TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 Review

The TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 is a 2-Bay professional grade RAID storage device designed for video editing and photography. It is compatible with both 3.5 and 2.5 inch HDDs as well as 2.5 inch SATA SSDs with a maximum capacity of 32TB via two 16TB drives. For connectivity, it features two Thunderbolt 3 ports and a DisplayPort 1.2. The TD2 Thunderbolt 3 is also equipped with a special handle for additional portability.

Looking at features of the TD2 Thunderbolt 3 it’s clear this product has been purpose-built to support creative professionals. By leveraging a pair of Thunderbolt 3 interfaces (40GBps) in combination with a hardware RAID controller, the TD2 offers performance speeds up to 760 MB/s. A benefit of direct-attached storage (DAS) like the new TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 is that it offers the reliability of NAS drives without the hassle nor the latency of networks.

TerraMaster addressed concerns for data protection by outfitting the TD2 Thunderbolt 3 with automatic RAID rebuild and an automatic idle mode for HDD sleep. Support for hot swapping and hot plugging is also included to further ensure data safety.

The TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 offers a 2 year warranty.

TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 Specifications

Operating System Compatibility	Windows OS Mac OS
RAID Support	Raid 0, Raid 1, Single Disk, JBOD
Features	Hardware RAID, RAID Auto-rebuilding, Drive Hot Swap, HDD Sleep, Daisy Chain
Storage
Disk Slot Number	2
Compatible Disk Types	3.5” SATA HDD, 2.5” SATA HDD, 2.5” SATA SSD
Maximum Internal Capacity	32 TB (16 TB drive x 2)
File System	FAT 32, FAT 16, NTFS, EXT4
Performance
Read Speed (max)	760MB/s (Use SSD under RAID 0 mode)
Write Speed (max)	390MB/s (Use SSD under RAID 0 mode)
Ports/Connectors	40Gb Thunderbolt 3 x 2, DP 1.2 x 1, DC IN 12V
Physical
Dimensions (HWD)	227 x 119 x 173 mm
Weight	Net Weight 1.4Kg Gross Weight 2.2Kg
System Fan	80 mm x 80 mm x25mm (x 1)
Noise Level	18.6dB(A)
Power
Power Consumption	25.6W
Power Supply	40W
AC Input Voltage	100V – 2400 AC
Certificate	CE, FCC, CCC, KC
Warranty	2 years

TerraMaster TD2 Design and Build

The TD2 Thunderbolt 3 is designed with a compact form factor and a streamlined minimalist aesthetic. Its aluminum casing offers durability and the handle on top is a unique feature. In front, there is a single button for the power, three LED light indicators, and the two drives. The drive bays slide open and support hot swapping.

The back of the TerraMaster TD2 features all the connectivity with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a Display Port, a power port, and venting for the fan.

TerraMaster TD2 Performance

To test the performance of the TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 we will be looking at BlackMagic on a current generation MacBook Air and IOMeter on a HP Studio x360. We used two enterprise SATA SSDs from. SK hynix, the SE4011 2TB-class drives.

For Blackmagic the TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 was able to hit 710 MB/s read and 502.1 MB/s write. With these results the TD2 significantly exceeded it’s claimed write performance and was close to it’s claimed read performance.

Moving on to IOMeter, we ran 1 thread and 16 thread testing. We’ll start with 1 thread performance. When looking at 2MB sequential the TerraMaster TD2 hit 755.98 MB/s read and 367.78 MB/s write. Looking at 2MB random speeds, we saw 669.52 MB/s read and 365.91 MB/s write. In random 4K the TD2 hit 4,668.97 IOPS read and 12,272.91 IOPS write.

Now we”ll dive into 16 thread performance. For 2MB sequential we saw 786.79 MB/s read and 398.86 MB/s write. For 2MB random we saw 781.01 MB/s read and 398.21 MB/s write. Finally, for random 4K speeds hit 65,946.30 IOPS and 54,235.25 IOPS respectively for read and write.

Conclusion

The TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 is a compact dual-bay RAID storage device. It is aimed at creative professionals in the video editing market and is suited to support demanding applications including 4K video editing and 4K streaming. With an individual capacity up to 32TB and a daisy chain scalability up to 168 TB this product certainly has the capacity to support such endeavors. It also offers flexibility highlighted by multiple RAID support, compatibility with multiple drive form factors including 3.5” HDDs, 2.5” HDDs and 2.5” SSDs, and universal USB-C Thunderbolt 3 connectivity.

Diving into performance, we tested the TerraMaster TD2 with both Blackmagic and IOMeter. For Blackmagic the TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 was able to hit 710 MB/s read and 502.1 MB/s write. In IOMeter, we ran 1 thread and 16 thread testing. Overall the TD2 did well producing close to TerraMaster’s performance claims. Additionally, there wasn’t much dropoff when comparing our sequential and random results which is always a good thing to see. A place where the TD2 fell behind a bit is in 1 thread 2MB random testing where it produced 669.52 MB/s read. However it shined in a great many places including Blackmagic and our IOMeter 16 thread testing where we saw 786.79 MB/s read and 398.86 MB/s write in 2MB sequential and 65,946.30 IOPS and 54,235.25 IOPS read and write respectively for random 4K.

Overall being an easy to configure and transport external storage solution, the TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 platform has a lot to offer content creators and other individuals on the go. Expanding beyond just storage connectivity, the dock also gives you an external monitor hookup to further increase productivity. This is very important for notebooks that might only offer a single USB-C connection, so you don’t need to choose between storage or an external display.

TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 at Amazon

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