The Terramaster F2-223 brings home media streaming and backup on the cheap

The Terramaster F2-223 brings home media streaming and backup on the cheap

Terramaster reached out to us and asked if we were interested in checking out their newest 2-bay NAS device, the F2-223. I've had a little experience with these devices, having owned a QNAP TS-253Be, and now the Synology DS720+ but for me, I only acquired them to do local and cloud backup and run my home theater solution using a combination of Emby and Plex.

All of the aforementioned NAS devices I've owned are media-class, meaning they fully support having Emby or Plex installed on them and streaming over the network, aside from a few other things installed via Docker containers, or being able to follow a clear tutorial, that's about the extent of my expertise into the realm of network-attached storage devices goes; I'm still learning.

Here are the most important specifications:

Terramaster F2-223
CPU	Intel Celeron N4505 (Dual Core 2.0 GHz, Max burst up to 2.9 GHz)
Memory	4 GB, maximum 32 GB (16 GB x 2)
Disk Capacity	40 TB (20TB x2)
RAID Level	RAID 0, RAID 1, JBOD, single, TRAID
Network	2 RJ-45 2.5 GbE (10/100/1000/2.5 GbE)
USB Ports	2 x 3.1
HDMI	1
Size (H/W/D)	227 x 119 x 133 mm
Weight	2.4 kg
Price	$299.99

As you can see it contains a media class Intel Celeron N4505 processor that came out in 2021 and it ships with 4 GB of RAM which is double what QNAP included in the five-year old TS-253Be.

First impressions

The packaging is nothing to write home about, although I'm pleased to say that it did not come in a comically-oversized box, and minimal packing materials were used. Everything you need to get yourself started (except for a cross cable) is included.

In the box

• F2-223 TNAS device
• Power adapter
• LAN cable (CAT 6)
• Quick guide
• Limited warranty notice
• Screws (for HDD bays)
• Stickers
• Rubber standoffs

Design

Although this is a budget device, you wouldn't think so from the design and build quality, the case is entirely metal and is cool to the touch even after the F2-223 has been powered up all day. It's also a lot quieter than the QNAP TS-253Be. I had this sat next to my computer on my work desk and I did wonder if the noise I was accustomed to with NAS devices would annoy me, but all I could hear was a soft whirring.

On the front, you just have your two bays and power button along with LED indicators for the HDDs, LAN and Power. It would have been nice to have a USB port on the front, but alas, no such joy here.

Around the back, you have your two 2.5 GbE Ethernet ports, an HDMI port and a connector for the barrel port power source. There's no Kensington lock present which is a bit of a shame considering it's a data storage device.

On the bottom, there are plenty of holes to assist ventilation, and upon checking there are no screws under the glued-on rubber feet. So, from looking, there's also no apparent means to get inside to expand the memory, which is supported according to the documentation. Nowhere does it say how you can achieve adding or replacing the memory modules.

After a bit of looking around, I discovered that four Philips screws on the back, that look like they're holding the fan in place and can be removed.Once you have carefully disconnected the fan from the main board, you can slide out the device from its metal case.

An extra memory module can easily be installed on the bottom of the main board, it also looks relatively easy to swap out the already included 4 GB module, although there is limited space to do this. Next to the memory module, there's relatively easy access to the CMOS battery too, which means further dismantling can be avoided.

You may also notice that it is possible to add an M2 SSD for drive caching, this SSD caching is supported and accounted for in TOS 5.1, but had I not taken the F2-223 apart I would not have known it was possible to add a NVMe, since it is not included in any documentation.

It's good that some thought has gone into the expandability of the F2-223, all it takes is four screws and you can really beef it up some.

Setup

Upon connecting to the LAN and booting up, the F2-223 can be reached by navigating to http://tnas.local or if that doesn't work, by the local address assigned via DHCP which you can find using the TNAS PC desktop application, which is essentially a F2-223 finder.

The setup process is pretty straightforward which I've included below.