A duo of months ago , I take the dip andbuilt a Plex waiter . And now , I ’m taking it to the next storey . I ’ve canceled my streaming services , compile my strong-arm media , and organized it all with the right data on my server , but I ’ve face two major issues — slow focal ratio and special storage space . With the Terra Master F8 SSD Plus , both problems have been solved .

I ’m not going to cover all of my trials and trial build my first Plex server , nor the various ways you could set up your own — we have a usher onhow to use Plexthat goes into plenty of point on that front . Thankfully , the Terra Master F8 SSD Plus makes those issues disused with a astonishingly simple setup appendage and a ton of power for stream media locally .

Meet the master

My original Plex server comprised two component . I used a Beelink S12 mini PC with an Intel N100 and 16 GB of memory , along with a date mechanically skillful international severe drive . It was n’t pretty . The F8 SSD Plus is different because it can be both your waiter and your storage in one equipment . It ’s a NAS , or connection - attached storage .

Although the only requisite is to have storage available on your internet , the F8 SSD Plus is a microcomputer . It comes fit with an Intel Core i3 - N305 processor , 16 GB of DDR5 computer memory ( with space for 32 GB ) , and eight M.2 NVMe SSD slots . That gives you enough blank for a total of 64 TB of raw warehousing by jam in eight 8 TB NVMe SSDs .

No , the Core i3 - N305 does n’t look like much stack up to a screen background processor like the Core i5 - 14600 K , but it ’s quite the little social unit for something like the F8 SSD Plus . You get eight essence based on Intel ’s Alder Lake design , integrated Intel UHD graphics , and critically for Plex , 4 kibibyte computer hardware decode support for popular codecs like H.264 and H.265 . You do n’t need a lot of power if you ’re playing media files locally , but if you ’re away from the sign of the zodiac , computer hardware decrypt support is monolithic .

That ’s the internals , but there are a few affair going on externally as well . For starters , you get 10 - Gigabit Ethernet . That ’s certainly overkill for my home web — and I ’m certain most others — but you at least have the option for when those variety of speeds become available . And , calculate on how you hook up the F8 SSD Plus , you’re able to enjoy 10 - Gigabit speeds on your local meshwork , with other hardwired gimmick .

The other big boon is a tierce of USB 3.2 port — two Type - A and a individual Type - C — and an HDMI output . I never hooked the F8 Plus SSD up to a monitor , as you may see to it it completely headless from the get - go . But I apprise the option , as well as the USB port that allow you to add up even more warehousing if you somehow outgrow the eight M.2 slots .

The setup

come from my Windows - based mini personal computer and familiar external storage , it was a bit strange getting into a proper NAS . Terra Master make the experience easy , though . As for actually installing the drive , the process is childlike . There ’s a humble screw on the back of the gadget that you may undo with your finger to free the out casing . in spite of appearance , you ’ll find your eight movement slots .

Terra Master includes some thermic pad and oestrus sinks for each movement you establish , usurp you are n’t using something like theSamsung 990 ProorCorsair MP700 Elitethat comes with its own estrus cesspit . Overall , the installation took no more than a few minutes .

thieve everything up , hit the power push , and the F8 SSD Plus will honk to let you know it ’s on — that really took me back . From there , the setup is mostly on runway . you could download the TNAS app from Terra Master , which will start configuring your NAS once it ’s install on the web , include formatting all of the drives .

This get hold of about 30 minutes or so , and when it ’s done , you’re able to manage your NAS either by introduce its IP address in your web browser or through TNAS . Regardless of the method , you ’ll end up in TOS 6.0 , which is Terra Master ’s operating organization . This is where things got a bit difficult , not so much because TOS is hard to pilot — it ’s actually very easy to pilot — but because there ’s a stack you’re able to do with a machine like the F8 SSD Plus .

Before you do anything , you need to create a volume , even if that volume compromises all of the blank space on your drive . you’re able to change permissions , set depot quota , and more , but the self-aggrandizing selection is the RAID configuration . The F8 SSD Plus — and any multi - bay NAS , for that affair — pools all of your storage together , so you need to configure how they ’ll work together .

I opted for a RAID 0 constellation , maximize not only speed , but also capacity . I mixed several different SSDs into the equipment , which is totally fair game if you ’re not using some redundant storage configuration like RAID 1 . Thankfully , TOS shows you exactly how much space you ’re using and losing depending on the different RAID configuration you choose , so it ’s easy to make a determination .

You do n’t really need to do much after that point if you just need connection - based depot . In TNAS , simply selectNetwork saucer , and you ’ll see everything in Windows in a flash — no meshing mapping gimcrackery to contend with . For Plex , in particular , I had to go a bit deeper .

TOS come with an app center that ’s stuffed with different options , including Plex . I hop that intend all I had to do was instal Plex to get catch , but that ’s not exactly the case . There were a few more step .

You have to configure the NAS to not only show your medium folder in general , but also show it specifically to Plex as an app . That regard create a shared folder on your NAS , which you’re able to do through the TOS Control Panel , and changing the license to give the Plex app read / write accession . Once that ’s set up , you just require to launch Plex from the NAS once to take the server on your account , and then you may add / organize your libraries from any PC .

Unsurprisingly , using a very flexible gadget for a very specific purpose think of you run into some walls , but TOS was very easygoing to voyage around . I did n’t have to drudge through forum posts or Reddit threads to set everything up — just clicking around was enough . Still , I ’m really only scratching the control surface of what TOS is capable of . There ’s so much more you may do between unlike partitions , other medium apps , and even Docker support .

How a NAS improves the experience

Buying an inexpensive mini PC and opting for external storage is still the most cost - effective elbow room to work up a Plex host for yourself , but even a dispirited - toll NAS lick some critical consequence with that setup , and that has become evident to me while using the F8 SSD Plus . First and most importantly , a NAS is make to operate headless , and that variety alone does so much .

Being able to quickly access my repositing from anywhere , with any personal computer , is huge . I do n’t have to rely on some low bite charge per unit remote desktop software package like Chrome Remote Desktop , and I can make freehanded , system - level changes just with the integrated controls . When using a mini PC , I had to babysit my Plex server . With a NAS , I can block it even exists .

In addition , using a NAS is importantly faster . When using a mini PC and external storage , I had to either map the driving force to my net and deal with it constantly drop , or kill several other drive to transfer media from my main microcomputer to my server . It was a pain in the butt . With a NAS , my server is available immediately from any PC , and with some crazy speeding in towage .

Regardless of if you go with a mini PC or a NAS , you ’ll have to leap through some basketball game . However , since transferring everything over to the NAS , my local streaming experience has been a lot less temperamental . Even with the massive rising slope , my Plex journey is n’t over yet . I ’m already brewing up new ways to take it further .