The Terramaster F8 SSD and F8 SSD PLUS Hardware Revealed
The Terramaster F8 SSD and F8 SSD PLUS NAS devices represent notable advancements in NAS storage solutions, designed for both small business and domestic applications. These models integrate high performance, versatile storage options, and advanced software features within a compact and portable design. Priced at $599.99 for the F8 SSD and $799.00 for the F8 SSD PLUS, they offer a range of capabilities suited to various user needs. This detailed analysis covers their design, ports/connections, internal hardware, software, performance, and concludes with an overall assessment.
Terramaster F8 SSD Design
The F8 SSD and F8 SSD PLUS are known for their sleek, compact designs. Each device is roughly the size of a paperback novel, making them easy to place in various environments, such as office desks, home shelves, or even portable setups for travel. Their lightweight nature, comparable to two cell phones, enhances their portability. Despite their small size, these NAS devices incorporate efficient cooling mechanisms, including upper and lower convection, heat sinks on each SSD, and silent fans, which help maintain low temperatures and reduced noise levels, with standby noise virtually imperceptible at less than 19dB.
Terramaster F8 SSD Ports/Connections
Both models are equipped with a variety of ports and connections to facilitate integration into diverse IT environments. Below is a table summarizing the ports and connections available on both models:
| Ports/Connections | F8 SSD | F8 SSD PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| RJ-45 10GbE Network Jack | 1 | 1 |
| USB3.2 Host Port | 3 (10Gbps) | 3 (10Gbps) |
| HDMI | 1 | 1 |
| M.2 2280 NVMe Slot | 8 | 8 |
| RJ-45 1GbE Network Jack | – | – |
| RJ-45 2.5GbE Network Jack | – | – |
| SFP+ 10GbE Network Jack | – | – |
| USB2.0 Host Port | – | – |
| COM | – | – |
| VGA | – | – |
| PCIe Slots | – | – |
These ports and connections enable the NAS devices to support high-speed network connectivity, extensive external storage options, and multimedia applications, providing versatility for various professional and personal uses.
Terramaster F8 SSD Internal Hardware
Internally, the Terramaster F8 SSD and F8 SSD PLUS have hardware configurations intended to deliver reliable performance. Below is a table outlining the key hardware specifications for both models:
| Hardware | F8 SSD | F8 SSD PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Processor Model | Intel N95 | Intel® i3 N305 |
| Processor Architecture | X.86 64-bit | X.86 64-bit |
| Processor Frequency | Max burst up to 3.4 GHz | Max burst up to 3.8 GHz |
| System Memory | 8 GB DDR5 non-ECC SODIMM | 16 GB DDR5 non-ECC SODIMM |
| Pre-installed Memory | 8 GB DDR5 (1x 8 GB) | 16 GB DDR5 (1x 16 GB) |
| Total Memory Slots | 1 (DDR5 SODIMM) | 1 (DDR5 SODIMM) |
| Maximum Supported Memory | 32 GB DDR5 | 32 GB DDR5 |
| Maximum Internal Raw Storage Capacity | 64 TB (8 TB x 8) | 64 TB (8 TB x 8) |
| Drive Hot Swap | Yes | Yes |
| Hardware Encryption Engine | Yes | Yes |
| Hardware Transcoding Engine | H.264, H.265, MPEG-4, VC-1 | H.264, H.265, MPEG-4, VC-1 |
| Transcoding Max Resolution | 4K (4096 x 2160) | 4K (4096 x 2160) |
| Transcoding Max FPS | 60 | 60 |
The F8 SSD utilizes an Intel N95 4-core, 4-thread CPU with a maximum burst frequency of 3.4GHz, supported by 8GB of DDR5 memory. The F8 SSD PLUS features an Intel Core i3 N305 8-core, 8-thread processor with a turbo frequency of up to 3.8GHz and comes with 16GB of DDR5 memory. Both models support hardware encryption and 4K video transcoding.
Terramaster TOS Software
The Terramaster F8 SSD and F8 SSD PLUS operate on the TOS 6 operating system, which enhances their functionality and user experience. TOS 6 introduces over 40 new features and optimizes more than 370 details. It supports a wide range of client OS, including Windows, Mac, and Linux, as well as mobile OS like iOS and Android. Key software capabilities include:
- Comprehensive RAID Support: Supports TRAID, TRAID Plus, Single, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, and RAID 10, offering flexible storage configuration options.
- Snapshot Services: Provides easy recovery of data in case of accidental deletion or modification.
- Centralized Backup Solutions: Facilitates backup management for Windows workstations, file servers, and virtual machines.
