Neither platform can be shown to use less RAM in every home-server setup. Proxmox VE lists 2 GB as a minimum for its operating system and services, with memory for virtual machines added separately. TrueNAS SCALE 25.04 lists 8 GB for basic operations with up to eight drives. Those are differently scoped vendor recommendations—not comparable measurements of idle memory use.
What the published RAM figures actually mean
| Platform and figure | What it covers | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Proxmox VE: 2 GB minimum | The operating system and Proxmox VE services; memory assigned to guests is additional. | This is the host baseline stated in the Proxmox VE hardware requirements, not a total-RAM recommendation for a host running virtual machines. |
| Proxmox VE: 1 GB minimum for testing | Testing only. | Do not treat this lower figure as a production recommendation. The requirements page also describes approximately 1 GB per TiB of used storage as an additional guideline for ZFS or Ceph; it is an estimate, not a universal benchmark. |
| TrueNAS SCALE 25.04: 8 GB | Basic TrueNAS operations with up to eight drives. | The TrueNAS SCALE 25.04 hardware guide sets this as a platform minimum. It does not measure idle consumption in a direct comparison with Proxmox. |
| TrueNAS: add 1 GB per drive beyond eight | A general memory-sizing suggestion for most use cases. | This is a planning guideline in the TrueNAS hardware guide, not a guarantee of how much memory a particular system will consume. |
| TrueNAS: 16 GB for good, 32 GB or more for optimal iSCSI VM-backup performance | A specific high-performance iSCSI VM-backup use case. | These figures are workload-specific suggestions, not baseline requirements for every home NAS. |
Proxmox’s host figure and TrueNAS’s basic-operation figure answer different questions. Neither vendor figure is a controlled test of memory use, and the official sources do not publish a side-by-side measurement on identical hardware.
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Why your workload changes the answer
Virtual machines and containers
On Proxmox, the host needs memory for its own operating system and services while guests need memory of their own. Installed RAM must cover both at the same time; the 2 GB host minimum does not include guest allocations.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsIf you run TrueNAS SCALE as a virtual machine on Proxmox, TrueNAS installation guidance for version 24.10 says to allocate at least 8 GB to that VM. That allocation is part of the Proxmox host’s total RAM budget, alongside the host and any other guests. See the TrueNAS SCALE 24.10 installation hardware guidance.
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Storage, drives, and caching
Proxmox calls for additional memory when using ZFS or Ceph, and gives approximately 1 GB per TiB of used storage as a guideline. TrueNAS uses memory for services and read caching; its sizing guidance also identifies drive count, L2ARC, and deduplication as considerations. The two platforms’ guidance is not expressed as a shared formula, so do not compare the figures as if they were measurements made on the same storage layout.
Apps, clients, and service type
TrueNAS guidance recommends more memory as clients, directory services, apps, and virtual machines are added. Storage purpose matters, too: a system serving high-performance VM storage over iSCSI can have different needs from one used for archival storage. A small file server and a host running multiple VMs therefore should not be sized from the same minimum alone.
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How to compare actual memory use fairly
To find out which system uses less RAM for your needs, measure both under equivalent conditions. A useful comparison keeps these variables aligned:
- The same physical machine and hardware configuration.
- An equivalent storage layout, drive count, and quantity of stored data.
- The same services, clients, applications, and VM allocations.
- The same workload, measured after each system reaches a comparable steady state.
Record cache use separately from memory pressure and memory genuinely unavailable for other work. Configured or allocated memory is not automatically the same as memory actively in use. Without those controls, an apparent difference may reflect the storage setup, guest workload, or caching behavior rather than the platform alone.
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How much RAM should you plan for?
Start with the intended workload, then account for the platform and its services, storage configuration, and all guest allocations. For a Proxmox host, include memory for every VM in addition to the host baseline; add headroom for ZFS or Ceph in line with Proxmox’s guidance. For TrueNAS, use the 25.04 guide’s 8 GB figure only as its basic-operations reference for up to eight drives, then account for additional drives and workload-specific needs.
If TrueNAS will run as a Proxmox VM, budget its recommended minimum allocation within the total installed RAM rather than counting it as separate from the host. Before buying RAM, verify the maximum supported capacity, memory generation, and ECC support for your exact motherboard and processor; the platform sizing guides do not determine hardware compatibility.
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Requirements can change between releases. The TrueNAS figures above are from SCALE 25.04, and its virtualization guidance is from 24.10; check the documentation for the version you plan to install.
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