Ask a question about the best network attached storage layout on a home server forum and you’re sure to hear the name. TrueNAS appear several times. Among its fantastic ZFS support, powerful data protection features, and strong compatibility with Stevedore applications, TrueNAS has everything you need to create a reliable storage server without spending a dime on the operating system.
What’s more, TrueNAS Community Edition (or Scale, as we old-timers call it) has only gotten better over time. Take the recent beta release of TrueNAS 26 as an example. In addition to improving the distribution’s containerization provisions, TrueNAS 26 made the storage platform much more similar to conventional cloud platforms by simplifying file sharing.
TrueNAS 26 adds WebShares for a cloud-like file sharing experience
Easier than NFS and SMB shares to transfer files
Before TrueNAS 26 came out, previous versions of the platform supported three network sharing protocols: SMB and NFS for typical file-sharing workloads (as well as AFS in the early days of Scale) and iSCSI for block-level storage. TrueNAS 25.10 added NVMe-oF subsystems, specifically NVMe-over-TCP, while the latest update brought WebShares into the mix. The first one already deserves its own article, so this time I will focus on WebShare.
What separates WebShare from its SMB and NFS counterparts is that it provides a file explorer-like user interface for storing media, one that’s similar to the interfaces of Dropbox, Google Drive, and, heck, even good ol’ Nextcloud. Instead of mounting dedicated NFS and SMB shares, WebShare lets you access files directly from your web browser. In addition to offering a familiar user interface, WebShare’s biggest advantage is that it works on virtually any device with a web browser, unlike typical network shares, which depend on the client’s support for the protocol. Sure, SMB and NFS can technically run on both Windows and Linux, but it’s not uncommon to encounter random issues when using them outside of their native platform.
That said, WebShare requires you to pair your storage server with TrueNAS Connect, a cloud-based management system for TrueNAS instances. Setting it up is pretty simple, and while several control setups require premium subscriptions, WebShare isn’t one of them and works fine as long as you connect your local TrueNAS server to the platform.
Also supports faster file indexing via TrueSearch
In addition to including a similar interface to cloud storage platforms, WebShare also borrows some of their quality-of-life features. For example, you can enable TrueSearch for your WebShares, which indexes your content to quickly load files when you search for them. It includes file versioning in the form of ZFS snapshots, so you can still access previous versions of your documents even after updating them. As someone who has manually set up file versioning in Syncthing, I’m glad this feature is available in WebShares. You can also generate sharing links to allow other users to access your WebShare files.
Additionally, creating these WebShares is quite simple, as you can point to the data sets you want to use (or even create a new one within existing storage groups) using a dedicated wizard on the Network Shares tab. You may want to create a new user with WebShare access privileges, as I had trouble adding these permissions to an existing account on my TrueNAS machine. While it is technically possible to configure SMB and WebShares on the same data set by setting the Preset to Multiprotocol on the former, I have kept them separate for now as I prefer not to deal with corrupted files or random storage conflicts.
But TrueNAS local services are still as usable as ever
In any case, its containerization capacity has increased with the new update.
Although I’m not a big fan of services that rely entirely on a cloud-based server, the WebShare feature is just an optional addition to the NAS distribution. I’ve played with it quite a bit and it’s definitely a solid addition for people who want an easier way to share files with external users without mounting dedicated shares. But I rely mostly on SMB and NFS shares, with an iSCSI share for my remote gaming experiments, so WebShare isn’t essential for my DIY projects.
Personally, I’m most excited about the improved LXC provisions added in TrueNAS 26. There’s a streamlined UI for creating Linux containers, with plenty of pass-through configurations for essential devices (including full graphics cards). Add the additional LXC templates to the mix and you can see why the home lab in me can’t wait for the official release of TrueNAS 26.04.
