Ugreen NASync DXP4800 Plus

[TheLostSwede]

I think it’s worth pointing out that TerraMaster went the Kickstarter route with the TerraMaster D8 Hybrid DAS unit (4x SATA and 4x NVMe) which is ~$200 USD Kickstarter and ~$300 retail.

We have a review coming of that one as well, but it's obviously not a NAS.

Companies have their reasons for doing such things but it also might be a short lived trend.

QNAP has also done crowdfunding campaigns, but not for a NAS.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1235889177/mustang-200-affordable-scalable-adv-computing-acce

That wasn't the case before backlash it created; initially warranty was voided if different os has been installed.

Yes, I did see that, but that was before I even had a unit to test.

As for the cpus there are plenty supporting ECC but yeah very few ideal candidates due to power consumption mostly.

Sure, but no consumer/small business NAS type devices seem to ever get them. On top of that, BIOS/UEFI support is needed, which takes extra effort, which not all companies are will to put in at the entry level of their product range.

I've looked hard at the features you mention and that are on this NAS. I can watch video on my mediaplayer using DLNA on my TV. I have a docker with a Logitech Media Server playing all of my audio files through my DAC. And normally I'm using 30% of memory, so I could do more. BUT, it has my files on it, and I don't take any risks exposing them.
Still the thing I mentioned about power consumption is there. It uses more power than similar devices from Synology or Qnap. But since this review doesn't compare it with any other nasses, we just don't know, do we. For the moment, I can't recommend this nas to anyone.

So you found the right device for your needs, but it's not the need of others. I run 4 different Docker images on my DIY NAS and your NAS wouldn't be able to do that, as it doesn't have enough RAM. A lot of people run a media server like Plex or Emby and although I believe Plex should run on your NAS, other options might not work. Some people run small web servers or databases on their NAS, which your hardware wouldn't be suitable for either.

Since TPU has started fresh with NAS testing, we don't have anything to compare with right now, as Arris used different tests and I don't have access to his equipment and lab, so I've had to start over from scratch, but if these kind of reviews prove popular, we'll continue to review NAS devices.

Thank you, you are right. I went to their Kickstarter page and there really is a 2-bay model starting at @$239 (all spots are booked), it is now $259. First round NAS prices are all booked actually, there is a second round now apparently.

Not a second round. Kickstarter campaigns normally have tiered pricing, where "early birds" get a better price and those that come later pays a little bit more. Some companies have 4-5 different pricing tiers for the same product. This is to pull in people with a really, really low price for a few units and then increase it to a price where the company doesn't make a loss. Having been involved in a few crowdfunding campaigns, I have a pretty good insight into how it works and although it might seem scammy at times, it's how the crowdfunding platforms operate.

 

[Octavean]

We have a review coming of that one as well, but it's obviously not a NAS.

QNAP has also done crowdfunding campaigns, but not for a NAS.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1235889177/mustang-200-affordable-scalable-adv-computing-acce

I look forward to the TechPowerup review of the TerraMaster D8 Hybrid DAS (not a NAS). I initially dismissed it when I heard it couldn't do RAID 5 but that might have been a bit hasty. If it can present the drives to a TerraMaster NAS and the NAS can use those drives in software RAID 5 then that might be worth it to some.

I had no idea that QNAP had a product on Kickstarter. Good to know. I don't think going to Kickstarter should be viewed in a negative light. It's probably a good testing ground for companies.

Once again, I backed the UGreen Kickstarter opting for the 8 bay model. I understand it's a bit of a risk but IMO the underlying hardware is worth it. Intel 10 core 12 thread i5 1235U, Thunderbolt, USB 3.2 Gen 2, 8 SATA bays, dual 10GbE, dual NVMe, DDR5 and a PCIe slot for under ~$1000 USD is difficult to find from Synology, QNAP, TerraMaster, Asustore and others. There were a couple of Asustor Lockerstor 10 bay and 8 bay models that had my interest but now its around ~$1200 for an Atom SoC or over ~$2000 for a Xeon. TerraMaster has a few models of interest but its a similar story as you can get a 6, 9 or 12 bay model but it has decidedly lower specs for more money running an Intel N5095 QuadCore.

 

[toooooot]

I have on old 2 bay entry level sinology nas. I stopped using it as indented as it seemed too slow for moving my newly watched movies from PC to this device.
I just kept it as a backup device after that.
I am a bit tempted to get Ugreen 2 bay nas from this linup.
Obviously, it would be faster, since it has much more ram nvme slots.
But would it be worth it for me...
I know that time is running out, but I havent decided yet.

