NAS servers have always made a ton of sense to me, especially if you have multiple computers, large media libraries, or just want your files available across your entire network. What I don’t love is when setting one up turns into its own IT project. Some of these things, especially back in the day, like the 2010s, these took a day to get up and running.

That’s probably my favorite thing about the TerraMaster F4-425. It’s almost boringly easy. The drives install without tools, you don’t need to hook the NAS up to a PC to get everything running, and once it’s configured, it basically disappears into the background. TerraMaster has also managed to package four drive bays and an Intel processor into something considerably smaller and quieter than the NAS boxes I remember using years ago. And at under $400 without drives (yeah, yeah I gotta say it), I think there’s a lot of value here.

Setup Is About as Easy as a NAS Gets

I’m always a fan of tool-less drive installation, and the F4-425 makes getting your drives installed incredibly simple. Drop the drives into the trays, slide them into the NAS, and you’re basically done with the physical installation. More importantly, you don’t need to drag out another computer just to configure the thing. The F4-425 can be set up and managed without needing a dedicated PC connected to it.

That’s the kind of thing that makes a dedicated NAS much easier for me to recommend to normal home users. You don’t have to be the person in the family who enjoys building servers just to get centralized storage running.

The Intel Quad-Core Makes This Thing Feel Fast

Inside the F4-425 is an Intel Celeron N5095 quad-core processor paired with 4GB of DDR4 memory. You also get 2.5GbE networking rather than being stuck with basic Gigabit Ethernet. In actual use, this thing zips around my network.

I haven’t run into slowdowns or any performance problems that made me wish I’d built a dedicated PC instead. Files are available when I need them, navigating the NAS feels responsive, and the entire experience has been pretty uneventful.

That’s exactly what I want from network storage. There’s plenty of additional functionality available if you want to dig deeper and use the F4-425 for more than basic storage, but I actually think its simplicity is one of its biggest strengths.

Four Bays Without a Giant Box

This is another area where NAS hardware has gotten so much better. I remember NAS servers being bigger, louder, and generally more annoying to find a home for. You’d end up with another chunky box sitting somewhere around your networking equipment or desk. The F4-425 is surprisingly compact for a four-bay system.

It’s small enough that you can tuck it away around a desk without feeling like you’ve installed another desktop PC, and I’ve found it impressively quiet during normal use. Obviously, the hard drives you install are going to contribute some noise of their own, but the NAS itself doesn’t draw much attention to itself. That’s a bigger advantage than it sounds. If I’m buying a NAS because I don’t want to dedicate an entire PC to storage, I don’t want the NAS to essentially become another giant computer sitting in the room.

Plenty of Room to Grow

Four drive bays also give you plenty of flexibility when it comes to storage. You don’t necessarily have to fill the entire thing on day one, and there are multiple RAID configurations available depending on whether your priority is maximum capacity, redundancy, or some combination of the two. And yes, the drives aren’t included.

That’s normal for this category, but it’s worth remembering when you’re looking at the price. A NAS that costs under $400 can become considerably more expensive once you start filling four bays with large NAS-rated drives. Still, I like having those four bays available. It gives you room to expand rather than buying a two-bay NAS today and potentially wishing you had gone bigger a couple of years from now.

Why I’d Take This Over an Old PC

You can absolutely build a NAS out of an old computer. I’ve got enough old computer hardware around that I could do exactly that, and depending on what you already own, it could even be cheaper. But after using something like the F4-425, I’m not particularly interested in doing it.

An old desktop takes up considerably more room. It can consume more power, generate more noise and heat, and generally requires more tinkering. The TerraMaster is a dedicated little box designed specifically to sit there and handle storage. Install the drives, configure it, put it somewhere out of the way, and you’re done. There’s definitely an enthusiast argument for building your own server, especially if you want complete control over the hardware and software. But for someone who primarily wants reliable network storage without turning it into another hobby, I’d much rather have the purpose-built NAS.

TerraMaster F4-425 Review: Excellent Value Under $400

For under $400, I think the TerraMaster F4-425 is a great value. No, you’re not getting drives for that price, and there are obviously more powerful NAS systems available if you’re willing to spend considerably more money. But I don’t think that’s really the point of the F4-425.

This is the NAS I’d recommend to someone who wants to stop using an old bulky PC as a file server without spending a fortune. It’s small, quiet, fast on my network, the drives install without tools, setup is incredibly simple, and four bays give you plenty of room to expand. NAS servers have become a lot friendlier than they used to be, and the TerraMaster F4-425 is a pretty damn good example of that.