Terramaster F8 SSD PLUS NAS Review

[@TheAndred1]

Just great seeing new companies blowing some of these old school ones out the water. The NAS "gate keepers" now need to step up their game . Adjust your thinking or be left behind as we head into 4K becoming the standard . I'm just blown away with the new evolution .

[@garyreinsch510]

Perfect NAS for me. Quiet, quick and a small form factor!

[@ahmedshareef3550]

In my opionion, a good NAS should kick in high power fan when its in high performance. As soon as it gets cooling under control it should relax, when idle it should save power. A quiet NAS may be quietly doing thermal throttling to cut down performance instead of running fans.

[@recordbutton1845]

Thanks for the review. Still can't seem to find a review on the non plus unit. Terramaster has done a great job of sending the more expensive Plus unit to every KZbinr on the planet.

[@MichaelBennett1]

Was quite nervous about buying from a relatively unknown brand but absolutely love my Terramaster F4-423, zero issues in 9 months of usage and it's very snappy and I'm using their (T)OS - bargain for £300 from Ali. I think researching it was the reason I found and subbed to this channel.

[@nascompares]

Plus, 3rd party OS too! People forget that, you can sling UnRAID on it for further resource lean-ness on that, create a ZFS pool and go NUTS (and still keep your H/W warranty)

[@MichaelBennett1]

@@nascompares yeah, I did intend to put unraid on it but left TOS to see how it went and I've had no need to switch, my use case is only as storage, HomeAssistant in VM and Plex though.

[@AlwaysBolttheBird]

I got my F4-423 when TOS was still (I believe) version 4 and immediately got rid of it for TrueNas and love it. Had it about a yeah and a half and it’s been a solid purchase. I’m excited to get this NVME one

[@CBarker151]

Ah the N95, memories. Dropped mine and broke the screen, only screen I have ever broken I was gutted! But back to the actual video topic. This is really nice. Great to see these classes of devices coming out more now. Now to get one with dual 10Gb and auto failover support for HA......

[@nascompares]

*clicks beers* respect. N95 users, forever

[@fwiler]

This is a great kit. I have the ugreen and it works great, but it is limited in bays. This will be a nice addition.

[@BigBoxLittleBox]

Both the Plus and non-Plus models look excellent. I still have to ask the question of why are there no small form factor all SATA SSD multi-bay NAS devices available. For an all flash home media server I would love to see an 8/16/24/32 bay SATA SSD NAS or maybe an 8 or 16 bay with the option to add additional 8 or 16 bay "expansion" boxes. For a home media server, NVMe disk speeds are just overkill - plus SATA SSDs support hot-swap and NVMe don't.

[@frankwong9486]

I see some raspberry pi with nvme carrier board and nvme to sata controller .then a 3d printed 4-6bay 2.5 inch SSD and a small 40mm fan for everything 😮 X86 version will be the droidx86 board with n100 CPU and quad sata port , wait for people review those

[@ritterkeks]

exactly! now for high-speed demanding use-cases like Video Editing for e.g. youtubers, those NVME devices can push a lot of data, but I'd argue for most consumer clients a multi-bay NAS with 2.5'' SATA-SSDs that are quite a bit cheaper is still more than fast enough!

[@jorper2526]

​@ritterkeks what's the point though? The price difference is negligible, ans SATA SSDs are a dying breed.

[@BigBoxLittleBox]

@@jorper2526 Much easier to handle/install/replace, support hot-swapping and generate far less heat. Cooling of NVMe disks becomes very important for sustained prolonged use. And in the UK (where I am based) there's still a price premium for NVMe disks vs SATA.

[@jorper2526]

@@BigBoxLittleBox Easier? Eh that entirely depends on individual use cases. If you have to put sleds on each drive.. We'll that's a bit of a pain. And NVME supports hot swapping. M.2 as a form factor does not. Sadly I don't think we are likely to see any U.3 enclosures in the near future, so SATA does have that. Though I would argue most home users don't need a small NAS like this running 24/7. What is the price difference? Here in the US it's all pretty much the same price, unless the SATA is cheaper because it's being liquidated.

