Attempting to Dual Boot a TrueNAS server along side a Windows11 OS for alternative use.

[CrypticSlays]

I currently have an older laptop that has the following specifications
- CPU: core i7 8750H
- GPU: GTX 1050TI
- RAM: 16GB DDR-4 3000mHz
- Storage: 1. 512GB M.2 SSD
- Storage: 2. 1TB HDD (Secondary)

I want to repurpose this laptop to be a trueNAS server along side a fully functional secondary windows system that does not require a lot of memory.
I would prefer to use the M.2 for the windows system and the SSD storage as the TrueNAS storage, so that I can have access to a terabyte of data online, whenever I am out and about.
Is it possible to run TrueNAS on dualboot such that it is used as a windows system for a majority of time, while the TrueNAS OS is activated when I'm going out for a vacation and will need access to the storage at some points?
Is it even a viable option to do, please provide your inputs and help with any resources you have

Thanks for reading!
regards,
CS

 

[sretalla]

That's a really poor idea on many levels.

Windows doesn't really support ZFS as a filesystem, so you would not have access to the data on TrueNAS while Windows was running. (if your plan would even get you to that point... which it won't).

For a supported configuration, TrueNAS only works with entire disks and requires at least 2 in order to run and provide any storage functions, so that would seem to be ruling you out right there.

Even if you could somehow attach an additional disk (likely to be via USB, which is certainly not recommended), the idea of dual-booting TrueNAS isn't great.

What might work as a test-lab is using a hypervisor (VirtualBox, VMware workstation or others) on your Windows instance to run a virtual TrueNAS.

Note that such a setup will absolutely not be a place to store data you care to keep in the long-term as virtual disks or disks connected via VM passthrough will inevitably cause corruption and fail.