A first look at the Terramaster F8 SSD Plus

In addition to well-known brands such as Synology and QNAP, other companies have also established themselves on the market for network attached storage (NAS), some of which are successful and some of which are less successful. One of the newer brands in this area is Ugreen, which, for example, allows alternative operating systems to be installed on their NAS devices. Terramaster is also a brand that many people will be familiar with.

Terramaster recently introduced the new F8 SSD Plus model, which is particularly impressive due to its compactness. It can accommodate up to 8 M.2 2280 NVMe SSDs. At the heart of the device is the Intel i3 N305, an entry-level processor introduced in 2023. By default, the NAS comes with 16GB of storage, but this can be expanded up to 32GB. Connectivity options include three USB3.2 host ports, HDMI and an RJ-45 10GbE port. The dimensions of the device are 177 x 160 x 140 mm and the weight is only 600 grams when unloaded.

I was able to take a look at that NAS recently. For my “first look” I equipped it with 2 SSDs from Western Digital. Terramaster offers the device for 839.99 euroswhich is already a high price, for 2 WD RED SN 700 with 1 TB each then paid around 170 euros (The NAS was provided to me by a contact at Terramaster – but there is no influence).

How did I like the F8 SSD Plus? Let’s start from the beginning. The very simple, minimalist design is impressive. The NAS is small and handy. Only one screw is needed to open it. Terramaster supplies everything you need, including the cooling pads for the SSDs. Solid and fast in use, the TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus offers a variety of RAID modes that are possible for eight drives. No wishes should be left unfulfilled. When it comes to the file system, you can choose between ext4 and btrfs. The latter is the file system used as standard for the F8 SSD Plus and comes with features such as snapshots and data integrity checks.

Terramaster relies on a Linux with its own coating, the Terramaster OS, or TOS for short, which was recently released in version 6. It is structured very quickly and logically. The Terramaster store offers a manageable selection of apps, and there are also a few community apps. Terramaster offers a lot that revolves around the topic of backup, including photo and media apps. If you miss something, you can use Docker, Emby and Plex are adapted directly for TOS 6 ex works.

This is where my battle with the F8 SSD Plus began. What good is the Plex implementation? Nothing. It often crashed during setup. After I set the rights manually, things started to work at some point, but it wasn’t as good as it should be. Deactivating and restarting via the GUI wasn’t possible, so I had to access the box via SSH and fiddle around. An update that the server reported could be downloaded and installed, but that didn’t make it any better. Crashes here, crashes there. Then prefer Docker or native Emby, that worked perfectly.

That being said, here are a few screenshots of the system.

Otherwise, there is a lot in terms of options that make the NAS a good solution for private users and small companies, but QNAP and Synology overall seem more mature for the larger demands – and this also applies to third-party apps, community apps and support sites . Terramaster has a forum, but there is very little going on there. You have to be aware of this – and what the future security updates look like remains to be seen.

What else was there? There is only one RJ-45 10GbE port. It might have been nicer to see a second one. In order to maximize the speed, you have to have the appropriate connection at home, otherwise the whole thing will be of very little use to you. But if you have the whole thing available, then there’s a lot in it wired, you can get up to 1,000 MB/s, but realistically the average is something between 600 and 800 MBit/s. If you have 1 GbE at home, then you can still get 100+ MB/s. During the test it was already observed that the system never really got hot and that even when the fans started up, there was never a temporary background noise that was annoying. Especially compared to my other NAS products, this is a difference like night and day, but of course this is also due to the disks in my other cases.

The HDMI connection is certainly worth mentioning, but it doesn’t display TOS 6 on a monitor, but there is a Linux shell. Maybe Terramaster is still working on this, otherwise it would have been better to add a second LAN port.

Bottom line? Good solution if you are looking for something in a niche. NAS with pure SSD slots are rare, but there are hybrids. Nevertheless, the whole thing of course involves digging deep into your pockets – and the SSDs are once again on top. Suitable for creative professionals with the appropriate network connection and the requirements of a NAS. Everyone else will probably do better with other products because they may be cheaper.

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