[@律師]

Hi, it is an amazing NAS system. May I know the 10 GbE NIC model? is it a Intel NIC or AQC?

[@JasonsLabVideos]

I love how small these are getting !! Now we just need nvme 2tb ssd's to come down in price !!

[@nascompares]

And they are...at least until the next trade war...

[@Saphykitten]

I’d love to see them at $70-80USD. I’m ready to toss all my sata SSD and go all NVME.

[@JasonsLabVideos]

@@nascompares I need to grab 4 x 2tb units for my little LincPlus box that was donated !

[@clausskovcaspersen5982]

and 4 and 8 tb 🙂

[@GroundDwellerStudioS]

I'd love 8TB drives to not cost $800-$1,000 USD

[@esunisen3862]

How many icons do you want on your task bar? Rob: Yes.

[@nascompares]

YOU SUMMED ME UP THERE. GOOD ONE! *weeps with considerable RAM loss*

[@fowler0028]

Where to get it in the UK and is there a big difference in performance between the plus and non-plus versions?

[@RemmiGaming]

Hi love the update, what's the best way to set terramaster for video editing?

[@marcelduvenage3289]

Hi thanks for the review, very interesting.. Would you recommend this to edit video off?

[@nascompares]

Direct over 10GbE? Honestly. Yes. The density of the video media is a factor, and I would definitely, DEFINITELY recommend attacking a USB-to-1G/2.5G/5GbE adapter to one of the USB slots to add a separate network/internet connection (so you have failover AND so not need to share the 10G bandwidth), but yeah. This would do the trick! Plus, start on 1-3 SSDs at the start, then gradually add SSDs to the slots (expanding the RAID) over time as you need for storage, to spread the costs

[@marcelduvenage3289]

@@nascompares Thanks so much, sounds great, I'll look into it a bit more. Footage is a mixed bag, H.264 some Prores, Red.. It would just be me so no sharing the network. Can't seem to find an m.2 DAS so thought this could perhaps work.

[@pagrus7]

19:10 someone tried installing truenas scale and faced numerous issues. Q: what is the basis for the claim that unraid and truenas can be installed on this device?

[@frankwong9486]

n305 on my x86-p5 was amazing but the p5 seems got some signal issues under heavy load , not bad for a test mini pc . Interested in this terramaster thing ,some potential pairing with their d8 hybrid ？

[@meibing4912]

Good times for us with limited NAS requirements. 8x4TB is 32 TB - most people will not need more for their private stuff. And you don’t even need to buy the most expensive nvme’s out there.

[@johnlong3473]

I bought this NAS for my home movie collection to stream to my Apple TV. I am still unsure about the SSDs I should get for it. I'm thinking about the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB the WD Red SN700 4TB or the Crucial P3 Plus 4TB. Which one would you recommend for speed and especially durability?

[@kaseyboles30]

A single pcie3 lane can carry a 4k60 video stream no problem, You've got much more than that, indeed an Apple tv can only input about 2 pcie3, or one pcie4 lane worth of data at most (wifi 6 under ideal conditions, the gigabit ethernet port is even slower, though more secure and more reliable). IOPS won't matter streaming is mostly serial in nature. I'd look at the warrantee first then the advertised tb written per day figure from there. 2tb drives give the most space per dollar, however the larger the ssd the longer they typically last. 8tb gen4 drives would likely be ideal here if you can afford to spend $6.4k on them. 4tb drives would only be about $1.6k for 8 drives and half that for 2tb drives. TLDR: I think your sweet spot here is high durability/reliability 4tb drives, likely gen4 pcie units from a reputable brand. speed and iops will easily blow away what you're Apple tv maxes out at even with video streaming even at 4k.

[@johnlong3473]

@@kaseyboles30 Thanks a lot! That really helped.

[@AlphaConde-qy7vi]

From my cursory readings, for durability you'll want the SN700, since they handle much more TBW than the rest. Comes at a price, zo.

[@KapitanMokraFaja]

I'm waiting for a battle of TerraMaster vs Ugreen all ssd models (Asustor feels autdated already for fresh buy)

[@nascompares]

On it!

