Flagship configuration, peak performance TerraMaster F4 424 Pro Docker virtual machine features

Hello guys, I'm Stark-C

I remember that two months ago, I introduced you to the domestic "out-of-the-box" national professional grade NAS TerraMaster :

At that time, I was demonstrating a TerraMaster 100-yuan entry-level dual-drive NAS F2-212, equipped with a main frequency of 1A 7 GHz RealTek 1619B quad-core processor with 1GB DDR4 RAM runs TerraMaster's self-developed NAS system TOS 51。However, thanks to the efficient response speed of the TOS system and the in-depth optimization of the hardware, I can also have a good experience on the entry-level TerraMaster F2-210, and it is also very smooth to use, and there will be no lag due to configuration problems.

However, after a small partner found me, I reported that I only saw a lot of unboxing reviews of TerraMaster on the Internet, but there were few gameplay tutorials, and it was only three days hot after many friends got it, so there was a lot less fun to toss

In this case, the content of this article will not introduce you to the theoretical knowledge of those unboxing evaluations, but directly teach you some toss and gameplay on TerraMaster NAS. For example, the Docker and virtual machine tutorials with the most NAS.

Because considering that the configuration requirements of the virtual machine for the host are not low, the NAS used this time is the flagship product of this year released by Terveway only last month. In addition to providing us with efficient, secure, and reliable data storage and management solutions, the performance configuration is also eye-catching. It's the F4-424 Pro that's the star of the day.

TerraMaster F4-424 Pro is a newly launched four-bay flagship**NAS in January 2024, with a fully upgraded configuration. It is powered by an 8-core, 8-thread Intel Core i3-N305 processor, and comes standard with 32GB DDR5 4800MHz RAM, two versatile 2.s5G network port, built-in two M. that support cache acceleration2 NVMe SSD slots.

The above picture shows the processor equipped with the mainstream flagship brand NAS on the market, and it can be seen that the 8-core and 8-thread Intel Core i3-N305 processor has obvious advantages! It turbos up to 38GHz,** buffered 6MB, TDP power consumption 15W, and integrated Intel UHD graphics with support for AES NI hardware encryption. It has a high score of 10010 points in the CPU MARK score, and the performance output is equivalent to 225 times that of the N10078 times, the comprehensive computing performance has been greatly improved, which can be said to be the peak of the performance of the current mainstream flagship NAS.

As for memory upgrades, DDR5 memory can bring faster response times and lower latency compared to the mainstream DDR4 memory on the market. In other words, whether it's the loading speed of NAS applications or more complex, high-load workflows, DDR5 memory with high frequency and bandwidth can easily cope with it.

Packaging & Accessories

The outer packaging of TerraMaster F4-424 Pro still continues the kraft paper packaging of the previous product, and the main thing is a "simple and unpretentious".

Inside the box, you can see that the NAS body of the plastic packaging is stuck in the thickened foam, and the accessory box is next to it, and the overall protection is still good.

There is a power cord & power adapter in the accessory box, an RJ-45 network cable, and a pack of 2Set screws for the 5" hard drive, as well as a quick installation guide & warranty card.

The power socket is a two-pin plug, which is also rare for many NAS products that I have played.

The power specification is 12V 75a 90w。Although the N305 processor is very powerful, the TDP power consumption is only 15W, which is enough for the normal operation of the NAS host.

Host & Details

Then back to the F4-424 Pro itself. You can see that it adopts a matte black color scheme throughout, which looks stable and business-like; There are four hard drives** on the front, and there are also hard drive indicators and power indicators in the lower right corner. However, I personally think that TerraMaster should be added with a USB-A&C port in front of it, which is relatively convenient for transmission and backup external storage.

The two sides still use family-style brand English logo heat vents, which are very recognizable.

On the back, all of its expansion I-O ports and a revamped 125cm cooling silent fan. The I.O. interfaces from top to bottom are: main switch button, HDMI interface, Type-C interface and USB32 interfaces, two 25G network port, as well as power socket.

The hard disk compartment still adopts TerraMaster's new push-lock design, which can be pulled out with one hand when the upper end is pressed and the lower end is cocked. After inserting the hard drive, the hard drive bracket is automatically locked, which is quite convenient.

