Qnap TS-451

Introduction

It had been a while since i last received a QNAP product to be reviewed. The gods favored me and brought in one of QNAP's recent additions in their 4-bay SOHO/Home NAS segment: The TS-451.What i notice is that QNAP used to be the company putting their speed and built quality in the spotlight, now we see a company steering towards advertising the features that actually matter the most to your average day user. Backup, sharing, access features & cloud services, downloads and video playback are possibly the best way to sum up what most people do with their Nas.The storage device powered by an Intel Celeron J1800 dual core processor boast video transcoding capability that's 18 times faster than earlier Atom based solutions, feature an HDMI port, and support virtualization to allow you to run two operating systems such as Linux and Windows 8.

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As mentioned in the introduction, virtualization is also supported, but you'll be limited to one running virtual machine using 2 GB RAM.The device features 4-bay for hard drives, but you can add 5 or 8 bays using UX-500P or UX800-P RAID expansion enclosures.Using 6TB hard drives, you can achieve up to 74TB storage with 4 drives in TS-451 and 8 drives in UX-800P.Up to 4096 users, and 600 concurrent connections can be handled by TS-x51 NAS.

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Packaging & Contents

The TurboNAS TS-451 from Qnap is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard box with a photo of the NAS in operation and a small list of product highlights.

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By turning the packaging, we will see both Hardware and Software Specifications, along with a more detailed description of the server functions.

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Some more applications of the NAS can be observed by turning the box even further.

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When you flip back the top flap, you are greeted with a thoughtful Thank You.After opening up the box, we can find the NAS along with its bundle carefully packed inside foam material.To be protected during transport even further, the manufacturer has wrapped the NAS chassis into a transparent plastic bag.

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We have the power cord and a box that contains a pair of Ethernet cables, documentation, and setup CD.The Installation Guide contains the necessary steps in order to get everything working.

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The Nas

The design of this mid-range model is more basic than that of the flagship NAS devices from this brand.

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It still looks like a QNAP product, and white color looks good.The chassis is plastic instead of metal, and the hard disk trays do not have locks.

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The white TS-451 also features a strip down the left hand side.

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The right side does not come with the same ventilation holes.

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On the front, next to the trays, you'll find the power button, a USB 3.0 port, and a synch button for copying files from an external source.

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What we have at the back of the system are enough ports to more or less resemble a real computer, rather than a simple network storage device as NAS devices are back in the days.On the back, the TS-451 has two gigabit network ports, two USB 2.0 ports,one USB 3.0 port and one HDMI port.Also we can find the factory reset, power connector and a K-Lock security slot.Support IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi USB dongle.Up to 7.1 channel audio pass-through and high-quality multimedia playback with HD Station via HDMI along with integrated XBMC v12 media player.

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On the bottom side of the chassis we will find 4 rubber feet.

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The bottom sticker lets us know of the model code name, along with the power input requirements.

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Installation

In the front we will find four HDD trays already preinstalled into the bays.The frontal trays can be unlocked really easy.

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The body of the trays is plastic and between the HDD and the tray itself we will also find a plastic layer.The drives get fixed with screws located on the bottom, not on the laterals.

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Here is an example of a 3.5" drive installation inside the tray, the HDD must be aligned at the holes and after that we can use the provided screws.2.5" drives get fixed in only 3 points instead of 4.

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If we look inside, we will find the daughterboard is connected with the mainboard and contains the SATA Data/Power connectors.

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Hardware

By removing 4 screws at the back, we can lift the top cover.The warranty sticker can be also found here.

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The unit is not crowded inside and we can see a considerable space left between the daughterboard and the fan in the back.

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Cooling the TS-451 is a single 120mm fan which seems to work well.Although there isn't any redundancy built into the TS-451?s cooling setup, an alarm will sound in the event of a fan failure.The PSU fan is now used to blow air outside the unit instead of exhausting inside the case.The 120 mm cooling fan is provided by Y.S. Tech. Its model number is FD121225LB (120 mm, 12 V, 0.18 A, 1800 RPM, 73 CFM, 34 dBA, and 80000 MTBF). It uses ball-bearings.

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The mainboard of the NAS is really small, housing all the necessary components to support its functions.

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One heatsink cool down the cpu and chipset.

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I removed the CPU heatsink to take a good look at it.Powered by a new 22nm 64-bit dual-core Intel Celeron 2.41GHz processor.

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There is a preinstalled ADATA DDR3 1600 MHz memory module (1 GB) on the mainboard.

