TerraMaster F5-221 review: Big in capacity and value, but falls a little short
Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central
TerraMaster is starting to polish through as the value selection for network-attached storage (NAS) enclosures. While the company doesn't produce the best NAS for home or best NAS for Plex, information technology does offer plenty of bang for your cadet. The F5-221 is another fine case of this, rocking five drive trophy, an Intel processor, and upgradable RAM for less than $400.
The F5-221 is also the larger sibling of the F2-221, which we reviewed some time agone. That was a keen value NAS with a few shortcomings, namely the Os — which has since been improved — and lack of whatsoever 2.5Gb or 10Gb LAN ports, which sadly hasn't been addressed with the F5-221.
Still, is the TerraMaster F5-221 worth considering? Read on to find out my thoughts.
Five-bay NAS
TerraMaster F5-221
Bottom line: It may seem strange to call something that costs multiple hundreds "affordable," but that's precisely what the TerraMaster F5-221 is in terms of value. Non only does it come rocking an Intel processor, only also 5 drive bays and upgradable RAM. It's just a shame it cuts a few as well many corners.
Pros
- Good value
- 5 trophy with 80TB chapters
- Bone is easy-to-use
- Capable Intel CPU
Cons
- No 10Gb LAN
- No expansion slots
- No M.ii cache slots
- RAM hard to reach
TerraMaster F5-221 tech specs
Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central
One of the well-nigh important components in a NAS enclosure is the processor. The Intel Celeron J3355 is showing its age now (from 2022), just it'southward all the same a pretty proficient dual-core CPU. The 2GB of RAM is okay for most NAS tasks, but if y'all want to have multiple users connected simultaneously, running different apps, you'll want to bump this upwardly to 6GB with a 4GB module.
| Category | TerraMaster F5-221 |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Celeron J3355 |
| RAM | 2 GB (max 6 GB) |
| Drive bays | 5x (SSD/HDD) |
| Capacity | eighty TB |
| Cooling | 2x fourscore mm fan |
| Ports | 2x 1Gb LAN 2x USB 3.0 |
| PCIe | - |
| Power depict | ~56.half-dozen W |
| Dimensions | 227 x 225 ten 136 mm (eight.93 10 8.93 x 5.35 inches) |
| Weight | two.33 kg (five.thirteen lbs) |
| Cost | $360 at Amazon |
The five drive bays let for the installation of upwardly to 5 16TB HDDs that total 80TB of chapters. This will be reduced depending on which RAID configuration you choose. Running the NAS with all trophy populated should come across it hover in the mid-50s for ability describe in watts. That's not too bad, particularly given two 80mm fans are included to keep everything running cool.
TerraMaster F5-221 design and features
The pattern of TerraMaster's range of NAS enclosures is refreshing to the eye. In a body of water of black slabs of plastic and metal, it's pleasing to see manufacturers looking to differentiate their products with unique designs, and the F5-221 is certainly unique. It'due south also packaged well, which is a bonus for receiving a production y'all paid for in one piece.
Also every bit the 2 polystyrene pieces that secure the NAS inside the box, a small brown package contains a quick starting time guide, screws for mounting drives, power cable, external PSU brick, RJ45 Ethernet cablevision, and some labels for the drive bays. Once unboxed, you'll be greeted past the sleek-looking aluminum chassis that wraps around the F5-221. Like other NAS, TerraMaster utilizes a subtle but solid-looking design.
TerraMaster F5-221 is a good value NAS with plenty of storage capacity.
On the front are vii LED indications that correspond drive and LAN action, too as ability. The two sides and top of the NAS enclosure are completely bare, meaning this unit of measurement volition exist drawing all of its air from the front through the installed hard drives. With two 80mm fans on the rear, this shouldn't be an issue and does help go along the drives cool when under load.
Speaking of fans, the NAS'due south rear has 2 blowers, AC input, two USB three.0 ports, and two 1Gb ports. The HDMI output and a further two Ethernet ports are cut out simply non used. While in that location's no brandish here similar you'd observe on an ASUSTOR NAS enclosure, it's pretty easy to connect and fire up the web UI to manage the F5-221.
