Hi folks,

My small homelab (if it even qualifies as such) currently has a separate NAS host running TrueNAS CE and an additional Proxmox VE host. I want to set up Proxmox Backup Server and ultimately feed the backups to my TrueNAS, but I’m trying to figure out the best way to do so. I know the official guide suggests a whole separate machine (so a third host), but I’d prefer to not have to buy more hardware and keep it running 24/7 if I can avoid it (though if it is really critical I could probably get a little N150 box if it was strictly necessary, but this feels like a little much).

I am also considering virtualizing PBS on Proxmox itself, but it seems like either option is not ideal. For LXCs, it seems like trying to create a stable NFS share out to the TrueNAS system means I’d have to go with a privileged LXC vs. an unprivileged one (though I’d be happy to be wrong on that if folks have other experience with it), but of course this gives root access to the host itself. Alternatively, if I go with a VM, I’d heard that there are sometimes recursion issues where PBS ends up attempting to back up all VMs, including the VM that contains it, which leads to instability and just overall not having a great time.

As another alternative, I suppose I could pick up an NVMe and try to run PBS as an app on TrueNAS itself (but my understanding is that PBS is snappier when backups are on the same host and then pushed out via NFS afterward)?

Before I rip too much of my hair out, I figured I’d try to crowdsource and see how more experienced folks are approaching this. Thanks very much!