Deciding on the best home server setup with Proxmox, TrueNAS, and essential apps for seamless remote access

If you’re diving into the world of home server setups, you might be wondering how to get the most out of your hardware while keeping things efficient and reliable. Recently, I put together a rig with an ATX B850 WiFi motherboard and an AMD 7600X processor, packed with 64GB of RAM, PCIe Gen 5×4 SSDs, and a bunch of large HDDs in RAIDZ2 for plenty of storage. If you’re curious about whether to run Proxmox with TrueNAS on the same box or just stick with one solution, or if it’s better to separate your media and cloud services onto a different machine, you’re not alone.

Understanding the Basics of Home Server Setup

A home server setup like mine usually balances storage, virtualization, and media streaming. Let’s break down your options:

• Proxmox is a popular hypervisor that lets you run multiple virtual machines on one physical machine. Think of it as a way to slice your server into neat, isolated parts.
• TrueNAS is a powerful storage-focused OS, perfect if your priority is managing large amounts of data with redundancy (hello, RAIDZ2).

You can install TrueNAS as a virtual machine under Proxmox or run TrueNAS directly on your hardware. Each has its pros and cons.

Running Proxmox and TrueNAS Together

Using Proxmox as your base hypervisor and running TrueNAS as a VM means you get flexibility. You can also run other apps like Jellyfin (for media streaming), Nextcloud (file syncing), and Immich (photo backup) on separate VMs or containers, keeping everything organized and compartmentalized.

The downside? Running TrueNAS virtually sometimes hits performance or complexity limits — especially with ZFS and disk passthrough. It’s doable, but you should plan and test carefully.

TrueNAS as a Standalone OS

If your main goal is rock-solid storage with RAIDZ2 and straightforward management, then TrueNAS as your primary OS is a great call. However, it can be trickier to run additional services directly on TrueNAS without dipping into plugins or jails, which aren’t as flexible as VMs.

Should You Add a Separate Mini PC?

Here’s where it gets interesting. Running all your apps — Jellyfin, Nextcloud, Immich, and Nginx — on your single server is space and power efficient. But if you want reliability, ease of updates, or want to minimize risk (say, one service crashes and doesn’t take others down), a separate mini PC might help.

A mini PC like an N150 can comfortably host your media and cloud apps for everyday use. This way, your main server focuses on storage and core services, while the mini PC handles the apps you access frequently, especially when you’re on the road.

Accessing Your Home Server While Traveling

Since remote access is a priority, consider your network setup carefully. A 2.5G LAN and compatible switch are fantastic for high-speed internal transfers. For accessing your apps from anywhere, secure VPN access or well-configured reverse proxies (like Nginx) are your best friends.

Final Thoughts

In the end, the best home server setup depends on your priorities:

• Want ultimate flexibility? Go with Proxmox and run TrueNAS as a VM plus other app containers.
• Prefer simplicity and solid storage? Run TrueNAS directly and use its plugins.
• Want maximum reliability and easier maintenance across services? Add a separate mini PC for your apps.

For more on Proxmox and TrueNAS, you can check their official sites. Also, if you want ideas on home media servers, sites like ServeTheHome offer great insights.

Regardless, it’s a fun project that grows with you. Build your setup around what makes your life easier and your data safer. Happy homelabbing!