 

[Octavean]

The thing about a turn key NAS is eventually the manufacturer stopes supporting them. My Synology DS1815+ can run DSM 7.1 but not the latest DSM 7.2.1. Why? Well maybe there were some wiz-bang new features in 7.2.x and the hardware simply couldn’t cope. Still, the anemic Atom C2000 series SoC was their choice and they supported it for as long as they wanted to. Had they used something a little more robust then maybe it would have gotten a little further,….maybe,….

All I’m really saying is an ARM or low end x86 processor (like an Atom) isn’t a good choice for my needs. Being able to go with a third party OS is also a nice option if you might want to get a little more life out of a solution no longer supported (secured) by the manufacturer.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I have on old 2 bay entry level sinology nas. I stopped using it as indented as it seemed too slow for moving my newly watched movies from PC to this device.
I just kept it as a backup device after that.
I am a bit tempted to get Ugreen 2 bay nas from this linup.
Obviously, it would be faster, since it has much more ram nvme slots.
But would it be worth it for me...
I know that time is running out, but I havent decided yet.

You mean that the time it takes to copy files from your PC to the NAS or vice versa is the issue?
Obviously some basic, older NAS models with Arm based SoCs didn't quite manage to hit Gigabit speeds, but that was long time ago.
These days, everything is going to reach Gigabit speeds at a very minimum, with many coming with 2.5 Gbps as standard.
Keep in mind that you're going to need a 2.5 Gbps capable switch as well, although it is possible to set up the Ugreen NAS devices as a pass-through to the rest of the network, except for the two bay unit, which only has one network port.
NVMe won't make much of a difference in your case.

 

[Octavean]

Those who have backed the KickStarter have been sent the survey request / confirmation so these things should be shipping soon. I backed the DXP8800 Plus 8 bay model. If all goes well it should be two to three weeks before they are in the hands of backers.

 

[Octavean]

Here we are Jun 6th.

I just received the Kickstarter reward, the Ugreen DXP8800 Plus today.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Here we are Jun 6th.

I just received the Kickstarter reward, the Ugreen DXP8800 Plus today.

Wow, that was fast.

 

[Octavean]

Wow, that was fast.

Indeed it was fast and I’m not one of the early bird backers that got in at the 40% off (only 35% for me). That is to say I’ve been hearing about some backers receiving their rewards about a week earlier.

Here is how it worked.

Backers received emails from Kickstarter / UGreen about updates on their progress with respect to fulfillment. One such update stated that they would email a survey for address / shipping info in conjunction with PledgeBox. Apparently, the faster the survey was returned the faster your reward(s) would ship out.

So I setup My PledgeBox account, received the survey, filled it out ASAP. Shortly after that I had shipping info / tracking number (FedEX) by way of PledgeBox.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Indeed it was fast and I’m not one of the early bird backers that got in at the 40% off (only 35% for me). That is to say I’ve been hearing about some backers receiving their rewards about a week earlier.

Here is how it worked.

Backers received emails from Kickstarter / UGreen about updates on their progress with respect to fulfillment. One such update stated that they would email a survey for address / shipping info in conjunction with PledgeBox. Apparently, the faster the survey was returned the faster your reward(s) would ship out.

So I setup My PledgeBox account, received the survey, filled it out ASAP. Shortly after that I had shipping info / tracking number (FedEX) by way of PledgeBox.

That's quite impressive. That said, Ugreen were clearly not waiting for the cash to make the devices, like many other crowdfunding projects do.

 

[Octavean]

That's quite impressive. That said, Ugreen were clearly not waiting for the cash to make the devices, like many other crowdfunding projects do.

Agreed. They had them ready to go, there is no doubt about it.

my concern with going with the DXP8800 Plus was that it was the most expensive option in the lineup and thus had the fewest pledges. So I thought perhaps it might get dropped. But again, they clearly had them manufactured already So there was nothing to worry about.

As the reviews alluded to, it’s a very nice bit of kit. The fit and finish (of the hardware, accessories and packaging) is IMO, higher then what you get from the likes of Synology or QNAP. Great attention to detail.

The UGOS aside (with its not fully baked issues), I can safely say that this is the best retail level NAS I’ve ever owned. For reference I also have a Synology DS1815+ and a QNAP TS-653D.

