iXsystems Confirms Ongoing Support for Both TrueNAS CORE and SCALE

Following the recent buzz about iXsystems shifting its attention to the Linux-based TrueNAS SCALE, leaving its renowned flagship product, TrueNAS CORE, built on FreeBSD, in the shadows, the company swiftly addressed these concerns with an announcement.

But before we go any further, let’s take a moment to clarify for our readers who might not be closely familiar with TrueNAS what this is all about.

Differences Between TrueNAS CORE & SCALE

TrueNAS CORE and TrueNAS SCALE are top-notch enterprise-ready open-source network-attached storage (NAS) solutions offered by iXsystems. TrueNAS CORE is the successor to FreeNAS, primarily based on FreeBSD and betting on OpenZFS, and is designed for ease of use, stability, and robust data protection.

TrueNAS SCALE, on the other hand, is built on Debian Linux and introduces additional features like scale-out storage and containerization capabilities, allowing it to handle more dynamic storage workloads.

In other words, comparing TrueNAS CORE and SCALE is similar to looking at point and rolling-release Linux distributions. TrueNAS CORE prioritizes stability, which means it might not have as many features. On the other hand, Scale embraces the newest technologies, offering more advanced features to its users. Now, back to the topic.

TrueNAS CORE 13.3: A Road Ahead

Despite iXsystems’ shift in focus to the newer and more capable TrueNAS SCALE, the company has no plans to discontinue or reduce its CORE offering.

The focus of TrueNAS CORE continues to be ensuring storage reliability, stability, and security for existing users. Taking into account its macro lifecycle, TrueNAS CORE is now entering a sustaining engineering phase within the TrueNAS project. It is not anywhere near its end-of-lifecycle phase. We are just going through a new release cycle for CORE and users can expect to receive maintenance updates for many years still to come.

In light of this, the anticipated release candidate for TrueNAS CORE 13.3 is scheduled for May, with the official launch in June 2024. This version is set to include significant updates such as FreeBSD 13.3, OpenZFS 2.2.3, and Samba v4.19, alongside improvements in services like SMART and Network UPS Tools (NUT) and crucial security and bug fixes.

However, for new TrueNAS implementations, iXsystems recommends starting with TrueNAS SCALE to take advantage of its added functionalities, broader hardware support, and an enhanced user interface. Existing TrueNAS 13.0 users have the flexibility to upgrade to 13.3 or sidegrade to SCALE, based on their specific requirements and the evolving capabilities of TrueNAS platforms.

For more detailed information, visit the announcement on the iXsystems’ blog.