[@nixxblikka]

@@nascompares Looking forward to this!!!!

[@joseph_p]

This *might* be the nvme nas that checks enough of the boxes at a reasonable enough price point, that I finally pull the trigger!

[@MrLightweb]

Getting Terramaster F8 Plus. Thought about buying Flashstor but gen1 has too weak CPU and gen2 (when released) will not have integrated graphics

[@yotubemcka8601]

will it run truenas?

[@nascompares]

F#£k YEAH! But, you WILL need a few extra things. 1) you will lose 1x SSD to the Operating System drive for TrueNAS. 2) by default, the system boots from an internal SSD, so you would need to remove that, connect a usb (any port) with the TrueNAS installer media (use the guide below), and also connect a keyboard/hdmi monitor/TV. As you will need to go into bios and change the boot order later. www.google.com/amp/s/nascompares.com/2022/08/10/how-to-install-truenas-core-on-your-terramaster-nas/amp/

[@BerNieSLU]

I was leaning towards ugreen but now Terramaster 6-bay unit has my attention

[@ahmedshareef3550]

From design perfectgive I presume Ugreen will have thermal issues. Especially when you cant attach a chunky heatsink as hits the case. In addition I expect Ugreen to have high limitation in apps for now.

[@aijokker]

2:02 what about licstation n1? Is it not in competition?

[@aaabbb-tn3lr]

Does anyone know if NVMes with preinstalled heatsinks work? How thick can they be?

[@bufordmaddogtannen]

I'd consider a TopCon NAS development board. 1xNVME slot onboard, split into 4 NVME slots, 2x2.5G plus EDIT no 10G ports, 1xM2 for WiFi, 2 SATA ports should you want to use them. Around £190 plus taxes for the I3 version. Add RAM, a plastic project case and a brick power supply of your liking.

[@nixxblikka]

Would mind posting what I would have to search for this ?

[@bufordmaddogtannen]

@@nixxblikka Sure. You should find it by searching "X86-P5". There are two models, one with an N100 CPU and another one with an i3-N305. If you buy it, make sure the top NVME board is included.

[@bufordmaddogtannen]

​@@nixxblikkaI wrote a longer reply but KZbin doesn't like it. Short version: X86-P5. Make sure the 4 NMVE slots are included.

[@bufordmaddogtannen]

​@@nixxblikkaX86-P5. KZbin doesn't like longer replies...

[@nixxblikka]

@@bufordmaddogtannen Much appreciatetd thank you

[@likevista]

My Flashtor with Unraid Take under 10W Out of the socket. Over 20watt for doing nothing is crazy.

[@nascompares]

But that's a 4 core celeron at 10W (I think!), whereas the n305 i3 is an 8 core and 15W TDP out the gate. This prob makes a bit of a dent!

[@Rafskat]

​@@nascompares Maybe, but i expected less with low power chip. My NAS/home server pull 12-19w when idle (due to fans spinning) With i5-10500 and 5x spinning rust and 6 SSDs (drives in standby ofc)

[@iAndrea96]

@@nascomparesmy N305 in idle is around 10/11W, but I set its TDP to 9W instead of 15W since it’s configurable

[@Galmok18]

A laptop uses like 2 watts in idle with 1 idle nvme disk and the screen off. (i5-8365). I don't see why this nas should use 10-15 watts in idle. The disks use next to nothing in idle/sleep.

[@andrewmarvinkeuning7024]

With the 10Gb USB C port, can you add a JBOD enclosure with 4 or more spinning HDDs and raid them with the software they provide? Or do they just show as individual drives only? I think this was a limitation of the Asustor, but I have not tried it recently.

[@nascompares]

You can connect one of the many terramaster usb expansions and raid them (unsure of 3rd party USB das support). I really want to try and connect the D8 Hybrid to this and have 12 M.2 and 4 HDD..but finding the justifiable video subject (other than a 1 month video of me saying "look at this Shiz!) is tough

[@kaseyboles30]

If ssd prices had kept falling and sizes kept growing this would be a much better device. Right now the cheapest per GB nvme m.2 drives are the 2TB drives with 4TB a smidge behind them. 8 TB is twice the cost per GB. d

[@jodajackson4489]

Oh I do like this one. A nice bit of kit. Nearly has almost everything one could ask for. Might have to get one of these,…

[@gurgelj.776]

Hello, I am a big fan of the channel and found it very helpful as well. Do you provide personal consulting services? How do I get in touch?