- Cloud Synchronization: Synchronizes with major cloud services like Google Drive, OneDrive, Amazon S3, Dropbox, Baidu, and Alibaba Cloud.
- Advanced File Management: Includes file protocol support (SMB/AFP/NFS/FTP/SFTP/WebDAV), user quota management, and extensive access right management.
These software features ensure that the NAS devices can meet diverse data management needs, from data protection to file synchronization across multiple platforms.
Terramaster F8 Performance
The performance of the Terramaster F8 SSD and F8 SSD PLUS is generally solid, attributed to their hardware and software. The F8 SSD achieves linear read-write speeds of up to 1020MB/s and 4K random read-write speeds of up to 300MB/s, making it suitable for applications such as virtualization, database management, and multimedia streaming. The F8 SSD PLUS, with its more advanced Intel Core i3 processor and 16GB of memory, performs better for intensive tasks and high-load workflows. However, the 4K random write speeds, while respectable, may be a bit underwhelming for an NVMe SSD over a 10GbE network. The 300MB/s+ write speed indicates a potential internal bottleneck, possibly due to the PCIe or PCIe controller. This limitation suggests that while the devices perform well, they may not fully utilize the potential of NVMe SSDs in all scenarios, especially in write-heavy applications.
The Terramaster F8 SSD and F8 SSD PLUS NAS devices provide robust storage solutions with a combination of high performance, versatile connectivity, and advanced software features. Their compact design, efficient cooling, and noise reduction technologies make them suitable for both small businesses and home users. The extensive ports and connections, solid internal hardware, and robust software capabilities ensure these NAS devices can handle a wide range of professional and personal data management needs. Despite some limitations in write performance, they offer reliable and high-speed storage options. These NAS devices are a reasonable choice for users seeking efficient and capable storage solutions, though those requiring maximum write performance might need to consider potential bottlenecks.
IMPORTANT – Terramaster F8 SSD PLUS Review NOW LIVE – You Can Read it HERE
Terramaster F8 SSD PLUS NAS Review – Conclusion and Verdict
You really have to give Terramaster credit here for this system. With so many brands trying to enter the world of dedicated flash SSD storage in the last year or so, the F8 SSD Plus is hands down one of the most impressively designed options out there. Somehow arriving with more storage than most options out there, whilst also being the smallest. Long-time storage veterans are definitely going to ponder temperatures and operational heat when the system has been up and running for long periods of time, but Terramaster has clearly factored this in too with a vast amount of tactical heatsink placement, angled airflow, and painfully necessary SSD performance reductions in order to stop the cart before the horse bolts in terms of heat! The Terramaster F8 SSD Plus is by no means a perfect SSD NAS! Not by a long shot in fact! As long as you keep it realistic in terms of what you expect an eight-bay SSD system of this scale and price point to be able to do, I do not think you will be disappointed! Just make sure to remember that this is not an enterprise piece of kit, and is geared far more towards the prosumer, the enthusiast, and perhaps the small/medium business user.
Content creators, photographers, videographers, and those that want to manage a fast-moving database in a small group of users are definitely going to feel the benefits of the F8 SSD Plus. But the absence of higher-tier business features in terms of hardware, such as ECC memory and no network failover out of the box, are going to be a pain for those bigger users that have bigger demands. The TOS 6 software is, on the whole, better than it’s ever been in terms of feature set, functionality, and responsiveness. I am still not really in love with the “Windows 11” aesthetic, and definitely miss the TOS 5 desktop style that has become something of a staple of the NAS software industry, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. At this point, there really are very few things available in the NAS market in terms of software that are not available here. A flexible RAID system in T-Raid, support of BTRFS, a multi-tiered backup software, multiple client tools, support of Write Once Read Many, volume encryption, two-factor authentication, isolation mode, the list goes on and on. It would be easy to critique the system in saying that it lacks ZFS (with numerous inline features that really benefit SSD use), but then you also remember that Terramaster allows users to use third-party operating systems like UnRAID and TrueNAS, which means that these are not completely off the table anyway!
Overall, I’ve got to say that the Terramaster F8 SSD Plus is a fantastically capable, affordable, and impressive desktop flash NAS system, and in a growing competitive marketplace for these kinds of devices, Terramaster has done a phenomenal job in their introduction of a new SSD-targeted solution in their portfolio. It may lack some of the software pizzazz of a Synology or aggressive hardware of a QNAP, but it manages to do its own thing very well, and as long as you keep your expectations realistic, this is a phenomenal NAS for 2024/2025.
| PROs of the F8 SSD PLUS NAS | CONs of the F8 SSD PLUS NAS |
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