From Limits to Open Storage Freedom:
How A Consultant Built His Data Fortress with TrueNAS
Rich Visotcky, Independent Consultant
The Starting Point: A Homegrown Consultant Seeking Control
Rich Visotcky isn’t just another tech-savvy home user. He’s the founder of Joint Insights, a one-person consulting and training company focused on agile methodologies, product management, and software quality. With over a decade of experience in software development and nearly as long running his own independent business, Rich operates in a hybrid world where personal tech meets professional needs.
The Challenge: Consolidating Personal and Business Storage Without Sacrificing Power or Peace of Mind
By 2023, Rich realized his aging setup couldn’t keep up with growing demands. He needed a centralized solution that could
- Secure personal family data, including videos and smart home monitoring
- Back up critical business documents and course materials
- Serve up VMs and containers for various home and consulting use cases
- Scale without locking him into proprietary limitations
You don’t need to be an IT pro to protect your digital life. TrueNAS makes it easy. Whether it’s your family photos or your consulting files, this is a system that lets you set it and forget it.
The Build: From the Ground Up, With TrueNAS at the Heart
Rich built a custom TrueNAS server using enterprise-grade components: a Xeon CPU, 64GB RAM, multiple spinning and SSD storage pools, and three configured arrays. The result is a powerful, flexible, and modular system that now supports:
- Plex and media streaming
- Immich photo backup and viewing
- Docker containers and VMs
- Smart home automation via Home Assistant
- Business data backups to Microsoft Azure cold storage
TrueNAS became the appliance-like backbone of his digital ecosystem.
“I wanted something that wouldn’t require constant tinkering but would still let me go deep when I needed,” Rich said. “TrueNAS struck the perfect balance.”
The Learning Curve: Embracing Open-Source Complexity with Community Help
Rich noted that while setting up TrueNAS was straightforward, exploring advanced capabilities like Docker Compose introduced a learning curve. “There’s a learning curve, especially when you want to do something custom, like Docker Compose deployments,” he said.
He regularly consulted TrueNAS documentation, forums, Reddit threads, and community blogs to overcome technical challenges. One issue with Azure backup integration, for example, required adjusting credential storage before things “just worked.”
He emphasized that troubleshooting was rarely about the system being broken. Instead, it was about understanding best practices. “I knew TrueNAS ran on Linux, but as an appliance, there are places you should tinker and places you shouldn’t, and I didn’t know that,” he said, referring to a few learning moments. “That’s part of the learning.”
The Impact: More Than Storage, A Platform for Growth and Confidence
While Rich didn’t cite dramatic time savings, he did note greater confidence and consistency in his digital workflows.
“I don’t worry about my data anymore,” Rich said. “It just works. I have services running for family, for clients, for my own productivity, and they run reliably without me thinking about it.”
He now helps others in his circle adopt TrueNAS and Ubiquiti networking gear. For one friend running a full home surveillance setup, Rich helped configure a system where TrueNAS now stores camera footage efficiently and reliably.
“It’s empowering when you know you can build something that just works and helps others do the same,” he said.
For Rich, TrueNAS isn’t just software. It’s peace of mind, a launchpad for learning and a community-driven ecosystem that puts users back in control.
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