I want to dive into setting up Docker and a VM as soon as possible.

Really a nice bit of kit though. I highly recommend it (at the KickStarter price that is).

I do want to give UGOS a fair shake before moving on to something like UNRAID, Proxmox or FreeNAS. I also have a Windows Server 2022 license.

 

[TheLostSwede]

As the reviews alluded to, it’s a very nice bit of kit. The fit and finish (of the hardware, accessories and packaging) is IMO, higher then what you get from the likes of Synology or QNAP. Great attention to detail.

Yeah, I really can't knock the build quality, as it exceeded my expectations as well and there are quite a few little niceties like the magnetic dust filter.

 

[Octavean]

The few things that are not so great Seem mostly minor.

I setup the DXP8800 Plus with the iOS app out of laziness (couldn’t be arsed with getting up to use a PC or Mac). The app is actually quite useful IMO and really gives the user the sense that they can get a lot done. I had some WD Red 14TB drives and a couple of 16TB drive (5 in total) I used for the initial setup. I went with RAID 5 and having only a single 500GB NVMe SSD it seemed logical to use it as a read cache (for the moment). I let it do its thing for that setup but there was little to no indication in the app that it was done or in progress.

Eventually switching to Mac resulted in a prompt of a list of tasks for initial setup. This was confusing because I had already setup the RAID / Volume.

Also file transfers within the NAS’ file manager via iOS app or browser (Mac) has no progress bar indicator. I could only see the file copy progress by refreshing the folder to see what new files were added.

There‘s also no MTU adjustments for optimizing a proper 10GbE configuration.

There is no iSCSI LUN option

but then I knew that going in,…

It is good to see that there is VM and Docker support though.

OK, now I'm coming to terms with this well known issue stated in the most excellent TechPowerUp review:

Currently, external drives are somewhat limited in that you can't share them over the network. However, you can copy data to and from them using the built-in file manager in UGOS Pro. This means that it's fairly straightforward to back up external drives on your NASync, but also to move files off, for example older backups. There are currently no options for formatting external drives either, something that Ugreen's competitors do offer.

This could be growing pains but it also may never be resolved. Not great either way but one can hope it improves,...

 

[TheLostSwede]

By now, Ugreen has added a few extra native apps.

There‘s also no MTU adjustments for optimizing a proper 10GbE configuration.

It's not recommended that you change the MTU size any more, as it was designed for Gigabit Ethernet. 10 Gbps really doesn't take advantage of jumbo frames in 99% of cases.

There is no iSCSI LUN option

but then I knew that going in,…

I don't think this was ever promised.

It is good to see that there is VM and Docker support though.

The VM addition came in a recent update.

OK, now I'm coming to terms with this well known issue stated in the most excellent TechPowerUp review:

I did attempt to try as many of the features I could, so I could write as honest review as possible.

This could be growing pains but it also may never be resolved. Not great either way but one can hope it improves,...

They seem to update things and there's a roadmap, although it seems like they just changed it, as it now only shows recently released updates. Three updates this month alone.

System Update Plan | UGREEN NAS

Note: Enhancements and Bug Fixes to the Software System. Important updates in 2024 Q4 and 2025 Q1 File Manager supports batch renaming of files. Drag and drop across different taps in File Manager. "Photos" supports customizing paths displayed in personal library. Synchronization task visual...

nas.ugreen.com

A bigger concern imho is this

Products Support Status | UGREEN NAS

Choose Superior Hardware Performance and High-level Data Security network attached storage.

nas.ugreen.com

It seems like they're only planning two to three years of updates for these products, software wise. That's not good enough imho.

 

[Octavean]

They seem to update things and there's a roadmap, although it seems like they just changed it, as it now only shows recently released updates. Three updates this month alone.

System Update Plan | UGREEN NAS

Note: Enhancements and Bug Fixes to the Software System. Important updates in 2024 Q4 and 2025 Q1 File Manager supports batch renaming of files. Drag and drop across different taps in File Manager. "Photos" supports customizing paths displayed in personal library. Synchronization task visual...

nas.ugreen.com

Before the changes, it looked a little something like this:

Product Update Plan

Note: Depending on user feedback after product delivery, the following features may be released early or delayed.