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The empty RAM slot is located on the right side of the mainboard for installing one 1GB or 2GB module.Optionally, we can purchase from QNAP memory upgrades from our NAS.

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Super I/O controller chip is the Fintek F71869AD.

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The buzzer of the mainboard.

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The 512MB flash memory on the NAS is provided by Apacer.

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An Asmedia ASM1442 controls the HDMI port that is fully exploited by HD Station.

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The single PCIe slot and the battery of the mainboard.

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QTS Initialization

In order to start setting up the NAS, i will download and install the QNAP Qfinder utility which will list the current configuration.

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The software will offer us a Quick Setup method, which is quite automated or Manual Setup.

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Then we will be prompted to confirm the current disk configuration.The next step would be to specify the NAS name inside the network, a password for the administrator account, an email address but also a desired disk configuration.

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We will be able to leave the NAS obtain a network IP automatically or specify a manual configuration.

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The firmware can be chosen to be uploaded automatically from the QNAP servers or we can specify a file we have already stored on our HDD.

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During the setup procedure, which will take a while, we will be able to see the configuration steps and watch the progress bar.

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When the configuration has been completed and the NAS has automatically rebooted, we will be informed of the operation success.In QTS 4.1 the login screen has changed slightly, but the older version is also available/selectable from the software interface.

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Software Part I

We will be prompted to enter up the login username/password combination.

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The interface of the QTS 4.1 OS is quite intuitive and on first boot we will be also shown a wizard to guide us through the further setup steps.

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The desktop widget shows various info regarding the current system status including transfer rates, temperatures, available resources and so on.

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From the Control Panel we will be able to adjust several system settings.

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The Storage Manager menu will allow us to see the currently installed drives and available logical volumes.

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QTS will check the HDD status regularly and update the health information inside the HDD S.M.A.R.T. menu.

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Next we will be able to adjust options like the system time, login screen appearance and so on.

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Software Part II

From the Network menu we can modify the current settings, also including Wi-Fi (with a compatible adapter), IPv6, Proxy, DDNS and so on.

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The Hardware section allows us to modify the HDD standby times, light signal alert, write cache, but also the buzzer behavior.

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Next we could access the EuP Mode Configuration menu, WoL configuration, Power Recovery and Power schedule menus.

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The NAS can save the system settings to a file via the Backup/Restore settings tab, but we can also bring it to the factory defaults.

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Software Part III

A separate menu is creating for dealing with External Storage devices, Printers but also UPS systems.

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The System Status menu allows us to check the System Information, Network Status, currently running System Services or Hardware Information.

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The Resource Monitor tab also has other sub-sections like CPU Usage, Memory Usage, Disk Usage, Bandwidth Usage or Process.

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User Groups are already pre-defined by the manufacturer.

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Next we will be able to check the current folders along with their sharing permissions.

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If needed, we can specify a disk quota for all users, or individual.

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We can enable different networking services in the next menu.

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Network Recycle Bin is handy when we delete files or folders by mistake since they will be first moved to a specific folder and not deleted permanently.

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Software Part V

For syncing files between different devices we can always use Qsync.

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Let's also take a look a little at some of the regular applications.We can install plenty from the interface even made by 3rd party developers.

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First i would like to mention the Photo Station application which allows us to organize our private photo collection, but also run slideshows.

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Music Station will pick up our files from the respective folders, index them and pick up the album art from the web. Online radio can be also listened from the same interface via TuneIn.

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Download Station permits file search on different portals but can also support file download from private torrent trackers.We only have to download the torrent file on our computer and drag-drop it to the Download Station window.The operation will then start automatically.

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With Video Station we will be able to watch our entire video collection, after it has been processed and thumbnails have been assigned to each file.During playback, each video will open up in a new browser window (via VLC plugin).

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A very important application is also File Station which helps us to organize the files on our NAS or transfer new ones from other different sources.

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Backup Station helps replicating the data to another storage device, including cloud.Ηere we can also access the remote NAS to NAS backup function.

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QNAP Notes Station enables you to create digital notebooks on the private cloud provided by the Turbo NAS. You can also easily leverage the rich files, photos, music and video collection stored on the Turbo NAS to enrich your notes. With the Notes Station, your digital memos are safely kept for instant access.A note on the Clipper Chrome extension.In order to use the Clipper, you need to enter your QNAP NAS? IP address.