Hard drive bracket for 3The 5-inch mechanical hard disk is also designed to be disassembled and assembled without tools, and the hard disk can be directly put into the hard disk bracket and then snapped back the quick-release card strips on both sides. It also supports mounting with fixing screws25-inch HDD or SSD.

There are 4 heightened silicone feet and two rows of heat dissipation holes at the bottom, which can ensure that the NAS is placed stably and has a good heat dissipation effect.

Unplugging all the hard disk brackets can see the metal frame structure used inside the hard disk compartment, and the foundation stability is still ***.

Interior display

In order to make it easier for us to use it in the future, replace the memory or disassemble the m2 SSD, TerraMaster has specially designed the side slide design for the body of the F4-424 Pro. We only need to remove the two screws on the far left to easily push the slide open.

After removing the side cover, you can see the motherboard inside, which adopts a single memory slot design, two m.sThe 2 NVMe SSD slots are located on either side of the memory slots.

The RAM uses 32GB DDR5 RAM at a frequency of 4800MHz. The memory adopts a double-sided particle design, a total of 16 pieces, and it can be seen from the logo of the memory particles that it is also an exclusive customized model of TerraMaster, which should have good compatibility and reliability.

For multi-user enterprise teams, it is generally possible to install m2 NVMe SSDs are used as cache accelerations to improve NAS read/write response times, file indexing, snapshot and array setup efficiency. TerraMaster F4-424 Pro supports 2280 M2 SSD, and the screws are also made of large hand-turned screws, which is very easy to install.

A large area of CPU passive cooler can also be seen through the inside of the motherboard, coupled with TerraMaster's improved air duct, which can achieve better heat dissipation performance and ensure that the processor can run stably under high load.

Hard drive used

The hard drives I used on the TerraMaster F4-424 Pro this time are two 4TB onesWestern Digital Red Plate PlusThis series of hard disks is a NAS dedicated disk, designed for long-term and all-weather NAS use scenarios and high-frequency frequent reads and writes, using relatively reliable CMR technology, and also has very good stability and compatibility.

At the same time, WD Red Drive Plus also adds a RAID error recovery control function for NAS, which can minimize the failure rate of NAS. Its performance output is also very impressive, with a workload of 180T and 1 million hours of MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures), plus the official 3-year warranty, I feel at ease to use in the NAS.

In recent years, the all-in-one digital machine circle has become more popular, and its carrier is the most common virtual machine. Virtual machines can run a variety of different and isolated operating systems and applications in a single physical machine, for example, in TerraMaster NAS, we can run a 24-hour Windows system at the same time, as well as a soft routing system that directly improves our network experience.

Got to know TerraMaster Virtual Machine

The virtual machine used by TerraMaster is a free and open source virtualbox, which is not only powerful, but also easy to use.

Before using, we first have to go to the application center to install the virtualbox application.

After installation, you need to enter the username and password to open it directly, and the default is admin.

After logging in, the default interface is English, but the official native supports Chinese. Click "file--preferences" in the upper left corner.

Then continue to click "language", select "Chinese Simplified" in the list, and finally click "OK" to the Chinese interface.

Set up Windows 10

Building a Windows 10 system in NAS is very frustrating for many friends, but it is actually very useful to play.

For example, after setting up, we directly have a Windows cloud computer that is on call 24 hours a day, we can hang some web applications on it, build web servers, databases, or visit the living area of the young lady (you know), anyway, it is a virtual machine in an isolated environment, and there is no need to worry about security issues.

First go to the optical disc image (ISO format) of the Windows 10 system, considering that the system in the virtual machine is mainly stable, so I chose the 64-bit Windows 10 LTSC version (long-term service version).

Then upload the good "ISO" file to TerraMaster TOS. I opened the "File Management" directly, because I had tossed the virtual machine before, so TOS created a "virtualbox" virtual machine folder by default, and I directly dragged and dropped the "ISO" file into the folder.

Go back to the TerraMaster VirtualBox virtual machine page and click "New" in the upper left corner.

Name: Feel free, I fill in "win 10" here

Type: Microsoft Windows

Version: Windows 10 (64-bit).

Memory: 4GB (4096MB) is enough here.

In this step, select "Create Virtual Hard Disk Now".

