I maintain a secondary NAS in addition to my trusty Synology DS920+ for all kinds of tinkering. It is my little box of experiments that I put together for fun. For the longest time, it was running Unraid without hiccups, doing what it was supposed to: storing media, running a couple of Docker containers, and just pretending to be a fancier setup than it really was.

I was working on fixing a misbehaving container, tweaking a setting over and over to no avail. That’s when it occurred to me that I should move on to something else, something that would challenge me in a new way. I wanted to go all in on Docker containers and virtual machines. Around then, I even had the itch to try out Proxmox VE, having read so much about it, so everything just fell into place.

So, I did what every self-respecting tinkerer would do — I wiped all the drives, installed Proxmox, and I was chasing the virtualization world in full throttle.

From a home NAS to a server rack

The change was stark

If Unraid feels like a nice and cozy studio apartment that is full of conveniences, then Proxmox is an intimidating server rack that is confusing to even look at. It has got a much different vibe. It feels raw and faster and much less forgiving.

The difference shows up the moment you log in. While Unraid greeted me with a bright dashboard, like it is designed for human beings, Proxmox feels like it is made for network admins who are always surrounded by servers and always chugging down coffee. It sure isn’t unfriendly, but it assumes you know exactly what you’re doing, so it’s much less forgiving that way.

That was, of course, the whole point of switching over; I wanted more control and something specifically built to handle Dockers and VMs. Since it was my spare server that didn’t put my data on the main NAS at risk, I could trial and error without worrying — even if it took wiping the drives clean and starting afresh in case I messed up too much.

It’s been a dream run

I only gained from it

If you know what you’re getting into Proxmox for, it will work for you like a charm. It is incredibly capable, letting you isolate workloads properly, allocate resources, and snapshot everything like a pro-grade software should. You have to use it to feel the difference, but VMs and containers do seem to run faster and lighter on the same system. It’s quite a satisfying sight, knowing that you set it all up.

Unraid bound me by the limits; every NAS OS has an upper limit that they hit one day or another. Proxmox is more liberating, and curiously, it could double up as a storage unit too, if you want it to. It’s fascinating how much it has let me play around with things like mounting ZFS datasets, testing backup jobs, attaching disks, and experimenting with my VMs. For someone who writes about this stuff for a living, that’s the exact kind of convenience I wanted without severe consequences.

But I’d be lying if I said that nostalgia didn’t creep in even once.

The biggest Unraid trait I miss

Can something be too hands-on?

Unraid had quite a few great sides that I liked, but it’s not the parity system or the drive mixing that I miss the most. It is something much subtler but more profound: the way Unraid made me feel like I was always just a click away from understanding my setup.

Unraid’s UI was not just friendly but also gave me a sense that I knew where everything was. There were visual cues to guide me through and a feedback loop to tell me when I hit a wall. I remember adding a new drive that showed you exactly where it sat in the array; starting a container was an experience, watching it come to life. It was as if the system was working with you, helping you get where you wanted to be.

Proxmox, on the other hand, feels smug about itself, so much so that it doesn’t afford me the same level of confidence. It assumes you’ll figure things out, and you usually do by digging through Reddit or YouTube tutorials or Discord communities, but it’s still a colder kind of relationship. You don’t get the hand-holding or the reassurance that your array is buzzing all right — you have to find all that out yourself.

That brings me to another thing, albeit a bit minor, that I miss. Unraid is a full-fledged OS that does everything, from being my NAS and Docker host to a VM manager and file server. Proxmox is a platform, one that you build your stack on top of. That’s indeed way more powerful, but it also means every small convenience like file sharing or media hosting becomes another virtual machine or container I must maintain.

Of course, I knew what I was getting into, and I have learned a lot from the experience. But I do sometimes get nostalgic about it, particularly when I run into a problem with Proxmox.

More appreciation for Unraid

And nothing against Proxmox

Switching from Unraid to Proxmox didn’t make me regret the move, but it did make me appreciate Unraid for what it actually is. It lets you be both a casual home NAS user and a system admin running a data center without being overwhelming.

Proxmox is firmly planted in its own space. You start using it only if you already know your way around ZFS pools, NFS mounts, CLI commands, and whatnot. There is no learning curve — you’re supposed to be a pro from day one, like its name. And that’s what it’s built for.

You can turn Proxmox into whatever you want it to be, even a pseudo-NAS, but Unraid gives you the comfort and confidence that you know what you’re doing, even if you don’t. That’s where you have to pick your poison; both are built differently for different purposes. As for me, I might switch back to Unraid if one day I feel too nostalgic about it or just find a new alternative to play with.