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The Signage Station is a free app for the Turbo NAS. With the designing software iArtist Lite you can easily create content for a wide range of presentation, such as an animated resume to impress the interviewers, or a life memory book that is able to be shared on Facebook. Shop owners can choose from rich designing widgets to create menu boards, advertising posters, or business profiles by themselves, and easily display the eye-catching works on tablet devices to attract more customers!All the designed content can be easily uploaded to the Turbo NAS through the Signage Station, and displayed on the web browsers. Your creativity can now travel around the world!

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QNAP Virtualization Station enables virtualized desktop operations on the Turbo NAS for managing multiple virtual machines. With the easy-to-use interface, you can centrally manage all virtual machines created on the Turbo NAS with least efforts.With the Virtualization Station, you can create multiple virtual machines to run various operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and UNIX on the Turbo NAS, and separate network resources for each virtual machine to ensure uninterrupted network traffic. The Virtualization Station helps quickly integrate existing IT infrastructure in the Turbo NAS without additional hardware cost.

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The Surveillance Station is professional network surveillance Video Management System (VMS). Being one of the Turbo NAS standard applications, the Surveillance Station can be activated on the QTS App Center to turn the Turbo NAS into a professional Network Video Recorder (NVR) system for real-time monitoring, recording, playback, alarm notifications, Intelligent Video Analytics (IVA), and management to safeguard your assets and property when used with supported IP cameras.

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Software Part VI

QNAP HD Station integrates the powerful XBMC v12 media player and web browser. With HDMI 1.4a connectivity, you can connect the TS-451 to a HDTV to enjoy your rich multimedia content on the big screen. The splendid user interface and support for 7.1 channel surround sound audio passthrough bring smooth playback of Full HD videos providing a quality home theater experience. You can also turn your mobile devices into remote controls by installing the Qremote app or use QNAP RM-IR002 remote control and MCE remote controls via the built-in IR receiver of the TS-451 for convenient & easy control of the HD Station. Moreover, the HD Station supports YouTube Pairing, allowing you to select a YouTube video on your smartphone, tablet or computer and play it on HDTV via the TS-451.

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The TS-451 delivers superior real-time Full HD video transcoding to convert your videos to formats that can be smoothly played on PCs, mobile devices and Smart TVs. It allows for up to 5 devices to simultaneously view different videos stored on the TS-451 with on-the-fly hardware accelerated transcoding. The TS-451 allows you to enjoy instant videos on multiple devices - even those that lack computing power or have limited file format support - without the need for complicated and time-consuming file conversion.With the benefit of offline transcoding, if you can only connect to an Internet connection with limited/restricted bandwidth, you can still enjoy smooth videos by selecting a pre-rendered lower resolution to play the videos via File Station, Video Station, or the Qfile app for iOS & Android without affecting the TS-451?s performance running other applications. This also allows more people to play videos via streaming. The TS-451 also allows you to set a dedicated folder for automatic video transcoding.

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You can use DLNA-compatible devices such as HDTVs, Smart TVs, Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Hi-Fi systems to enjoy HD quality videos and high-resolution audio content such as DSD (Direct Stream Digital) audio format stored on the TS-451. You can also use the Qfile app on an iOS device to browse videos and photos stored on the TS-451 and play on the TV via Apple TV. By installing the QAirplay app, available on the QTS App Center, you can stream your media content directly on a TV via Apple TV. The media contents are streaming on Apple TV, bypassing your mobile device, thus saving the energy of your mobile device. The TS-451's support for Plex Media Server organizes all of your media with rich information and transforms the TS-451 into a powerful & easy to use streaming machine with DLNA, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV support.

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Mobile Apps

QNAP has also put to the users disposal some free applications for mobile devices.On Android we have Qfile, which is a regular file browser for our NAS. The contents can be accessed only after we have provided valid login credentials.

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Qmanager app is more advanced, since we can see lots of system statistics but also access the App Center, Backup Station, Download Station or other System Tools.

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Resource Monitor will open when we click on the CPU/RAM dials to reveal information regarding the internal temperatures, CPU load, RAM and Swap degree of occupation, Disk usage, Bandwidth usage for each LAN port, currently running Processes, but also logged in Users.

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App Center allows us to enable/disable the currently installed applications, but also browse more apps.

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Backup Station allows accessing different backup functions like NAS to NAS, Rsync, RTTR and so on.

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We can also perform downloads directly to our NAS from the mobile phone/tablet, but also search BT files.

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From System Tools we can access connected external storage, block-list and more.

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Qmusic app will let us browse through our libraries after we log in.

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Qget will allow us to schedule the download tasks from Download Station, but also playback and save our favorite videos with the help of HappyGet II.

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The free Qmusic app allows you to listen to your terabytes of music collection on the Turbo NAS anytime and anywhere.

