Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Leverage up to eight dissipated , reliable , shock - resistant , and increasingly affordable NVMe SSDs in TerraMaster ’s fast , F8 SSD Plus net storage box . Almost as flying as local storage , it ’s a commodity , albeit costly paroxysm for operation - hungry workgroups .
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The interior of the F8 SSD Plus shows four of the eight M.2 slots. There are four on the other side as well.
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Best Prices Today: Terramaster F8 SSD Plus NVMe 10Gbe NAS
While local storage ( a driving plug into via USB or Thunderbolt ) is preferred for most heavy - obligation tasks , if you want to share projects and data between workstations , especially those that are in disparate locations , then NAS , or web Attached Storage , can be super handy .
Typical consumer / prosumer NAS box ( which are really just little servers capable of far more than simple storage ) , mount hard drives or SATA SSDs . But more and more we ’re look products such as the TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus reviewed here , which feature eight PCIe M.2 slots for NVMe “ gumstick ” SSDs .
Of naturally , ethernet ca n’t have all of the insane performance offered by NVMe SSDs , even the 10 - Gbit miscellany ( 10Gbe ) that the F8 SSD Plus offer . But there are distinct advantages over backbreaking drive , especially in term of seek time and random ops . This can be a huge advantage when multiple asking from multiple electronic computer are being handled simultaneously .
The interior of the F8 SSD Plus shows four of the eight M.2 slots. There are four on the other side as well.
Did I observe far superior physical robustness ? On with the review .
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus’s features
The TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus is an 8 - bay / slot NVMe NAS box with an 8 - core Intel Core I3 CPU , 32 - execution building block GPU ( part of the CPU ) , 16 GB of DRAM , and 10Gbe ethernet connectivity .
Ports include enjoin 10Gbe ethernet , three 10Gbps USB porthole ( two Type - A , one Type - C ) , and an HDMI larboard which is currently for nosology rather than direct video turnout .
The approximately 7 - inch magniloquent , by 2.25 - inch widely , by 5.5 - inch deep F8 SSD Plus enclosure opens via a individual thumb screw and rests on rubber feet . It ’s not peculiarly hefty , weighing only 1 pound , 10 oz. with eight SSDs instal .
The three 10Gbps USB ports, 10Gbe port, HDMI port, AC jack, and thumb screw on the back of the F8 SSD Plus.
you could contribute just under 5 ounces of extra heft by employing the eight include hotness sink ( nice jot TerraMaster ) . Whether you ’ll really need passion sinks bet on how much dealings the devotee - cooled box seat is subject to , but they ca n’t hurt .
Despite its upright orientation , I did n’t find the F8 SSD Plus particularly fluid , i.e. , wanton to tip over . That said , you might need to repose it on its side if it ’s located somewhere it might be knocked over . Of naturally , SSDs are n’t nearly as delicate as the hard drives that normally inhabit NAS boxes so a tumble likely would n’t be catastrophic .
The F8 SSD Plus sports the entire gamut of NAS / waiter feature such as security department , user control , filing cabinet sharing , media streaming , Bittorrent downloads , telecasting surveillance , Docker and VM hosting . These all require installing applications from TerraMaster ’s curated collection . There are numerous backup solutions available as well and the File Manager lets you add remote folders from various on-line computer storage services such as Dropbox , OneDrive , Google Drive , and Amazon S3 / S3 - compatibles .
Count ’em. Eight beefy heat sinks are provided with the F8 SSD Plus. They’ll help keep the SSDs cool under heavy load.
While the feature are there , TOS 6.0 is n’t quite as refined as the operating system offered by the QNAP ’s and Synology ’s of the world . One dashing hopes was the deficiency of multi - tasking in TOS 6 . For instance , I could n’t melt down file manager or anything else while I was installing an app . There are eight nitty-gritty guys … come on !
Also , the programme did n’t seem to register such things as a deleted memory board puddle , an added online terminus , or a newfangled volume immediately . I twine up rebooting each time to get these change to read .
In the closing , I find TOS 6 attractive , decently intuitive , relatively easy to utilise , and stable . But it could apply some OK - tuning ( and multi - tasking ) , even if none of the issues are peculiarly lethal .
Just one of the plethora of settings pages in the TOS 6.0 NAS operating system.
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus price
The Plus version of the F8 SSD we tested costs a rather goodish $ 800 , but there ’s a plain interpretation with “ only ” a 4 - core central processing unit and 8 GB of DRAM that comes in at $ 600 . How much few nucleus will affect overall performance we ca n’t say without testing that version . But it ’s likely that four cores will be fine for most single- , two - user , or home office scenarios .
If you want to explore the more advanced server features of TOS 6.0 such as hosting virtual machines , go Docker , and home surveillance , then I recommend the extra performance of the Plus .
