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TerraMaster F5-221 NAS 5 Bay Diskless $459 + Delivery ($0 C&C VIC/NSW) @ Scorptec

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TerraMaster F5-221 NAS 5 Bay Diskless $459 + Delivery ($0 C&C VIC/NSW) @ Scorptec
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Clear on 14/07/2022 - 22:28 scorptec.com.au (414 clicks)

Great price on this 5 bay NAS beating the Prime Day deal if you can click and collect or if the postage cost is low. It features an Intel Celeron J3355 dual-core CPU, two 1GbE LAN ports with failover and link aggregation support, 2GB RAM (upgradable), HDMI and 2 USB 3.0 ports on the rear.

Recently TerraMaster released TOS 5.0 which is a whole new operating system different to TOS 4.0 with a lot more features, cleaner UI, more apps and overall runs more smoothly. With TOS 5.0 I use the new Surveillance Manager to record my camera footage straight to the NAS and the new CloudSync app for syncing my OneDrive and Google Drive to the NAS as a backup.

Alternatively you can 'unofficially' install Operating Systems like TrueNAS or even Synology DSM to experience all the apps and features that they provide.

Credit to Datatemp

Computing NAS TerraMaster

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closed Comments

  • ModBot on 14/07/2022 - 22:45

    Is this a good starter NAS ? I'm trying to setup my own private backup system and also have Plex running on it ?

    • Clear on 14/07/2022 - 22:47
      +2

      The hardware itself is good but the software isn't as polished as QNAP or Synology. Since there's an internal USB port it's quite easy to install other operating systems like Synology DSM to offer a better experience.

      For Plex if you check their official spreadsheet here it'll show what this can transcode via software and hardware.

      • gizmomelb on 14/07/2022 - 23:24
        +1

        I nearly bought one of these during Prime day sale because it can have xpenology installed.. but then I remembered I still have a HP microserver in my cupboard not being used.

        • Clear on 14/07/2022 - 23:35
          +1

          My biggest regret was not buying a HP Gen8 MicroServer when Warehouse1 existed and they were on sale all the time. Still a very capable platform. Even the N40L still holds up well. Stick more RAM in it and run TrueNAS.

          • Caped Baldy on 14/07/2022 - 23:42

            @Clear:

            Stick more RAM in it and run TrueNAS.

            I have this set up and am considering giving Synology a go for better photo and cloud backup.

      • Lonewolf1983 on 15/07/2022 - 00:02

        TOS5 is apparently a huge improvement, and being intel based should be compatible with this unit

        • Clear on 15/07/2022 - 00:11

          That is correct. TOS5 isn't compatible with the F2-210 and F4-210 Realtek NAS drives unfortunately. TM did say they're releasing new ARM NAS drives later in the year and they'll have a new TOS5 for them at least.

      • samkenny on 15/07/2022 - 11:04

        Thanks for the link. Looks like I am better off running my Plex on my PC if I want UHD HDR

    • xiangd on 14/07/2022 - 23:24

      The cpu is decent (intel x64) - Intel Celeron J3355 Dual Core.
      Can transcode 1080P (but not 4k).
      for 4k transcode I think you need i3 or better, these cost well over 1k.

      2 GB ram is good start. It is enough for plex.
      I think it is a good starting point, if you just use it for plex and storage (backup and sync your important data).

      Note:
      ARM quad cores are unless (avoid all ARM based cpu for plex).

      • ModBot on 14/07/2022 - 23:25

        What else do ppl use it for ?

        • xiangd on 14/07/2022 - 23:28

          run apps, cloud storage.
          surveillance
          VM (eg run windows)

      • [Deactivated] on 15/07/2022 - 06:31

        unless what?

  • jihape on 14/07/2022 - 22:50

    Hmm looks like a good candidate to upgrade from hp microserver n40l with truenas to this with unraid.
    I would only use it for storage, plex etc run on another box.

    • p1 ama on 14/07/2022 - 22:57
      +2

      hp microserver n40l

      I remember when these popped up as bargains all the time, wow, those were the days

      • jihape on 14/07/2022 - 23:02
        +1

        It has been rock solid in the 10 years it has been running. A shame the later versions of them got so expensive.

        • gizmomelb on 14/07/2022 - 23:30

          agreed.. the only reason I didn't buy one of these Terramaster NAS recently was because I still have a spare n40l sitting around!

          • Datatemp on 17/07/2022 - 10:18

            @gizmomelb: My N40L stop working after storm outages last year, luckily I have another copy of all my data on other ext hdd because I was about to swap out all my 3TB to a larger capacity so backup all to ect hdd.

            Do you know whether I can reformat those 3TB that I have setup as Raid 0 in my n40l to use in the terramaster?

    • Lonewolf1983 on 15/07/2022 - 00:03

      i have 3 microservers, 2 running xpenonology and another spare for parts.
      6 drives in each and they just keep on truckin!

      • Datatemp on 17/07/2022 - 10:33

        I am thinking of running DSM on the Terramaster instead of the TOS5, based on your experience with it, is xpenonology hard to setup on the Terramaster?

        Purpose of the Terramaster, use as central media storage to so family members within and outside the home can access them; auto backup photos and important documents (need redundancy for these files, not really so for the media)

        I spent a lot of time in setting up the n40l 5-6 years ago as I am not very knowledgeable in this area or computing as a whole so I need as much help as I can in getting this new toy up and running.

