NVME drive recommendations

[Enquiries]

After much research on nascompares.com, I have finally settled on the Terramaster F4-424. The NAS will be used for backups (Mac & PC), multimedia (Plex), file storage (both general and video editing), and possibly VM/Docker usage in the future. I plan to initially install two 12Gb drives and some M.2 NVME drives.

1. Which would yield better performance: two M.2 drives for caching or one for the OS and one for caching?
2. What would be the recommended drives (brand and size) for the two slots?
3. I realize that the M.2 for OS storage would need to be installed initially, but does the M.2 for caching need to be installed at the time of initial setup also?

[ed]

Thanks for reaching out! Here’s a bit of guidance based on your questions:

Performance for Caching: Using two M.2 drives for caching would generally provide better performance, especially for read/write operations, compared to having one dedicated to the OS and one for caching. This way, you can maximize the caching capabilities of your NAS.

Recommended Drives: For reliability and performance, consider the following NVMe M.2 SSDs that have a solid endurance rating, especially for caching:

Samsung 970 Pro (1TB or 2TB) – 0.66 DWPD
Samsung 990 Pro (1TB or 2TB) – 0.68 DWPD
Seagate FireCuda 530 (1TB or 2TB) – 0.7 DWPD
WD Red SN700 (up to 4TB) – 1.0 DWPD
These options offer a good balance of speed and endurance, which is essential for caching scenarios.

Installation Timing: While the M.2 drive for the OS does need to be installed initially, the caching drive does not have to be installed at setup. You can add it later when you’re ready to enable caching.