Best PLEX or Jellyfin NAS of 2025

Last updated on 05 Dec 2025 📧 Subscribe
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1 The Best PLEX and Jellyfin NAS Devices Released in 2025
1.1 #1 Synology BeeStation Plus 8TB – $399 to $419
1.2 #2 Minisforum N5 NAS – $599 to $749
1.3 #3 TerraMaster F4 SSD NAS – $320 to $399
1.4 #4 ZimaBoard 2 Single Board Server – $239 to $349
1.5 #5 UGREEN NASync DH4300 Plus – $365 to $390
2 Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?
2.1 Related
2.2 Discover more from NAS Compares

The Best PLEX and Jellyfin NAS Devices Released in 2025

Network media servers in 2025 range from tiny single drive boxes to fairly serious multi bay systems that can sit at the center of a home network. This article looks specifically at NAS hardware released in 2025 that can sensibly replace or supplement streaming services by running Plex, Jellyfin or Emby. The focus is on devices that arrive as complete appliances, with both hardware and a NAS style operating system included, so you can put a box on the network, install a media server app and start watching without building a PC or learning a full server stack.

To be included here, a NAS has to have gone on general sale in 2025, ship with its own OS rather than as a bareboard, and be able to run Plex Media Server, with Jellyfin and Emby support noted where it exists. In practical terms, that means hardware that can handle 4K and 1080p playback for multiple users and is realistically capable of at least 2 simultaneous 4K transcodes and 5 simultaneous 1080p transcodes, with a single exception where the overall package still makes sense for more limited workloads. RAID options, expansion, power use and noise are all taken into account, but the main filter is whether the device can function reliably as a modern media server on a typical home or small office network.

#1 Synology BeeStation Plus 8TB – $399 to $419

SPECS: Intel Celeron J4125 quad core 2.0 to 2.7 GHz – 4 GB DDR4 – 1 x 3.5″ 8 TB SATA bay (pre installed) – 1 x 1 GbE RJ45 / 1 x USB A 3.2 Gen 1 / 1 x USB C 3.2 Gen 1 – no M.2 SSD support.

BeeStation Plus is aimed at users who want a simple, appliance like Plex box rather than a configurable NAS. It runs Synology’s cut down BeeStation OS, has Plex Media Server support built in, and is set up entirely through a guided app and browser flow, so there is minimal configuration overhead. The hardware is sufficient for basic 4K and 1080p Plex use for a small number of clients, but the single non replaceable drive bay and lack of expansion, RAID options or M.2 slots mean it is best treated as a starter Plex unit for light libraries rather than a long term, scalable media server, and there is no official Jellyfin or Emby integration at this time.

What we said in our March ’25 Review HERE:

The Synology BeeStation marks a significant shift in Synology’s product line, targeting a new segment of users with its simplified yet functional design. This device stands out as an excellent middle ground between ease of use and a comprehensive private cloud system, providing secure and seamless access to stored data. While it is incredibly user-friendly and easy to set up, the lack of LAN access by default and its single-bay, 4TB-only configuration at launch might limit its appeal to more tech-savvy users or those seeking greater flexibility and expandability. The BeeStation’s unique selling point is its simplicity, making it a compelling choice for those new to NAS systems or for users who prioritize ease of use over extensive customization options. However, its simplicity also means that it lacks the extensive app support found in Synology’s DSM platform, potentially disappointing users accustomed to the richer application ecosystem offered by Synology’s more advanced models.

For users concerned about security, the BeeStation still upholds Synology’s reputation for secure data handling, with encrypted data transmission as a standard feature. However, experienced users who prefer a more hands-on approach to their NAS setup might find the BeeStation’s lack of advanced configuration options and its reliance on internet access for setup somewhat restrictive. In terms of market positioning, the BeeStation fills a gap left by other brands like WD and Seagate in offering ‘Easy NAS’ systems. Its competitive pricing, particularly considering the included 4TB of storage, makes it an attractive option for users seeking a private cloud solution without the recurring costs associated with third-party cloud services. Despite these potential drawbacks, the BeeStation is a solid entry-level NAS solution, especially for those seeking a personal cloud with minimal setup and maintenance. It may not be as feature-rich as Synology’s DSM-based NAS devices, but for its intended audience, the BeeStation provides a well-balanced combination of functionality, ease of use, and affordability. Synology’s move to cater to a broader, less technically inclined audience with the BeeStation demonstrates their understanding of market trends and user needs, offering a solution that balances simplicity with the reliability and quality Synology is known for.

In the end, the Synology BeeStation is an ideal choice for users seeking a straightforward, reliable, and cost-effective personal cloud solution. It represents Synology’s commitment to diversifying their product range, catering to the evolving needs of different user segments. While it may not suit everyone, especially those looking for advanced features and customization, it excels in its role as a user-friendly, secure, and affordable entry-level NAS device.

SOFTWARE - 7/10
HARDWARE - 8/10
PERFORMANCE - 7/10
PRICE - 10/10
VALUE - 10/10


8.4
PROS
👍🏻User-friendly setup, ideal for beginners or those seeking a simple cloud solution.
👍🏻Secure data handling with encrypted data transmission.
👍🏻Comes with 4TB of storage included, offering good value.
👍🏻Compact and lightweight design, enhancing portability.
👍🏻Quiet operation, suitable for home or office environments.
👍🏻Integrates seamlessly with popular cloud services like Google Drive and OneDrive.
👍🏻Affordable pricing at $199, a cost-effective alternative to third-party cloud services.
👍🏻Supports remote access, allowing data management from anywhere and across client devices/OS
👍🏻Synologys reputation for quality and reliability is still clear on this smaller scale.
👍🏻Several client tools (BeeFiles, BeePhotos and Desktop sync tool) for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android available for tailored access
👍🏻System configuration backup option to USB/C2 (Often absent in budget cloud solutions)
👍🏻AI Photo Recognition in BeePhotos for faces, Objects and geo data scraping + Advanced filter/search
CONS
👎🏻Lacks the extensive app support and customization found in Synology\'s DSM platform.
👎🏻Only available in a single-bay, 4TB configuration at launch, limiting expandability.
👎🏻Single 5400RPM HDD running everything leads to slowdown more than you think!
👎🏻LAN access is disabled by default, which may not suit all users.
👎🏻Designed for a specific user base, may not meet the needs of more advanced users.

#2 Minisforum N5 NAS – $599 to $749

SPECS: AMD Ryzen 7 255 8 core 16 thread up to 4.9 GHz – up to 96 GB DDR5 via 2 SODIMM slots – 5 x 3.5″/2.5″ SATA bays – 1 x 10 GbE RJ45 / 1 x 5 GbE RJ45 / 2 x USB4 – 3 x M.2 2280 NVMe or U.2 SSD slots (PCIe 4.0).

The Minisforum N5 is a compact 5-bay NAS that targets users who want preconfigured hardware with some workstation derived design features. It uses an x86 CPU in the same general class as the Aoostar WTR Max, paired with an internal storage module of 64 GB for the system volume, and is typically sold in the 599 to 699 USD range, with the separate Pro variant occupying a higher bracket. The chassis integrates a removable drive base section for easier maintenance, and the platform includes multi-gig networking up to 10 GbE and 5 GbE, a PCIe expansion slot and USB4 connectivity for additional bandwidth or external devices. Minisforum ships the N5 with its own NAS operating system to provide an immediate out of box experience, but the software is still relatively young and many buyers elect to overwrite the included module with a more established NAS or server OS. Throughout 2025, availability has been intermittent, reflecting a level of demand from home lab users who want higher specification NAS hardware without building entirely from individual components.

What we said in our July ’25 Review HERE:

The Minisforum N5 Pro is an impressive and highly versatile NAS platform that successfully combines the core strengths of a storage appliance with the capabilities of a compact, workstation-class server, making it suitable for demanding and varied use cases. Its defining features include a 12-core Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 370 CPU with 24 threads and onboard AI acceleration up to 50 TOPS, support for up to 96GB of ECC-capable DDR5 memory for data integrity, and a hybrid storage architecture offering up to 144TB total capacity through a mix of five SATA bays and three NVMe/U.2 slots. Additional highlights such as ZFS file system support with snapshots, inline compression, and self-healing, along with high-speed networking via dual 10GbE and 5GbE ports, and expansion through PCIe Gen 4 ×16 and OCuLink interfaces, position it well beyond the capabilities of typical consumer NAS systems. The compact, fully metal chassis is easy to service and efficiently cooled, enabling continuous operation even under sustained virtual machine, AI, or media workloads.

At the same time, the bundled MinisCloud OS, while feature-rich with AI photo indexing, Docker support, and mobile integration, remains a work in progress, lacking some enterprise-grade polish, robust localization, and more advanced tools expected in mature NAS ecosystems. Minor drawbacks such as the external PSU, the thermally challenged pre-installed OS SSD, and the higher cost of the Pro variant relative to the standard N5 are important to weigh, particularly for users who may not fully utilize the Pro’s ECC and AI-specific advantages. For advanced users, homelab builders, and technical teams who require high compute density, flexible storage, and full control over their software stack, the N5 Pro delivers workstation-level performance and configurability in NAS form—offering one of the most forward-thinking and adaptable solutions available today in this segment.

The is now available to buy:

  • Minisforum N5 Pro (Check Amazon) – HERE
  • Minisforum N5 Pro (Check AliExpress) – HERE
  • Shop for NAS Hard Drives on Amazon – HERE
  • Shop for SSDs for your N5 Pro on Amazon – HERE

BUILD QUALITY - 10/10
HARDWARE - 9/10
PERFORMANCE - 9/10
PRICE - 7/10
VALUE - 8/10


8.6
PROS
👍🏻High-performance AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX PRO 370 CPU with 12 cores, 24 threads, and AI acceleration (50 TOPS NPU) is INCREDIBLE for a compact desktop purchase
👍🏻Support for up to 96GB DDR5 memory with ECC, ensuring data integrity and stability in critical environments
👍🏻ZFS-ready storage with numerous ZFS and TRADITIONAL RAID configurations, snapshots, and inline compression
👍🏻Hybrid storage support: five 3.5\\\"/2.5\\\" SATA bays plus three NVMe/U.2 SSD slots, with up to 144TB total capacity
👍🏻Versatile expansion options including PCIe Gen 4 ×16 slot (×4 electrical) and OCuLink port for GPUs or NVMe cages
👍🏻Dual high-speed networking: 10GbE and 5GbE RJ45 ports with link aggregation support + (using the inclusive MinisCloud OS) the use of the USB4 ports for direct PC/Mac connection!
👍🏻Fully metal, compact, and serviceable chassis with thoughtful cooling and accessible internal layout - makes maintenance, upgrades and troubleshooting a complete breeze!
👍🏻Compatibility with third-party OSes (TrueNAS, Unraid, Linux) without voiding warranty, offering flexibility for advanced users
CONS
👎🏻MinisCloud OS is functional but immature, with unfinished localisation and limited advanced enterprise features - lacks MFA, iSCSI, Security Scanner and More. Nails several key fundamentals, but still feels unfinished at this time.
👎🏻Despite External PSU design (will already annoy some users), it generates a lot of additional heat and may not appeal to all users overall
👎🏻Preinstalled 64GB OS SSD runs hot under sustained use and lacks dedicated cooling. Plus, losing one of the 3 m.2 slots to it will not please everyone (most brands manage to find a way to apply an eMMC into the board more directly, or use a USB bootloader option as a gateway for their OS
👎🏻Premium $1000+ pricing may be hard to justify for users who don’t need ECC memory or AI capabilities compared to the standard N5 at $500+

#3 TerraMaster F4 SSD NAS – $320 to $399

SPECS: Intel N95 quad core up to 3.4 GHz – 8 GB DDR5 (expandable to 32 GB) – 4 x M.2 2280 NVMe SSD bays – 1 x 5 GbE RJ45 / 2 x USB A 3.2 Gen 2 / 1 x USB C 3.2 Gen 2 / HDMI 2.0b – 4 x M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 slots (2 x2 / 2 x1).