That's really all there is to this NAS in terms of features. Unfortunately, while you're saving coin on a five-bay NAS, you practice miss out on a few luxuries like an Grand.2 slot for cache, faster LAN ports, and video out. TerraMaster does let yous to install an additional RAM module, which tin bump up the capacity to 8GB.
It's not so easy to access this module slot. Not but practice you lot need to remove the rear panel, only also the outer crush and bottom. It can be a slight pain to re-assemble.
TerraMaster F5-221 Setup and performance
Setting upwardly the TerraMaster F5-221 is a simple procedure. TerraMaster, like its competitors, offers a utility suite that can be downloaded to search for your NAS and automatically connect to it using your browser. Yous can skip this step (which I do) and only find out the IP address information technology has been assigned by your network and load information technology up in your browser.
The initial setup wizard will run you through a bunch of settings, including admin account, actually installing the Bone, configuring hard drives (and RAID), and more than. This process used to exist a petty hit and miss, only TerraMaster has improved it making it almost painless to pass through. For storage, the five drive bays can be configured into RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, or 10.
This NAS enclosure is more powerful enough for most household utilise.
Allow's talk processors. That Apollo Tardily Intel Celeron J3355 may be from 2022, simply it'south still a dual-cadre 64-scrap desktop-class processor/ Manufacturered on a 14nm process, it has a TDP rating of just 10W. The integrated Intel Hd Graphics 500 series GPU can hit 700MHz with heave and supports a variety of decode hardware acceleration, which is handy for Plex Media Server.
The well-nigh straightforward test to perform on a NAS is information transfer using driblet and drag inside Windows 10. Since we're simply able to utilize a unmarried 1Gb LAN port, the results were in line with expectations. Upload and download speeds ranged between 90MB/s and 110MB/s. If you need more bandwidth for substantial file transfers, yous're going to demand a unlike NAS as the F5-221 won't keep upwardly.
Streaming media is a similar story. Nosotros've seen some positive results with the Intel Celeron J3355 for Plex, and the F5-221 doesn't disappoint. The RAM is a trivial on the dull side (and there are merely 2GB), and then you may encounter some stuttering equally you remotely connect to the Plex Media Server, just y'all can easily stream 4K content from this enclosure, so long as yous don't need to transcode.
Should you buy the TerraMaster F5-221?
Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Primal
Who it'southward for
- If y'all're on a tighter budget
- If you want a capable mid-tier NAS
- If you want to prepare a home file server
- If yous want a compact NAS for the home office
Who it isn't for
- If you lot need HDMI out
- If you want a powerful Plex NAS
The competition for the TerraMaster F5-221 is fierce. Synology released the DS1520+, which replaced the fantabulous Synology DS1019+, but that NAS enclosure comes in at a whopping $700. Information technology does come rocking a better Intel CPU, DDR4 RAM, and Synology'southward first-class OS, only y'all're certainly paying for the aforementioned luxuries.
Information technology seems this is where TerraMaster is attempting to place the F5-221. It's $340 cheaper than its rival from Synology just comes with less capable internals. This isn't an consequence for most people looking for a home NAS enclosure, but it means you'll exist express as to what you can do with it. In that location are no Yard.2 slots, the RAM is slower, the Bone (while improved) simply doesn't match Synology DSM.
In terms of competition, TerraMaster's NAS hither is a good value proposition, but information technology's still $340. That's a lot of money, particularly when you consider some of the shortcomings that it has. All the same, it'south a great little enclosure, peculiarly if yous're getting started with your first NAS and want something that will be able to serve a busy household or small-scale office.
It won't win any awards for performance, nor will it accident y'all abroad with functionality, merely with up to five drive bays available, you tin store a lot of data on this enclosure. TerraMaster gets the nuts correct here; I'd just similar to come across some more than avant-garde features trickle down, similar two.5Gb LAN and an 1000.2 slot or ii.
Budget Capacity
TerraMaster F5-221
Affordable v-bay NAS
The TerraMaster F5-221 is worth considering if you're on the hunt for one of your starting time NAS enclosures that will exist installed inside a busy household or small office.
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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/terramaster-f5-221-review
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