Introduction

We would like to thank TerraMaster for supplying the review sample.


Contrary to a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device available for an entire network since it is connected to a switch, a Direct-Attached Storage (DAS) device is directly connected to a PC, usually through a cable (USB or Thunderbolt). Although a DAS offers less flexibility than a NAS, it is easier to use because it is immediately recognized by your system as an external drive and costs less because it doesn't have the capabilities of a NAS.

DAS devices or drives are great for back-up purposes or super-fast storage. Lately, I am deeply enrolled into 4K video editing, and my Mac mini has a pretty small SSD drive; a DAS with (lighting fast) Thunderbolt 3 seemed the best option for fast transfers and huge storage capacity. After a quick search, I found one of the most affordable options to be the TerraMaster D5 (Thunderbolt 3), which will be today's review subject.

The TerraMaster D5 costs $700, which seems like a lot, but it can take up to five drives and is equipped with a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports for up to 40 Gbps. It also has a DisplayPort and supports multi-screen display with up to three monitor. The nice thing with Thunderbolt ports is that you can daisy chain compatible devices, which means you can have up to six D5s connected, increasing storage space by up to 300 TB! The TerraMaster D5 supports the most popular RAID levels: RAID 0/1/5/10 along with JBOD and single-disk configurations. Strangely enough, RAID 6 is not supported.

Specifications