TrueCommand comes as a docker container, which means it can run on TrueNAS SCALE itself.
Interesting proposition Mr.
@Etorix. Perhaps run one instance on one SCALE server, and a backup instance on a second SCALE server in the same cluster? Or if it turns out that SCALE clusters will require a third 'disk witness' SCALE server, then maybe one TC instance there would be best? I don't know how this clustering thing is going to work out (hence the eagerness to play with it), but I trust there will eventually be a Best Practices writeup on the subject. The product is still in Beta so I just need to be patient.
What do you think prevents you from "the seemingly easiest solution of hosted TrueCommand"?
Unfortunately with all the big hacker breaches this year, Management will never go for giving SAN console & control to a third party, even if it's the manufacturer. Kaseya burned that bridge as recent as last week and it might be a while before businesses are willing to rebuild that bridge....
The "fancy GUI" is what puts the E in SCALE and does a LOT to differentiate SCALE from Gluster. Don't forget that FreeNAS owes a huge part of its success to what is one of it's greatest strengths, it's relative ease which mostly (if not entirely) comes from its quality WebGUI. The same team that you're praising put a lot of good work into the "fancy GUI" so that this amazing product would be available even to those "Layer 8" folks beneath you with "skill deficits"...
SCALE itself (for example: Using TrueCharts) also runs TrueCommand just fine. It's also not required to be enabled 24/7, so running it on a laptop "when needed" is also fine.
So store an extra laptop in the rack, just to run Linux, just to run Docker, just to run TC; not entirely without merit. I suppose I'd have to refer back to the TrueNAS servers independently for reporting & alerting since TC would be down most of the time. Not my favorite option presented thus far, but could work in a pinch; especially a Disaster Recovery situation.
I think the answer depends on the machine you want to run it on. .iso is good if you want a dedicated machine. TrueCommand is designed so that it doesn't need a dedicated machine.. it can run as a docker container with other things. For example, you could use a TrueNAS SCALE .iso and then add a TrueCommand instance via the Apps.
So what is your target machine?
@Etorix's suggestion wasn't bad, but this seems even better Mr.
@morganL. I'm a visual person, so I avoid command-line like the plague (I don't deny the power of command line like PowerShell, they just rub me the wrong way); to each their own... Putting TC in the Apps page as an "Available Applications" sounds like a viable & user friendly option. If a user only has too click "Install" on the "Available Applications" page, that theoretically saves them from having to first learn Linux/Docker in the same way FreeNAS/TrueNAS has always shielded users from the underlying FreeBSD/Linux/Etc...
My target machine would have been a stand-alone VM appliance with a presumably small footprint; something connected to the TrueNAS cluster (albeit not connected to the rest of the world via cloud) but was not dependent on said cluster for it's own survival. In other words, I was hoping to put TC somewhere that it would still run even if the TrueNAS servers failed. Since that strategy (at least in the form that I'm thinking) isn't supported, then a built-in app on the Apps page would be the next best thing.
TC wants to fit inside VM infrastructures, not sit adjacent to them.
I see Mr.
@aervin. So is TC expected to not be part of Disaster Recover? Maybe that's my big misconception (or at least part of it). Not the end of the world if that's the case. vCenter pretty much has the same issue. I can appreciate that one wouldn't NEED TC in a DR situation in the same way one doesn't NEED vCenter in a DR situation, I just assume it would help significantly in what would already be a stressful situation.