[@ryannaylor3398]

Can the 10 gbps nic also do 5 and 2.5 gbps?

[@ThePriestHole]

My N95 was only surpassed by the E90 Communicator and N80ie in my list of god-tier mobiles. Another great review, just need to save my pennies for the SSDs 🤣

[@nascompares]

You beautiful bastard! I threw this comment in the vid and almost removed it, but thought to myself "someone will think that, surely". Also, the E90...the GOD TIER QWERTY PHONE *bows majestically*, my lord!

[@EViL3666]

I've always steered clear of TerraMaster, as they always looks cheap.. but past 2 generations has been very appealing... this thing is a little larger that a WD Elements...

[@Yandarval]

Seems a little odd to have TOS 6 on this thing. Six is still in beta, not production, for most other TerraMaster products.

[@nascompares]

To be fair, they sent this to me as a review unit, I'm not sure when it is hitting full retail. I imagine his ships with TOS 6 and will coincide with the non beta release - but I'm speculating here

[@Yandarval]

@@nascompares Interestingly, ONLY TOS 6 is available for it, in the downloads section of TerraMaster. So it appears you are likely correct for it having the first production version at launch.

[@nascompares]

I mean, I "dumb lucked" it tbh

[@Yandarval]

@@nascompares It makes sense that if TOS 6 is being sent out with review units. Along with a trade show this month.

[@diogoalmeidavisuals]

Where are all the 1U rack versions of these all NVME NAS? I can only find full depth servers

[@nascompares]

Tbh QNAP have something like that in the FX and FU series..but even they are 2U and E1s.

[@DS-pk4eh]

So that would be 550USD for NAS itself and then 8x8Tb ( each SSD is around 800, so 6400) for almost 7 grand in total. You would really need to really need it for something to call it cost effective. Big part of NASs solutions are software part ( like Synology, Asustor...). How is the situation here?

[@godoflight558]

8TB ssd's are way overpriced, better off going with 8x4Tb pcie3.0 (~250 so 2000 total)

[@DS-pk4eh]

@@godoflight558 Yes, you are right that their cost per Tb is higher than for ssd with lesser capacity. Now there are 4Tb ssd for 195 (at least here where I live). But I was going for max capacity as hypotetical case.

[@tariqalbedwawi8613]

As per the plex list, this model is not very good for decoding 4k, how come ?🤔

[@LucidThought]

Damn.., can't seem to freeze the video so I can read the voucher T&C's :-(

[@radeksparowski7174]

so now only to get affordable 16tb drives

[@3dchick]

I'm a total NAS noob, and wondering which of the two, this and the Asustor Flashstor 12, is more user-friendly for a total beginner. I don't understand a lot of the features mentioned on these reviews, so I thought I should just ask. My use case is storage and access of large (giant) files. I work in Unreal Engine, and those projects can range from 40-90 gigs each. I already own 4 4b m.2 ssds I've been using as externals in enclosures, but having everything spread out separate drives is making me crazy.

[@AlphaConde-qy7vi]

If you haven't already bought a NAS, the Flashstor Gen 2 should be released next month.

[@3dchick]

@@AlphaConde-qy7vi I saw those, and almost waited, but the upgrades come with an updated price, too. So far, I'm thrilled with the gen 1. 😊

[@randymullins5525]

So need a media nas to put my dvd on

[@id104335409]

So the price of Asus Flashstore is still better. I guess it will be down to that.

[@ahmedshareef3550]

Heat vents on top is not a good idea. Any drop of liquid could pass through the vents and land directly on the mother board and instantly become trash.

[@alldecentnamestaken]

If this just had a second LAN port I would have already bought one of these.