The F4 SSD is an all flash NAS designed for users who want a compact, relatively low power Plex or Jellyfin server without mechanical drives. Its Intel N95 CPU and integrated graphics are sufficient for multiple 1080p and a modest number of 4K transcodes, and the 5 GbE interface allows the box to make use of higher network throughput than 1 GbE units. TerraMaster’s TOS 6 system offers a one click Plex package and container support for Jellyfin and Emby, but the interface and ecosystem are less refined than those from the largest NAS brands, and performance is ultimately limited by the entry level CPU and PCIe layout when many concurrent streams or heavier background tasks are involved.

What we said in our Aug ’25 Review HERE:

The TerraMaster F4 SSD presents itself as a well-considered entry into the compact, all-flash NAS segment, balancing low noise, energy efficiency, and competitive performance at a sub-$400 price point. With its fanless NVMe-based design, Intel N95 quad-core processor, and DDR5 memory, it meets the essential needs of home and small office users looking for a reliable and responsive storage solution. The inclusion of TerraMaster’s increasingly capable TOS 6 operating system, featuring AI-driven photo management, centralized backup, and Docker/VM support, makes it more than just a network storage device—it becomes a lightweight but versatile data center for the home. Its TRAID support allows for mixed SSD deployments with easy expansion, which is particularly attractive to users upgrading gradually or working within budget constraints. The thoughtful internal layout and cooling also ensure performance remains consistent even under sustained load, without sacrificing the near-silent operation.

However, the F4 SSD is not without caveats. The use of a single 5GbE port, without redundancy or aggregation, may deter users requiring network failover or higher throughput for simultaneous operations. Additionally, although the PCIe lane allocation strategy maximizes the N95’s limited bandwidth, the asymmetry between Gen3 x2 and x1 slots could bottleneck RAID performance depending on how volumes are configured. When compared to the larger F8 SSD or DIY options with dual 10GbE or ECC support, the F4 SSD may feel limiting to power users or business environments with stricter reliability requirements. That said, for the vast majority of home users, content creators, and prosumers looking for an all-in-one, high-speed NAS that blends well into living spaces, the F4 SSD delivers a solid and accessible solution. Its price-to-performance ratio, combined with the simplicity of deployment and maturing software ecosystem, makes it a compelling option in the growing market of SSD NAS devices.

Terramaster F4 SSD NAS

Amazon in Your Region for the Terramaster F4 SSD NAS @ $399

B&H for the Terramaster F4 SSD NAS @ $399.99

SOFTWARE - 7/10
HARDWARE - 8/10
PERFORMANCE - 7/10
PRICE - 9/10
VALUE - 9/10


8.0
PROS
👍🏻Compact, toolless chassis with easy-access thumb screw and SSD installation
👍🏻All-flash NVMe architecture with support for four M.2 2280 SSDs
👍🏻5GbE network port enables high-speed local and remote transfers
👍🏻TRAID and TRAID+ allow mixed-capacity SSDs and seamless storage expansion
👍🏻TOS 6 OS includes Plex, Jellyfin, Docker, VM support, and AI photo indexing
👍🏻Quiet operation (19 dB) and low power usage (32W under load)
👍🏻Priced competitively at $399 for a turnkey SSD NAS
CONS
👎🏻Single 5GbE port with no failover or link aggregation
👎🏻Two of the four SSD slots are limited to PCIe Gen3 x1, creating potential RAID bottlenecks
👎🏻Non-ECC DDR5 memory may not meet strict data integrity requirements

#4 ZimaBoard 2 Single Board Server – $239 to $349

SPECS: Intel N150 quad core up to 3.6 GHz – 8 or 16 GB LPDDR5x – 2 x SATA 3.0 6 Gb/s ports for 3.5″/2.5″ drives (external bays or enclosures required) – 2 x 2.5 GbE RJ45 / 2 x USB 3.1 Type A / 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1.4 – M.2 SSD support via PCIe 3.0 x4 add in card only.

ZimaBoard 2 functions as a small, fanless compute module that can be combined with any suitable SATA enclosure or loose drives to create a highly customised Plex or Jellyfin server. It ships with ZimaOS, which exposes a NAS style interface, app catalogue and container options, so the system is usable out of the box without manually installing a general purpose Linux distribution. Dual 2.5 GbE ports and Intel Quick Sync support give it enough capability for several 1080p and selected 4K transcodes, but the absence of internal bays or native M.2 slots means storage design is entirely external, and the device is better suited to users who do not mind assembling their own chassis or reusing existing cases and drive cages.

What we said in our April ’25 Review HERE:

The ZimaBoard 2 is a competent and thoughtfully assembled single-board server that builds meaningfully on IceWhale’s earlier efforts, especially the original ZimaBoard and the ZimaBlade. Its design clearly targets users who want more flexibility and performance than traditional ARM-based boards can offer, but who also value power efficiency, silence, and a small footprint. The use of an Intel N150 CPU, 8GB of LPDDR5x memory, dual 2.5GbE ports, and a PCIe 3.0 x4 slot makes it viable for a variety of home server roles—from basic NAS and smart home coordination to lightweight container hosting and local media streaming. Features like onboard SATA, USB 3.1, and a DisplayPort connection further add to its utility. However, there are hardware limitations that may affect long-term suitability for advanced deployments. The soldered RAM cannot be upgraded, and the internal eMMC storage, while useful for initial setup, is too slow for OS-level responsiveness in more demanding use cases. Passive cooling, while appreciated for silence, also imposes some thermal limitations depending on the deployment environment.

On the software side, ZimaOS offers a decent out-of-the-box experience that caters to users with minimal technical background. It handles core tasks like application deployment, file sharing, and system monitoring without requiring advanced configuration, and its Docker-based App Store simplifies access to popular tools. For more experienced users, the system supports third-party OS installation, which is likely how many will ultimately use the ZimaBoard 2. Still, as a bundled solution, ZimaOS has matured significantly and now presents itself as a lightweight, capable, and non-intrusive platform for those who prefer to get started immediately. In the broader context of DIY server hardware, ZimaBoard 2 occupies a middle ground: more powerful and modular than Raspberry Pi-class systems, yet more constrained than full x86 mini PCs or enthusiast-grade NAS hardware. For those who understand and accept these trade-offs, and are willing to plan around its limitations, the ZimaBoard 2 offers a reliable and flexible foundation for compact, energy-efficient computing at the edge.

Check Amazon in Your Region for the Zimaboard 2

Check AliExpress for the Zimaboard 2

BUILD QUALITY - 10/10
HARDWARE - 8/10
PERFORMANCE - 8/10
PRICE - 9/10
VALUE - 10/10


9.0
PROS
👍🏻x86 Architecture – Compatible with a wide range of operating systems including ZimaOS, Unraid, TrueNAS SCALE, and Proxmox.
👍🏻Dual 2.5GbE LAN Ports – Offers strong networking capabilities for multi-service workloads and gateway setups.
👍🏻PCIe 3.0 x4 Slot – Enables high-speed expansion for 10GbE NICs, NVMe storage, or combo cards.
👍🏻Fanless, Silent Operation – Completely passively cooled, ideal for home or quiet office environments.
👍🏻Compact and Durable Build – Small footprint with an all-metal chassis that doubles as a heatsink.
👍🏻ZimaOS Included – User-friendly OS with a Docker-based App Store and basic VM tools, ready out of the box.
👍🏻Flexible Storage Options – Dual SATA ports plus USB 3.1 support for connecting SSDs, HDDs, or external drives.
👍🏻Low Power Consumption – Efficient 6W CPU with ~10W idle and ~40W max under heavy load scenarios.
CONS
👎🏻Non-Upgradable RAM – 8GB of soldered LPDDR5x limits long-term scalability for memory-intensive tasks.
👎🏻Slow/Small Default Internal Storage – 32GB eMMC is convenient but underperforms for OS-level responsiveness or high I/O workloads.
👎🏻Thermal Headroom is Limited – Passive cooling alone may not be sufficient in closed environments or under sustained load without added airflow.
👎🏻Not Launching on Traditional Retail, but instead on Crowdfunding.

#5 UGREEN NASync DH4300 Plus – $365 to $390

SPECS: Rockchip RK3588 8 core ARM (4 x Cortex A76 + 4 x Cortex A55) up to around 2.4 GHz – 8 GB DDR5 – 4 x 3.5″/2.5″ SATA bays – 1 x 2.5 GbE RJ45 / HDMI 2.0b / 1 x front USB C 3.2 Gen 1 / 2 x USB A 3.2 Gen 1 – no internal M.2 SSD slots.

The NASync DH4300 Plus is a 4 bay ARM based NAS that targets users who want RAID 5 capable storage for Plex or Jellyfin along with general backup duties at a moderate price. UGREEN’s UGOS Pro operating system includes its own media apps, an app store and containerisation features, and community testing has confirmed that Plex can achieve multiple 1080p and several 4K streams, benefiting from the RK3588’s hardware video engines. There is only a single 2.5 GbE port and no M.2 cache or expansion options, so scaling is limited to the 4 SATA bays and external USB storage, but for users who prioritise RAID 5 resilience, low to mid range transcoding capacity and comparatively low power use, it fits the role of a budget multi user media and file server.

What we said in our August ’25 Review Here:

The UGREEN DH4300 Plus carves out a unique niche in the budget NAS landscape by delivering hardware typically reserved for higher-tier systems at a much lower price point. Its RK3588 processor, 8GB of RAM, and support for 2.5GbE networking place it well ahead of most similarly priced competitors in terms of raw specifications. Additionally, features such as HDMI output, 10Gbps USB ports, and local AI-powered photo indexing are rare to find in entry-level NAS systems. Despite its plastic-heavy internal design and lack of expansion options like PCIe or M.2, the device delivers stable performance for file sharing, media access, and low-intensity AI workloads. It is not suited for power users demanding virtual machines or advanced snapshot automation, but within its class, the DH4300 Plus presents an appealing balance between cost and capability.

That said, the software experience is still a work in progress. UGOS Pro covers the essentials and offers a visually accessible UI, but lacks the advanced features and ecosystem integration found in more mature platforms like Synology DSM or QNAP QTS. Docker and snapshot support add welcome flexibility, but the absence of native Jellyfin, iSCSI, and VM functionality limits its use in more complex environments. Still, for home users, media collectors, or small office setups looking for reliable backup, modest AI-enhanced photo sorting, and smooth 4K playback, the DH4300 Plus delivers value well beyond its price tag. While it won’t replace high-end NAS appliances, it serves as a capable, efficient, and quietly innovative option in a saturated entry-level NAS market.

mazon in Your Region for $349 the UGREEN DH4300 PLUS

 Buy the UGREEN DH4300 on UGREEN.COM

STORE

B&H for the UGREEN DH4300 PLUS

SOFTWARE - 6/10
HARDWARE - 7/10
PERFORMANCE - 6/10
PRICE - 9/10
VALUE - 10/10


7.6
PROS
👍🏻Powerful ARM CPU: Equipped with the RK3588 SoC, offering 8 cores, integrated GPU, and NPU for AI workloads.
👍🏻Generous (but fixed!) Memory: 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, rare in budget NAS systems, supports multitasking and Docker use.
👍🏻2.5GbE Network Port: Provides faster-than-Gigabit throughput for backups, media streaming, and multi-user access.
👍🏻HDMI 2.1 Output: Rare on ARM powered turnkey NAS, and enables direct media playback or NAS control at up to 4K 60Hz, uncommon in value-tier NAS units.
👍🏻USB 10Gbps Ports: Dual USB-A 10Gbps and one USB-C 5Gbps allow for high-speed backups or external storage expansion.
👍🏻AI Photo Management: Built-in NPU supports facial recognition and scene detection for local, private media organization.
👍🏻Low Power Consumption: Efficient under load (~30W) and idle (~5W without drives), suitable for 24/7 operation.
CONS
👎🏻No PCIe or M.2 Expansion: Lacks future scalability for NVMe caching, 10GbE, or other upgrades.
👎🏻Single LAN Port: Only one 2.5GbE port, with no failover or link aggregation support.
👎🏻Limited Software Ecosystem: UGOS Pro lacks iSCSI, VM support, and native Jellyfin, trailing behind DSM/QTS in maturity.

