ZFS Pool Won’t Import After Reboot: Causes and Fixes
Introduction If your ZFS pool fails to import after a reboot, the most likely culprit is a race condition: the ZFS service tries to mount the pool before…
ZFS Pool Shows Degraded But No Drive Is Marked Failed: What’s Going On?
You see zpool status reporting DEGRADED, but every drive in the pool shows ONLINE with no FAULTED or UNAVAIL flags. Your instinct says “replace a drive,” but nothing…
ZFS Dataset Encryption on TrueNAS: A Practical Setup Guide
If you store sensitive data on your TrueNAS server — financial records, medical documents, or client files — encrypting individual datasets is the most practical way to protect…
ZFS Replication Between Two TrueNAS Servers: A Step-by-Step Setup Guide
Setting up ZFS replication between two TrueNAS servers is the most reliable way to keep a secondary copy of your data without relying on slow file copies or…
ZFS ARC Tuning for TrueNAS: When (and When Not) to Adjust It
Why ZFS ARC Using Most of Your RAM is By Design (and Not a Problem) If you’ve just set up TrueNAS and glanced at the dashboard, you’ve probably…
NFS vs SMB vs iSCSI: Which File Sharing Protocol Should You Use?
If you are setting up a home NAS or homelab server, the file sharing protocol you choose directly impacts compatibility, speed, and how you manage storage. NFS, SMB,…
ZFS Snapshots Explained: A Homelab Guide to Instant Rollbacks
If you run a TrueNAS or ZFS-based homelab, a ZFS snapshot is the single most powerful tool you have for recovering from accidental file deletion, a misapplied configuration,…
ZFS Scrub Explained: What It Does and How Often to Run It
What Is a ZFS Scrub and Why Does Your NAS Need It? If you run TrueNAS or any ZFS-based storage system, you’ve likely seen the word “scrub” in…
RAID vs JBOD for a Home NAS: Which Should You Actually Use?
If you are building a home NAS and wondering whether to use RAID or JBOD, the short answer is: use RAID unless you have a specific, well-understood reason…
How to Expand a RAID or ZFS Array: Adding Drives Without Data Loss
If you’re running out of space on your NAS and wondering whether you can simply add a new drive to your existing RAID array without wiping everything and…
RAID 0 vs RAID 1: Speed or Safety for Your NAS?
If you own a 2-bay NAS and are choosing between RAID 0 and RAID 1, the short answer is: pick RAID 1 for almost every home use case.…
RAID 10 vs RAID 5 for a NAS: Performance vs Storage Efficiency
Choosing between RAID 10 and RAID 5 for your NAS comes down to a straightforward trade-off: RAID 5 gives you more usable storage for your money, while RAID…