[@nascompares]

That single LAN really hurt, yeah

[@EthanBB]

Can I replace that USB and run Unraid ... that's the question!

[@nascompares]

And I have the answer. Yes. You 100% can. But you need a very small usb. I recommend the SanDisk micro one that I highlight in my guide here - nascompares.com/guide/install-unraid-on-a-terramaster-nas-drive-a-step-by-step-guide/ Oh..and because the terramaster BIOS list the USB as boot #1, no having to KVM in and change it from the boot disk!

[@roger38888]

Was that a seagull @ 2:02😂. Well, I think this one will beat the Asustor in the price size category.

[@joenyland4833]

Oh, you haven't heard? I thought everybody had heard...

[@arson114]

Could someone please help me understand why if Unraid says not to use ssd drives in the array (cache only) because trim breaks something, how do all these new 100% ssd NAS systems handle it?

[@fwiler]

Unraid can handle all ssd. You put the drives in a pool, not an array. Then you can use something like ZFS.

[@arson114]

@fwiler Thanks. I have two in a mirrored pool now. But I can't take advantage of the whole mixed drive size array that unraid is known for, can I?

[@tdevosodense]

32gb of ram ??? The cpu (on Intels website) only supports 16 gb of ram 🤔🤔🤔 Have anyone tried to upgrade to 32gb ram ??

[@tariqalbedwawi8613]

I need NAS help 😞 I want to buy a nas that transcode my huge 4k movies so at least 4 or 5 people remotely can watch my movies in 4k without any issues remotely ☹️please help 😣

[@kienanvella]

Word of warning on those rubber band attached SSD heatsinks - the rubber bands won't last long with the heat, and the heatsinks will fall off. At the moment most of my SSD heatsinks that came with rubber bands have had them replaced with thin zip ties instead, I think I have a few that are using some thermally conductive adhesive though.

[@Yandarval]

The bands should be made from silicone. So should have no problems with heat. Cheap adapters do tend to fail due to not using silicone.

[@nascompares]

I think I mentioned it in the vid(apologies if I don't, there is a Plex and shorter form vid on this coming) that at x1 speed, the heat generation is going to be significantly reduced unless you REALLY hammer this sustained over time

[@mvp_kryptonite]

Nice!

[@alexsullivan88]

Guys, does anyone know this Hiksemi brand? I'm looking at some models, does anyone know which would be the best option, as the prices are very close. Hiksemi Future X SSD, 2TB, Read 7450MB, Write 6750MB - (TBW: 3600 TB / 3.98W) - More robust heatsink SSD Hiksemi Future X Lite, 2TB, Read 7100MB, Write 6350MB (TBW: 1500TB / 4.9W) - More robust heatsink SSD Hiksemi Future, 2TB, Read 7450MB, Write 6750MB (TBW: 3600 TB / 3.98W) Hiksemi Future SSD, 2TB, Read 7440MB, Write 6610MB (TBW: 1500TB / 6.7W) SSD Hiksemi Future Eco, 2TB, Read 4850MB, Write 4450MB (TBW: 3600TB / 2.5W)

[@latitudeash]

I want one

[@Andy-fd5fg]

Regarding them using Virtualbox.... Why not.... It's reasonably popular.... it's mature They are trying to developed their other software... so why bother reinventing the wheel.

[@nascompares]

Ya know what. You are bloody right. Shame on me for being so closed minded!

[@sunsetsam33]

Not worth it to me. Have a Terramaster D5 Thunderbolt 3 DAS with 5 HDDs. Faster access, much more storage, at less cost than this enclosure. If the price of SSDs comes down a LOT, then I can switch to them and get another big boost in speed, but until then price/performance wise the D5 TD3 is a much better deal. But I don't need a NAS, so it's not quite apples to apples.

[@ericasante8545]

lol the N95 came Out March 31, 2007… 😂 can’t stop laughing

[@nascompares]

Have a heart mate! I'm dying over here over that...

[@sergeynosov8180]

You nailed it-no ECC-no buy.