 

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      499 thoughts on “Best PLEX or Jellyfin NAS of 2025”

      1. The good thing about Beestation is having privacy; the admin in no way could see the photo gallery of other users that has been uploaded. In a typical synology DSM, the admin has access to the users’ files, unless the access was switched off.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      2. Partly because of your review, I purchased a DH4300Plus. I could never get the transmission speed above. Different cables different computers, different software to transfer files, help from Gemini, nothing helped. 4T drives virtually new. Ugreen support in spite of the network lights and screen shots/the log immediately blamed my Decox55 router, and using EaseUS To Do. Using different suggestions from Gemini left little doubt that is the box. Sadly, with Ugreen’s customer service this is going back.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      3. For this NAS, is it worthwhile to buy SSDs with heat sinks (from the review, I take it they should fit?) or not? How much cooling benefit do you anticipate, and how needed is it? Thanks.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      5. I wonder if the DH4300 is enough if two or three watch Video in Hd. Is that Possible, or is it to much for that? I struggle to decide if i buy 4800 or 4800plus or the 4300plus…. i want to Stream Video/Music an and outside of the Home for the Family. Hmm…. any ideas?
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      6. The PCIE speeds you list as a con are moot – 3.0 x1 is still faster than the network port, and are as fast as the single USB port; making all the slots x2 would just be a waste for 99% of the workloads run on a nas like this.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      7. like your reviews, but i don´t like the quad display format where u put 4 screens up at the same time , you can´t see anything, more confussing than usefull… !
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      13. I have TWO Macs I would like to backup with Time Machine on my new Bee Station Plus. It’s all set up and ready to go. Can I backup both Macs without setting quotas or separate user log ins for each one in Bee Station? The Bee limits to 4 TB for the Time Machine folder already and I would prefer to just set the quotas in Time Machine (or not). I only have 1.5 TB between both Hard Macs.. Just want to keep it as simple as possible. Thanks!
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      16. These consumer NAS boxes are time bombs. Unlike Ye Olde Raid cards from LSI (now Broadcom), this device has no recovery if your RAM cache is not written back to the drives. The LSI cards had a supercapacitor that had enough juice to hold the RAM values for a week so that you can power on and write out the last few bytes. If you have a random power failure, you have a decent chance of corrupting your drives. With my LSI board we have had power failures with zero damage. Something to think about.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      18. I have the N5 pro and it has a fairly big problem. The fan speeds are not visible to the OS. I tried a couple of linux options since I want to run Unraid on it.
        It appears to be a BIOS issue. EC ram fields show empty, and the documentation that I got to was not help.

        I will be reaching out to all to get a BIOS update to resolve this.
        REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      19. Can you show how I can use google photos takeout maintaining metadata and save the files to beestation. I know there is a way but I would like to see an example for multiple users. I know you can’t see the guest profiles data so how can I upload their files? Thanks
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      22. hey just got this system and added 5 HDD 12TB and 2 Nvme 2TB each for read cache and added 64GB of ram but my main concern is the OS i hope they will continue to update the OS since its still Beta imo ? what is your opinion on it 🙂 and thank you for all your reviews on the channel always amazing content !
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      26. Wait. Someone plz correct me asap before I purchase an inferior model. I could’ve sworn the ugreen website stated the dh4300 contained the same 128gb ssd flash memory like the dxp4800+. This video showed a snapshot of the dh4300 having a lesser grade 32gb emmc. Which is it?
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      29. Unfortunately Beelink Me Mini has 4tb (mine are Crucial T500 4tb) drives disconnecting problem. With windows truenas and proxmox. Perhaps not enough power to serve 4tb drives. And now there is no firmware bios or drivers fix in both windows and linux. There’s many peoples reporting this in Beelink forum and truenas forums. Drives disconnect every 2-3 days, go into D3cold state, and never back to D0 state. The only way to have them back is full shutdown and start. Unfortunately 2 days later you have to do it again. Of course your Raid or RaidZ break every time. For now i use Me Mini with windows and no raid, and backup some files there with syncthing.
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      31. Now this has cought my attention, i have a dxp4800plus and am about to change out hdd for mor capacity which will leave me with the 4 hdd, im now considering this just to throw them hdd in, id be interested to see the performance difference for cloud storage and plex and jelyfin etc side my side, on the face of it seems like quite an exiting product
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      36. I am loving EVERYTHING UGreen! From Cables, Hubs, CHargers and Power Supplies I also invested in a SATA HDD Unit and now thinking about adding this baby to my current NAS setup of Synology DS220+ and QNAP TS-x31P3 🙂 Great overview, helpful, detailed and I will use the link to order!
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      38. A real noob questions, can it download from OneDrive directly? When it is inn same Wifi network, is it faster than OneDrive to get my files?
        I use OneDrive for photo storage and after I imported my files to my Mac, I upload them to OneDrive and download them if needed. But OneDrive’s storage is approaching its limit and it is too slow to download files on my Mac when I need them, I need a storage that I can use instead of OneDrive .
        Thanks in advance for all help
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      39. Newbie here.
        Thanks for posting. I’m one of the totally uneducated when it comes to NAS and having literally just returned a BeeStation 4TB to Synology because it spent WAY more time being ‘busy’ sorting out thumbnails, indexing, etc. than actually accessible whilst handling small uploads of less than 100 images at a time (I’m talking hours here, not just minutes), I was curious to see if this 8TB model maybe overcame the 4TB’s shortcomings.
        I think you’ve convinced me the answer is most likely NO.
        I’m not looking for anything wildly sophisticated, just a wi-fi and internet attached storage on which I can maintain and readily access my photograph and home video collection within a tiered directory structure (BeePhotos only offers a single directory structure, so I was obliged to use BeeFiles) without hauling a DAS around.
        It sounds like a 2-bay is the logical baseline (a 4-bay would be nicer, but harder to justify on a pension), although not so sure yet what a minimum CPU/storage configuration would get me past the ‘busy’ problem I encountered with the BeeStation 4TB.
        I did see plenty of recommendations for an Asustor AS5402T, but I think this is way more than I need as a humble septuagenarian living out retirement.

        Any advice gratefully received.
        TIA
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      40. Why so different in temps? My synology let my drives (16tb ironwolfs pro) 30-34c max and here 45? The same was in dxp4800, I thought it was because of different drives I used in -non pro 8tb ironwolf but it seems it’s not the case
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      41. Hola estimado, puedes publicar el rendimiento con plex 1080p con la transcodificación por hardware + opción HDR activo, quiero comprar ese NAS pero me gustaría saber si la gpu es capas de enviar si tirones en las películas cuando está activa la transcodificación por hardware + HDR de plex. También nos comentas si lo haz probado con TRUENAS y que tal te parece entre el OS de minisforum o el TRUENAS. Gracias de antemano estimado.
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      42. So… to use it mainly as a plex server (4k only) should I go with this or the dxp2800? Does this follow the price ladder in Capability (minus the bays) of dxp2800REPLY ON YOUTUBE

      43. Is that better than a bee link m2 mini? I get there are 2 x2 pci lines for .m2, where in bee link only one, but other than that on paper bee link is kinda better choice?
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      45. Cool. The non pro would be a good option. But literally i can just buy a JONSBO N4 case and throw an itx mobo in it. I mean there are other options out there. I am glad there are options like this though. Thanks minisforum
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      49. Guys, I’m planning to buy this to make highspeed external storage for specific media tasks which requires highspeed data transfer.
        Can someone please tell me if I can make a direct connection through USBC port for 2 computers. Instead of 10Gbps Ethernet.
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      52. Alrighty so my N5Pro arrived a few days ago and I can honestly say the onboard OS (miniscloud) is absolute gash and has soured my entire experience thus far with the product.

        Many menus (as shown in this video) contain poorly translated commands, often just stating chinese characters and only fathomable by clicking on the thing and hoping you’re not confirming or changing something you don’t want to.

        NTP servers and settings can’t be altered and are locked to Minisforum/Chinese servers and the timezone configuration during install is non-functional. Stuck to UTC only.

        No iSCSI support of any kind.

        It’s really just a bunch of weird media/containers/virtualisation apps thrown in. As a NAS OS the one thing it needs to do well is be a NAS, I don’t need it to run containers or full VMs they are nice to haves. Honestly… it feels confused as a product.

        I have some concerns around security – password for an account must be BETWEEN 8 and 40, not 8, not 40 characters. No real reason if its stored in a hashed format (perhaps it is not – point of concern) why on earth there is a character limitation on that lord knows. Clarity around what remote services are active isn’t present and i’ve no confidence there isn’t some sort of backdoor cloud access into my NAS at this time.

        There is no immediate access I can see to a terminal or SSH for remote admin. There is no portable web browser client front end.

        The device is only accessible via an unsigned executable from the manufacturer or if mobile.. an unsigned APK and in particular if you’re someone who has turned on Google Advanced Protection for your google account, uninstallable on your mobile device without coming out of Advanced Protection (which is a google account level thing, not a device level thing ala “allow installation of unknown APKs”).

        Ultimately is this a NAS? nope. It’s a miniPC with a disk shelf. Install proxmox, unraid, truenas, etc… you may be on for a good product, but if you’re buying this as a NAS off the shelf, along the lines of a synology, qnap, etc… you’re going to be sorely disappointed.
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      53. I would like to know if I can buy different sized hard drives such as initially a 16TB and 24TB from the same manufacturer and listed as compatible, and put them together in this 4300 Plus NAS or will this create issues?
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      56. Synology – unless they change their philosophy of “vendor lock in” for components, buying their product is like a vice on your b@lls. It’s not the $$, it’s the fact that this is DATA, which is usually worth a lot more than the hardware it sits on. I demand maximum flexibility to repair, swap, change components.
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      60. THEY LICKED A THUNDER? – STAY AWAY FROM SYNOLOGY – NO MORE TRUST!

        Customer for 17 years and without any communication functionality in apps is broken now for months.

        We understand now too why posting any comments under their videos on YouTube is disabled – No, we don’t!

        If funtionality in apps is broken for months now – what about the security?

        Stay away, once a great product. Now crippled. No customer service. No communication.

        Stop buying Synology, it hurts to say this after all those happy years.

        How can Synology offer a single disc bay product? Headache.

        Who is responsible for these decisions?!

        Why are longterm customers tortured by these new decision and simply ignored?!
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      61. There are some practical problems with ‘who it’s for.’ People going cheap and choosing to forgo cloud options aren’t going to pay ‘rent’ to back it up to the cloud longterm. Beginners may not understand how important backing it up is. Buying this, and a separate external 8-terabyte HDD to back it up to, means it’s not quite as cheap as it looked, and not as minimalist as a 2-bay NAS with a pair of 8 TB HDDs in Raid 1 configuration. Since it has no inherent redundancy (cloud subscription doesn’t count!), for comparing to other NAS products, keep in mind that external 8TB HDD for backup, unless you have another NAS you can back this one up to.
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      64. Even if you stick with Synology, their DS223 2-bay offering at around £249 + HDD(s) of your choice, is a far better proposition. If you’re even considering a B Station, you must have some clue about what you’re trying to achieve, and so I see this option making little sense to pretty much anyone.
        and YES, their dogged use of 1 Gb Ethernet is baffling when it will bottleneck the installed HDD.

        In short, I am finding it difficult to see where the market is for this at its price-point and lack of storage expansion.
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      67. I’m generally interested in these Beestation NAS boxes but I was really hoping this would have been closer to $300. Hell I would take one of these if they gave the option of swapping the HDD and/or if it was a two bay. I don’t have heavy needs and it has to be easy for my family to use but I don’t want to get somethingthat feels like it’ll be obsolete right away
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      72. NAS marketing has come full circle, aggressively promoting an online storage service with the purchase of a 1-bay NAS, which it must be said is not suitable for any purpose. Also, 410 usd, holy macaroni ????
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      74. WD has been operating in this space for years. My first NAS that I just simply used to store my files and to be able to access them remotely was WD. It was easy to setup and met my needs. It was reliable and never let me down. I replaced it with a Qnap NAS. Porting the data over to the Qnap was easy no restrictions like Synology.
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      75. I don’t see the point of spending money on a single bay NAS. At that point, you might as well just buy a USB external HDD enclosure, stick a drive in it, and plug it in to a USB port on your router.
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      76. Software will save synology for now. But I bet they will reverse the big error they made with the vendor lockin. Just bought a Ugreen 8800 plus. Now to figure out unraid or truenas… my current synology up for sale.
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      79. The fan is a bummer. My current made-up Raspberry Pi 4 NAS has no fan, disks spun down when not used: total silence in our office room 90% of the time (this is a backup NAS).
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      80. No thanks , for my parents it’s easy : iMac , iCloud family with me, AnyDesk and Tailscale so that everything is sync to my nas lol. Even with a Mac, I support my parents at least once a week including updating their iPhones lol
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      89. Shame about all the negative attitudes expressed here, none of which seem to be backed up by examples of actual problems or bad experiences. I’ve owned the 4TB BeeStation for exactly a year now and am absolutely satisfied with it:

        Savings.Total cost GBP £200 direct from Synology UK (using a -£20 offer, available at the time). Paying for Apple’s iCloud services for just half that amount of storage would have already have cost me £108.

