QNAP TS-332x - can I/ should I install trueNAS - no video output - ARM CPU

[Kraszer]

I have an old QNAP TS-332x NAS lying around, and I though maybe I can use it as ZFS backup server.

Specs:
CPU: AnnapurnaLabs Alpine AL324 64-bit ARM® Cortex-A57 4-core 1.7GHz processor.
Memory: upgraded to 16 GB of DDR4 RAM.
No video output, only usb 3.0 and ethernet.
It has 3x hdd bays and 3x sata ssd bays.

Question is can I install trueNas (either core or scale) without video output, and will it work on this CPU? I would use this only for storage, so system doesn't matter.

Even if I can, is it worth it with these specs?

Link to full specs: TS-332X | Hardware Specs | QNAP

 

[LarsR]

Truenas doesnt run on arm cpus so it's not going to work on your qnap.

 

[jgreco]

The ARM CPU makes it incompatible with TrueNAS. It's really nice to see an ARM system with halfway middlin' specs that might otherwise allow it to work with a larger OS like TrueNAS though.

TrueNAS supports headless installation and headless operation via serial console, as do the underlying FreeBSD and Linux operating systems. You might very well be able to get FreeBSD or Linux up and running on the thing. Your better choice would be FreeBSD for its better memory management and integration with the ZFS ARC. However, it is more likely that someone has tried to port Linux to the thing and solved any issues that might exist with device drivers, etc.

 

[Kraszer]

Is there an alternative ZFS solution that is as not hard to use as TrueNAS is?
I am not an expert, so if other solutions will require even more work than TrueNAS then I will stick with native qnap system or sell the device.

 

[jgreco]

TrueNAS is fairly easy to use, especially if you read the fine manual. It is more complicated than the "stick a few disks behind a teeny ARM CPU" solution found in many retail NAS offerings, but by the time you get up to a 12 bay Synology or QNAP, most of the "simplicity" of the retail NAS units is no longer there.

ZFS itself was designed for probably no less than a 12 bay drive shelf, and probably more like 24-48. It can be as simple as putting all your disks in a few vdevs and leaving it at that, but you can also do much more complicated things. TrueNAS is generally considered one of the easiest ZFS NAS packages to use. A lot of work has been put into the UI experience to make it more intuitive, with lots of help bubbles and interstitials to make sure you're doing the right things. Not sure what you find "hard to use".

 

[Ericloewe]

Yeah, it doesn't get simpler (different, better/worse implementations, knockoffs, and the like, sure, but not outright simpler) unless you're ready to pay someone to do it for you and keep paying them to maintain the thing. Which is valid, but probably not what you're looking for.