[@HikaruGCT]

you do not need ecc on ddr5 really. chances of you getting a error on those terramaster nases with ddr5 is virtually non existant. unless you live near cosmic area bombardment. people runned entire data centers on ddr5 with terrabytes of ram without ecc and has not had a memory corruption on petabytes of zfs pools and btrfs pools. its litterly not needed. your biggest concern tbh would be to get a proper UPS to shield ur nas and dont live where you get cosmic ray bombardments. and if you do live in those areas. get some nice protective racks for ur nases and voila problem solved... and lets imagine you run a massive server center for a large business you proboly have way better stuff than for a small to medium size business and home users wich is terramasters main customers. Also do note terramaster do have ECC memory available. its just not for the average joe

[@sergeynosov8180]

You especially need ECC on DDR5, as manufacturers are using on-die error correction to be able to sell faulty memory to the consumers; and because of this new feature, there is no way for consumers to validate whether the memory is faulty or not. All things being equal, on-die error correction would be a good thing. But all things are not equal,-process nodes are getting smaller, and this ‘swipe under the rug’, ‘hide errors silently’ type of error correction is a concerning trend.

[@HikaruGCT]

@@sergeynosov8180 If data centers with several petabytes of information has not gotten any errors on their ddr5 without ecc. And several hundres of thousands home lab owners who have ddr5 without ecc not gotten any errors and all studies done shows that its virtually nonexistant chances you get any issues. i think small business and home owners can be safe they do not need ecc :) They simply do not have the important data that cannot be safeguarded in other means. that they require ecc. Since there is ways around it. the day when customers and smal business start saying they getting issues thats the day it will be fixed not before. couse untill then its a wasted expense. just crying saying you need ecc for no obvious reason and without proof that you have a terramaster system wich has problems without ecc. kinda makes my entire point for me by self validateing xD

[@marcogenovesi8570]

@@sergeynosov8180 oh man, if you think that on-die ECC is to "sell faulty memory", just wait to learn how both hard drives and SSDs always had integrated ECC functionality since the beginning of time. The main reason JEDEC spec was forced to add on-die ECC is because of some hardware manufacturer whose name starts with "Int" and ends with "el" that refuse to support ECC ram at the memory controller level. Also what's the "hide errors silently" supposed to mean? it's on-die ECC, it's not hiding the error, it's correcting it. The non-ECC DDR was already "hiding errors silently"

[@sergeynosov8180]

Correcting errors was one of ECC functions, reporting errors was another equally if not even more important part. Seeing ECC errors in the logs was an indication that either the memory is going bad and needs to be replaced soon or that you are pushing too hard and have to dial down.

[@BoraHorzaGobuchul]

Freaking ui designers... "Let's make all windows small and scrollable, so people have to scroll instead of using all of the screen real estate!"

[@HikaruGCT]

its worth noteing though that this nas has 91k iops xD so its preatty good xD

[@nascompares]

Tbh I so rarely measure IOPS on NAS (Only on the dedicated SSD reviews) that I didn't spot that!! Cheers man

[@nickk07]

First comment, whoop!

[@JasonsLabVideos]

You win !

[@BobHannent]

I'm continuously disappointed that these NAS's come with so few PCIe lanes, that's what stops me being interested. Disappointed that your Amazon link in the description goes straight to the US Amazon, not the UK one. FYI, when i used to exhibit for a big manufacturer at IFA we called it "eefah" not I.F.A

[@nascompares]

Those Amazon links use 'onelink', so should redirect to your Amazon store of choice. Also, you could bump up the CPU for more lanes, but that would increase the price, the TDP and the cooling needs. Lastly, IFA is an acronym for Internationale FunkAusstellung Berlin. Sorry to be a "fact checking Frank"

[@reddeviluk]

That would NEVER fit in my bum bag.... Which is the only bag I carry these days...... Not really, it's not the 80s.

[@nascompares]

*looks at my Casio calculator watch* u wot mate?

[@reddeviluk]

@@nascompares BOOM!!!!. I remember a mate of mine getting one of those remote control Casio watches, we made a beeline to the local Comet and turned all the TVs up to full volume..... God I miss those days.

[@Cooper3312000]

That would be perfect other than the price probably cost around $100 for Terramaster to assemble.

