Video summary
The video explores the evolving landscape of network attached storage (NAS) devices by comparing major brands like Synology and QNAP with TerraMaster, highlighting a distinct advantage in software flexibility. While acknowledging that hardware from all manufacturers is generally excellent, the narrator praises TerraMaster for its aggressive adoption of open-source solutions to enhance functionality quickly. Unlike competitors who treat third-party tools as afterthoughts, TerraMaster actively integrates these resources into their operating system, TOS, making them feel like native features rather than external add-ons. This approach allows users to leverage powerful community-driven technologies without needing deep technical expertise or complex manual configurations.
A significant focus of the discussion is the introduction of TOS 7.0, which positions itself as a full-native AI operating system for NAS devices by integrating OpenClaw, an open-source engine previously popularized on Mac Minis. Upon installation, users are guided through setting up their preferred large language model via API keys and immediately gain access to advanced capabilities without extensive setup hurdles. The narrator demonstrates this ease of use by asking the AI simple questions like why the sky is blue before moving to a more complex task: changing IPv6 settings on the device. By simply stating the command, the AI successfully navigates the system's internal tools to execute the change and offers to perform it automatically, showcasing how pre-installed skills or plugins allow users to control their storage infrastructure through natural language commands rather than navigating traditional menus.
The broader conclusion drawn from this experience is that the future of user interfaces for technology will increasingly rely on chatbot interactions where the device understands specific requests without needing explicit navigation instructions. The narrator compares this emerging trend to Amazon's shopping assistant, which can locate very specific items based on a detailed verbal description rather than requiring users to filter through pages manually. This shift represents a smart evolution in how consumers interact with their hardware; instead of learning complex system architectures or command lines, users simply describe what they want the device to do—whether it is managing network settings, running personal agents, or handling stock trading—and the AI leverages existing open-source frameworks to execute those tasks efficiently. Ultimately, TerraMaster's strategy of building upon established open-source projects creates a seamless bridge between powerful underlying technology and an intuitive, conversational user experience that simplifies device management for everyone.
Read the full video transcript
One of the
I I test a bunch of different network
storage devices, right? We talk a lot
about the Synology. It's it's certainly
the the one that is the most
full-featured. We also talk about QNAP.
Um Mhm. UGREEN [clears throat] has their
offering that's, you know, still sort of
I know it works really well for certain
things and it's it's continuing to get
better. And and then there's this
company called TerraMaster uh that makes
their TerraMaster units. And
hardware-wise, they're fantastic.
Software-wise, if they do what you want
them to do, they're great. And they know
at
TerraMaster that they need to compete
and and therefore
develop and add features quickly. And so
they are very open to using open-source
stuff
to enhance their network storage
devices. And that means that and and
every one of them will allow you to
install open-source stuff. I mean,
that's kind of the that's what open
source is. But TerraMaster really works
to integrate the open-source stuff as
though it were first-party. They they
don't try to tell you it's first-party
or anything. They make it clear it's
open source. But they
don't just say, "Sure, install it if you
want." They say, "You Here's the best
thing to do for our device and we've
already made the integration path so
that it kind of works."
And uh their operating system is called
TOS. And the new version, TOS 7, they
they advertise that it is a full native
AI operating system for your network
storage device. I was like, "All right,
well, this is interesting." So I
installed it on the unit that I have
that mainly runs as like a Plex server
and does a couple of other things.
Um
And when I first launched it, was like,
okay, I don't I'm not seeing it. But
what I did see is in the toolbar now is
a link
to launch OpenClaw, which is the engine
that everybody was buying Mac minis to
install on and you know, run their own
personal agent. And I thought, okay,
this is interesting. And so I clicked on
it and of course it tells me this is
beta software and you know, you got to
be careful and blah blah blah blah blah.
And I said, sure, yep, got you. Thank
you. And said, okay. And that was it. I
didn't have to go through Actually, it
asked me one more thing. It said, which
law large language model do you want to
use? And I already had a code, like an
API key for one of them. And it it would
walk you through the entire process of
getting an API key, which isn't really a
big deal. You could have You could use
OpenAIs and use ChatGPTs or whatever,
but I have an
an API key for Kimmy, this model that we
use for something for some other things
with one of the businesses. And I was
like, yeah, sure, I'll just I'll point
it at that. So I did. And then that was
it. I was done.
What was cool is I launched into
OpenClaw. And I have OpenClaw running on
my headless iMac, which is soon to be my
headless Mac mini.
And so I'm familiar with the OpenClaw
interface, but I didn't have to be. I I
asked it, why is the sky blue? And it
answered. And it was like, okay, great.
So it has access to this language model.
Wonderful.
Um
but what I then did was I said, hey, um
how do I turn how do I change my IPv6
settings? And that's all I said. I
didn't say on my, you know, TerraMaster
T you know, I didn't give it model
number. I didn't give it anything. I
just said, how do I change my IPv6
settings?
And it said, okay, great.
Here's how you do it. Do you want me to
do that for you? And it was like, ah,
okay. So they and it was clear that
there is a TerraMaster Terra NAS TOS
plugin already pre-installed
or a skill, I guess is what we would
call it in the AI world, already
pre-installed with
that install of Open Claw, which is you
could use for anything. Like you could
use it to, you know, do your stock
trading for you. Like be very careful if
you choose to do that, obviously. But
like it could do all of those things.
But
it's built to be your chatbot interface
to control
your NAS. And it was like, that's a
really smart way to do it because
they've taken all of this work that's
been done for open source, and then
added their little connector to it. I
don't mean to, you know, dismiss the
work they did, but they're really
leveraging that which already exists to
become their interface. And I think it's
really smart because I I I am a believer
that the interface of everything will
become
a chatbot. I don't And Amazon Amazon's
already doing it, right? You You go to a
product page and you see the little
thing on the left. Don't sleep on that,
either. Just go over there and ask it
questions. It knows It knows about
Amazon. It doesn't know what you want.
It knows what Amazon wants, so bear that
in mind. But, you know, it it's nice to
be able to say, "No, this isn't what I'm
looking for. What I want is, you know,
uh find my card that's from my wallet
and has a digital business card and is
rechargeable with Qi, right?" And you
can just type that in and it will go and
find it for you.
That's pretty cool. I don't need to know
how to navigate Amazon. I need to know
how to tell it what I want, and it needs
to know how to navigate Amazon. And it
does. So, it's pretty good.