My First NAS Build: From TrueNAS Headaches to an OpenMediaVault Homelab

I finally did it—I built my first NAS. I’ve been wanting to dive into self-hosting and running my own homelab for a while, and I figured building a custom NAS was a good place to start. Instead of going with a prebuilt option, I pieced together a small form factor PC with parts I had lying around (and a few I didn’t). I wanted something compact, quiet, and efficient that I could tuck away on a shelf—but still powerful enough to handle more than just file storage.

First Attempt: TrueNAS CORE

I started off with TrueNAS CORE. It’s super popular and gets recommended a lot for DIY NAS setups, especially if you want to use ZFS. On paper, it sounded great. But once I got into it… I just didn’t vibe with it. It’s based on FreeBSD, which meant some of the software I wanted to run wasn’t easy (or even possible) to get going. The plugin system felt clunky, and Docker support wasn’t really there unless you started doing weird workarounds. I stuck with it for a bit, but it just wasn’t a good fit. Then I Tried: TrueNAS SCALE

Since SCALE is based on Linux, I figured it would solve the issues I had with CORE. And yeah, it was a step in the right direction—Docker actually worked, and it felt more flexible overall. But the experience still felt a bit too “enterprisey” for my little home setup. The UI was a bit bloated, and some things felt more complicated than they needed to be. I started spending more time fighting the system than actually using it.

What Finally Worked: OpenMediaVault

After getting fed up with SCALE, I gave OpenMediaVault a shot. I had seen it mentioned here and there but didn’t expect much. Turns out, it was exactly what I needed.

OMV is lightweight, simple, and based on Debian, which makes it super flexible. The web interface is clean, and setting up Docker with Portainer was a breeze. It doesn’t come packed with flashy features, but that’s what I liked—it gives you the basics and lets you build on top of it however you want. Diving Into Docker and the Homelab Life

Once I had Docker running smoothly, I really started having fun. I’ve now got:

  • Portainer to manage containers easily
  • Emby for streaming all my media
  • Radarr for Movie management
  • Sonarr for TV Show management
  • Lidarr for Music Management
  • Pi-hole to block ads on my whole network
  • Uptime Kuma to monitor everything

It’s wild how much you can do with a little SFF box and some decent software. My NAS turned into a full-on homelab, and I’m loving it.

Final Thoughts

Looking back, TrueNAS CORE and SCALE just weren’t for me—but I don’t regret trying them. I learned a lot and got a better sense of what I actually wanted. OpenMediaVault ended up being the right balance of simplicity and flexibility, and now I’ve got a stable, quiet little server humming away in the corner doing way more than just storing files.

If you’re thinking of building your own NAS or starting a homelab, I’d definitely recommend giving OMV a shot—especially if you’re into Docker and want something Linux-based that doesn’t get in your way.