TerraMaster's F8 SSD Plus NAS was released recently and is designed for users who demand high-speed performance that can travel with them and doesn't create excessive noise like its SATA Drive siblings. The new system seems to cater to professionals and casual users who need fast network storage that doesn't take up a lot of space in their homes or offices. The question is, does it deliver on its promise, and is it worth the price?
The TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS promises to bring professional-level network-attached storage to photographers, videographers, and creative professionals requiring fast, reliable, and secure data management. In this review, I'll dive into some of the specifics of this eight-bay SSD NAS system, exploring its build quality, performance, software capabilities, and overall value for advanced users and beginners.
Disclosure: TerraMaster and Western Digital sent us a review unit and SSDs to test. Neither company had any input on content, and all opinions shared are those of PetaPixel.
Out of the gate, the F8 SSD Plus NAS system seems to be one of the most interesting all-flash NAS options. It's one of the only systems that offers eight bays for M.2 SSD drives in a surprisingly small package, clearly aimed at content creators and photo/video enthusiasts. The system feels very affordable (for what it is) when compared to its competition (And that includes its SATA system competitors).
This device excites me after testing several different NAS and DAS systems over the last few years, especially since I've been slowly delving more into video production and face a greater need for larger and faster storage systems.
TerraMaster's F8 SSD Plus NAS comes in a much smaller package than one would expect of a typical NAS system. Out of the box, it's not much bigger than a typical external USB hard drive. Built with a sleek, minimalist design, the enclosure can easily blend into pretty much any workspace without causing any distraction. Its compact build, measuring 6.96 by 2.36 by 5.51 inches (177 by 60 by 140 millimeters) and weighing just about 1.3 pounds (0.6kg) without drives, allows for convenient placement (vertically).
Unlike the rest of the TerraMaster NAS Lineup, the new F8 SSD Plus has no indicator LED status lights on the front for the drives, network activity, or system health. The only LED light happens to be on the top of the system where the power button is located. To view this system status' you'll have to use the TNAS Mobile/Desktop app or web-based login, so depending on your stance, this can be viewed as a positive or negative. I tend to use the apps and have many automated alerts set up with my systems, so I didn't mind the missing indicator lights. In fact, I preferred it as it was less of a visual distraction while the system was on and doing its thing.
You'll find all the connections and ports at the rear of the device. These include a single 10GbE port, a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C and two Type-A ports (all offering 10Gbps), and an HDMI output, providing users with a scaled-down but versatile range of connectivity options. While there are fewer connection options like the SATA siblings of the TerraMaster lineup, the F8 SSD Plus still caters to users needing high-speed data transfer and those who want to connect the NAS directly to a display for media playback or monitoring.
Below all these ports are where you'll find the small thumbscrew for popping open the system from its enclosure casing to add/remove drives and perform any maintenance needed. The eight M.2 SSD bays are easily accessible and clearly labeled (1 to 8), allowing for quick installation and maintenance of drives. One of the standout features is its tool-free drive installation, making the setup process straightforward, even for those who aren't tech-savvy. Now, it's worth noting here why getting into and sealing the enclosure only requires a thumbscrew; securing the SSD drives requires a smaller (precision) screwdriver, which is provided with the system. So it's arguable that the F8 SSD Plus isn't quite as "tool-free" as advertised.
Given the intensive workloads that NAS systems often handle, efficient cooling is vital. The TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus is equipped with two large, low-noise fans at the rear/bottom, ensuring adequate airflow to keep the system cool during operation. Even under heavy loads, the device maintains a relatively quiet operation at an advertised less than 19 dB(a) from a meter away, a significant advantage for users working in noise-sensitive environments like home studios or small offices.
The F8 SSD Plus system has eight M.2 SSD slots (capped at PCIe Gen 3×1 speeds), and they even provide eight heatsinks, adhesives, and rubber bands to keep it all attached should you feel like some extra protection for the drives. The rubber bands are very snug, and honestly, there was a bit of a struggle to get over the devices, and I even broke a few of them. The good news is that TerraMaster seemed to have planned for this and packed a lot of extra bands. With my testing, Western Digital provided four 250GB WD Red SN700 NVMe SSD drives which I setup as a 500GB BTRFS TRAID Plus for a 50/50 redundancy.