As for this: file location: it is in the shared folder of the login account by default, so you can leave it alone;

File size: is the amount of space occupied by the virtual machine, 50GB is enough by default;

Virtual hard disk file type: Select the native "VDI" format of the Virtualbox virtual machine;

Stored on physical hard disks: Virtual machine systems generally do not have high requirements for disk performance, so you can select "Dynamic allocation". If you have requirements for disk performance, you can choose "fixed size", but it will take up disk space immediately.

Click the "Create" button to create the Win 10 virtual machine automatically.

Don't worry about opening the created Windows 10 virtual machine, right-click and select "Settings".

There is an option to "No Disc", after selecting it, click on the disc icon on the right, and then click on "Select a virtual disc file".

Then select the WIN 10 ISO image file uploaded to TerraMaster NAS and click "OK".

Then "Network - Network Card 1" here:

Connection: Bridge the NIC

Interface name: eth0

Finally, click "OK" and the win 10 virtual machine is built.

At this time, you can directly "start" the win 10 virtual machine.

TerraMaster doesn't know why the remote desktop terminal can't be displayed directly, you need to click the port number of the "remote desktop server port" on the right.

It will then automatically open a corresponding RDP file (to be precise, it's a remote desktop connection protocol) and open it directly.

The corresponding virtual machine desktop will be displayed normally.

The whole installation process is exactly the same as on the physical machine, and you can directly follow the wizard step by step. After it is set up, it can be used like Windows on our computer, and it can also be accessed remotely through VNC, which is more convenient

Deploy IKUAI soft routing

In order to give full play to the advantages of F4-424 PRO's dual network ports, we can use TerraMaster's virtual machine to create a soft routing system to improve the network experience.

Regarding the choice of soft routing system, I am more famous in China this time Aikuai routing system (ikuaios), which is a powerful, intelligent management, safe and stable, excellent user experience router system, and can even directly replace the main router at home. The most important thing is that it is also easy to use and is in line with the usage habits of Chinese people.

First of all, the optical disc image (ISO format) of the Aikuai routing system required by the official website of Aikuai**, and the 32-bit is generally enough for home use scenarios.

*Address: As before, upload the **good "ISO" file to the "VirtualBox" folder of TerraMaster.

Then open the TerraMaster VirtualBox virtual machine page and click "New" in the upper left corner.

Name: Feel free to fill in "ikuaios" here

Type: Linux

Version: Ubuntu (32-bit).

After that, "Next".

A memory allocation of 1GB (1024MB) is sufficient.

Again, select "Create Virtual Hard Disk Now" and click the "Create" button.

The settings here are the same as the previous Win 10 virtual machine, and when you are done, click the "Create" button.

Again, after creating the ikuaios virtual machine, don't open it and go to the settings page. In "Storage" here, "Select a virtual disc file".

Select the IkuaiOS ISO image file uploaded to TerraMaster NAS and click OK.

Then set it here in "Network": [NIC 1] connection mode "Bridge NIC ", interface name "eth0". This is the LAN port of Aikuai routing by default, which is used to connect to the switch or something;

NIC 2] The connection method is "Bridge NIC ", and the interface name is "eth1". This default is the WAN port of Aikuai Routing, which is used to connect optical modems.

The rest can be kept as default, and you can directly click the "OK" button to complete the deployment of IKUAI soft routes.

At this time, you can "start" the virtual machine of ikuai soft route.

You also need to click the RDP file corresponding to the port number ** of the "Remote Desktop Server Port" on the right to open the terminal desktop.

Wait for the desktop to display the screen as shown above, and enter "1" to install the IKUAI soft routing system on the hard disk.

Enter "y" to confirm.

Then it will automatically install the system and reboot.

Because the settings of the Aikuai virtual machine are a bit *** it will not correctly identify the system installed to the hard disk in the previous step, so here it is back to the disc boot interface. Let's start by typing "s" to shut down the computer.

Go back to the VirtualBox virtual machine and click on "Storage".

Delete the Ikuaios ISO image file that was previously uploaded.

Then "boot" the ikuaios virtual machine again.

It will enter the initial setting interface of iKuai. At this time, you need to manually set the LAN address IP, which is also the web management address of iKuai Soft Routing. Enter the "2" option to press enter.

Enter "0" to press enter.

Then enter the LAN address, here you need to enter an IP address of your current router in the same network segment and no conflict with the local device. After that, just press Enter.

The interface prompts "Setup successful" to complete the deployment of IKUAI soft route.

Then the browser enters the LAN address we set, and you can directly open the web interface of IKUAI soft router. The default account and password are admin.

