Moving Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) onto a TrueNAS workstation reportedly eased one user’s storage pressure by consolidating the backup service with a larger ZFS-based storage system. The reported setup ran PBS as a virtual machine, assigned it 12 GB of RAM, and kept a second NAS as an rsync fallback. That is one person’s configuration—not a universal PBS requirement or a measured guarantee of savings.
What changed in the reported setup?
TechSpeeltuin’s September 27, 2026 summary of an XDA Developers story says Ayush Pande moved PBS from a mini-PC to a DIY TrueNAS workstation because of storage constraints. The summary describes PBS running as a VM on ZFS-based storage, using incremental backups and deduplication. It also reports a second NAS used as an rsync fallback. The original XDA article was not directly accessible in the inspected search results, so these personal setup details and claimed outcomes remain attributed to the summary rather than independently verified.
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The summary says the move consolidated energy use and saved storage, but gives no measured capacity, power, performance, or restore-test results. It therefore supports the idea that the arrangement addressed that user’s problem, not a quantified claim about what another household or lab will save. Read the TechSpeeltuin summary.
What PBS does—and why deduplication matters
Proxmox describes PBS as software for backing up and restoring virtual machines, containers, and physical hosts. Its official product overview lists incremental, fully deduplicated backups. In practical terms, incremental backups transfer changed data, while deduplication can avoid storing repeated data blocks more than once. How much space that saves depends on the data and backup patterns; the migration summary reports no measured savings figure.
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The current Proxmox Backup documentation inspected is version 4.2.8-1. It also covers compression, integrity checks, client-side encryption, remote synchronization, and restore testing. Those capabilities do not remove the need to check that backups can actually be recovered. Proxmox Backup Server overview · Proxmox Backup documentation.
Is 12 GB of RAM a PBS requirement?
No. The 12 GB figure is the RAM allocation TechSpeeltuin reported for this particular PBS VM, described as supporting deduplication. It is not an official PBS minimum or a general recommendation. Workload size, concurrent backup activity, the host’s available memory, and other services running on TrueNAS all matter. Treat that number as a detail of one configuration, not a shopping target.
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Should you host PBS on TrueNAS or keep it separate?
Hosting PBS on an existing TrueNAS server can make sense when the NAS has spare capacity and enough memory and CPU headroom. A separate mini-PC keeps the backup service on independent hardware, which may matter if the NAS becomes unavailable. Neither arrangement is inherently safer or more efficient for every setup.
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- Storage capacity: Confirm the destination has room for the backup history you intend to retain.
- Memory and CPU: Allow for PBS activity alongside TrueNAS and any other VMs or services.
- Power and always-on hardware: Consolidation may reduce the number of running systems, but the summary provides no measured energy result.
- Failure isolation: If PBS and the data it protects depend on the same physical NAS, consider what remains recoverable when that NAS fails.
- Network throughput: Check that the link can handle backup windows and restores at the speeds your workloads require.
- Independent copy: Decide where another copy lives and how you will recover from it; a second NAS is useful only to the extent its contents and recovery process are dependable.
How should you treat the second NAS and verify recovery?
The report says Pande kept a second NAS as an rsync fallback, but it does not establish how that copy was configured or whether a restore was tested. PBS also supports remote synchronization, according to its documentation; the available sources do not compare that approach with the reported rsync arrangement. Whichever method you use, distinguish having a second copy from having a proven recovery plan.
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- Purpose built for NAS enclosures, IronWolf delivers less wear and tear, little to no noise/vibration, no lags or down time, increased file-sharing performance, and much more
- Easily monitor the health of drives using the integrated IronWolf Health Management system and enjoy long-term reliability with 1M hours MTBF
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- Check that backup jobs complete and that the expected data appears in the backup store.
- Perform a restore test on a suitable VM, container, or host, and confirm that the recovered system or files are usable.
- Verify that the secondary copy is current and that you know how to restore from it if the primary NAS is unavailable.
Proxmox documentation treats restore testing as an operational concern; a successful backup job alone does not demonstrate that recovery will work. The TrueNAS documentation portal lists several release choices, including 25.04, 24.10, and 25.10, but the report does not identify which TrueNAS release was used. Consult the documentation for your installed version rather than assuming the reported deployment matches it. TrueNAS Documentation Hub.
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