        The cheapest dual bay NAS boxes already cost £200+, and still have to be populated with two of these 4TB HDDs. And I would have wanted a redundant system, so my total available storage would be no greater.

        Security. I’m not paranoid about it, but don’t entirely trust any company’s cloud storage service, given the world’s current geopolitical situation. And still to come are potentially vulnerable new sources of power generation.

        I read a couple of years back that Synology labelled drives are actually rebranded Seagate Iron Wolfs. Think of the enormous cost of setting up their own new drive manufacturing plant and this seems logical. Has something changed with that to cause the present kerfuffle?
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      90. This is for users who have no technical knowledge and unlikely to watch this, anyone(including me !) likes to tinker at some level would probably now go for a pre-2025 Synology or something else
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      91. for this unit, one could always buy 4 or 6 of them, and get a sound file that goes off when it’s used to sound out with the 1990’s 14,400bps sound (buzzing and screeching sound during the connection process) (facepalm)
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      92. I know he said we can back up to a bigger synology NAS but can you do the inverse? Like, can I backup my big synology stuff to the Beestation? I only back up a fraction of my storage so this could be perfect for that, specially since my big NAS doesn’t have hardware transcoding for plex so this could be my back up + plex
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      95. Honestly, I would propose the 4tb unit to my sister’s family to backup their iphones and laptops because it looks so simple and easy to use even for someone who knows close to nothing and then sync the beestation to my synology 1522+ for redundancy.
        Honestly the 1gb eth connection doesn’t seem a limiting factor. Most probably it will be connected to the ISP provided routers that in 99% of the cases doesn’t have a 2.5gbit port.
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      99. Why does a simple NAS need a NETWORK to operate. Why can’t I just plug in a couple computers into the NAS as if it were just a COMMON DRIVE used simultaneously by multiple computers. I have an ASUS Windows Laptop literally less than 6″ from my M4 Mac Mini and I can’t get them to use the same Video files on the same SSD Drives other formatting one in exFAT and literally plugging & unplugging it. Davinci Resolve allows me to work on the same Project with two seperate computers but all video files & assets have to be Duplicated on each machine.
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      101. Thanks for the nice review! Is PCIe bifurcation for 2x or 4x NVMe adapter cards possible with the BIOS of the N5 / N5 Pro? The chipset hardware should support it easily, which would massively increase the storage capacity options.
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      107. How do you release the system board tray? You skip over that in the video. I tried pulling it and it didn’t yield. Is there a release button somewhere? Pull harder?
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      110. Hi, has anyone tried installing a different OS (e.g. Zimaos) on this device with the intention of reverting back to TOS later? Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a removable USB drive where the new system could be installed.
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      112. Great video. My NAS just arrived. Looking forward to configuring it.

        It’s been a month or so since this video was released. At the 8min mark @nascompare mention a separate video for the VM /Plex performance. I’ve been searching the newer videos and not seeing anything in relation to this topic. Am I just Blind???
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      114. 1:25 Well, you just could have waited for its release and buy it…right?, you could have saved 1500 pounds…. and lots of jet lag but, where is the fun if not?
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      118. Can someone point me to a definitive step by step solution to installing plex media server on the n5 took delivery of mine and giving me headaches
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      122. I am having a terrible time with TerraMaster F8. Seems like everyday I get “array in storage pool 1 has been degraded:” even after all drives are new, followed support from TerraMaster but still happens TOO MUCH! I would be weary if buying.
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      124. I would point one thing out – at 6:23 the ease of access to core components is referred to as a “joke” – in typical parlance that would mean it is horrendously terribly bad and requires you to remove 798 screws and push on 28tabs simultaneously to slide it out. There is no circumstance in which “joke” has a positive connotation when referring to a technical aspect of a computer system – to me at least. I think I kinda understand that you mean it as it being easy to access, but it might be that you mean it as being TOO easy, which it kinda looks like to me.
        – very vague related random gibberish below –
        I know it’s not meant to be a tamperproof system, but I have worked in corporate IT where we had closing in on 400ish PC’s of various kinds deployed, most being some form of optiplexes and they are quite sturdy if they have no optical or other form of drive on the front. We had several people propose for us to put them into tamperproof boxes bolted under the desks because of user shenanigans. I didn’t have anything to do with that aspect of things but it came to mind from this. Yes, people did do things to them that warranted tamperproof boxes being considered, no they were not accessible to the public or to customers, only to the employees who were meant to use them, and who were told in unambiguous terms that messing with the PC in any way without express permission will lead to immediate dismissal and any damaged being deducted from their final salary. Yes, we did fire people for messing with the PC, not only that but I think it was the trigger sometime – not something I had anything to do with anyway, just stuff I heard and saw a bit of.
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      127. I am part of the vine program on amazon, one of these popped up on there and I got it coming by Wednesday, I honestly can’t wait to move stuff over my current “nas” is just a dell wyse 5060 thin client with some USB 3.0 HDD adapters so this will be a lot more proper set up it seems. I am gonna put it to the test but it should blow the thin client out of the water.
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      131. Brighton, the arse end of the UK? Please, check your map. The isle of Sheppey is the turd flying out of the actual pig’s arse of the UK.
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      132. Most likely they’ll add native Jellyfin later on. Jellyfin can do RKMPP (QuickSync from Rockchip) HW Transcoding (needs to be turned on in the settings) then it does 8k transcoding with <10% cpu usage
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      135. why would someone buy the DXP 4800 or 4800 plus over this only for multiple phone gallery backup/viewing and multiple weekly PC backup/time machine backups? (no docker apps, no media server, no VMs)
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      138. Lovely stuff. To be fair you lost me at the ARM SoC but I’m sure someone would be chuffed to have it. That drive bay numbering 3, 2, 1, and 4 set off my OCD though,….
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      140. Drive temperatures are higher than temps that I get alarmed, both NASes and PCs. 44 Celcius is pretty high. I’d like to tradeoff noise level for cooling in this case.
        I don’t see any problems except that, without considering Chinese company’s potential problem of security. Maybe because I don’t expect anything more than just SMB file server for ARM NASes?
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      141. It would have been cool if UGREEN had designed this value NAS to use a Raspberry Pi CM5 module for the CPU/GPU, and (of course) ported UGOS to the RPI5. This would have potentially opened up the device to the RPi community and all of the software and hacks that have been made for the RPi. Presumably, RPi OS / Debian would work on it, so OpenMediaVault would also be an option. Lots of hardware – like 2.5GbE, SATA adapters, and M.2 NVMe SSD’s – have been made to work with the RPi5 via HATS, so designing the UGREEN device with the current features looks straightforward. Seems like a lost opportunity.
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      142. IDK, with those 2 USB 10G ports on the back and the kernel they run in UGOS you could take a 2.5G USB Ethernet adapter. You will have to test and see.
        Personally I know on my 4800+ I get a 2.5G connection on the Front 1x USB-C, 1x USB-A (both 10Gb/s), and the rear USB-A (5Gb/s) ports. Divers are already in the OS for the RTL8156B chipset. I’ve tested this with the USB-A Asus 2.5G adapter and the USB-C RSHTECH 2.5G adapter. I use the Asus on my QNAP for a 2.5G port.
        Testing the WavLink RTL8157 Chipset with the 10Gb/s ports does connect weird and shows 705Mbps at Half Duplex but will pull speeds of 3.3G, I think it needs a driver update for that chips set.
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      143. My company buys a lot of MiniPCs. Minisforum is BY FAR the highest failure rate and worst support out of the main ones we have used, which include Beelink, GMKtec, and Aoostar. So I have a hard time paying any kind of money on any of their products.
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      149. HP mini G2, 16GB DDR4, nvme, sata, 6 usb 3.0 for hdd storage. Can beat any nas under 800 pounds hands down. For file media storage and more is perfect. Can run linux, windows.
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      150. I think the DXP2800 is a greater choice on many levels. It supports two m.2 ssd + two 3.5″ HDDs. This product is only interesting if you really have a LOT of data to backup. But if you have, you might go for a more premium product, right?
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      152. got a bunch of immortal 2TB seagates, would be nice in raid 10 for secondary backup in home network or as a mediaserver with favorites or todo list of backlog movies/series
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      154. Putting all your data on a Chinese device?
        Yeah, I don’t think so.
        When the war starts every one of these will be bricked quicker than all the BYD cars.
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      155. i wish for something like that with more than 4 HDD slots.
        ideally 6, but those go way too close to 1k€ immediately.
        Also, not a fan of not being able to migrate my HDDs from
        an old System to a new one and needing to format them.
        This means i have to buy more HDDs first and then push
        the Data onto the device via LAN, which can take days or
        weeks depending . . .

        And here in germany, on amazon, that Thing is closer to 450€.
        Which makes it much more expensive and less interesting.
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      156. Hopeless Ugreen, can’t get it right, UK obviously still not on their map, the DH4300 doesn’t appear. 8k video is pointless, there is no 8k content, and we’ll need 8k-capable eyeball upgrades to notice it – our resolution does have limits. What is this thing supposed to be competing with? Why not just get a DX4800.
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      157. Hard pass, you get what you pay for in the end. QNAP is a better choice, the os and features are a better value and factor in the country of origin limits it out of the gate who can buy it and automatically is suspect. Not as important for home use, but I still wouldn’t. QNAP just released more features for high availability.
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      158. I do dislike how you say you can’t do x, y, z because it’s only an ARM chip. Maybe _this_ ARM chip isn’t very capable, but Apple’s M4 is an ARM chip, and it’s the fastest thing going. Raspberry Pi 5 is ARM and it’s pretty much in N100 territory. On the other hand I’ve got an Intel Atom based NAS, it’s x86 and it is too feeble to do anything. There’s no reason we can’t have fast ARM based NAS solutions in principal, it’s just that vendors tend to use very low power ARM SoCs for low end NAS solutions. Which isn’t a bad thing if you want a storage solution with low noise, and low power bills.
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      159. It’s ok, though would have preferred more network ports to remove even more adapters/equipment, but after your showed us the UnifyDrive UP6, I’m saving up. I really hope the UnifyDrive UP6 is good and isn’t the price of a car as it would be perfect for what I want.
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      161. I dont know if you mentioned it, but does it support hardware transcoding in Jellyfin? According to the Rockchip’s datasheet, it can de- and encode quite a wide range of codecs (icluding AV1). But I am already a bit suspicious since Ugreen is not providing a native jellyfin docker app…
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      163. So it seems Ugreen has taken the approach of “This hardware really isn’t as expensive as other companies are saying”, but I do hope that this doesn’t split their software development time even further between it and the DXP series, as it absolutely is doing (and will do) with their “AI” series that they are collecting preorder money from.
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      168. Peronally I only want bare metal on-prem install. I absolutely reject a product with a EULA that allows the manufacturer to change the conditions of sale after purchase.
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      172. I’m a bit confused at Ugreen’s mixed nomenclature. As I recall, their 2-bay value NAS was the DH series. However, this value 4-bay still retains the higher end DXP prefix, and yet seems built the same way as the DH model.

        Also, one minor correction, Robbie. The Synology DS423+ you cited as a value series, isn’t. I suspect you meant to say the DS423 without the plus suffix?

