TrueNas on Proxmox VM with usb-ssd pool

Hello, I have created a Proxmox VM via truenas-iso
and then used Proxmox/Hardware/add-usb to pass my two USB SSD hard drives
to the TrueNAS VM.
But now I have the problem that I can no longer find the pool I created in TrueNas.
Presumably this is due to my method ???

How would you proceed so that I can safely use TrueNAS with the two SSD (USB) as a data pool?
data pool?
I have also read something about pci-e controller? But I’m sure you have the right tips for me.

USB drives for the data pool are not recommended because USB connections are unstable and often dont manage to present the discs to truenas with unique serial numbers. Resulting in problems like yours.

Virtualizing in Proxmox is also not recommended - other than to experiment - because of pitfalls and potential data loss when not done right.

You combined these two.
If you are not well versed in virtualisation, proxmox and ZFS, i would not go that road and simply install Truenas on a ssd and the discs via SATA.

To answer the questions in the deleted post(s), your best bet is to:

Install TrueNAS SCALE native, and if you want other VMs then use TrueNAS virtualisation to achieve that.

That said, TrueNAS is intended to be a serious NAS for people with serious storage needs - and as such it expects multiple drives of the same size for redundant vDevs and those drives to be SAS or SATA attached via MB ports or a PCIe HBA in IT mode.

As an alternative, you might want to see whether alternative NAS O/S like Unraid or Open Media Vault might suit your needs better.

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Ok many thanks die reply.
Than I must search for alternative for
Proxmox.
A great pity

TrueNAS is the recommended alternative for Proxmox.

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Oh
Then I totally misjudged that.

I thought this was more of an open NAS platform.
I’m looking for a self-hosted cloud storage like openmediavault

Now I also understand why USB SSDs are not suitable.
Whereby the smb release management was very nice.
What is the advantage over Proxmox?

An HBA (HostBusAdapter) PCI-E card allows you to connect several harddisks to your system.
You can get used ones quite cheap on i.e. ebay.

But it is important that it comes with “IT-Mode” Firmware, then the attached cards are just passed to the system. You cant have the card do any RAID mode on its own as that will not expose the individual disks to the OS (TrueNAS) then. And TrueNAS needs access to the disks. :slight_smile:

Now, if you want you can run TrueNAS as a VM inside of proxmox - but be aware that this is not recommened/supported officially.

In my experience it works fine though - this is what I use here at home simply because proxmox is a dedicated hypervisor and as such better at managing virtual machines - if you need that is different question :slight_smile:

To get TrueNAS to work as a VM, an HBA is very useful as you then just pass that through to the TrueNAS VM inside of proxmox.

However if you never used proxmox or did pcie passthrough then you are looking at a very steep learning curve as inside Proxmox you need to make sure that proxmox does not try to use the HBA itself. There are tutorials for this on the proxmox forums which show you how to have proxmox load the virtio driver on boot so that it can be passed through.

That said, you might want to just install TrueNAS Scale on a machine directly to testdrive the system.
Maybe the VM/Apps feature of TrueNAS allows you to run your services so that you dont need proxmox. :slight_smile:

The point is essentially Keep It Simple.

If you want both VMs and NAS, why run TrueNAS under Proxmox (with all the care and attention you need to pay to correct configuration) when TrueNAS can do VMs for you as well.

The more complex you make your configuration, the more likely things will go wrong.

But not nearly as well as Proxmox can.

True.

Sure - but if you only need the basics (and most people will be happy with what TrueNAS provides with its virtualisation) then why complicate things.

As I said it depends on your needs (and limitations - like how many physical systems you can have). :slight_smile:

For me the virtualization options (that includes backup/restore management, LXC support, …) provided by TrueNAS Scale are not enough. I need the featureset offered by PVE.

Now I could have a 2nd machine with just TrueNAS running on it which is simpler in terms of the setup.
But for my usecase that makes no sense as the system that is running PVE is more than capable of also hosting TrueNAS.

The setup required for PCI-E passthrough is actually not that hard, there are many guides available which describe it step by step.
I actually found it to be less complex than finding the right HBA (and flashing the IT MODE firmware :scream: )

Also if I want to move TrueNAS from PVE (back) to a physical machine all I have to do is move the HBA and the disks, do a clean TrueNAS install, restore the configuration backup and the system is online.
I tested this a couple of times during the last month in both directions. :slight_smile:

Again I am NOT saying that this is the right solution for everyone. If this is for you depends on your needs and limitations.
But if you need to run TrueNAS inside of PVE, then it can be done and works perfectly fine. :slight_smile:

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And as I said previously, if TrueNAS does what you need regarding virtualisation, then that seems to be the recommended route. In other words, it depends on your needs (and limitations - like technical skills).

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Since TrueNAS provides absolutely no mechanism to back up or restore VMs, I’d hope that isn’t true.

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If that is the case, then there should be no one using TrueNAS virtualisation.

sounds like we are saying the same thing - so maybe we now wait for the OP to hear what he needs. :wink: