I bought into the ecosystem while taking my networking cert classes back in 2017. They were much cheaper than Cisco gear for business-grade networking, and overall I’ve been happy with them.
Their security offerings are locally managed, and you can make local accounts, but I just bought a NAS from them and I had to sign in with my ubiquiti account first before I could make a local account, and it seems the cloud account has some privileges that you can’t give to local super admins.
So now I’m having second thoughts. I figure since it’s enterprise-grade stuff they can’t really make it cloud-dependent like you see on the consumer side since a lot of companies need air-gapped networks. On the other hand, on those occasions that I didn’t have internet access and hadn’t yet made a local-only account, I was locked out, so…
Regarding the NAS specifically, I use a TruNAS system at work and it works well enough on a rack server, but since it uses ZFS I don’t know it would be good for home use. What alternatives are there?
Are there any truly FOSS networking options? I figure especially on the switching side you need purpose-built hardware, right? There aren’t generic motherboards with 48 network ports you can buy.
I like my Unifi setup, I’m just scared of a rug pull.
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I only use their WiFi because I got some in- and outdoor ap’s for free. The Wifi manager is selfhosted and has no internet access. For upgradesi downoad the deb file, trasnsfer and install. It’s not the best out there, but works for me and i’m still happy with it.
A NAS is just a computer and TrueNAS is just Linux (ok, TrueNAS CORE is Bsd).
You can run zfs on any machine: they recommend loads of RAM for optimal performance, which you don’t need at home (or at work, unless your job is running a data center).
You can choose from a number of FOSS NAS-specific operating systems, plus all linux distros (since you post here, I’d assume you either can or aim to administer a home sever?)… why would you go with a proprietary OS?
There are several FOSS operating systems for network equipment too (keyword “NOS”), but as far as I’m aware none that work on small soho/edge switches. OpenWrt runs both my router (mikrotik) and WAPs (tplink), but the two 8-port switches I have at home (also tplink) run their proprietary firmware.
why would you go with a proprietary OS?
I’m happy with my Unifi network and security setup, especially the single pain of glass. I had assumed the NAS would integrate with that system, but it doesn’t seem to.
You can run OpenWRT on switches without issue. Linux and thus openwrt support hardware switches so Openwrt really just manages the config.
Also I personally really like Truenas as it simplifies management.
Tplink Omada doesn’t need a cloud connection. There’s plenty of other reasons to not like Omada but it’s something to consider. It’s also dirt cheap.
TPlink Kasa smart gear didn’t used to need a TPlink account until they made an app update. I would be very wary of anything from them.
True but it’s designed to be on networks that don’t have internet.
I buy TPLink gear, but only because I check to make sure it can be flashed with OpenWRT beforehand. I may not actually do that (my router is running it, but my PoE access points aren’t yet), but I make damn sure I can.
(Also, I almost bought Kasa smart plugs, then checked to see whether they could run ESPHome or Tasmota and picked a different brand instead. You always have to check, every single time!)
Mikrotik for switches. Grandstream for APs. All been just working, and easy to set up. Good price as well.
Came here to say same thing. Mikrotik is great, although RouterOS doesn’t support Ipv6 Neighbour Discovery in a highly useable manner yet. Fantastic otherwise.
I run Ubiquity AP (used to be flashed to OpenWRT but now stock) as well as Mikrotik, all local. Firewall is opnsense. NAS is FreeNAS, but not really use it at the moment. zfs is great. If you really need 48 port L3 switches, look into whitebox. I use used enterprise gear for lab, too much noise and power draw and no real use for terabit L3 at home.
I like them. Got the whole house set up with it. Yeah, big corp IT gear will have security risks. I used PoE setups to not need to run electrical to the WAPs, used an AirMax directional antenna to get wifi at an outbuilding without needing to run cable or a powerful outdoor WAP for mesh or whatever broadcasting my wifi all over the neighborhood. Works great, stable, a bit fiddly to set up but once it’s set up it’s golden. I recommend buying used off ebay for all gear except the cloud key controller.
Opinion wise: love unifi for networking equipment. Especially since that equipment doesn’t require the web account. For a Nas, I’m in too deep already, I’ll only use equipment I fully control. I wouldn’t buy a Unifi NAS just like I wouldn’t buy a Synology, but I’ll keep leaning on my Unifi stuff as long as it keeps doing its job well.