        Great video, BTW.
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      175. Need Docker with Intel/AMD architecture — I can’t use ARM. Also need m.2 NVME SSD.
        If that is not an issue for you it sounds like a good value — great media server if 2.5 gbs LAN (which can used a 1 gbs suffices).
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      180. I’m new to all this media server stuff. just looking at getting a nas (ugreen 2800) and would like to have a media server that plays my own downloaded movies. BUT what about online films ? e.g. like netflix where I can search their movies and watch them — which media server does this (if any).
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      183. I don’t buy the “1-click installer” argument being a consideration in the context of media servers, or even NAS ownership. Just owning a nas and having media on it makes you someone who can definitely handle whatever complexity installation presents.
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      185. Спасибо, за обзор.
        Но мне больше по душе Beelink ME Mini.
        По вкусу и цвету все фломастеры разные.
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      188. I don’t understand who buys these Intel mini pcs when even a Ryzen 2 is faster and has the same <10W power consumption, and often somes with 6C/12T under $200.
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      192. Totally unrelated except the confusingly similar naming and appearance, but the “Terramaster D4 SSD” USB4 DAS is quite interesting. It uses a fairly new chip to allow multiple PCIe channels per SSD as long as they aren’t all in use at the same time. Will you be reviewing it?
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      193. Hey Synology, this is what we wanted with DSM. Not your 25 series, not Intel Celeron J4125, not video chat, not toshiba HATs, not 2×2.5GbE replacing 4x1Gbe…
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      194. Any serious nas user will not look at any nas with a max capacity of 8 tb each drive and max 32 tb total, and pay for 8 TB SSD £600, that’s ridiculous and stupid, doesn’t have any sense.
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      195. Is it possible to add 4 “m.2 to sata” adapter to this?

        If yes, then you can add 24 disks to thing, that would be nice and enough for most home users.
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      198. the HEAT that nvmes and ports generate (especially during raid read-writes) NEEDS plenty of cooling, the cheaper units may cook the nvmes over time. This latest unit shows better cooling.
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      199. Was looking for your review on this, literally just bought one a few hours ago. Time to see your review, hopefully I haven’t wasted my money
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      201. Meh, I just bought HP EliteDesk 800 G6 SFF i7 10700 32GB RAM with some bs storage for approx 500 USD (used ofc). This thing takes the approx 6W from the wall on idle running LINUX. Insane. I put in it 2 NVMEs, 1 SSD, 2 large SSDs, 1 PCIE 2.5 Gbe LAN (some bs Realtek 8156 I believe) and it runs the Linux MINT with desktop (for XRDP) with multiple virtual machines including OPNSense on 1 Gbe WAN and it just sips the energy… When HDDs are spun down and VMs are not having much to do is takes about 25-30 W, but it can bump to a full 120W power consumption and even more if needed (bit this is very very rarely). You can always limit this behavior with cpu power (sudo cpupower frequency-set -u 3000000 # under 3GHz, limits max to 70W approx) for example. Excellent machine if you are looking for something more versatile yet still very ECO and budget friendly and you don’t need to spin freaking rust. BTW. still 3 low profile PCIE slots are available for NVMEs or other stuff. One thing I have issues with the USB stability (some ports start with 2.1 mode, so no USB 3 on them after reboot which is annoying and probably a bug, and other issue is PCH is freaking HOT – I mean really HOT – 80-90 C all the time which annoys me – probably I will have to do something with it.
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      202. I get these units aren’t meant for someone like me but I still want to see a unit beefy enough to handle at least 4 U.2 at full x4 with 10gbe sfp+. A guy can dream I guess.
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      206. Thanks for the short review! You mention that the processor is the N97, where at 0:50 it states N95 as well as on the Terramaster website. And at 12:29 you mention the F8 SSD Plus has an i5 processor, this is I believe an i3 N305.
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      208. What is your recomendation for a NAS/iSCSI unit to run a VM Cluster with shared storage for failover? With HW raid, you get battery to ensure cache is flushed, but not sure how it works with these software raid OS environments.
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      210. Looked up that Monica app its basically a contacts and reminder page for family allowing you to note and set reminders about family info i thought it was pretty cool look down page it gets good reviews with alzheimer aspergers patients…. and introverts… i feel attacked

        TLDR – Found cool app now i feel attacked lmao
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      212. I’m new into NAS so forgive the stupid question I’m trying to do crash course.
        So this is a powerful unit and could make a great windows cloud PC. So using it’s own OS could I use an m.2 drive to make a virtual machine so I can connect to locally and over WAN?

        I’m now looking at this thinking I could use this as a gaming PC to run on my quest with Windows Link/Steam link (I don’t mean VR games I mean standard Flat games)
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      220. @lukebeasley the haste in which you assume the America party wouldn’t pull from the democrat party is ill-advised imo. Wondering if it’s part of the comedy persona thing.

        There are tons of people who are not happy with either party. At the very least, it could change the spread of priorities in each party so that the voter base shifts as well. There’s a ton of people who have been pushed into unusual spaces by the shift in political focus since Trump. Especially with some republicans not feeling like there was a real option for them and having to vote dem or not at all. Even politicians are resigning and changing parties in numbers I’m not used to seeing due to apathy about their party’s direction.
        It could end up with all voters feeling like there’s a better aligned choice for them.
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      222. Hi, does this NAS support pcie bifurcation? I have submitted this question to Miniforum but nobody answers. I wonder if I could build a RAID-5 with 6 x M.2 SSD with this NAS.
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      223. Could you daily drive this as a Windows PC and game using an eGPU? (The pro model). I ask because it’s the same CPU as my gaming laptop…
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      226. The pricing for the regular N5 is very disappointing. It’s using a twice refreshed Hawk Point APU that is nearly 4 years old. It should be $550-600
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      229. Thank you for this video, covered every base I was thinking of. I think I’ll be picking one of these up with an MS A2 for a travel NDI broadcasting/ network storage setup and I think it’ll do the job c:
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      230. Amazon link goes to a search that doesn’t have an N5 Pro in the results in the UK
        Their own website doesn’t show the NAS for sale
        The website has a 30% launch day voucher banner, but I haven’t had a voucher or any notification this device is on available for sale…
        Not sure how you can say they’ve won at NAS when the back plane is only SATA and there aren’t other options for SAS / U.2 or U.3 etc
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      233. Don’t sell yourself short mate – you ARE a businessman. It might not be a business that will make you incredibly wealthy but it’s still a reasonably successful business nonetheless just because you’re able to spin a decent profit after deducting your expenses.
        Just because you *might* be operating out of a residence doesn’t make it any less of a business.
        Keep it up!
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      238. I’m thinking about installing Windows 11 on the N5pro first, with JBOD, and using it as a workstation until the NAS OS is fully developed.
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      239. This is the kind of NAS I’ve looking for in my fairly large 1 bedroom apt but the Barebone +64Gb OS version is $1800.00 CAD ???? at that price it’s not worth it with a half-baked OS
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      243. Hey Robbie, if I may pose two questions for your upcoming comparison between this and the WTR Max.

        1. Many have asked, but would love to know if the SATA controller can be passed fully to a TrueNAS VM in Proxmox. I’d love to know for both units.

        2. Aoostar says the WTR Max can’t hot swap HDDs. Would love to know if that’s true, and then know if the N5 can do hot swap.

        Thanks.
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      245. Generally I like Minisforum boxes, and a NAS is overdue from them. I find their implementations sometimes quirky and their BIOS support … lacking. Usually I can get to the important stuff, but it’s a long way from what you might find on an ASUS product for example, and updates are hit or miss. I have yet to run windows on any of my Minis devices, so I can’t really comment, but generally in proxmox they have been pretty good with the occasional strange limitation. I’m not surprised at the pricing, and compared to Syno you’re getting a hell of a box for the price. If it sells well, I’m sure their software will improve over time, but it’s about where I would expect as a Gen 1 release.
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      249. BEcuase of YOU. I ordered the N5pro. I went from ugreen, to zettlabD6 to this. Can’t wait to get this. I plan on using truenas. Can’t wait fro your follow up vids. My plan is to have m2-a2 as VM host
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      253. I am thinking to acquire N5 Pro, install ProxMox to bare metal and install VMs of Open Media Vault (OMV), Win11 Pro (currently running on X1 pro) and Minisforum’s own MinisCloud. With so many options in this product I’m a bit bewildered as to where is best for ProxMox install. I’m thinking to use a 1.2TB SATA SSD in one of the 5-bays. Alternatively, pull the included MinisCloud SSD and replace with 2280 1TB for setup. Thoughts?
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      257. A recent video from another creator has brought into light that I can’t trust you anymore. That and the increasing amount of “member only” videos has led me to remove my subscription. I wish you well going forward.
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      265. I have a MS-01 and love it. Planning to buy 2x N5 (non-Pro) and create a proper Storage Spaces Direct cluster (MS-01 is the first node right now). But I have a few questions I’m waiting to see answered. Does the N5 have more room for its PCIe 16x slot, looking at an Intel Sparkle Arc A310 for the MS-01 but can the N5 hold a A380? Also, does it have the same A+E key so I can replace the WiFi+BT with a Google Coral TPU (done that in the MS-01)? Does the N5 have bifurcation?
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      266. You have been covering so much ground in your videos and putting out an incredible volume with these releases. Thanks for sharing all this information with us.
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      268. I’m so disappointed with the NVMe lane layout as you can’t event run a single x4 SSD at full speed, let alone a pair of them at x2 in a ZFS mirror. I really want to use a mirrored pair of Intel / Solidigm D7-5620 U.2 SSDs for training AI workloads but no way if they have uneven I/O. I would have been happy with them both at x2 and hit the checkout button. Minisforum needs to find more lanes for NMVe and if that means using a PLX chip to mux the lanes with other I/O like Oculink then do that. It’s so close to being great but it’s just not.
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      275. Thank you. Confirmed my purchase of the Pro version was the right one. I can see a lot of homelabers retiring their enterprise gear with this device which can run all their VM’s and run their media servers. Also, love that PCIE slot AND occulink!
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      277. at 1000, ill just build my own system…, sucks there is a lack of the mobile boards id rather those cpu’s than desktop.. but if i was richer i would like it 😛
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      278. SiyouyunOS/ FnOS …same base code, same GUI frame….. just a different vendor …as the Chinese would say Same/Same – Look Minisforum have a good hardware base …the Non Pro Zen 4 Cpu is much faster then anything Ugreem/Terramaster or Synology/Asustor/Qnap etc have (Excepting their Xeon enterprise stuff and the Qnap i9’s at $4500 and frankly the base CPU let alone the ai370 is going to give nearly all NAS Xeons a whipping too) BUT ….. Minisforums main issue is not hardware or even software (fnOS …and lets face it is is FnOs regardless of what Minisforum are saying …just a different vendor …. it is as good as Ugreen was at release and it sold) …what’s the main issue …service …Minisforum are developing a couple of unique reputations #1 for absolutely TERRIBLE post sales service and support (literally Ali-express levels of support and very bad almost scammy return processes) and #2 For absolutely terrible sales support if you buy directly from them ( Totally ignoring posted stock levels, shipping delays, misleading customers are but a few of the more minor ones) You need to address this situation because at this point in time I’d strongly recommend people NOT buy anything directly from any Minisforum store and instead only buy from Amazon. This is where we are seeing the true difference between the chinese brands …from Ugreens dubious marketing practices to Minisfourm’s customer service issues both companies seem to be operating under Chinese consumer law (practically non existant) and ignoring local US and EU laws.
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      280. I’m still miffed they’re limiting this thing to five bays. An eight-bay unit with a built-in flex-ATX PSU would be a monster NAS. Hopefully Minisforum will roll out with an 8-bay next. And redesign that goofy front panel that just chokes off airflow.
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      285. Hey Synology, want to see some magic? Poof … and just like that, your market share has disappeared now that is what I call magic!

        Sarcasm aside, I’ve ordered 3 of the N5 Pro’s (The cost is more tolerable with the 30% discount).. also I’m not doing this on a whim, I’ve been watching these for months. Also, I’ve got several HX 370 devices, so I know the pro’s and con, but have no doubts, it a superb CPU. At present, I’m planning to use these to replace my 3 Synology’s.. but I suspect they’ll also replace my MS-01’s!
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      288. *FWIW* – Purely from a media server POV … would it be fair to say that a directly play of a high-bitrate Dolby Vision Blu-Ray from the drives on the default NAS OS and an open source NAS OS … that this would test the drive controller(s) ( _perhaps more than multi-gig performance_ ) on the machine and its ability to handle that kind of stuff?

