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Re: Best alternative OS for TerraMaster Hardware
Posted: 03 Dec 2024, 20:54
by Mamex
Sorry, it's the translator who makes these mistakes but it's obvious that I'm referring to TOS6
Re: Best alternative OS for TerraMaster Hardware
Posted: 06 Dec 2024, 11:33
by anto58
Hi Valnjes,
I see that you have a lot of experience in xpenology and Terramaster, I come from the world of DSM (with a ds220+ that was damaged), and I love the Synology operating system, I recently bought a basic F4-424 (not pro or max) and do not know whether to start learning TOS 6.0 by converting the disks to Traid, or from the beginning to place xpenology with DSM 7.X and continue with SHR. If I go this way, I have some doubts, which ARC loader version do you recommend? and which DSM HW is better to simulate to work well in the F4-424?
Another question do you know if synology services like quickconnet and DDNS work on xpenlogy with ARC?
Thanks...
Antonio
Re: Best alternative OS for TerraMaster Hardware
Posted: 06 Dec 2024, 17:41
by Valnjes
Hello Antonio,
i would recommend to stay on DSM, its stable, reliable and fast.
As for your question, i have testet DSM on F4-424 (vanilla with M95 + 8GB RAM), and it works perfectly.
What version of ARC? Well, the latest one is always the best.
Quickconnect, DDNS, everything works via Patches and add-ons.
But you have to read the Wiki and join Discord to Patch the ARC (patching enables Online services like Quickconnect etc):
https://auxxxilium.tech/redpill/
https://github.com/AuxXxilium/arc
You will find anything you need on Wiki and Discord, like the ARC Patch, Active Backup activation link etc:
So yes, everything works, there is a workaround, patch or add-on for everything Synology DSM related.
As for the model of Synology, choose the SA6400, its the strongest model, uses the Linux 5.5 and works great with DSM installation on the M.2 SSDs.
Re: Best alternative OS for TerraMaster Hardware
Posted: 20 Dec 2024, 20:23
by alexich
Thank you for your recomendations above! Installed DSM on virtual box for my f2-424 and investigating it functionality. Looks really atractive!
Re: Best alternative OS for TerraMaster Hardware
Posted: 20 Dec 2024, 21:15
by Valnjes
It is - simple, fast, reliable, user friendly.
Re: Best alternative OS for TerraMaster Hardware
Posted: 20 Jan 2025, 21:44
by spaceman
can you install it on 2x nvme in raid1 (system) and SHR2 on 6 spinning disk like TRAID in TOS? I don't need nvme cache.
Valnjes wrote: ↑26 Nov 2024, 22:27
What is your choice for an alternative OS for TerraMaster NAS Systems?
TerraMaster supports running various OS on their Hardware, and thats the best thing they do!
Just swap the TOS USB with another USB with OS flavour of your choice.
So what are the options?
Free OS:
TrueNAS -> Old but gold, standard for experts
Open Media Vault -> Alternative to TrueNAS, beloved by many
ProxMox -> Virtualisation at its best!
XigmaNAS -> For those in need of ZFS, a great solution
Rockstor -> BTRFS NAS platform OS with many features for new user and experts
EasyNAS -> Simple solution for small offices
CasaOS -> Running a Linux Server with CasaOS is a good solution for users who need more than a NAS
NonFree OS:
Unraid -> One of the best AIO solution with ZFS. Its not free, but has a great support and community
Dark Horse solution:
ARC Loader -> Run Synology DSM on non-Synology hardware
Installation is easy, there is already a topic that describes how you can do it yourself:
viewtopic.php?t=6751
Im a huge fan of DSM, and i run DSM on two of my TerraMasters, F2-424 and F4-424, and i have a great experience with them.
TOS is great, but DSM and TrueNAS are still the Go-To NAS solution.
What are your opinions about that? Do you run TOS or an alternative OS on your TerraMaster Hardware?
Re: Best alternative OS for TerraMaster Hardware
Posted: 21 Jan 2025, 03:52
by Valnjes
Yes, because DSM installs on ALL drives.
You can put your NVMe´s to RAID, like i did, as SHR (its like RAID1).
If you enclosure/motherboard accepts 6 SATA drives, you can put them in SHR2 (its like RAID6).
https://www.synology.com/en-eu/support/ ... 2%7CRAID_6
I use 2x 2TB NVMe´s in SHR, and 3x 12TB in SHR with 1x 12TB hot-spare, for rebuilding the SHR, when one drive goes bad.
Like all raids, SHR, TRAID etc, the rebuild process takes time, even if you setup it for faster rebuild.
RAID is not a backup, never forget that.
Re: Best alternative OS for TerraMaster Hardware
Posted: 29 Jan 2025, 08:26
by dibbleJP
ok, having read through this chain, you've convinced me to try DSM on my F2-424 which I got yesterday. TOS6 is definitely better than 5 even if it was such a struggle to upgrade (for no apparent reason other than the update kept failing at 94%). Just a few tests with TOS6 I was having reliability issues. Since all I really want is a safe, reliable place to store my family data (yes, it's backed up to the cloud too) I think I'll give DSM a go for a while.
Re: Best alternative OS for TerraMaster Hardware
Posted: 29 Jan 2025, 15:21
by Valnjes
Sure, its free and reliable. And if you dont want DSM, you can always go with OMV, TrueNAS etc.
Re: Best alternative OS for TerraMaster Hardware
Posted: 19 Feb 2025, 07:40
by dibbleJP
Installed DSM and working great. It's shocking how good the Synology OS runs on the TerraMaster hardware !