June 2024
Experience optimization and bug fixes based on user feedback
New features for ''Photos''
Updates to the following applications:
Netdisk Tools
Virtual Machine
Music
Video Center
TV Client

Q3 2024
Support for 3rd-party video software
New features and experience optimization for the following applications:
File Manager
Task Manager
Sync & Backup
Support for converting external storage to internal storage
Local USB drive mode

Q4 2024
Surveillance related features
Support for more 3rd-party cloud disk services
Support for more file systems
Support for iSCSI

I don't think this was ever promised.

Perhaps it wasn't promised but IIRC there was a LUN listing somewhere (probably under Storage Manager). I should have taken a screenshot.

Currently my DXP8800 Plus is running UGOS version 1.0.0.0940.

There are some noteworthy issues ie bugs worth taking note of:

1) Long Pool / Volume sync time (maybe 48HR possibly 72HR for initial RAID 2x16TB drives and 3x 14TB drives)
2) Long Pool / Volume Expansion time (about 10 Days adding a 16TB drive)
3) Long SSD Read Cache Deletion time (currently ~23HR and counting)
4) Often, any progress indicators are absent (time to complete Cache Deletion, time to transfer files, Pool / Volume Expansion etc)
5) The second 10GbE NIC seems to have gone missing in UGOS

I've had no problem with these drives before so I know they are in good health. These drives were never dropped from a RAID array. The only new drive was the SSD Cache but its easier to suspect UGOS.

OK, it took something like ~40HR to Extricate the single ~512GB SSD (Teamgroup) as the cache of Pool / Volume 1. I just setup a Basic Pool / Volume with it and took a quick look at its Volume Usage under UGOS. While far from a promise, Volume Usage is indeed where I came across references to a LUN under UGOS.

 

[DaddyCJ]

I purchased the same NAS you reviewed. I bought 4 brand new Seagate Exos X18 16tb HDD. The nas does not recognize any of them. I had an old seagate 2Tb Baracudda laying around. It was recognized and I moved files back and forth. Have a friend in IT who tested all the Exos drives and he said they are fine. He did mention some issues with seagate sometime ago having to do with the 3Rd piv, 3.3V I believe he said. He didn't want to void my warranty so he did not try the trick. The 2tb old seagate works fine. The test of the 16tb works fine. What is my next step? Contract Ugreen and try for months to figure out the issue? Any ideas very appreciated. Hopefully since it's a new Nas product maybe a soon future firmware update will help. I've already spent over $1,000 for NAS and drives combined! Please , any ideas?

 

[Octavean]

I purchased the same NAS you reviewed. I bought 4 brand new Seagate Exos X18 16tb HDD. The nas does not recognize any of them. I had an old seagate 2Tb Baracudda laying around. It was recognized and I moved files back and forth. Have a friend in IT who tested all the Exos drives and he said they are fine. He did mention some issues with seagate sometime ago having to do with the 3Rd piv, 3.3V I believe he said. He didn't want to void my warranty so he did not try the trick. The 2tb old seagate works fine. The test of the 16tb works fine. What is my next step? Contract Ugreen and try for months to figure out the issue? Any ideas very appreciated. Hopefully since it's a new Nas product maybe a soon future firmware update will help. I've already spent over $1,000 for NAS and drives combined! Please , any ideas?

I suspect your friend was correct. The 3.3v issue mentioned is likely the culprit, although, I didn't think this would be an problem on retail drives. I'm using a mix of drives. three 16TB WD Red (CMR) drives and three 14TB WD Red (CMR) drives. No issues whatsoever.

That is to say that there is probably nothing wrong with the NAS or the HDD's. You can have your friend try working around the 3.3v issue or try doing it yourself:

How to Fix the 3.3V Pin Issue in White Label Disks Shucked From Western Digital 8TB Easystore Drives

How to Fix the 3.3V Pin Issue in White Label Disks Shucked From Western Digital 8TB Easystore Drives: If you find this instructable useful, please consider subscribing to my Youtube channel for upcoming DIY tutorials concerning technology. Thank you!

www.instructables.com

It just takes a bit of tape and a bit of time,...

Other options would be to return the HDDs for a different make / model.

Since the NAS likely wasn't purchased at retail (Kickstarter) you also have the option of selling it on e-Bay or something.

By now, Ugreen has added a few extra native apps.

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It's not recommended that you change the MTU size any more, as it was designed for Gigabit Ethernet. 10 Gbps really doesn't take advantage of jumbo frames in 99% of cases.

I don't think this was ever promised.

The VM addition came in a recent update.

I did attempt to try as many of the features I could, so I could write as honest review as possible.

