5.0 out of 5 stars
F4-422 TerraMaster Tnas (With optional 10TB Seagate Ironwolf HDD)
Reviewed in the United States on 22 December 2020
Ive been wanting a nas for a long time, and not having any experience with tradition 1U, or 2U products or software - i was caught in a black cloud of back up and storage issues. Until i found this guy. This thing is GREAT. Some of the reviews say its loud when it writes, which is is - but its not as bad as you think. I'm typing this on a mechanical Keyboard, and the keystrokes are more prominent than the writing of the files im transferring to the NAS as we speak. After looking at other solutions, like Qnap, Asustor, Synology etc. They each had little nuances that made me not want to get them, for instance Dual core processors vs the Terra's quad - or the fact that they dont (Or Can't) do video encoding, or bottlenecks in transfers . So keep that in mind when ordering yours.
Set up: Super easy, i bearly had to input any information, it was 95% automated. The NAS comes with a QR code for the online instructions, which is web based, but super helpful and easy to use. It either asks you questions or tells you what to do, you hit "Next." and move on. Literally Plug the thing in, hook up the internet patch cable (I had to get a 5 port switch because its upstairs in my room, with my desktop) plug in the power, and you're ready to go. The set up process i YT'd it, just to make it easier, but its really step by step too. Usernames, passwords, it will format the drives to install the BTRFS file system. If you want to use it remotely, you just put your IP addres of the server (it will give you a pop up, say on your desktop when you log in that you can save for reference) Type that in Chrome, FF or whatever - and just log in. It just works.
Use: Install Plex for media Server, and some of the other ones like "Back up", Multimedia server, Adobe acrobat. One button installs, and very quick - very automated. You need to set up your public and private filesystem though, otherwise your public will be shared and you don't want your private stuff shared in that folder.
I only got one drive, its all i could afford now, just realize unless you partition 3 seperate partitions before installing it into the NAS it will take only one disk and format the whole thing as one partition (for RAID). But when you add new drives, it will automatically add them, and you can use RAID 5 or whatever. I have no back up since im using 1 drive. (Yet)
Very happy with this, the software - ease of use, noise level is fine (I have six Corsair 140 LL fans in my desktop, it's not anymore noisier than those, but they're also not at full speed, maybe 20% of max rpm.
Oh, FYI - the Ram module that comes up on Amazon for this specific brand, isn't shown to be compatible in the list. I emailed them, and asked a question on that sale page for the product, very quick response, but was lacking or didnt understand what i was referring too. I told them that the User manual (and online specifics) for the F4-422 said "upgrade able to 8gb ram" which is fine, but the manual says 4gb x 4gb configurations, but the manual says it only has 1 ram slot. By Default, there has to be two slots for a 4x4 configuration. 1 slot would be fine for 8gb stick, but they don't make those. It's either 2x2 or 4x4. Not a big deal, but just more curious. But that ram stick IS compatible with this.
Con: I only wished they had it in Black. It looks nice, but all my computer stuff is black, so this stands out a bit. I can paint it too after the warranty runs out.
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