Use as a DLNA server with multiple mounted read-only USB NTFS disks possible/suitable?

[Azdak]

Dear Community,

my name is Daniel and this is my very first post here.

I actually dont't hold any NAS system like FreeNAS or TrueNAS. Well, I think it is a little bit hard for me to describe my particular question with at least so many words as needed, but not more words as necessary. It is much more a question of usability for a particular purpose. Maybe I'm making myself a fool for asking this question.

But let me provide you with the intended setup scenario:

• I hold serveral external USB Disks which are all formatted in NTFS and which contain media files
• I hold a thin client with a 16 GB SSD (for the OS) and 16 GB of RAM as well as two USB3 ports
• The USB disks should be mounted read-only; in best case automatically when connected; by the name of their volume
• The media files on the disks should be available via DLNA and probably also via CIFS, NFS, FTP or other protocols
• There is no need for writing access to this NTFS formatted USB disks. They are to be filled/maintained via another PC
• Hot unplug of these NTFS formatted USB disks should be possible as well as automatic mounting after connecting

I have absolutely no idea until yet if TrueNAS CORE is a suited solution for this particular purpose, or if other solutions would be a better choice for this particular scenario.
I can guess that recommendations of other party software solutions ain't seen with gratitude here on site, because it is TrueNAS's site, but I'd like to know if there are any other solutions too. Please let's stay sporty and don't fear the comparison with other solutions.

Geetings from Germany and sorry for my probably bad english

Daniel

 

[sretalla]

• I hold serveral external USB Disks which are all formatted in NTFS and which contain media files
• I hold a thin client with a 16 GB SSD (for the OS) and 16 GB of RAM as well as two USB3 ports

These 2 things make your situation a poor match for TrueNAS CORE.

TrueNAS will only share data from ZFS pools, so swapping in USB connected (also not well supported) disks that are NTFS formatted for the purpose of sharing data is off the list.

You might be more satisfied with a product like Open Media Vault or Xpenology.

If you want to use TrueNAS, you would be much better served by using the various application options in jails to populate the disk pools (ZFS) with the required media directly in the NAS (which would be hosted on very different hardware than you proposed also).