Published: in Videos
Upgrading the UGREEN DXP4800 Plus NAS with NVMe Cache Drives
In the last couple of videos, we’ve been diving into the UGREEN DXP4800 Plus NAS, setting it up from scratch and exploring what it can really do. As someone who’d never used one before, it’s been quite the journey, from the initial setup to upgrading the RAM to give it a little more punch when running virtual machines.
In this post, we’re taking it one step further with another upgrade. This time, we’re fitting two Crucial P310 NVMe 1TB SSDs to use as cache drives. The goal? To boost file transfer speeds and overall responsiveness, especially when using the NAS over its built-in 10-gigabit network interface.
Choosing the Right Cache Drives
If you’re looking to add cache drives to your NAS, I’ve included links in the video description to the exact models I’m using — the PCIe Gen4 NVMe 2280 M.2 SSDs from Crucial. These are fast, reliable, and fit perfectly into the DXP4800 Plus.
Powering Down the NAS
Before we start, it’s important to safely power down your NAS.
Log in through the eGOS interface, ensure there are no active file transfers, and head to the menu to select Shutdown. Once the system has fully powered off, it’s safe to proceed.
Now, carefully turn the NAS upside down. Remove the two screws securing the bottom plate — that’s where we’ll be fitting our SSDs.
Installing the NVMe SSDs
With the plate removed, you’ll see two M.2 slots.
Take out the small securing screws and fit your SSDs into the slots. Make sure they’re aligned correctly — the notch on the drive should match the slot orientation. Once seated, gently press down and reinsert the screws to hold them in place.
The UGREEN NAS also comes with thermal pads for the SSDs. Don’t forget these!
Peel off the protective film and stick the pads onto the chips before reattaching the bottom plate. This helps to keep the drives cool under load.
Once everything is fitted, reattach the plate, flip the NAS back upright, and power it on.
Configuring Cache Drives in UGOS
After the system boots, log back into the eGOS interface.
Head to Storage, and you should now see two new entries listed as M.2 Hard Drive 1 and M.2 Hard Drive 2 — that means the drives are detected correctly.
Next, go to your Storage Pool (for example, Storage Pool 1), click on the three dots next to it, and select SSD Management.
Here, you can create a new SSD Cache to improve read and write performance for your selected volume.
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Choose the volume you want to cache.
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Select Read/Write mode (note: you’ll need two SSDs to enable both read and write caching).
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Tick the box to confirm you understand the warning about potential data loss — it’s crucial not to remove cache drives without deleting the cache first.
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Choose both M.2 drives, set the RAID type (mirrored in this case), and confirm the estimated capacity.
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Apply the changes and enter your password to authorise the operation.
The drives will be formatted (so make sure there’s no data on them beforehand), and after a few moments, you’ll get a success message confirming SSD Cache 1 has been created.
Checking Drive Status
Under the Storage tab, you can now see that your volume has SSD cache enabled.
If you go into the Hard Drive section, you’ll find details such as temperature, usage percentage, and SMART information for each drive. Everything should show as “Normal” if the setup was successful.
And that’s it — your cache drives are now up and running!
Wrapping Up
That’s all you need to do to add NVMe cache drives to your UGREEN DXP4800 Plus NAS. The result is snappier performance, faster file transfers, and a smoother overall experience — especially useful for virtualisation, large file operations, and high-speed networking.
If you found this guide useful, give the video a thumbs up and consider subscribing to stay updated with the latest UGREEN NAS tips and upgrades.
And if you’d like to hire us for IT consulting or setup services, head over to SheridanComputers.com.
Thanks for reading — and I’ll see you in the next one!