January 2, 2026
Mirror, mirror, on the NAS
FreeBSD: Home NAS, part 1 – configuring ZFS mirror (RAID1)
Building a home file box on FreeBSD; commenters clash over ECC vs “it’s fine” and “just use TrueNAS”
TLDR: A blogger builds a home storage box on FreeBSD with a mirrored setup for safety and skips TrueNAS to do it by hand. The crowd splits between “use ECC memory for ZFS,” “boot environments save your bacon,” and “it’s fine for home,” turning a quiet NAS into a lively debate.
A blogger kicks off a DIY home NAS project on FreeBSD 14.3, mirroring two drives for safety (that’s a RAID1 ZFS mirror, aka two disks holding the same data). He even does a spicy SSH install with a “dirty hack” to get root access, and boldly skips TrueNAS to go full “vanilla” FreeBSD. The community? Instantly divided and delightfully dramatic.
The loudest opinion: ECC or bust. Error-correcting memory (ECC) helps catch data glitches, and one commenter sighs that the Lenovo ThinkCentre doesn’t support it. Cue the chorus of “ZFS is great, but I want it on ECC,” while the other camp shrugs: “It’s a home lab, chill.” Meanwhile, a helpful voice drops a pro-tip about boot environments—safe snapshots you can boot into—linking guides like this one and the FreeBSD wiki, which the pragmatists cheer.
Hot takes fly: TrueNAS vs manual becomes a mini culture war (one-click appliance vs tinkerer pride). Jokes pile up: “RAID1 isn’t backup,” “ECC or it didn’t happen,” and “root over SSH? living dangerously.” Fans ask for more posts about ZFS and FreeBSD’s bhyve hypervisor. It’s a perfect nerd soap opera—equal parts caution, flex, and “hold my coffee” energy.
Key Points
- •The guide outlines a home NAS build using a Lenovo ThinkCentre M720s SFF, with NVMe for the OS and two SATA SSDs for a ZFS RAID1 mirror.
- •FreeBSD 14.3 is used for installation, with FreeBSD 15.0 noted as available for later exploration.
- •Installation is performed remotely over SSH via bsdinstall after booting into FreeBSD LiveCD mode.
- •Network connectivity is established on the LiveCD using ifconfig and dhclient from the console.
- •A tmpfs overlay is used to modify the read-only /etc on the LiveCD, enabling changes to sshd_config (PermitRootLogin yes) and starting sshd for remote access.