By default, the F8 SSD Plus ships with a 16GB DDR5 memory stick installed in the system's single SODIMM RAM Slot. You can increase this setup to 32GB if your workload with the NAS system requires it. Finally, the eight-core, eight-thread Intel i3-N305 processor should not only handle most everything you can throw at it (from a NAS storage perspective, but it's also a pretty impressive power-efficient system that's seated just above the dual 50-millimeter fans at the bottom of the enclosure to help keep things cool under any high workloads that pop up. One thing I did notice, though, was the lack of a dust filter over (or inside) the fans. While not a huge deal, this could be a bit of a worry over time. On the positive, opening up the case to clean it out is straightforward, but that still requires additional maintenance to schedule and plan.
Setting up the F8 SSD Plus is straightforward, thanks to TerraMaster's step-by-step guide, which is easy to use. Users can initialize the system by connecting it to their local network and following the on-screen instructions via the web portal (Or even the desktop app). Once initialized, users can utilize a desktop or mobile app to manage and monitor their NAS if they don't want to use the web interface. That said, while convenient, the web interface is pretty intuitive and packed with a wide range of apps and settings, making it easier to tailor the NAS to individual needs. New users may initially find the interface slightly overwhelming, but the learning curve is manageable.
The F8 SSD Plus runs on TerraMaster's TOS 6 operating system, recently updated to 6.0.5, which offers a pretty polished and intuitive user interface. The company says the OS has been significantly improved over the previous generations, with more than 500 enhancements and new features focused on enhancing data security, performance, and ease of use. While I haven't tested the older operating systems, I can confirm that there are places for pretty much everything you would need to adjust and control that are easily accessible through the control panel. If you ever get confused, TerraMaster has a pretty extensive library of step-by-step guides and videos on their website to walk you through any confusing parts. So, the initial setup of the NAS is straightforward, including the guides to configure network settings, user accounts, and storage pools.
While it may not feel as robust or extensive as its Synology competitors, the TerraMaster NAS and TOS 6 operating system include a decent range of built-in apps like TerraSync for seamless file synchronization, TerraPhoto for managing large photo libraries, and TerraMaster's app store with over 100 other applications that cater to different use cases such as media streaming, backup solutions, and virtual machine hosting. Additionally, for users familiar with Docker, the system allows for even more customization, enabling the installation of additional software that may not be natively supported by TerraMaster.
This is where things got a little frustrating. While the NAS was easy to set up and reported no strain whatsoever (the system never even went over 48 degrees Celsius during hours of continuous use), during stress tests with Blackmagic Design Disk Speed Tests and AJA System Test, the F8 SSD Plus consistently provided read and write speeds of about 100 MB/s across my network. As it turns out, when using a Gigabit LAN (1Gbe), you tend to be a little limited as to your data transfer speeds can be.
So, to make things more thorough, I brought the NAS to a colleague's office to test out the 10Gbe transfer rates and was pleasantly surprised. The transfer speeds would peak briefly at about 1,000 megabytes per second and then settle between 600 and 850 megabytes per second. It is a much more improved and expected performance than my home network. I tested these speeds using the AJA and Blackmagic software for long-duration stress tests. I also transferred over about 150 gigs worth of video files (ranging from a few hundred megabytes to 10-plus gigs in size) to monitor the performance. Still, the system never went over 50 degrees in heat and had no issues letting me load and watch those videos across the network, working from them using the SSD NAS.
What was more impressive when you compare this to standard SATA drive NAS systems, is that at no time did the system make any excessive noise from the fans. During its heaviest workload of stress testing, the fans started to go up to as loud as about 28 dB(a) but quickly dropped below the advertised 19 dB(a) level. Both mine and my colleague's workspace were already louder than what the NAS was producing at its noisiest, making it ideal to have inside the same room you are working in compared to SATA models.
There aren't a lot of purely SSD NAS systems on the market at this level, but there are still a few similar systems available to choose from. These include the $999 UGreen DXP480T Plus 4 bay SSD NAS, the $399 Ugreen DXP2800 Sata/SSD Hybrid NAS, and the $799 12-bay SSD Asustor Flashstor 12 Pro.
Yes. Priced at around $799 -- not including the M.2 SSDs -- the TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus offers solid value for its performance and feature set. The small size, consistently quiet performance, power, and storage expandability make it a compelling choice for users who need a reliable, quiet, high-speed NAS without breaking the bank. The system's eight drive bays provide a ton of expansion space for future growth (up to 64TB), which should be enough to keep even the most prolific data hoarders happy.
The only real downside with this device is the single 10Gbe Ethernet port, which can feel somewhat limiting if you have a workload requiring a lot of aggregation and failover protections. Beyond that, it's a solid investment for someone needing NAS storage and a minimal physical footprint.