Best config using nvme

[Enquiries]

Hi

I purchased the Terramaster F4-423 and was just curious about the fastest setup using nvmes as cache and maybe primary app drive? I looked high and low through your videos, but even though I understand using an nvme as cache will help some and not others, being new to this, I wanted to set it up to where I'd get the best performance out of the nas. for watching movies, sharing photos, playing music on devices, backing up phone and pc data, etc... I also bought 2 10tb wd black 7200 drives...and have two 4tb drives as well, and was going to use the TRaid to set them up.

Any advice or suggestions on how to set it up using an nvme drive as cache and the other however you suggest for performance, would be appreciated. I do have a 2gb network that will be upgraded to 10 eventually.

Thank you, Joe

P.S. love the helpful videos too. ??

[ed]

Great choice with the Terramaster F4-423! Since you’re looking to get the best performance out of your NAS, you’ll be happy to know that this model actually allows NVMe drives to be used for both storage and caching, which gives you more flexibility.

Best NVMe Setup for Performance
Since your main use case is watching movies, sharing photos, playing music, and backing up devices, here’s what I’d recommend:

Option 1: Use NVMe as a Primary App & Fast Storage Drive (Best for Performance)
Instead of using both NVMe drives for cache, you can set one NVMe as a primary storage pool for apps, metadata, and frequently accessed files (like your Roon/Plex database or music library).
This is especially useful for fast access to thumbnails, photos, or music files without waiting on HDD spin-up times.
The second NVMe could then be used as read cache to accelerate access to media files stored on the HDDs.
Setup:

NVMe 1 (Storage Pool) → Store apps, Plex database, Roon metadata, and high-access files.
NVMe 2 (Read Cache) → Speeds up access to frequently streamed media.
T-RAID with HDDs → Handles bulk storage for large movies, backups, and files.
Option 2: Use Both NVMe Drives for Read/Write Cache (If You Want HDD-Only Storage)
If you want to keep all storage on your HDDs and just use NVMe to speed things up:

One NVMe as Read Cache → Faster access to frequently played movies and music.
One NVMe as Write Cache → Absorbs backup writes, improving transfer speeds.
Your T-RAID Storage Setup
Since you have:

2x 10TB WD Black (7200RPM) HDDs
2x 4TB HDDs
You can use T-RAID to:

Mix all HDDs into a single pool with redundancy (instead of being forced into strict RAID configurations).
Expand easily in the future by adding more drives of different sizes.
Future-Proofing for 10GbE
Since you plan to upgrade to 10GbE networking, the best long-term setup would be:

Primary storage on NVMe (for high-speed access).
HDDs in T-RAID for bulk storage (media, backups).
10GbE will unlock the full potential of NVMe storage for network transfers.