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VMobile is a mobile surveillance app for remote and wireless monitoring of IP cameras managed by the Turbo NAS with Surveillance Station Pro or the VioStor NVR.

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When enjoying the HD Station, rather than hardware remotes, Qremote app is so convenient to make your mobile devices as a handy remote control.

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Test System & Methology

I now begin the benchmark portion of this article, but first let me show you my test system and the software I used:

OCZ Vertex 4 512GB SSD
Mainboard X79 MSI GD65 - Intel SATA 6G controller in AHCI mode
Processor Core i7 3960X at default configuration
Graphics Cards GeForce GTX 580
Memory 16 GB (4x 4096 MB) DDR3 1600 MHZ
Power Supply Unit 1200 Watt
Monitor Dell 3007WFP - up to 2560x1600
OS related Software Windows 7 64-bit SP1

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Using a single hard drive and four HDD (Seagate Barracuda 3TB XT 7200RPM)for testing the NAS.

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Intel NAS Performance Toolkit

Performance from the unit is strong.

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802.3ad dynamic link aggregation

The product supports 802.3ad dynamic link aggregation which enables multiple connections to be linked in parallel to increase the link speed beyond the limits of any one single cable or port and to increase the redundancy for higher availability.Most implementations now conform to what used to be clause 43 of IEEE 802.3-2005 Ethernet standard, usually still referred to by its working group name of ?IEEE 802.3ad?. The definition of link aggregation has since moved to a standalone IEEE 802.1AX standard.For this page i have removed all mechanical drives and are using a Solid State Drive,by ADATA(XPG SX910 256GB) .I copy across several large files to maximise the bandwidth.

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Good results from the TS-451, delivering around 211 MB/s in the read test, and around 199 MB/s in the write test. Not quite at the levels Qnap quote, although this could be down to my specific equipment.

Noise,Power Consumption & Temperature

The TS-451 is whisper quiet. The fan was almost inaudible above the background noise level in the room and didn?t top 32dBA. The hard drives were also very quiet and could be heard rustling away under load if you listened very, very carefully.

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The TS-451 draws 14W idling.The highest figure I saw was 41W while installing the QTS software.

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During my test period all hard drives were held at 30c-Idle (room environment was 24c).

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Conclusion

Really, what makes this NAS is its sum of hardware and software, and not one or the other. If you are in a home environment, the huge abundance of impressive multimedia and cloud features that takes your NAS online is something that differentiates a QNAP from, well, not a QNAP. I mean, you can even control it with a compatible IR MCE remote. Its supremely simple configuration and easy management is definitely something your generic system cannot do.With the coming of the new NAS models like the TS-451, QNAP has introduced the new QTS 4.1, which has been redesigned quite a bit, especially at the GUI level, in order to have a more pleasant to use interface.It is also very easy to setup and use out of the box, as well as maintaining it after deployment, by QNAP's absolutely brilliant QTS 4.1 software loaded with a serious amount of features. However, just because it is loaded with features, does not mean it is hard to use -- in fact, everything is so well organized, and works so well out of the box, its potential is simply limitless. The TS-451 is another powerful NAS from QNAP aimed at home and small business users, equipped with a HDMI interface that can be connected to our Full-HD TV. Thanks to its HD Station function and it?s modules, we can transform the server into a fully-featured media center for browsing the web, playing media content with XBMC or even for navigating through the Turbo NAS OS interface, without the need of using a PC.

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This model comes with a dual-core Intel Celeron 2.41GHz processor and 1GB of DDR3 RAM, which is upgradeable.The QNAP TS-451 is one of the first NAS devices that are setting a new trend. With two network ports this is a very powerful machine.As extra bundle, we can acquire separately the useful QNAP Media Center remote or extra RAM for a total of 4GB.As far as hardware goes, its solid construction and attention to detail is very commendable. The internal 120mm fan is also very quiet during normal operation,even with its default Smart Fan setting, I can barely hear the fan running, even with an SSD installed in the system. Its low noise emission is definitely appreciated, as we've came to expect from the every QNAP NAS I have used in the past. While I personally don't recommend running the server in your bedroom or similar, most people shouldn't have any problems -- it all boils down to how loud your hard drives are!The only downside i have found is the fact that in order to upgrade the memory you must dismantle most of the unit chassis and you would also lose the product warranty in the process.For a little over 600 Euro's at press time, the TS-451 does not come cheap, but it has so many features,you will lose track of what it can do before it loses track of what you want it to do. And this,is what makes the QNAP TS-451 excellent.

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