Every NAS user has a unique storage setup and requirements. The following are general recommendations and options for migrating data into TrueNAS from third party storage solutions.

Users migrating data from an existing third-party NAS solution to TrueNAS 24.04 (Dragonfish) can do so using the Syncthing Enterprise application to mount the source with a remote SMB share that preserves metadata.

TrueNAS is fundamentally a storage appliance, so we recommend that you always run it not directly exposed to the internet.

However, there are many instances where a user needs to access their storage data or services remotely. In most corporate environments, a corporate VPN service controls internal and external access, performs proper auditing, and applies and enforces security best practices. For the small business or home lab, where a corporate VPN is not an option, you can choose from many easy-to-deploy and manage services that give you or your clients access to your storage services and applications. This guide introduces several access options and provides a basic walk-through enabling remote access to your TrueNAS.

Due to the interaction between the TrueNAS, Minio, and FreeBSD software lifecycles, the Minio plugin does not generally deploy in TrueNAS 13.0 nor is full data migration of MinIO data from end of life (EoL) deployments of MinIO possible. Users are encouraged to pursue a manual backup and restore strategy before attempting to move to TrueNAS 24.04 or newer. These versions provide fully maintained, and updatable MinIO applications.