        Thanks in advance

        • Lonewolf1983 on 17/07/2022 - 10:58

          Haven't used on terramaster but should be as simple as make a boot usb and play it in place of the factory one

  • teddiebear on 14/07/2022 - 22:57

    I've seen a similar model as an ex-demo for $359 https://www.jw.com.au/ex-demo-terramaster-5-bay-diskless-ext….
    Not sure about what the difference is.

    • Clear on 14/07/2022 - 23:02
      +2

      That one is a DAS which is different to a NAS in that it has a direct USB connection (in this case USB-C) and you use simple software to create the RAID array. While these NAS drives have a network connection, a proper operating system that you can log into, load apps etc.

      • teddiebear on 14/07/2022 - 23:04

        Ahhh thankyou for explaining that. Computers i can handle blindfolded, when it comes to networking…. my mind goes blank as! Lol

    • xiangd on 14/07/2022 - 23:17

      don't get that demo.
      It is more like an external drive (5 bays) rather than a nas.
      It does not have ethernet (uses usb).
      It also does not have a CPU, cant run plex or apps.

  • Averell on 14/07/2022 - 23:13

    Should I use SSDs with this, or HDDs are better? My concern is more about durability.

    Also, if the answer is HDD, I read some where that there are many types of HDD, some are for NAS some are not. So which one should I use?

    Thanks.

    • SickDmith on 14/07/2022 - 23:19
      +1

      This is a good drive for such devices.
      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/712348

      I don't know how much 18Tb SSD is.
      But I like how disk drive price is not a factor here. ;)

      • Averell on 14/07/2022 - 23:24

        I don't need much space, so if using SSD I'll start with 2 * 1-2TB.
        The one you linked, isn't it an external drive with USB interface only?
        Thanks.
        My main use is for backing up photos/videos captured by phones

    • Clear on 14/07/2022 - 23:29
      +6

      For a NAS you typically want a CMR HDD and not SMR. Like WD Red Plus and some WD Red or the Seagate IronWolf or IronWolf Pro designed specifically for NAS. A more cost effective solution is what SickDmith linked where you can buy an external drive for less and shuck the HDD out.

      Using SSDs instead are an option, but the obvious downsides are that the endurance is lower, DRAMless SSDs will slow down big time when their pSLC cache is exhausted temporarily, they're more expensive compared to HDDs and NAS/Enterprise grade SSDs can be very expensive.

      An alternative is to use SSD caching. You could use one of the SATA slots with a 2.5" SSD (e.g. 5th bay) and depending on your use scenario you can see some improvement. Like improved read/writes, snappier Plex and faster VMs for example. This article helps explain it all.

      For most people adding more RAM is where you'll see an improvement though. Since this already has 2GB you could easily add a 4GB or an 8GB stick to give it a lot more memory and better performance.

      • Averell on 14/07/2022 - 23:35

        Thanks a lot.

        • Clear on 14/07/2022 - 23:38
          +3

          Since you're starting out I'd probably wait for the Seagate IronWolf 4TB to go on sale. Stick a couple of those in and you're good to go.

          My older F4-220 NAS has 3 of those in RAID 5 which gives me 8TB available space and 4TB for protection. Good enough for backing up all my files.

          • Averell on 14/07/2022 - 23:50

            @Clear: Thanks.
            Is it easy to find a software that helps backup my phones gallery automatically to the NAS?

            • Clear on 14/07/2022 - 23:57
              +3

              @Averell: I know for a Synology NAS you can use the Synology Photos app for Android/iOS to sync photos from your phone or a service like Google Photos to the app. For TerraMaster I'm not entirely sure as I don't use it.

  • Ostrich on 15/07/2022 - 00:13

    I run unRAID on my terramaster. You can remove the internal usb (or reuse). I just stuck a bootable usb in the back. Added 8gb ram (to make 10, apparently largest it can address) and it runs very smoothly!

    No complaints using it as a media server.

    • Averell on 15/07/2022 - 08:09

      The specs on Scorptec site says it has only one RAM slot. Is that the same model?

      • mjfisher on 15/07/2022 - 13:38
        +1

        It has 2Gb onboard and one RAM slot which supports up to 8Gb Module.

  • wwwsam on 15/07/2022 - 07:36
    +1

    Marginally cheaper ($454.98) at mwave with apparent free shipping.

    https://www.mwave.com.au/product/terramaster-f5221-5bay-disk…

  • connorlo on 15/07/2022 - 08:32
    +1

    In Stock at Centrecom (https://www.centrecom.com.au/terramaster-f5-221-5-bay-dual-c…) for $439 (pickup clayton/sunshine)

  • mjfisher on 15/07/2022 - 13:35
    +3

    I've been using this with TOS5 for a while and I had quite a few issues with performance and an issue at one point with Raid Synchronizing constantly and CPU hitting 95-100% all the time. After reinstalling everything 3 times I downloaded and installed TrueNAS. It's a bit more effort to setup apps then using TOS but if you're willing to play around and google a bit it's not too hard. Performance is way better overall as the hardware is pretty good. I installed this ram giving me 10Gb - cheap and works well. https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0145WDNI4/ref=ppx_yo_d…

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