The media could not be loaded.
I've been running the 4 bay NAS for 4 months now, and am thrilled with it. But, performance is *entirely* determined by *YOUR* choices.
I have consistently managed about 109MB/s sustained, which is "exactly" what the NAS is rated for. The NAS ratings are 113MB/s read and 112MB/s write. Once you add the file system and bus overhead, you're at about 109MB/s - which is nearly the limit of Gigabit networks (125MB/s, minus the TCPIP overhead, bringing actual available bandwidth to 116MB/s to 123MB/s, depending on frame size (jumbo frames hitting a max of 123MB/s) - once you add in bandwidth eaten by Windows itself continuously talking to printers, itself, other machines and everything else it can, and take into account other network enabled processes, it means I am hitting the max quite nicely and quite consistently.
Picking the right spinning disk (for those of you not getting SSDs for this) is REALLY important. First, keep in mind that spinning disks rarely ever hit their sustained throughput ratings. There's too many factors that affect it, including file fragmentation, and where the file is located on the disk platters. To explain that, my hard disks of choice spin at 7,200RPM. Anything written to the outside edge of the disk platters is read and written quicker than anything written to the center. The reason being is that the outer edge contains more data rotating under the read/write heads in the same amount of time. Data is packed at the same density across the platter, so, each revolution means the heads write/read more data on the edges, vs the center.
Second, keep in mind that wireless is slow, and, even the fastest wireless drops speed as distance between devices increases. So, if you're connecting to this from your laptop, that will affect your transfer speeds, especially if it's like my household where I alone have 22 devices connected (lots of smart lights, switches, Echos, Google Assistants, etc).
Finally, the USB port is NOT for direct connection for data transfer to your computer. This is a *network* attached storage unit, not a USB storage device. There is an optional wireless adapter that plugs into it, but I have not tested that, as I need the faster throughput provided by a wired connection.
My first attempt at using the TerraMaster NAS was with wireless connections, and the main wireless access point being 15 feet (and one ceiling) away. I got 12-18MB/s sustained, when using super fast hard drives in striped and mirrored configuration (fastest configuration).
I then wired my setup using a cheap Netgear GS308 switch and managed the 109MB/s both directions that you can see in the live test in the video. Consistently, and every time.
So...
* If you want fastest transfer speeds:
Use a wired connection to your computer. Use a wired connection to your NAS. Use SSDs, or very very fast spinning disks like the ones I am using.
* If you are moving lots of little files *on spinning disks*:
Upgrade the memory to take advantage of the NAS's caching abilities. The bigger cache doesn't help much with large files (such as the video editing I do) because with the correct setup (super fast drives, wired connections), I am already running at the maximum speed of the NAS.
* If you are using SPINNING DISKS and want the best read and write speeds, then stripe and mirror the drives (RAID 10). You can get FULL read and write speeds, BUT you will lose half the total disk space (my 40TB of disks is only 20TB usable).
* If you are using SSDs, you do NOT need RAID 10 for performance, and will be just wasting disk space. If data loss is a concern, use RAID 5 instead of RAID 10. You will have 3/4 of the space available instead of the half you'd get out of RAID 10.
* If you are using *spinning disks* and write speed isn't that important (such as if you are using this for a media server), then RAID 5 is most likely best suited.
Here's the switch I used:
NETGEAR 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Unmanaged Switch, Desktop, Internet Splitter, Sturdy Metal, Fanless, Plug-and-Play (GS308)
Here's the drives I used (you can alternatively get *new* Western Digital branded ones, which also come in larger sizes):
HGST Ultrastar He10 | HUH721010ALE600 | 0F27452 | 512e | 10TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache 3.5" | Power Disable Feature | Enterprise Hard Drive (Certified Refurbished) - w/3 Year Warranty