        Or am I well off?
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      292. So given your experience with this nas, what would you take Minisforum N5 Pro or Asustor Flashstor FS6812X. It would be awesome is you can compare the 2x and put side by side comparison
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      294. While everyone else is posting a sponsored UGREEN advert, you’ve posted a real review. Have to say I really love the design of this, they were surely inspired a bit by Drobo. Definitely want to get ahold of one of these in the near future although the price is a bit hard to stomach for someone who mostly just uses a NAS for storage.
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      295. I am contemplating consolidating my whole homelab on one of these. Should eliminate two mini PCs, a synology and a switch. While still being MUCH MUCH faster.
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      296. The MSA2 Versions have amazing CPU’s and memory capabilities but the iGPU’s suck in comparison to the 890M iGPU found on the N5/Pro
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      298. Having an 8-core and 16-thread cpu with a powerful onboard iGPU is still light years ahead of old intel i3 and celeron cpu’s that many of the SYNOLOGY NAS devices have been using the past 6-7years that many people like myself have been using. You really don’t need the pro model to see huge improvements.
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      302. Can’t wait to see how after sales support goes. If it’s anything like their past products there will be no updates at all. They need to commit to longterm updates like Synology if they want mass adoption.
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      303. This video just shows you how far behind the times Synology have become regarding design and hardware. Relying on their software being the best just doesn’t cut it anymore. Not to mention the hard drive fiasco.
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      304. 16 minutes about the WTR-MAX, 30 minutes about the NAS 5. It is clear where your hart is, but that doesn’t make it easier for us. Let’s face it: the R7 PRO 8845HS in the WTR-MAX may be a year older and ZEN4, compared to the R7 Pro 255 in the N5, but it does support ECC and it has an a NPU, albeit weak. The 10G copper interface on the N5 is something TrueNAS doesn’t seem to like because they recommend explicitly using direct connection SFPs with glass. It doesn’t make it easier.
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      310. I’m still looking for a NAS with 5-6 m.2 NVMe slots for data.
        I have now a Synology DS620slim whith Sata 4TB SSD’s only on btrfs. Works like a charme, but Synology makes nothing new anymore.
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      312. The idle of around 32-25 W/h is a big dissapointment, especially here in germany, because the energy prices are quiet high, i was hoping to get something like 20-25 w/h.
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      313. Before I buy a NAS, I try to work out how much electricity (in kWh) it will be using when posted on 24/7 with the HDDs in standby (not rotating). With the numbers provided, that isn’t possible. You gave the numbers with disks at idle (rotating) which makes them use much more electricity. The NAS will not be used for the most time which means the disks will be spun down.

        Can you provide an estimate of that? Either in Watts (current usage) or let it run (with disks in standby) for 24 hours and provide the energy used?
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      315. Ordered the N5 Pro barebones. I had a few questions though.. is it better to run a low profile/mobile gpu or oculink to a 3080? Also the site says up to 5x 22TB drives.. can we use 5x 24TB instead? Last question.. I know it also says up to 96gb memory but will it support 128?
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      316. Wasn’t there a big bust up about the discount code though initially? The original impression given was it gave early buyers 30% off, then people only got $30 off. No wonder there were lots of annoyed punters!
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      318. I’m getting this NAS just for the U.2 & ECC support. Instead of the OCuLink port, I’d rather have more PCIe lanes for the NVMe SSDs.
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      321. You kill me with some of the British colloquialisms you use. Same language but some times I really have to think about what you are saying!
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      323. Thanks for the review I might reconsider going for the standard model too. Perfect timing. I was just about to hit the accept for the pro version. Just a little question. I seem to have read that the AMD igpu’s don’t support Plex hardware encoding. Am I wrong there ? I currently have Plex running from a desktop AMD 3800X, with 32gb ram and with an older Nvidia GTX1660s, and it can not always run fluently when hardware enc is enabled but it mostly run fine without hardware enc and just “let my CPU sweat” settings. I’m not going to use the U.2 option either. The basic m.2 slots is enough for me. Is there space enough inside to host a small form factor Intel Battlemage card ?
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      327. The Pro version CPU has a Radeon 890M iGPU running at 2.9GHz with 16 graphic cores, and the regular version has a Radeon 780M iGPU running at 2.7 GHz with 12 graphic cores. That should be about a 40% improvement for the Pro.
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      331. I bought the n5pro. Thought about the wrt max also that was 1200 usd + vat so the differance in price was not huge as the n5pro was incl vat. Leys see when/if it arrives
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      334. I waited months for this device and then find the pro, 48gig device is $1639. What a bummer. Going to diy an asrock rack x570 board with 64G and better specs.

        Feeling really let down by the minisforum guys.
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      335. With all due respect, but I believe you are wrong about the cpu presentation:

        https://youtu.be/hSHb1GgYjsY?t=908

        It should be ryzen 7 255 instead of 250 right ?
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      337. I’m looking for a NAS to run Plex, but this isn’t it?!
        Any suggestions? I run Plex on a Raspberry Pi, but I need a NAS that can transcode 100Mbit/s 4K HDR video.
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      340. The regular N5 would be a great option if they used a CPU that supported ECC RAM (which is mandatory if you’re storing anything you care about, IMO). The N5 Pro is too expensive compared to the WRT Max, so it’s easily the WRT Max for me…
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      341. im liking what im seeing but the bigger issue for me is the reputation of minisforum with product reliability and after sales support. at that price, im def gonna be waiting to see how it performs with more use before committing.
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      344. Honestly… not impressed. I was so excited for this, but its overpriced and feels like its pieced together. I hope something changes my mind but right now for me its a hard pass
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      348. I’d really love to see you test this loaded down with storage, functioning as a NAS. Like, 2 SATA SSDs, maybe with a 4 or 5 slot m.2 card in the PCI-E slot (fully populated), and the USB ports used with SATA or m.2 adapters. Maybe use one of the USB for a cooling fan. I’ve seen others on youtube complain that the zimaboard 2 gots hot, but nobody’s tested it with a fan or filled to the brim with storage
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      350. I really like the casa OS ecosystem.

        If my only goal was to have jellyfin and an SMB share that would be such an amazing way to go about it. Really.

        Proxmox is too addictive though. Snapshots, lxc containers.

        Just being able to whip up any kind of VM or LXC container for any kind of purpose is so useful.
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      351. Wow, the ZimaBoard 2 looks intriguing, but I noticed something on the Kickstarter page. Most of the images are rendered or post-processed. There are very few actual product photos, and in those, the ZimaBoard 2 isn’t even powered on—no indicator lights, active interfaces, nada.

        So here’s my question: Are we just looking at non-functional prototypes or static models for heatsink demos? It’s kinda worrying… ????

        Also, for something this technical, I was expecting to see some hard data on thermal design, power consumption, and performance stability under stress. You know, like 48-hour continuous load tests with CPU utilization over 90% and full-bandwidth network transmission. Real engineer stuff.

        It’d be great if future test videos included:

        -Temperature variation curves of the exterior surfaces
        -Core frequency stability
        -System anomaly rate stats (like crashes, network interruptions, reboots)

        If IceWhale haven’t done this yet, can you let us know when we can see some stress test results?
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      353. unraid wouldn’t overwrite the drive since it runs from the USB… not a ssd drive… so you merely don’t use the built in drive, boot from USB and done…

        what is that dual m.2 + 10gig netcard ? got a link for it?
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      358. I am a Docker Guy and i think the implementation in CasaOS is great. I think the Performance Level option does nothing and the Network option seams confusing. But the container naming and the docker info system works great. I have NetData running and it can see how a Container performs and interacts with the system, and you can differ them if you name your container in the option on the bottom, otherwise you end up with the container ID who can’t be seen easily.
        But for the Performance Level option, i can’t really tell if this works. My system is too powerful and the performance impact of my container too little to see if this does something.
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      359. For me. If I would start again from zero as beginner and need a small server, i would still buy a J5040-itx board because it has more features and costs less with comparable performance. The N100 boards or other N CPUs are single Channel ram, which hurts performance even if the ram is double the speed.
        I know the J5040 does support only 8GB, but i had a system with 16GB in the past and some people are able to cram 64GB into this systems. Also the iGPU of the J5040 or J CPUs in general are pretty powerful compared to the N series CPUs.
        I know the J series CPUs are old and outdated but if you use this as a small Home Server this gonna be fine. Even a celleron CPU from 2007 is more than enough for your first steps. i used in the past netbooks with dual-core cellerons with 16gb eMMC inside and only 2gb ram. They are not great but they worked and you got them cheap used. The best part of using a laptop is you get a terminal and a UPS for free if you know what i mean.
        But if you want to be a bit Flexible a J5040 is perfect, they are Cheap, Fanless, only x1 PCIE 2.0 port, 4x 3.2 Gen1 USB, 3.2ghz 4 core pentium J5040 with VT and C-states, HDMI, VGA and DVI Digital and Analog. 4x sata3 6 gbit ports.
        Yes it is an older CPU and the 10W Power is dynamically shared between iGPU and CPU but for a Server this doesn’t mater much. You can even transcode in hardware h264 over the iGPU. Im my eyes a perfect little server. And if you need more power, buy a used Office PC and stuff a cheap RX540 oder RX560 in it and you can do some AI stuff too and you have most likely more than 4 cores, but this would use more than 3W to 7W idle and 17W peak. Maybe in the range of 35W to 150W, but this PC have more Power you will ever need for Home use.
        I mean yeah i running a Dell R630 at home but i have multiple game servers running and other services about 40 people are constantly connected to my machine and sometimes 100 people are connectet to my system. i could try clustering but this is way harder as running a singular multi socket system and in this way it’s more efficient. My system is running with 30% to 70% load over the day and using 150W to 270W depending on the load.
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      360. casaOS is running on my Server too. I like it very much, but it has some problems, especial if you’re using a Raid controller with multiple virtual drives. This has to do how Linux manages devices. you can see the volume on the second Vdrive, but there are no SMART and casaOS can’t differentiate them because both have the same DeviceID and DevicePath, even Linux can differentiate them /dev/sda /dev/sdb and so on, isn’t enough for CasaOS to work Properly. Maybe this changes in the future because theoretical some SCSI-Sata controler are able to do hardware raid even with multiple vdrives. Not every Mainboard manufacturer give you the option in the bios to use RAID. Most of the time this is a pseudo raid where one core of your CPU or your Southbridge/Chipset CPU is used in the background to do parity.
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      363. I’ve been running the first ZimaBoard as my home Router using OPNsense for the longest time. Only recently did I switch to something with 2.5g and 10g ports. I have nothing but good things to say about it, and will repurpose it as an “off-site mini nas” I’ll chuck into some corner at my parents. I never ran CasaOS, always something specific.
        I can confirm that the temperatures also for the first one (also fully passive, same TDP) were in the los 50s °C for a mostly idle(ish) CPU. Considering the CPU has the same TDP, that checks out. Pointing even a small and/or slow fan at it will of course drop those temps significantly, like all purely passive cooling solutions.

        What interest me is if the bifurcation options are still as good as they were on the first one. You could slice up the x4 connector any way you wanted basically, and have it put out 4 x1 lanes or 2 x2. I don’t remember every possbile combination, but that is one of the things that gave this device its versatility.
        As for the downsides: There’s a 16 GB version that also comes with more eMMC (64 GB), but it’s 70$ more at 250$. That’s starting to be a bit steep for what it is, and the non-upgradable and frankly even at that spec still severely insufficient amount of RAM.
        My current home router (which replaced my first zimaboard) is running OPNsense virtualized on a proxmox base system, and runs other network related services alongside it on 32 GB RAM on an N100 CPU. It’s plenty CPU for those things, and memery is still the limiting factor for me. I might just go to 48 GB.
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      365. Without ECC memory to the CPU it is going to be useless as a server. The radiator fins could have been risen to the height of the ethernet connector for a better cooling and a longer lifespan of the components.
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      366. Come on Zima….make a 16GB or 32GB model.

        For the fun of it…make a 64GB model.

