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following my guide Upgrade TerraMaster F4-421 to UnraidI upgraded mine TerraMaster F4-422 Using a TrueNas Core with an extra 8GB of RAM gives me a total of 12GB.
While my TerraMaster F4-421 has a bunch of old drives, my TerraMaster F4-422 has four 8GB unshelled western digital drive and a 1TB Kingston KC600 Solid State Drive for caching.
I had planned on setting up with mirrored/striped vdevs to improve RAID 10-like performance.However, I ended up going with the Raid Z1 and with the help of the cache the overall performance was very good and could easily transfer about 250MB/thanks to my EnGenius ECS2512FP 2.5GbE POE Switch.
The overall upgrade process and TerraMaster F4-421, the two NAS units have very similar specs and almost identical layouts. The only difference from TerraMaster F4-422 is that it has a 10Gbit Ethernet port.
Just like the TerraMaster F4-421, this four-bay NAS actually has a 5-drive slot, the only problem is that the 5th The drive cage is blocked. For me I used this 5th The bay for the SSD, for now, it’s tempting, fate hangs in the balance, and unless I knock the NAS off the shelf, it should be fine by now. Eventually, I’ll find some way to physically hold it in place.
TrueNas and UnRaid
As I discussed in my original article, I may not be qualified to provide an accurate comparison of TrueNas and UnRaid.
I’m not debating filesystem and parity options or the underlying OS, but for me the main differences are:
I prefer UnRaid’s overall usability and the fact that it can accept mismatched drives. It has better access to apps thanks to the community app plugin, and it’s generally a great system if you’re a home user.
However, as I write this, I’m copying files to the UnRaid server at about 60MB/s. It usually maxes out the NAS’s gigabit limit for a while, but speeds usually drop off after a while. Older and lower quality drives are likely to make performance worse.
For my TrueNas TerraMaster F4-422, it can easily run at over 200MB/s, peaking at about 270MB/s during large file transfers.
While the plugin menu doesn’t have as many app options, it has all the great features that almost every home user would want, including Plex, NextCloud, torrent, NZBGet, Radarr, Sonarr, AdGuard, and more. Installation of these apps is usually just a case of click install and name the jail.
TrueNas is also free to use, while UnRaid will cost you $59 (for a NAS of this size).
Turn on TerraMaster F4-422 – Access HDMI Port
Opening the TerraMaster F4-422 is the same as opening the F4-421. You unscrew the rear panel and gently remove it, releasing the fan connector (which is blocked) behind the HDMI port.
The HDMI port is available, I don’t know why TerraMaster blocks it on this NAS, but exposes it on the F4-421.
After the fan is opened, the main body easily slips off.
A little further from the fan header is the internal USB drive where TerraMaster’s operating system runs. You can install TrueNas to this drive, or swap it out for a new drive, allowing you to easily return to TOS.
upgrade memory
TerraMaster said that this NAS can only be upgraded to 8GB RAM (4+4), but an 8GB RAM module can be added, and TrueNas can recognize 12GB.
Since I’m cheap, I thought I’d try random brands Kuesuny 8GB DDR3L, about £8 cheaper than Samsung or Integral options. Thankfully, it works as expected.
To install it, you technically don’t need to remove the entire front panel. I just unscrewed two screws near the RAM slot and there is enough wiggle room to easily insert the RAM.
Install TrueNas
Unlike UnRaid, you create a bootable installation USB and then install TrueNas to the internal USB.
I have found that it is possible to slide an existing USB without removing the cage from the motherboard.then I use SanDisk SDCZ430-032G-G46 Ultra Fit 32 GB USB 3.1 Flash Drive. I’m not sure if the internal connector is USB 3.1 or if it will offer any performance benefit, but the drive is £8 so I don’t really care.
TrueNas doesn’t have an automatic USB creator, so you’ll need to download the ISO and burn it to a USB drive using an application like Rufus.
I’m not sure if it’s possible to install TrueNas headless, I used the HMDI port and plugged in a keyboard.
After installing the bootable USB into one of the external USB ports, TerraMaster loads the TrueNas installation screen without me having to touch the BIOS setup.
comprehensive
Upgrading the TerraMaster F4-422 to TrueNas is great. There seems to be a significant improvement in drive performance compared to TOS, I used to have read/write speeds of around 160MB/s for large files, now it’s 200-260MB/s.
There may be fewer apps to choose from than TOS, but the apps are of better quality. At least for home users, you have better options for downloading apps like NZBget/Sonarr/Raddar, and you also have AdGuardHome, Grafana, Home Assistant and Unifi Controller. The apps also seem to be easier to install.
My next experiment is to move from TrueNas Core to TrueNas Scale so I can get native Docker support.
Last updated on 2022-02-14 / Affiliate Links / Image from Amazon Product Advertising API
