SoftNAS® Deployment Guide on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

This how-to article provides step-by-step instructions for deploying SoftNAS® on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). It is designed for first-time users and administrators who want to:

• Launch a SoftNAS instance from the OCI Marketplace

• Configure networking, security, and storage pools

• Expand Block Volumes and adjust ZFS storage pools

• Validate deployment and enable monitoring

• Plan for high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR)

By following this guide, you’ll have a fully functional SoftNAS deployment on OCI that can support a wide range of enterprise workloads — including Windows File Shares, databases, HPC, media workloads, and hybrid/multi-cloud storage environments.

1. Navigate to the Oracle Cloud Marketplace.

2. Search for SoftNAS to view all available OSN SKUs.

3. Select the OSN size (e.g., OSN-1, OSN-2, OSN-4) that matches your workload IOPS and throughput requirements.

💡 Tip: OSN sizes scale with performance. Choose based on expected peak workloads.

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SoftNAS Listing on the OCI Marketplace

1. Assign a name to your SoftNAS instance for easy identification.

2. Choose the appropriate compartment for resource organization.

3. Select an Availability Domain (AD) aligned with your IT strategy.

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Instance name, compartment, and AD selection

Proper network design ensures security and performance:

• VCN and Subnets

  • Use private subnets for production workloads.

  • Access via VPN or bastion host for security.

• Gateways

  • Internet, NAT, Service, and Dynamic Routing Gateway (DRG) as required.

• Security
  Configure NSGs and Security Lists for necessary traffic:

  • SSH (22)

  • HTTPS (443/8443)

  • NFS (2049)

  • SMB/CIFS (445)

  • iSCSI (3260)

💡 Tip: Use NSGs for granular per-vNIC firewalling rather than relying only on Security Lists.

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Networking configuration

1. Ensure your SoftNAS instance is in the Running state.

2. Note the OCID (used as the initial admin password).

3. Record the Public IP for web access.

💡 Tip: Securely document your OCIDs and IPs for operational reference.

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Instance running with OCID and IP address

1. Enter the instance Public IP in a web browser.

2. Login Credentials:

   • Username: softnas

   • Password: Instance OCID

3. Complete initial setup prompts.

🔒 Security Tip: Change the default password immediately after first login.

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SoftNAS StorageCenter Login page

The StorageCenter dashboard provides:

• Real-time storage pool and volume metrics

• Health status of ZFS pools and replication

• Quick access to disk devices and configuration wizards

💡 Tip: Familiarize yourself with the dashboard before making production changes.

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SoftNAS Dashboard

As storage needs grow, you can resize disks and expand storage pools.

• The SoftNAS UI allows modifying Oracle Block Volumes easily.

• The OCI Portal can also be used for advanced edits.

✅ Best Practice: Use disks of the same type, size, and performance in a pool.

• Go to Storage → Disk Devices in Buurst StorageCenter to view attached Oracle Block Volumes.

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Getting Started page → Disk Devices

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Disk Devices list → Edit Device

Select Add Device.

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Add Device

Authenticate using one of two methods:

• Instance Principal

• OCI User ID + API Private Key

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Add Device authentication

If you’ve configured your OCI SoftNAS instance to use an Instance Principal, simply select the Use Instance Principal checkbox.

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If you wish to use your OCI ID and API Private Key: 

• Paste your OCI ID into the User’s Oracle Cloud ID text box. 

• Upload your API Private Key 

To upload your Private Key, select the Upload button located to the right of the API Private Key Path text box.

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The Upload API Private Key utility will appear in which you have options: 

1. Click the Select an API Key… button – this will allow you to select your API Private Key from your local machine.

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2. Select the Paste Contents checkbox – this will allow you to paste your API Private Key into the API Key

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Configure your disk as desired under the Choose OCI Disk Options section and select the Create OCI Disk button to complete your creation.

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1. Locate your new disk in the Disk Devices list.

2. Select it and click Edit Device.

   • This opens the properties window for modifying OCI Block Volume settings.

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Within the Edit Disk screen, you can:

• Increase disk size (⚠️ cannot decrease).

• Adjust VPUs/GB to tune performance.

• Enable Performance-Based Auto-Tune or Detached Volume Auto-Tune.

• Apply changes by clicking Update OCI Disk.

💡 Tip: Start with Balanced settings and only increase VPUs if workloads require more IOPS or throughput.

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1. Navigate to Storage Pools → Create.

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2. Accept the SoftNAS Best Practices warning (recommendation for uniform disk sizes).

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3. In the Create a New Storage Pool utility, configure:

   • Pool Name

   • RAID Level (Mirror, RAID-Z, etc.)

   • Select the disks to include

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4. Click Create to finalize.

1. Go to Volumes and LUNs → Create.

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2. The Create Volume utility will open.

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3. Fill in:

   • Volume Name

     • Associated Storage Pool

   • Volume Type

   • Provisioning Type (Thin/Thick)

   • Optional optimizations (compression, deduplication)

4. Click Create to complete the volume.

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When resizing a disk, ZFS pools and file systems do not automatically expand. You must expand the device and adjust the storage pool quota to fully utilize the capacity. 

To expand storage after resizing a disk:

1. Use the Edit Device option in StorageCenter to expand the block volume.

2. Go to Storage Pools → Expand Pool/Quota to apply the new capacity.

📌 Example:

• Pool nas_pool was created with:

  • Disk 1: 50GB

  • Disk 2: 100GB

• If Disk 1 is resized to 100GB, expand the pool to ensure both devices contribute evenly.

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Pool expansion and quota update

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After completing deployment and any disk expansions, validate your SoftNAS environment:

• Verify expanded pool sizes and quotas in StorageCenter.

• Confirm ZFS pool health (no degraded devices).

• Test client connectivity using:

  • NFS for Linux/UNIX

  • SMB/CIFS for Windows File Shares

  • iSCSI for block-level access

• Configure alerts for:

  • High capacity utilization (>80%)

  • Disk or pool degradation

  • Network/protocol errors

✅ Best Practice: Integrate with OCI Monitoring or centralized tools.

• SnapHA® for HA – Protect against node or AD failures.

• SnapReplicate™ for DR – Replicate to a secondary SoftNAS instance for offsite protection.

• Scheduled Snapshots – Implement automatic snapshots for point-in-time recovery.

🔗 Reference:
Managing SnapReplicate™ and SNAP HA™Preview

• Document IPs, OCIDs, and changes for audits.

• Keep SoftNAS updated for security patches and new features.

• Review growth trends to plan proactive expansions.