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus performance
Using the F8 SSD Plus was a very sprightly experience , from the HTML ( web browser ) user interface to uploading and download files . I filled the F8 Plus with eight 2 TB PCIe 4.0 ( overkill ) NVMe SSDs . Two were used for the operating organization and system pamphlet , while the other six were combined in RAID 0 , then in RAID 1 using BTRFS as a file system ( the FS in BTRFS ) .
TerraMaster also offers its own forward-looking foray configurations under the nickname TNAS , which put up redundance , spares , and a host of other modern foray features .
The mental testing were run from a Mac Studio M1 Max via its 10Gbe connectedness , through two 10 Base - T to SPF+ transceivers on a QNAP QSW-308 - 1C un - managed switch to the F8 SSD Plus . You might see slightly higher performance with 10 Base - T on both ends . You might not .
The file manager app in TOS 6.0
As note , the ethernet connection is go to be a limiting divisor , but the superior sequential and most peculiarly , wondrous random performance of NVMe SSDs will commit every snow leopard out of it . As you could see below , Disk Speed Test superintend over 1GBps reading , and well over 900MBps writing in RAID 0 .
AmorphousDiskMark was n’t nigh as affirmative about the F8 Plus ’s write f number , but actually snitch it higher in read speed . This is normal for the bench mark with web locations , and much near to what I see with real - world copies to the box . observe that Disk Speed Test uses a much smaller 5 GB information set so you ’ll get better performance with smaller writes .
You do n’t lose a whole lot of performance from the F8 SSD Plus when mirror in RAID 1 . But we ’re not nearly as disquieted about NVMe SSD failure as we are about HDDs go belly up so we do n’t consider RAID 0 verboten on this box seat .
The F8 SSD Plus reading and writing in striped RAID 0 under Disk Speed Test. Woohoo!
That said , you might keep one duet of SSDs mirrored and put your vital datum there , while using the residuum in quicker striped RAID 0 . The ideal frame-up will count on your data set .
AmorphousDiskMark also showed a dip in write speed with the F8 SSD Plus in RAID 1 . As Disk pep pill Test only writes 5 GB , ADM may be closer to the score . I also saw around 250MBps publish PCWorld ’s 450 GB filing cabinet to the F8 SSD Plus in RAID 1 .
Though it should be obvious , the F8 SSD Plus will only provide a major reward over other NAS solutions when it ’s used on a 10Gbe internet by multiple users . I still have it away it on my dwelling 2.5GBps ( which I use to reduce passion generation and vigor cost from 10Gbe ) internet , but 250MBps reading and authorship is something I can get with modern heavy drive or SATA SSDs . Some NAS boxes pop the question M.2 slot / NVMe SSDs for caching duties , which can cater near the F8 SSD Plus ’s performance under light duty .
This is closer to the write speed i get when I merely wrote our 450GB file using Finder to the F8 SSD Plus.
Then again , having lived through the voiceless driveway geological era , and having experienced at least a half dozen failure , let in some data point loss , I appreciate the comparative peace of idea that modern NVMe SSDs provide . I have n’t had one go venter up in many geezerhood , and the failure I have experience early on were due to controller lockups and the data was recoverable , albeit at hefty disbursement .
In fact , I ’m so sanguine about NVMe SSD reliability , that I would n’t hesitate to start the F8 SSD Plus in RAID 0 ( while backing up the vital data regularly , of grade ! ) .
I mentioned heat swallow hole , so I should cite that the fan in the F8 SSD Plus was n’t extremely noisy , but it was n’t as restrained as I might wish . Sitting near my dead - silent Mac Studio , I could get word it . I do n’t especially worry , but if such things bug you , you are now informed .
The F8 SSD Plus in RAID 1 still wrote quickly in Disk Speed Test.
mention that buying the top - tier SSDs for the F8 SSD Plus is a waste of money ; ethernet limits you to well under the pep pill of even an ancient PCIe 3.0 SSD . Go for mental ability , and save money with drachm - less ( Host Memory Buffer / HMB ) character . Their onboard secondary caching is well fast enough when in grouping ( and in all likelihood even singly ) , even though the F8 SSD does n’t support HMB basal caching .
A duet of the previously mentioned bug were in the disk coach . It was dense to acknowledge that I had deleted a book and would n’t let me edit the RAID 1 storage puddle it inhabited for several minutes . It then threw a dense error about the deleted storage syndicate being degraded , designate one of the drives it had contain . The rest were in a fresh RAID 0 raiment . chafe to be sure , but again , not fatal .
Should you buy the F8 SSD Plus?
plainly , the F8 SSD Plus is not your cheapest store pick , even as far as NAS goes . But if you desire fast - as - potential , first-rate - reliable , physically - bouncy net / workgroup storage with all the perqs a host can supply ( Docker , VMs , etc . ) , I ca n’t think of a better current option .
The F8 Plus in RAID 1 reads great, but writes slower than in RAID 0.
The F8 SSD in RAID 0 over a 2.5GBps connection. Good, but no better than most NAS.
