TerraMaster Challenges Synology With the ‘Most Powerful 4-Bay NAS to Date’
TerraMaster says its new F4-424 Pro NAS (network attached storage) is “the most powerful 4-bay NAS to date” thanks to its 8-core 8-thread CPU, integrated GPU, 32GB of RAM, and dual M.2 NVMe slots for SSD caching.
Synology has been photographers’ go-to brand when it comes to NAS, but TerraMaster seems intent on unseating the king. It claims that no other 4-bay NAS is more powerful, boasting a 150% performance improvement over its predecessor that provides 100% faster application load times, 45% increase in file and photo retrieval speed, 55% improvement in database response speed, and 65% faster PHP response for web pages.
It’s powered by an Intel 12th Generation Alder Lake N95 8-core 8-thread CPU that can turbo at 3.8GHz, an integrated UHD GPU that runs at 1.25GHz, 32GB of DDR5 memory, dual 2.5G Ethernet ports, and dual M.2 NVMe slots for SSD caching. That NVMe installation was made easy to access via a sliding cover which can be easily pushed aside. The company claims an SSD can be installed in as little as five seconds.
Those dual 2.5G Ethernet promise a linear data transmission speed of 283 MB/s (tested with NAS dedicated HDDs; 18TB x 4, RAID 0). It also supports Link Aggregation which offers a network bandwidth up to 5 Gb, which TerraMaster says is ideal for multi-user and high-concurrent file access.
“With 4K video decoding capability, the F4-424 Pro is compatible with uPnP/DLNA protocol and can stream videos to various multimedia devices, including computers, smart phones, media players and televisions, by using TerraMaster’s proprietary application Multimedia Server or the one from another third-party, to deliver users constant, reliable entertainment experiences,” the company says.
TerraMaster is also touting the F4-424 Pro’s low noise, which is achieved due to the integration of additional sound-absorbent materials inside the chassis. It produces 50% of the noise its predecessor did and has a standby level of 21dB(A). The company also says the NAS has better heat dissipation thanks to an “intelligent temperature-controlled fan” which automatically adjusts speed according to hard disk temperature. It also is equipped with a dedicated ventilation channel for the SSDs that can be kept within a “reasonable” operating temperature even when bearing a full load.
The F4-424 Pro operatues on TerraMaster’s TOS 5 operating system (which is Linux-based) and will also support the upcoming TOS 6. The company says this management software allows users to manage the network, permissions, storage, and monitor resources via a ” user-friendly, intuitive, and flat web interface.”
As is expected of a four-bay NAS, the F4-424 Pro supports various RAID types including Single as well as RAIDs 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10.
The TerraMaster F4-424 Pro NAS is available directly from the company’s website for $700. As is typical for NAS, it does not include the HDDs or any SSDs.
Image credits: TerraMaster
