TrueNAS and KVM/libvirt

[DieterH]

A friend of mine runs a small company (8 employees). The current IT infrastructure is a follows:

• 1 Linux server (Debian 8.2), with LVM
• 1 FreeNAS box (18 TB storage) for backup
• 11 virtual machines based on KVM/libvirt (some of them running Windows, some Debian)
• 8 Intel-based workstations (Windows 10 Pro), Lenovo P340

Except for the P340 workstations the other IT equipment ist quite old and urgently needs a complete replacement

As an IT engineer with many years of practice in Linux and Windows I could set up a new concept / design and also implement it. A former colleague of mine suggested to procure new and powerful server hardware (which will be done anyway) and to run this new hardware with TrueNAS, including all services from the current Linux server (of course migrating them) and also to use (some of the) disks (LVM) of the TrueNAS box for backup of all P340 workstations.

In my opinion this could render the TrueNAS box into a single point of failure if the TrueNAS box will fail. I’d prefer the procurement of both new server hardware (Debian) and another TrueNAS box (i.e. two hardware boxes), moving all virtual machines to new (server) hardware without any modifications of their functionality.

If I followed the suggestion of my former colleague, some questions arise:

1. Is KVM/libvirt fully supported by TrueNAS as it is currently by Debian 8 and Debian 10 / 11?
   The challenge is sufficient provision of vCPUs, sufficient RAM).
2. What about KVM/libvirt performance on TrueNAS?
3. Which hardware do you recommend for the TrueNAS box (a total of 24 TB net, i.e. user space)
4. Do you have some other recommendations?

As I have little knowledge in TrueNAS, I kindly ask you for practical suggestions which point me into the right direction.

Best regards
Dieter