My FreeNAS/TrueNAS File Server History #SHORTS

Published: July 17, 2023 YouTube Shorts
My FreeNAS/TrueNAS File Server History #SHORTS

Here’s a brief overview of my FreeNAS/TrueNAS file server.

In 2015, I built a new file server for FreeNAS. Six 1TB Western Digital Red NAS hard drives divided into three mirrored virtual devices (or vdevs). Storage pool was 3TB.

In 2017, I bought a used 3Gbps SAS controller card. In 2020, I replaced all the case fans and added two 2TB Western Digital Red Plus NAS hard drives. Expanded the storage pool from 3TB to 5TB.

In March 2022, I switched from FreeNAS on mirrored 16GB USB drives to TrueNAS on mirrored 120GB SSDs.

In May 2022, after replacing a 1TB hard drive with a 2TB hard drive, I had to replace the failed 120GB SSD.

This year I bought a 6Gbps SAS controller card.

Upgrading SAS Controller Card in TrueNAS File Server

Published: July 15, 2023 YouTube Videos
Upgrading SAS Controller Card in TrueNAS File Server

Every year I clean up my TrueNAS file server and figure out what I need to replace or upgrade. This year I wanted to replace a 1TB hard drive with a 2TB hard drive and expand my storage from 5TB to 6TB. I wasn’t able to find 2TB hard drives on sale at a price I wanted to pay for.

And the dust bunnies put up a fierce fight.

Read more “Upgrading SAS Controller Card in TrueNAS File Server”

Upgrading My TrueNAS File Server by ACCIDENT

Published: May 29, 2022 YouTube Videos

Last week I noticed a critical error message notification on my TrueNAS file server. Device ada0 had 300,000 unreadable sectors pending. My seven-year-old Western Digital 1TB Red NAS hard drive was finally on the way out. I ordered a Western Digital 2TB Red Plus NAS hard drive from Amazon. A couple of hours later, I discovered that ada0 wasn’t a hard drive but an SSD. The new hard drive had already shipped from Amazon. I ended up upgrading my file server by accident.

Read more “Upgrading My TrueNAS File Server by ACCIDENT”

6 Steps From FreeNAS (USB) to TrueNAS CORE (SSD)

Published: April 17, 2022 YouTube Videos

Last week I talked about adding the Plugadget 2.5″ mounting bracket PC cards to my file server. I’ll be switching from FreeNAS on mirrored USB flash drives to TrueNAS CORE on mirrored SSDs in six steps. Since my motherboard has a legacy BIOS, step number four took a lot longer than it should have.

Read more “6 Steps From FreeNAS (USB) to TrueNAS CORE (SSD)”

Adding A HDD/SSD 2.5″ Mounting Bracket for PC Slot

Published: April 10, 2022 YouTube Videos

I did a video about a $3 US mystery PC expansion card called the Athena Power 2.5″ backplane two years ago. A 2.5″ drive in a removable carrier that was accessible through the back of the expansion slot. Newegg still has that card in stock but no longer discounted and cost $30 US for that and a floppy-to-SATA cable. I needed a cheaper alternative and found a $7 US PC expansion card that can mount a 2.5″ drive.

Read more “Adding A HDD/SSD 2.5″ Mounting Bracket for PC Slot”