Cloud computing is fantastic and a marvel in today's connected world. The ability to quickly back up photos taken on your smartphone while on vacation to ensure memories are not lost is something we only dreamt about decades before. The issue is our reliance on cloud servers and other companies to manage all our data. Whether this is media, passwords, video games, and more, we've handed the reigns to third parties. We have little control left, especially when it comes to our data. If there's a breach at the cloud company, you risk being exposed to the attack. Network-attached storage (NAS) is a way to bring all your data back under localized control.
What is HexOS?
Source: HexOS 
Source: HexOS 
The major complaints with NAS are cost and user-friendliness. If you're new to NAS and don't have a tech-heavy background, you'll likely want a turnkey enclosure from a brand such as Synology or Asustor. These companies specialize in producing hardware and software for a complete package. All you need is a server, some drives, and a few minutes to set up the proprietary OS and you're good to go. These enclosures are considerably more expensive than what you can achieve with a DIY NAS, using repurposed hardware or components purchased from classified sites.
Using your hardware to create a DIY NAS requires an OS, much like a desktop PC. There are plenty of options available, some more user-friendly than others, but they all have quirks and issues that make them somewhat daunting for beginners. Even using Windows or Ubuntu isn't entirely straightforward. That's where HexOS comes into play. HexOS takes the TrueNAS SCALE foundation and slaps a simpler UI atop the NAS OS. Throw in live platform updates, email and SMS notifications, remote management, and automated management for storage, apps, VMs, and server synchronization, and you have an OS suited for beginners.
If you’re not IT-savvy, concepts like RAID, parity, file systems, and access controls might seem like gibberish, and many will likely struggle to get past the initial setup. We want to change all that!
Not everyone has the time to spend learning a new complicated UI or CLI commands, which is where an OS such as this could prove useful. I've long pushed NAS and home servers as worthy replacements for cloud storage and services, allowing considerable savings to be had over the long term. Being able to smash through RAID, party, file systems, transfer protocols, package installs, and other elements with easy-to-follow commands will make home servers more approachable. To install HexOS, all you need is to boot up the device with the USB drive inserted and load deck.hexos.com into your favorite browser.
TrueNAS SCALE is always present
The easiest way to think of HexOS is like a software layer running atop TrueNAS SCALE. Should anything go wrong with HexOS or you simply wish to log into TrueNAS and see what's what, the main OS and its GUI are present and available. This allows HexOS to provide simplicity through its streamlined interface and system management without sacrificing performance and functionality. If you wish to dig a little deeper and learn more about what makes a NAS work and fine-tune your installation, TrueNAS will provide all the necessary tools, allowing you to return to HexOS at any point.
For now, you can try TrueNAS SCALE and play around with the underlying OS. HexOS isn't yet available, though the beta program is expected to run sometime later this year. Should you be interested in giving this new OS a go once the program goes live, head to the official HexOS website.
