I'm in the market for my first NAS. I had my eye on the Synology DiskStation DS423+ and was about to go ahead and buy it, when I noticed the TerraMaster F4-424. Both are the same price, but the TerraMaster seems like a much better device, hardware wise. It has a newer / faster CPU and more memory.
My use case is mostly to store media for Plex, which will run on it's own server for now. I may one day decide to move Plex over to the NAS, so I want to make sure I have the most bang for my buck with hardware. I'll also be running some Docker containers, such as file and photo hosting, dashboard, etc.
The Synology seems like the 2gb memory is not enough, so I'd likely expand that right away, which brings my cost up. The TerraMaster with 8gb out of the box would not require that upgrade, so I'd be saving money.
I've hear the TOS is not that great, so I suppose I could install UnRaid, but then I'm back up to the same cost as the Synology+RAM. How bad is TOS? Is it something I can live with? How much better is UnRaid? I'll want to start off with a pair of 18tb drives, copy my media over, and then add the 18tb drive that is in my plex server over when the dust settles. At some point, I'll buy a 4th 18tb to finish it all up. So, I'll need to be able to expand the pool along the way. I think either O/S will do this.
Anyway, I'm just not sure which one I'd be more happier with. I can't go wrong with the Synology, it's got everything I need. the TerraMaster seems like a better value, but at what sacrifice?