If you can properly passthrough your storage controller to a FreeNAS VM, then virtualization works and you won't even lose your current pool. I have ESXI instal

If you can properly passthrough your storage controller to a FreeNAS VM, then virtualization works and you won't even lose your current pool. I have ESXI installed on a PCIE SSD running a FreeNAS 9.10 VM with my SATA controller passed through to it. I can switch between that and natively booting a FreeNAS USB drive without any issues.