Logging in will ask you to change the default password, just enter it yourself.

Then you came to the background settings interface of ikuai soft router. Because there is a detailed introduction on the official website, the specific gameplay will not be repeated here.

Basically, all NAS on the market support Docker function, but only professional NAS can fully open Docker permissions, and TerraMaster is one of them.

Of course, if I just demonstrate the previous Docker Run command to deploy containers today, it will inevitably seem bland, so today I will show Docker Compose on TerraMaster NAS to build a set of container combinations with one click, such as NAS Tools, the strongest library resource collection and sorting tool on the NAS side.

In general, to build a complete NAS Tools, you need the following 5 Docker containers:

nas-tools：NAS Tools is the main program, which also shows us various configuration information in the form of a web client, and provides us with a variety of intuitive operations. It should be noted here that NAS Tools is in the following 29.Version 1 no longer supports BT**,Considering that not every partner will have a PT** station,So today's tutorial is used by other film and television enthusiasts to back up and share the last support BT**2.9.Version 1 (Thank you again for this selfless sharer!) ）。

qbittorrent：Needless to say, it's a film and television ** tool, of course, you can also use transmission, or aria2 is no problem. It should be noted here that the latest qbittorrent 46.Version 1 has a bug, after the deployment is completed, we can not use the previous initial account and password to log in, it will show "invalid username or password", so we specify to deploy the previous 46.Version 0 is no problem.

jellyfin：Powerful multi-video management system for managing and streaming with various streams. That's what we use to scrape and sort out our NAS resources and achieve them remotely. Of course, you can also use Emby or Plex instead. In this tutorial, I use the enhanced version of jellyfin developed by the @nya***aka boss, and the hardware solution can be supported after installation.

chinesesubfinder：The Chinese subtitle automatic ** software developed by a Chinese bigwig integrates multiple Chinese subtitle sites to provide a unified subtitle search ** function, which can automatically match the Chinese subtitles for the film and television resources in our **library**.

jackett：A free and open-source cross-platform seed search tool, in short, it provides information sources for NAS-Tools and searches for resources from major torrent sites.

If you deploy one by one according to the convention, not to mention the inefficiency, it is also very error-prone. Because these five containers are interrelated, one wrong step can lead to a failed setup.

With Docker Compose, it is much more convenient, it only needs a configuration file (YAML file), you can complete the installation and deployment of five containers at a time, which not only greatly improves the deployment efficiency of Docker, but also improves the success rate of building NAS Tools.

TerraMaster's docker management program is called docker manger (application center is required for the first use**), it is a simple and powerful graphical management interface, in addition to the most basic image registry, it also supports docker image **, import and export operations, and the latest version of docker manger has added docker compose project management function.

I don't bother to introduce the working principle of NAS Tools here.,There are too many big guys on the whole network to popularize science about it.,I'm going directly to the tutorial here.,Friends in need can copy their homework directly.。

Start by creating two shared folders, docker and video.

Open File Management, and then create new NAS-Tools, QbitTorrent, Jellyfin, ChineseSubfinder, and Jackett folders in the Docker folder.

Then create the browser and config subfolders in the chinesesubfinder folder respectively.

Create downloads and config subfolders in the jackett folder.

Create cache and config subfolders in the jellyfin folder.

Then open the "video" folder of the film and television directory, and create three new subfolders in it: link, movie, and tv.

link: a hard-linked directory for NAS Tools.

movie: Used to store movie files.

tv: Used to store TV series files.

Create the same Movie and TV folders in the "Link" folder of the hard link directory of NAS Tools.

Then you can open TerraMaster docker manger and select "Project - Add Now".

Then create the project.

Project name: set it as required;

Project Path: Select a local directory at random;

Configuration file**: Select "Create YAML file";