[@Galmok18]

Too high idle power usage. No reason it should use this much when doing nothing.

[@hpsfresh]

What is wrong with all of them?!! Why the F they love external psu so much?!!

[@davybloggs1564]

Because you can hide it somewhere, and it makes the unit itself smaller as the PSU is external, and, as it's been said, it keeps the heat away from critical components inside the NAS itself. THINK about it.

[@MichaelBennett1]

I prefer it, it means easier replacement of the PSU which is one of the most likely components to die. It's no issue to have the brick hidden out of the way too.

[@nascompares]

Heat. Plus, at this scale of Watt rating, you end up having to go pretty bespoke to fit in this shape (good example is 30cm depth rackmounts - they have those ugly arae PCB transistor franken-PSUSs. Good in their own way, but an external small watt PSU will definitely lower production costs, which the end user enjoys too

[@frankwong9486]

Honestly I prefer external PSU with industry standard connector for easier replacement 😅（ but can we have the GaN model which is smaller please ）

[@hpsfresh]

It is soooo stupid. You have to find the place for two boxes now. And one of them have fixed cable, so you have to place it in certain area.

[@bufordmaddogtannen]

As usual, overpriced for what it is... Let's gloss on the fact that the NVMEs potential is wasted in there and that storage will be limited and expensive compared to a couple of HDDs. This is probably the easiest NAS to replicate with a mini ITX case, a lowvend CPU and an NVME backplane, although SATA SSDs in dedicated ports could work better.

[@nascompares]

Ok, I'll bite. Send me a shopping list of new parts to build something this small, with 8 3x1 m.2, 10GbE, an 8 core i3 or higher and with the OS (I'll accept TrueNAS!) for $799 all in, nuts and bolts.

[@bufordmaddogtannen]

You know the part list and the cost already, since you built DIY NAS boxes. The question is how much you want to bottleneck the NVMEs vs using SATA SSDs. Let's say £150 for a mobo with 2 NVME slots and a ryzen 2400G. £40 for the RAM, £35 for the case, £80 for a power supply, £25 for two NVME to 6xSATA adapters, £15 for A PCI to 4xNVME slots adapter. Use a micro ATX mobo if you want to add 2.5G or 10G later (or get 4+2 extra NVME slots straight away).

[@fwiler]

@@bufordmaddogtannen What you just described is a Frankenstein kit that is huge and can't do what this does. Quick sync comes to mind. Not to mention you didn't add 10Gb. And nvme isn't wasted. Size and low latency matters. So does heat, cost, noise, reliability, warranty. Sata ssd's are a pain because you have so many power connectors and they are now more expensive than gen3 m.2 nvme. Not to mention slower, take up more space, and finding a tiny case to mount all of them.

[@bufordmaddogtannen]

@@fwiler fine. Spend $800 for a bottlenecked box, which will never use the NVMEs to their potential then. BTW NVME generate more heat too... The truth is that unless you are using server hardware, NVMEs will be wasted. Want QuickSync ? Buy Intel.

[@fwiler]

​@@bufordmaddogtannen Ok bud, we get that you don't get it. It doesn't matter that the nvme isn't used at full speed. This fits in the palm of your hand. Internal operations are a hell of a lot faster than normal drives, especially small files, and external is saturated at 10Gb without issue. And no, heat is not a problem. 3x1 is not straining the nvme. I know because I have the ugreen that also has slower bifurcation, yet it's blistering fast for all operation with nvme barely getting warm.

[@TheTastefulThickness]

The Minisforum MS-01 with the i5 is $419 barebones. It comes with 3 NVME slots and a pcie expansion slot. I dunno about all of these products when that exists.

[@AlphaConde-qy7vi]

Apples to oranges. If you want to have remotely the same numbed of SSD slots, you'll have to buy a PCI-E adapter. Which may or may not work, lol (see STH video review). And something else you don't factor in : Minisforum's unreliability as a company. Wouldn't touch it with a 10 meter pole.

[@TheTastefulThickness]

@@AlphaConde-qy7vi Is Minisforum famously unreliable?