        I feel like we are not really moving forward in the IT space, but are being intentionally kept at a point.
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      371. is that…. literally a single DRAM package?
        I get that the N series already has absolutely piss poor memory bandwidth from only being capable of a single memory channel, but come on.
        Systems that used these CPUs were already primarily limited by their memory bandwidth when using an actual dimm/sodimm.
        Icewhale is just…. completely unserious imo. Their software is atrocious, and their hardware isn’t much better.
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      373. Quick note, not sure if they didn’t prep you with this or if you missed it, but there’s also a 16GB of RAM modem with 64GB of eMMC.

        I’ve got a trio of Zimaboards and a Zimacube Pro. Two of the Zimas run pfSense (one for a LAN party, one as a backup for my home one) and one that I plan on using just to mess around with at some point in the future.

        I’ll probably pick up a couple of these for an upgrade to the LAN party router at some point, and grab a second of those to mess around with as well. But other than as something I can easily replace, I would never rely on eMMC memory for storage.
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      374. I used the original for a while but the biggest problem was storage and processor, this is very underwhelming, even a pi has an m.2 now , to use the 4 core n series again while the world has moved on , this may have been acceptable in lockdown but now it’s far behind the curve Qualcomm QCM6490v based. Sbcs are out this year this quarter and other risk base or amd z2 cards are as well , having something alderlake based yet again limits upgrades as a plex or jellyfin sever using the 1ghz graphics that roots ard from 5 years ago is deeply flawed, it’s gone from a curiosity neesh market nas possibility and sim-ly fixed the design glas of pci oversized cards they should have gone z2 I feel people will be deeply disappointed in this release it is still pure entry performance that many wills feel let down it is effectively 2011 performance pc . It’s uses as a kiosk or 15w low power os with massive limitations
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      376. I’ve been using a Zimablade for a few months now, with 2 use cases :
        – hard drive testing and maintenance using Spinrite
        – small virtualization host using Proxmox, for some basic services (pi-hole, WireGuard, and LibreNMS)

        I’m wondering if the zimaboard v2 can boot in CSM mode, because SpinRite does not support UEFI mode for now.

        Some features I wish were integrated into Zimaboard v2 are replaceable storage and ram : software tend to bloat over time, and flash memory storage also has a limited write endurance. Failure of one of these parts means the board is almost dead (not totally true for storage thanks to USB, SATA and PCI-E but you get the point). And if the board itself dies, boot storage and ram cannot be salvaged. That’s some concern to me. Oh, and why no USB-C power input ?

        Otherwise, it looks like a very welcome upgrade to their main product !
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      378. It doesn’t warrant the amount of glazing you did. no m.2 so you either have to rely on emmc or have drives literally dangling. A dangling PCIe card too. stupid mini dp port instead of HDMI. Can’t be powered by the usb c port. No wifi. limited RAM. There are waay better options. I guess when you get free stuff you are more tolerant of shortcomings.
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      379. It is unfortunate that for the price that they’re asking, it puts it out of the efficient $/(performance/Watt) metric.

        If it weren’t for that, it would be an interesting buy.
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      380. Can you still install ZimaOS on top of Proxmox like you could with CasaOS? And i don’t mean as a VM, I mesn actually using Proxmox as the base for it
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      382. I been using a ZimaBlade for about a year to host my plex server instead of letting my Synology do that, and it has been great so far!
        A big issue I had, was that it came with a default SSH username and password, nowhere in the little documentation that it gives out to people says that. I set up my username and password, but there is still an “admin/casaos” account with full access to everything. Anyone that has access to your network could easily take over it. Even changing the password wasn’t as simple (I’m not a linux person, so I had to find the commands/instructions online). This is something that should be noted for anyone getting one, I feel its a security risk that they do not mitigate very well.
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      388. Still looks like a gimic product. Maybe for a dev its wortha look to test stuff with pcie or smth, but besides that this devices even has miniDP which suuuucks, Type C everything pls.
        Niche device for a niche userbase.
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      390. The only pro im seeing over a min pc is the pcie and sata ports. I’m not a huge fan of soldered anything, and for your information, 98% of Chrome books can be had for 8-20 bucks and be loaded with linux or even windows, not as powerful but most are passive cooled and some motherboards are very small rectangle slightly bigger than a raspberry pie and for the price its very good value
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      393. не понимаю для чего это устройство когда есть аналоги не уступающие по мощности и дешевле.
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      396. Did they fix the clearance issues on the zima 1 and blade, where the “shield” of a pcie card wouldn’t fit? I see you only show pcie cards where the shield is removed ????
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      400. I’m really excited to see these. They address a *lot* of the issues highlighted with the Zimaboard 1. The N150 in particular is a huge jump from the N3xxx series Celerons they used previously.

        One disappointment: no obvious way to add PoE power, which seems like it would be ideal for a cluster of these. If it was powered over real USB-C, you could use a PoE+ or PoE++ to USB-C power converter.

        One major issue, which you highlighted: soldered, limited RAM. Yes, you can pay more for soldered 16 GiB, but still, soldered RAM kills it for a lot of people, and bricks it if the RAM fails. Plus, the N150 can almost certainly support more than 16 GiB, even if not officially. I understand why manufacturers want to use that form factor for the RAM vs a SODIMM–the cost- and space-savings are real–but for such a … labby … product (this is not a mainstream mini PC), I’d have loved to see a socket for this form factor of RAM, so you could source your own upgrade chip and yolo it if that’s your thing.

        Likewise, eMMC presents issues–Devs for certain projects, like Proxmox, for example, do not necessarily support installing PVE on eMMC. So, if you go that way, you’re running an unsupported hardware config out of the box–on what is otherwise a pretty standard N150 platform in a tiny package. And that’s before considering the write endurance and performance. Running your OS off a high-endurance USB stick might be better, which is not ideal. Why not 2230 NVME bottlenecked to Gen 2×1 (basically SATA SSD speed, which is fast enough for an OS drive) to control heat?

        The RAM and storage limitations aren’t an issue with the intended first party OS in the intended use case, but will be issues when trying to maximize the product lifetime (which would normally be done with updates to storage and RAM). To a lesser extent, the soldered components limit the flexibility of just doing weird stuff with it. 😛

        But I’m very much pleased to see IceWhale going in a direction so responsive to feedback on their previous products.
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      404. Passively cooled N150. Hmmm. The missed opportunity to add 80mm fan standoff mounts and a PWM fan header on the side makes me doubt as to whether the Icewhale designers even bother to push the device to the limits that its marketing seems to hint at. I guess you could get janky with a pair of rubber bands and a 3-pin fan to USB adapter.
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      408. agree that the 16GB version is really the starting point for something like this. also would be really nice if everyone could stop pretending it makes sense to put anything lower than 10G networking in these things anymore. maybe the market is glutted with 2.5G controllers, idk, but 10G opens up *so* many more use cases, and I doubt most people want to turn these into routers with 2x 2.5G connections, which would be the main reason to have two. as it is you have to go with a combo card in the PCIe slot or dedicated NIC, and that’s sorta frustrating.
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      409. As cool as these Zima devices are, and as much as I actually like CasaOS… Take a look at the Hardkernel Odriod H4 series. I have an H4+ in a no-name 4 bay Amazon NAS case handling nothing but NAS duties and Jellyfin, and it’s fabulous.
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      411. 05:42 Sorry to correct but website says 2 x USB 3.1 (it doesn’t specify which gen or speed but likely 5Gbps) and Mini Display Port 1.4. I find the USB speed a little disappointing as quite a few new SBCs have 2 x 10Gbps ports.

        Still, its an interesting promising design, I love the idea of this SBC particularly for the build quilty, heatsink case and PCIe Slot.
        However hardware wise I am personally more excited for the Upgraded (Amston Lake version) Radxa x4 to come out.
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      413. I run TrueNAS Scale on the Zima Blade as a remote storage server with 2 8 TB drives. It runs well. Installation took ages! CWWK has a very similar unit for ~$170 with N100, upgradeable RAM, m.2, 2 SATA ports, 4x PCI express and 2 2.5 ethernet.
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      417. by the time you buy sata cable and a cage for this it’ll be as expensive as a aoostar r1 ! and it’s more DIY so I cant recomend this for anything
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      423. Love the Zimas????????????
        I hope they flush out the protruding RJ45s, and move the USB vertically and to the sides, or use USBc.. but, man! This is exciting!! Thank you for updating this news ????
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      428. Thanks for this, I found your video as Synology no longer seems to support its own video station. I’ve started using Plex and then come across Jellyfin . As far as I can see it as a Mac and IOS only user Jellyfin is the better simpler option
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      432. Now that Synology is forcing users to forever remove Video Station in their newest DSM update (7.2.2), this video is more significant than ever before. Thank you for your excellent methodical review!!!
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      435. Yup, the fact that Plex has support for most hardware/software under the sun is what pushed me to get the pass… it just works for the stuff I have.
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      436. Great video as always. Like Cameron above, I lost my Internet connection in storms recently, and was seriously under impressed that I could not access my Plex library from the TVs etc. I ended up watching stuff on a laptop direct from the media files, HDMI cable, total lash up.
        My question: is there anyway to allow non authenticated access to Plex so i access it when the Internet is down? My DS920+ is well hidden behind firwalls etc, nothing exposed to the internet. Or is the way out of our next outage to install Jellyfin as a backup path? Plex plays well on the TVs, and I have enough Roku’s to go round for the TVs without a Jellyfin app
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      440. Plex won’t recognise my media properly. It insists some media is not what it is, even with optional folder naming ID and lifetime Plex Pass.
        It crashes regularly when showing Plex ads,requiring restart every time ads are shown.
        Support, for a lifetime Plex Pass holder, is non-existent.

        Emby is much more controllable.
        Jellyfin can’t be installed when Emby is installed without changing ports and breaking some Emby client setup

        Transcoding regularly fails in both Plex and Emby.

        Often I resort to VLC via DLNA which will play all my files with no issues at the cost of having to navigate through folders, but that works.
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      441. Appreciate all your work mate. For a few days now I am watching your content to educate myself to make an educated decision which NAS to buy, what to look out for etc.

        Thanks ????
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      443. Great content as always. I think there’s too much emphasis on “you need a plex pass to be comparable”. Lifetime plex pass for 100$ to me kind of makes any argument about a feature being behind that paywall irrelevant. At the end of the day, I think it’s would be a better review to just stick to overall capabilities. I am building by own NAS and have spent $ on hardware and potentially software (unraid or whatever). The cost of plex pass is pretty minimal in the grand scheme. Sure – it’s “one more thing” but it really shouldn’t be a determining factor. If plex doesn’t do something you need or doesn’t do it as well as jellyfin, that should be called out (or visa versa). Just my 2 cents.
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      448. late to the party. The transcoding part is a load of UTTER rubbish. The commentary states he is comparing “Hardware” transcoding. Plex’s dropdown, as shown, is CPU only transcoding. That is “software” transcoding. Jellyfin’s dropdown is for real hardware transcoding.
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      449. Short answer is Plex, because you can install it on 99% devices sold for the last 10+ years (even not officially supported) from device’s default app manager and without DevOps skills.
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      450. Plex freezes my TCL Android TV if I try to browse my movies with it.

        It is better than jellyfin in that it feels slightly more refined and for some reason jellyfin can’t look for new subtitle out maybe I don’t know how to use it but that’s an issue I’ve seen.
        jellyfin is more stable on the TCL Android TV though.
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      451. I’ve had PLEX since there were just starting. Paid for the Lifetime membership hoping for the best. Unfortunately, there are MANY ISSUES with the service and there is NO TECH SUPPORT! PLEX’s idea of tech support is to LEAVE THEIR PROBLEMS TO OTHER USERS TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT PLEX’S PROBLEMS WITH WORK-AROUND FIXES. There is NO direct line for TECH SUPPORT, ZERO, ZIP, NADA!
        You have to post your problems to “THE COMMUNITY” and HOPE someone else has found a way to correct the same issues you are having OR EVEN READS YOUR POST. If you try to send a email to them for help you get a robotic reply with a link that does NOT WORK to submit your question to “THE COMMUNITY”. TOTALLY USELESS! I have spent, now, over 6 hrs looking for a fix for my latest problem.
        If you get PLEX, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. Don’t expect help from them at all. Buyer beware!
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      453. After I found out about Infuse supporting Jellyfin source, I immediately delete Jellyfin app from my iPhone and Plex from my synology 🙂
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      456. What sucks with plex is codec support. Dolby Vision, DTS-HD, and TrueHD. It also transcodes in x264 instead of hevc which pretty much everything supports natively now days. I do a lot of streaming in hotels (doing it now) and the image quality with hevc would be better on this limited bandwidth.
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      457. My decision to switch from Plex would be: does it have season-specific special features for TV Shows? Does it have multiple airdates per country? (I have foreign versions of US shows that aired on a different date and want to preserve that). Does it have an aired today category/pivot on the recommended screen? Does it allow me to create my own custom channels and schedule shows so my wife can watch all her Jane Austen stuff on a channel and I can watch Star Trek on my own Star Trek channel? Does it allow movie pre-rolls dependent on various criteria (holiday, season, date, genre, series, etc.)? If Emby or Jellyfin could do that, I might switch
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      459. The only things Jellyfin don’t support are niche and basically irrelevant to your weird uncle.