Then the focus is on the following yaml file commands

version: '3.7'

services:
nas-tools:
container_name: nas-tools
hostname: nas-tools
image: diluka/nas-tools:2.9.1
ports:
volumes:
volume1/docker/nastools:/config
volume1/video:/media
environment:
puid=1000
pgid=100
umask=000
nastool_auto_update=false
restart: unless-stopped
qbittorrent:
container_name: qbittorrent
image: johngong/qbittorrent:4.6.0-4.6.0.10
environment:
qb_webui_port=8989
qb_ee_bin=false
puid=1000
pgid=100
umask=022
tz=asia/shanghai
ports:
6881:6881/udp"
volumes:
volume1/docker/qbittorrent:/config
volume1/video:/downloads
restart: unless-stopped
jellyfin:
container_name: jellyfin
image: nya***aka/jellyfin:latest
environment:
puid=1000
pgid=100
tz=asia/shanghai
ports:
volumes:
volume1/docker/jellyfin/config:/config
volume1/docker/jellyfin/cache:/cache
volume1/video:/media
devices:
dev/dri:/dev/dri
restart: unless-stopped
chinesesubfinder:
container_name: chinesesubfinder
hostname: chinesesubfinder
image: allanpk716/chinesesubfinder:latest
volumes:
volume1/docker/chinesesubfinder/config:/config
volume1/video/link:/media
volume1/docker/chinesesubfinder/browser:/root/.cache/rod/browser
environment:
puid=1000
pgid=100
perms=true
tz=asia/shanghai
umask=022
ports:
logging:
driver: json-file
options:
max-size: "100m"
restart: unless-stopped
jackett:
container_name: jackett
image: linuxserver/jackett:latest
environment:
puid=1000
pgid=100
tz=asia/shanghai
auto_update=true
ports:
volumes:
volume1/docker/jackett/config:/config
volume1/docker/jackett/downloads:/downloads
restart: unless-stopped

All "ports" correspond to port mappings, and the port number before the colon can be changed, if there is no conflict with the local container port, it is recommended to default to it, and there is no need to change it.

All "volumes" correspond to the path mapping, and the colon must be modified to the actual local path of the NAS corresponding to the container, and the specific correspondence can be according to the two flowcharts I gave in the previous preparations.

All "environment" below are the environment variables of the container, generally speaking, just as I gave without changing. To be on the safe side, it's best to change the PUID and PGID to our own username currently used by our NAS.

*After pasting it, click on the lower left corner to verify, and if there is no problem, you can click the "Apply" button.

Then in the Docker Manger interface, you can see that the deployed NAS Tools display "Under Construction". Because I need to pull five images, the file size is relatively large, so the waiting time may be a bit long, and my 100m small YouTube pipe took about 5 minutes.

The effect after completion. You can see that all five containers under NAS Tools are running, and that's it!

And each container can be opened normally.

For further configuration, I also have a detailed tutorial here:

Finally, I mentioned in the previous article the upgrade preview of TerraMaster's latest TOS 6 system, and TerraMaster is already making final adjustments and optimizations.

In fact, the official TOS 6 was tested in November last year (2023), and I looked at the feedback from many internal beta players on the forum, and basically gave positive evaluations, saying that the overall performance is still very powerful.

According to reports, the TOS 6 system, as an iterative upgrade of the major version, has added more than 40 new features, more than 360 improvements, and 90% redesign. The new interface design UI is more concise and easier to get started; The optimized system is more intelligent and its stability has been greatly enhanced. On top of that, the kernel of the TOS system has also been upgraded to Linux 61 LTS with higher levels of performance and security, as well as more access control options to meet the different needs of users.

If nothing else, the new TOS 6 system will be officially pushed to all TerraMaster users within two months at the earliest, and if necessary, I will share the functional experience of the latest system with you as soon as possible. Let's all look forward to it

As one of the earliest manufacturers involved in network storage devices in China, TerraMaster's NAS has a history of nearly 20 years and has a very deep technical background. However, TerraMaster is still relatively low-key in China, and there is less publicity, which also leads to many domestic partners who know and use it very little, which is also one of the reasons why there are few TerraMaster NAS tutorials on the whole network mentioned at the beginning of this article.

But it is undeniable that TerraMaster NAS is currently a very mature product, and its strength and professionalism are still good.

In my opinion, TerraMaster NAS not only has the function and security of professional NAS, but also has the ease of use and scalability of the current new power NAS, so it can be handy and calm in both daily life and commercial office. At the same time, TerraMaster NAS's ** is also relatively affordable in the same configuration of professional NAS, and it is also worry-free to use in addition to the official 2-year warranty service that is only replaced without repair, and it is still a NAS product that is worth experiencing.

Okay, the above is the content to share with you today, I am the stark-c who loves to share, if today's content is helpful to you, please remember to collect, by the way, pay attention, let's see you next time! Thank you