! Thanks in advance!