Best SSD for the TerraMaster F2-425
By Devin Chua · Data checked by Owen Nakamura · Updated TerraMaster does not say whether the 2 bays of the TerraMaster F2-425 take 2.5-inch SATA SSDs, so none is listed as a confirmed fit. M.2 SATA SSDs are a different part and do not fit a drive bay. Over 1 × 2.5GbE SSDs rarely pay: the network caps throughput long before the drive does, and SSDs cost a multiple per TB. An all-SSD F2-425 makes sense for silence in a living space, or for the many small parallel reads of virtual-machine storage, not for a file-and-backup NAS.
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Want to know whether the F2-425 fits your actual storage plan? Open the NAS Builder with this model weighted.
2.5-inch SATA SSDs for the F2-425, from Amazon.ca
Fit not confirmed by TerraMaster
Physical fit for the F2-425: a 2.5-inch SATA SSD in a drive bay. Every SSD below matches that. TerraMaster does not publish enough to confirm any of these for the F2-425 (TerraMaster does not say whether the bays take 2.5-inch drives), so none is listed as compatible. Check the part against your unit, or TerraMaster’s support, before buying.
How we check fit, and what TerraMaster publishes for the F2-425: F2-425 compatible drives and fit rules.
Left out as not fitting the F2-425: 2 listings (M.2 SATA SSD, not a 2.5-inch drive).
When SSDs make sense in the F2-425
A SATA SSD reads about 550 MB/s, a good NAS drive 200 to 280, but the F2-425's 1 × 2.5GbE only carries part of that anyway, and per terabyte the SSD costs several times more. For file storage, backups and media on the F2-425, hard drives are the sensible choice by every measure.
Two cases flip it. Silence: if the F2-425 lives in a living room or bedroom, an all-SSD build is the only thing that truly quiets it. And many small parallel reads (virtual-machine storage, a busy photo database) where the SSD's access times, not its data rate, are what you are buying. On a lighter box like the F2-425, that second case is rarer than it sounds.
Drive policy: TerraMaster locks no drive brand on the F2-425; its compatibility list is guidance, not a gate. The F2-425’s full compatibility rules.
Keep calculating
To see how much capacity is left after parity, the F2-425 capacity calculator is preset to its 2 bays and RAID types. For the F2-425, the wider basics of choosing a drive are in the buying guides, and CMR versus SMR explains why SMR drives do not belong in a RAID array. Wondering what the F2-425 can actually do: Plex, Immich, Docker, VMs? See what the F2-425 can run.
Frequently asked questions
Which SSDs fit the F2-425's drive bays?
TerraMaster does not say whether the F2-425's bays take 2.5-inch drives, so we do not list any SSD as a confirmed fit. M.2 SATA SSDs do not fit a drive bay in any case.
Can I put third-party drives in the F2-425?
Yes. TerraMaster locks no drive brand on the F2-425; its compatibility list is guidance, not a gate.
Can the F2-425 run Plex with hardware transcoding?
Yes. The F2-425's Intel N5095 (4 cores, 2.0 GHz) includes Intel Quick Sync, which hardware-transcodes Plex including 4K HEVC, so it handles several streams at once without loading the CPU.
Devin Chua works out which drives, RAM and NVMe cache fit which NAS model at nasdrives.ca, and what the RAID choice means for usable capacity, checked against what is in stock on Amazon.ca.
Data checked by Owen Nakamura, Technical editor (data checking)