As for using TrueNAS w/ZFS at home, go for it if you know and like it! I actually was recently given my boss’s old home NAS that used to run his Plex server. When I got it it was still on FreeNAS (same thing, just a few versions behind) and it’s using ZFS. Worked for him, and now works for me, no problem. Both of us also use Unifi equipment for our networks. The only problems we’ve ever had were our own doings.
People seem to love it. But it’s highly proprietary and there seems to be planned obsolescence built into their model
Try stay away from their cheap consumer side stuff, they underspec the hardware and fill it with (useful) bloat that the hardware can barely run.
OpenWRT is basically Linux for routers and can be installed on a variety of devices - https://openwrt.org/
There is also https://www.gargoyle-router.com/
I’ve fully invested into UniFi equipment and cameras. I love having a centralized dashboard for my entire network. Network wise you can completely disable the cloud functionality, but then it’s not as easy to remotely manage your equipment. Depends on your security risk acceptance or privacy concerns. So far Ubiquiti hasn’t given me any reason not to trust them…yet. NAS wise, I’ve been running TrueNAS for a few years and it’s worked out great so far. I’ve been hosting container apps within TrueNAS more recently. B2 Backblaze for off-site backups. Unifi has Wireguard built right in and I have Tasker on my phone to auto VPN back into my network when I disconnect from my home WiFi. Overall, I’m happy with my setup. Not having the latest equipment sucks, but why upgrade for the sake of upgrading if everything still works?
Not so much to the content of your post but to your title:
Their web interface is nice, reasonably priced (not cheap) prosumer sort of gear. I have 2 APs and 1 router, 1 AP is flaky, it’s the 7 XGS which should be a high end AP. It gets pretty bad coverage with it and it’s flaky, randomly going offline once a week. RMAed it, replaced Ethernet cable, poe injector (ubiquity branded) and tried tweaking settings. Still happening
So to the subject, some good in the web interface but I will not buy again. That said, most network gear has some sort of jank in my experience, flaky, or just bad management interface, etc…
I’d say they offer prosumer options for sure, but they also have what I would consider enterprise offerings as well. Even a large campus can easily be run off their enterprise gear.
I have an edge router and switch, and two unifi APs. All accounts running locally. Works fine for my uses, though I think if I had it to do over again I’d investigate pfsense or opnsense. Not sure about hardware tho.
since it uses ZFS I don’t know it would be good for home use
TrueNAS is all I’ve used for my home for the better part of a decade. It’s been fine, what is your concern?
ZFS seems pretty RAM hungry and I don’t believe you can add new drives to an existing volume.
ZFS seems pretty RAM hungry
This is a common misunderstanding.
Short version; ZFS isn’t RAM hungry, it’s RAM aware. If your system has unused memory lying around, ZFS will use it to improve read performance. But it will give up that memory the moment anything else needs it.
and I don’t believe you can add new drives to an existing volume.
No longer true
Does TruNAS support this feature?
Related, will TruNAS work on a mini PC with an attached DAS?
It’s part of ZFS 2.3.0, so it just depends what version TrueNAS is shipping with.
How is the DAS connected?
Don’t own one yet. But I guess USB?
Don’t use USB to connect hdds to a nas, it isn’t reliable enough and will causes problems, it’s just a matter of time.
So no mini PC then? I’d have to build a tower I suppose.
TrueNAS doesn’t support external connectors like USB
Oh hell yeah, I didn’t know about the raidz extension. That’s amazing!
It’s in the latest TrueNAS versions. https://www.truenas.com/blog/electric-eel-openzfs-23/
It does take time to free ram. If you need the ram for other things it is best practice to limit the arc cache
Only when you have to write out to swap. In the case of something like ZFS, it stores data in RAM, looks for it there, then looks on the disk. So freeing up the RAM is effectively instantaneous; you just mark the space as free, then the other process writes into it.
OpenWRT?
It isn’t really a vendor but it is Foss. It isn’t as robust as vendor solutions but the advantage is that it will run anywhere.
@early_riser I use #unifi for #switching and #wifi. I enjoy those products. I don’t like their #NAS and #routing options.
I ran #pfsense for over a decade, but since the 2.8 release you can’t do an offline install. So I switched to #opnsense.
