Hey everyone, I have an older but powerful server that currently only runs TrueNAS, and I'm not really pushing it to its limits. I've also added a GPU into the mix. My question is, is there a way to run TrueNAS and a Linux distribution simultaneously without compromising on performance? I want to avoid scenarios where one OS has to trick the other into thinking it has hardware access, as that usually leads to slowdowns due to virtualization overhead. Ideally, I'd like both operating systems to function almost as if they're completely separate, with direct hardware access. My system has dual CPUs and plenty of RAM and storage, so I'm hoping there's a solution that allows for specific resource allocation to each OS instead of using emulation. I've heard there are hardware-level hypervisors that can achieve this. Any advice?
4 Answers
To avoid overhead while still being able to run both OSs, you need a type 1 hypervisor. This would allow you to boot into either the Linux distro or TrueNAS independently, without the need for the other to be running. This setup means you can allocate specific CPU cores, RAM, and storage without worrying about emulation slowing things down.
You might want to check out using Debian for your file server. It's totally capable of functioning as a NAS and can be set up on a dedicated drive. However, running both OSs simultaneously may be challenging without a proper hypervisor.
You're looking at a type 1 hypervisor setup, like Hyper-V or ESXi. Zen is a free option that can also work, but Proxmox is very popular and comes with a free version (unless you need enterprise support). It's worth checking out!
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