TrueNAS Scale RC1 Launched A Big Milestone

TrueNAS Scale has hit RC1, and this is a big milestone for the company. TrueNAS Scale is the company’s scale-out platform. It is based on Linux and brings the ability to build a hyper-converged cluster using the TrueNAS ecosystem.

TrueNAS Scale RC1 Launched A Big Milestone

For those who are not aware, the TrueNAS Scale brings features like S3 compatible object, block, and file storage, a Linux base, and the ability to run Kubernetes and standard Linux KVM virtual machines all on one platform. One still gets features like ZFS, but a lot more with the new release.

The installation will feel fairly familiar to TrueNAS users. Do not be fooled though, this is a modern Linux underpinning, not FreeBSD. There is nothing wrong with FreeBSD, but Linux is a bigger ecosystem and hardware support usually comes first to the Linux kernel. Just for reference, uname -r yields 5.10.70+truenas.

For those accustomed to TrueNAS Core, this is going to be a much easier transition with a familiar look and feel.

Since this is RC1, not a full release, it is now recommended only for home installations/ labs. There are some strange little bugs, and that is to be expected with RC1 software. An example is when I quickly took a look at the applications screen. The application list was repeated, but this went away after subsequent visits. This is not a major functionality breaker, but be aware that it is not recommended for production use just yet.

The ZFS side was finished a bit earlier than the gluster/ cluster side so if you are just building a ZFS appliance, this may be the way to go. One can create KVM VMs using wizards along with most of the normal storage functionality so it is certainly something worth getting acquainted with if you have not yet.

Final Words

This is one of those articles that normally Cliff would do for STH, but I felt the need to chime in. Many years ago I sent the folks at iXsysems a list of key items they needed. It is awesome to see these suggestions make it to products we can use. For example, I mentioned the need for a single-pane-of-glass management, that could have an upcharge to manage multiple units, there is now TrueCommand. 10GbE is now in many products. On the list was the need to have a scale-out cluster to go beyond FreeNAS (at the time) scale-up and be able to run VMs, and today we have TrueNAS Scale RC1.

For STH readers, certainly, give TrueNAS Scale a look as it is something to get excited about. We are probably going to do more with Scale on STH as it transitions to full GA. Also, STH is full for content already in November so we have some time!