        Jellyfin supports ISO. Plex arrogantly refuses to. End of discussion for me.
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      460. Thank you for the time you have put into these comparisons. I have had a lifetime Plex pass for over 10 years, but switched to Jellyfin two months ago. Maybe my observations will help someone, sorry if it gets a bit wordy..

        First, Plex is spending their time working on adding streaming services. For the purposes of a self hosted media streaming application, those are clutter (my opinion). Each update pushed my personal folders back off the main page, behind these ad supported streaming services, requiring me to set them up again. Second, Plex is constantly “phoning home”. Set up a Pi-Hole and just see how many connections Plex is constantly making even when the server is sitting there idle. Third, if you are in an area where you sometimes lose internet access, and someone tries to switch users.. you can’t connect to the server from that device until internet access is restored. That last one was the spark that made me decide to switch. Lines got damaged last winter and it took almost a week to get our home internet back up. By the end of that time none of our devices could access the server. Seemed kind of pointless to have a self hosted media server you can’t connect to without internet access. Jellyfin handles user authentication locally, so if you can see the server on the network you can authenticate.

        From the server side, Plex is more refined. That is to be expected from a paid app, but it is surprising how good Jellyfin is. Transcoding is easier to set up in Plex, but if you have the space you can do the transcoding in advance for the devices you intend to use and that’s no longer an issue (which is what I do). Plex is also more tolerant when setting up Metadata.. if you inadvertently name a folder “Season Two” instead of “Season 2” Plex didn’t seem to notice, but Jellyfin absolutely got lost and I had to correct a lot of those kinds of errors. I didn’t find either of the servers difficult to manage, but you definitely need to be more aware and intentional when setting up Jellyfin.

        The user experience in Jellyfin seems much less cluttered and substantially more responsive. Whether on a Roku or a tablet the Jellyfin app opens nearly instantly, whereas the Plex app takes a few seconds. This isn’t something that was troubling in Plex, it takes about the same amount of time to open the Plex app as any other streaming app.. but now I recognize that time delay is because of the offsite connection Plex makes. Jellyfin opens more quickly because everything happens on the local network. I have also noticed that Jellyfin seems to do a better job bookmarking where you are in a movie or series. In Plex I always had to remember where I was in a series because it would get stuck from time to time. Jellyfin will remember, user by user, where someone is and return to that spot.

        I don’t think either one is difficult to set up or manage. I honestly expected less from Jellyfin, being an open source project, but was very pleasantly surprised. There are a few services it doesn’t offer or do as well, such as music management and streaming, but I didn’t really take advantage of those in Plex so their loss wasn’t a big deal to me. If all you want to do is stream your personal video collection on your own network Jellyfin is the way to go in my opinion.
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      462. I Run Jellyfin on Truenas Scale, My use case was “the internet is down” streaming. Something that is kinda hard with Plex’s must-phone-home even for local use made it less than ideal in my use case. I have no one outside my house that I will stream to, so why pay for that.
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      463. Accessing your own hardware (hw acceleration) is a bit of a moot point (around 26min mark). Every application uses your hardware in some way, so whenever you pay for an application, you’re in a way paying to access your hardware (in some custom, specific way). In case of plex and hw accelleration, you’re not really paying to access your hardware (it’s not like they’re actively blocking that on free tier) but for (as you have said) dev time to integrate that hardware capability into plex. It is strong leverage to get people to get the license though. Great and informative video, thnx!
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      464. As soon as I bought my NAS I adopted Plex but quickly abandoned it. It couldn’t find my non-English content well and it rarely recognized my subtitle files. In addition to the constant connection problems. I migrated to Emby, which was lighter, found the correct data and recognized my subtitles. But it still presented a problem: some clients were horrible. The Android TV client, in addition to being paid for, did not work properly and the plugin for Kodi was deficient. I recently decided to try Jellyfin and, so far, more joy than sadness. There are still some problems. Notifications, which worked perfectly well on Emby, require a little more effort to work properly. Overall I’m happier using it than I was using the others.
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      467. I have a Qnap nas mainly for backup and media streaming with Plex.
        I have a lot of dvd’s that i want to backup to my Qnap.
        The problem is that converting them from a dvd to mp4 takes a lot of time.
        Is there a way to play a copy of the VIDEO_TS folder of a dvd on my Qnap nas?
        Can i copy the VIDEO_TS folder to my Qnap nas and convert it on my nas to mp4, just like “Transcoding” in “Multimedia Console”?
        This way i don’t have to use my computer for transcoding and let my nas do the work.

        Thank you
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      470. Great video! In my opinion, to each their own. Each of these platforms are targeted to different user group. You have the group that love to ticker and put in the extra work and do customization and smile when things work. Then you have the group the just wants to install something, do a simple user friendly setup and things just work regardless of the fee. I am a Plex user for the past 6 years. I use my 8-bay Synology as the file server and I have a PC with a P2000 Quadro for transcoding. Most of the users a share library with are of the older age group that’s not tech savvy. So sending and invite and just walking through the setup on the phone is simple. When I go on vacation, I can just connect to Plex on a smart tv and just start watching, I can log out when am done. I am not bashing Jellyfin or Emby, they are good, but it’s not suitable for me.
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      471. Thank you for your truly excellent video. For me, not being 100% free is a dealbreaker, so I would go with Jellyfin over Plex in a heartbeat. I am actually using Synology Video Station right now, and I am quite happy with it, as I really don’t feel the need any additional bells and whistles. Perhaps I will consider switching to Jellyfin at some future time.
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      472. Plex have been very good for some years, but lately they move further and further away from a “home” Media server to a Streaming service, and hiding to many things behind their Plex Pass. (I have been using Plex for many years, but would not recommend Plex as a frist choice. Mainly for the insane slow to implement “new” standards (codex, file formats, Tags etc)and also unwillingness to listen to their users.
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      473. Great summary. I think one thing missing for me in the comparison blog though is the audio player. I’m trying to move from Plex to Jellyfin, but I’m stuck on there not being a viable equivalent of PlexAmp. This is important to me because I mainly listen to music in the car, so there needs to be a client that works with Android Auto. PlexAmp is pretty slick, and gives you your own private Spotify type experience. Also, are you able to do a guide of adding Live TV (TV tuner cards) support to a Synology NAS Jellyfin server sometime? And maybe how to tell if your NAS is capable of hardware transcoding. Thanks!
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      474. As far as I know, neither of these are fully supported in DSM 7.1.1 – Plex is a Beta and Jellyfin is a community app, that comes with a bunch of warnings/waivers.
        I’m a bit risk averse and will wait for DSM 7.2 and see what is supported before I potentially risk all my data just to stream a DVD that I can put in a machine.
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      476. I use Emby running in Docker on a DS920+. I was wondering if there’s anyway to make use of the 2 lans and have Emby only running on lan 2, whilst everything else runs on lan 1? Can this be done? Video idea maybe??
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      477. I used plex for the better part of a year without complaint. My experience with it was finally soured when I got a nice OLED 4k tv, and I played a 4k movie via plex. I tried to turn on subtitles, and plex said I needed to pay to enable hardware transcoding if I wanted subs. Imagine you have a service running on your own hardware – you’re paying for the silicon and the power – but you need to pay someone to unlock a feature that you yourself are going to serve on your own server. That’s like ordering a pizza, but then it shows up and you have to put it together and cook it yourself. I’ll do that, I’ll cook it myself, but I don’t want to pay someone for the right.
        I also ran into a situation where I had no internet, but plex required an internet connection before I could start the server. I switched to Jellyfin later that week. If you like plex, and you paid for it, and you’re happy with it, then there’s no reason to leave. However if you value running a service that’s actually yours (one of the main reasons many of us got into home networking) with no asterisks, then its Jellyfin; every day.
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      479. i use plex now but have issues with the scrobbler as it will skip ffw 10min only. no back. which makes not spoiling movies suck if you want to pause. it also goes fwd 10 even if you hit back. Don’t know if it’s my remote but it’s annoying. i now have plex and like the visuals but usually actually watch longer movies i might have to pause on the shield tv vlc app. Tried emby for music it was great till it broke. It’s a major pain to configure the music libraries and it doesn’t read mp3 metadata remotely correctly and since that’s how it organizes it screws up albums splitting them. Also when you navigate on the phone app by genre it goes genre, then songs, then gives a massive list of songs. Nobody with a music collection visualizes music like that. It should go genre, artist, album, song. And there’s no option to force navigating like that and despite requests i’ve read they won’t do it. Apples native app switched to doing that which is why i used a 3rd party one. But it’s a major pain to pick like hip-hop as a genre and then just get a list 18k songs. Hell i don’t even know the names of plenty of songs. I just know when i bought the album what album it’s on. But it is useful if you have tons of music as basically a free spotify. Especially if you’re like me and have lots of out of print or local music spotify doesn’t have.

        I do like that once you figure out plex it pretty much just works. Wish i could just use vlc as the default video player cause vlc is rock solid and rarely fails me in terms of competent playback. I researched Jellyfin but won’t get to try it until i buy a NAS.
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      482. I see from one comment that Plex has a relay server. ( I’m pretty new to Plex.) But, I don’t want to open port or activate UPnP on my router. Can you Tailscale directly into your home Plex server ?
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      487. I like the look of Jellyfin but that is a hard pass when it comes to the need to install docker to run it.
        Like VMware…Docker is a waste of time and effort if all you plan on doing is running the one thing… Both Docker and VMware are only worthwhile for a very small number of use cases.
        It is like Buying a flatbed truck and then hauling around your sports car with it.
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      488. Having gone from plex premium -> emby premium -> jellyfin, if possible you really should run a 3 side by side to get an idea of what each is like day to day. Once you have one setup it’s not difficult to tack them onto each other. They all have “gotchas”

        I’ve long abandoned plex, I don’t think I’ve use it in a few years.

        I’ve found surprisingly the Roku app for jellyfin has FINALLY solved the h265 (my Rokus are old and need hw transcoding) bug that has was in all of them, it made playback unusable, really. The Roku and android TV apps both have been flawless lately.

        I’m hopeful for jellyfin for the first time in awhile, the development seems to be back on track. The Roku app is still getting consistent new features added, they are also implementing new features like playlists and other stupid things that emby has ignored. I do wish jellyfin had a backup app, EmbyBackup was one of my favorite features, I’m surprised there isn’t even a plugin (that I’ve been able to find anyways).

        Once I figured out there was an intro skip plugin available I’ve been on jellyfin exclusively.

        My library is ~40tb
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      493. Plex has the Trump card in all comparisons. They are the only 1 with a relay server option. I’d pay for something like jellyfin to supply a relay service for remote playback outside the home.
        That’s the main reason I still use plex over the alternatives.
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      495. I’ve used plex for years, went to Emby and then Jellyfin, now back on plex, it just works.
        Jellyfin is my second favorite but apps are garbage.
        I wish Plex had more customization like Jellyfin though. We need need a Plexifin lol
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      499. To me plex is still ahead of jellyfin, simply because it has the share screen feature, while on jellyfin, despite having the icon, it just doesn’t work. Besides, plex has the subtitle seeker built in, while the other is done though an extension. The movies and tv show covers are also very accurate, and if you don’t find it, it’s fairly simple to seach for it. On Jellyfin you have to go to imdb to search for the right cover, and that’s kind of a handful.
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