They seem to update things and there's a roadmap, although it seems like they just changed it, as it now only shows recently released updates. Three updates this month alone.

System Update Plan | UGREEN NAS

Note: Enhancements and Bug Fixes to the Software System. Important updates in 2024 Q4 and 2025 Q1 File Manager supports batch renaming of files. Drag and drop across different taps in File Manager. "Photos" supports customizing paths displayed in personal library. Synchronization task visual...

nas.ugreen.com

A bigger concern imho is this

Products Support Status | UGREEN NAS

Choose Superior Hardware Performance and High-level Data Security network attached storage.

nas.ugreen.com

It seems like they're only planning two to three years of updates for these products, software wise. That's not good enough imho.

BTW, it looks like VM's don't have USB passthrough support. It's the little things that get you. There is a lot of work that has to be done here on UGOS Pro and it's apps,....alone with the app catalog that needs to be expanded.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I purchased the same NAS you reviewed. I bought 4 brand new Seagate Exos X18 16tb HDD. The nas does not recognize any of them. I had an old seagate 2Tb Baracudda laying around. It was recognized and I moved files back and forth. Have a friend in IT who tested all the Exos drives and he said they are fine. He did mention some issues with seagate sometime ago having to do with the 3Rd piv, 3.3V I believe he said. He didn't want to void my warranty so he did not try the trick. The 2tb old seagate works fine. The test of the 16tb works fine. What is my next step? Contract Ugreen and try for months to figure out the issue? Any ideas very appreciated. Hopefully since it's a new Nas product maybe a soon future firmware update will help. I've already spent over $1,000 for NAS and drives combined! Please , any ideas?

It seems like you got a temporary solution above, but this appears to be a weird issue. Did you try contacting Ugreen? They've been quite responsive and I believe this is something they might be unaware of, but I honestly don't know if this is even something they can fix. The workaround wouldn't void any warranty, as you're simply isolating a pin with some tape.

Also, when you post a comment in the forums here, it's a good idea to do an @ to the person you want to make aware of a post, as it's not as if the forum sends out a notification to everyone in the thread when where's a new post.

 

[Octavean]

BTW, I've setup Plex via docker on the UGreen DXP8800 Plus and it does indeed work reasonably well with respect to general use. However, I should point out that there are some stuttering, buffering and stalling with live TV via a SiliconDust HDHomeRun 4K tuner. While I noticed that the Intel iGPU wasn't setup in the container, later addressing this oversight improved but didn't eliminate the aforementioned issues. Looking iGPU use during live TV streams also suggests that either the iGPU isn't being passed through completely or isn't being utilized fully.

Since VM's won't passthrough USB at all, it's not surprising to me that the docker implementation isn't properly utilizing the iGPU.

Just saying,....

 

[Octavean]

Little follow up due to a response from UGreen tech support on USB pass through in VM and USB access for docker containers:

Hello

I hope you are well.

I followed up with the technical team and received the following response.

The features for USB passthrough for virtual machines and Docker access to external USB storage have been included in future development plans. However, there is currently no specific timeline for their completion. The product department has indicated that the priority for USB passthrough for virtual machines is higher, so it should be completed relatively sooner.

Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.

Kind regards,


Sincerely,
Chase Yonts
UGREEN Nas Support

So I guess that is something. An ETA wasn’t really expected but it is good to know that they are both in development or on the to-do list.

In my case, I can’ necessarily fit all my data on the internal 8 bays of the DXP8800 Plus until such time as all 8 bays are populated with 16TB or larger HDD’s. Currently only 6 bays are occupied and it’s still a mix of three 16TB and three 14TB WD Red. External expansion is just too tempting and too useful to be restricted in the way UGreen has limited external storage in UGOS.

If there was something that would force me off UGreen UGOS Pro it would be these omitted features.

 

[Octavean]

Little Update,......

It looks like the recently released UGreen UGOS Pro version 1.0.0.1291 added support for external drives being accessible through File Explorer in Windows 11 and Finder in MacOS. Very nice addition and sorely needed. I haven't yet checked USB passthrough in VM's or Docker.

 

[Octavean]

Yeah, so,......

Unfortunately, that's a negative on USB passthrough in VM's and Docker. At least near as I can tell for now,....

 

[Octavean]

Apparently UGreen is working on a new AI NAS model IDX6012 (someone is going to have to talk to them about their nomenclature) with as of yet undisclosed specs :