Introduction
Network storage used to be a thing only found in business class networks. However, with the increase in popularity of home networking and the ability to easily share large amounts of data between PCs attached to the home network, network attach storage is quickly becoming an integral part of the modern home network. Family members are no longer confined to sharing files from one PC to another. In a typical PC to PC sharing setup a single hard drive is used to host the files. If that hard drive fails the data is lost. Network attached storage is available in multiple drive configurations. The most popular seem to be from two bays to five bays.QNAP Systems, Inc. released the quad-core 2/4-bay TS-251+/TS-451+ NAS that provide an uncompromising high-performance and scalable storage solution for small offices and workgroup users with appealing affordability.The new models feature virtualization readiness, containerized applications, advanced backup solutions, real-time & offline video transcoding, QvPC Technology, HDMI video playback with an included remote control, and many more functions that are beneficial for businesses and SOHO users to build a cost-efficient and modern storage solution.The TS-251+/TS-451+ are powered by a 22nm 64-bit quad-core Intel Celeron 2.0GHz processor (burst up to 2.42GHz) with 2GB/8GB energy-efficient DDR3L RAM.They also include dual Gigabit LAN ports.
The new NAS models runs QTS 4.2, a smart NAS operating system that comes with a variety of features to empower offices and home applications. Users can run multiple applications on Windows, Linux, UNIX and Android based virtual machines on the NAS with the Virtualization Station, and operate multiple isolated Linux systems on the NAS. The Container Station integrates LXC and Docker lightweight virtualization technologies and allows apps to be downloaded from the built-in Docker Hub Registry.The TS-x51+ is ideal for organizations to build a secure private cloud with numerous offerings, including cross-platform file sharing for Windows, Mac, Linux and UNIX users,support for Windows AD, LDAP directory services and Windows ACL,VPN server with L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN, and PPTP support,2-step verification, encrypted access, and more.
Packaging & Contents
Unlike a lot of consumer based products, QNAP takes a very simple approach with their packaging. The TS-451+ is packaged in a very simple cardboard box that has a sticker on the front with a list of the specifications and features.
Further down we will get to see some of the product functionality listed as icons.
After lifting the top box cover, we will get to see a 'Welcome" message along with some hints to several Internet resources.
Inside, you'll find the TS-451+ tucked away inside stiff foam inserts and wrapped in a plastic bag to prevent scrapes and scratches during transport.
While the power lead is offered separately inside a transparent plastic bag, the main bundle components are available inside another, smaller plain cardboard enclosure.We have the power cord,two bags of screws and a box that contains a pair of Ethernet cables.The power brick is by Delta Electronics, the top PSU OEM. Its model number is DPS-90FB, and it can deliver up to 90 W of power, which will easily covers the needs of this NAS.
IR remote controller (MCE compatible) included in the TS-451+.For everything the QNAP can do, this remote should come with basic play/pause/stop ffwd/rewind buttons. The remote works as advertised, but I think they went a little too minimalist on the design.
For people which want to install and start up the server right away, QNAP has included a Quick Installation Guide.
The Nas
The QNAP TS-451+ looks like a lot of mid-sized NAS units in the market-four bays in a small tower format.The TS-451+'s styling is elegant. The black exterior offset is unobtrusive.As far as dimensions go we have 177x180x235mm (HxWxD) and the TS-451+ weighs 3kg.
The manufacturer has included a sticker explaining the extra features of this NAS.
The front of the QNAP TS-451+ features the four drive bays. On the left are the LED indicators of the system status, LAN, and all four hard drives. The IR receiver is located just under the LED indicators. A power button and one touch copy button are next and an USB 3.0 port is featured at the bottom.The main entry points for cool air are through the front of the drive trays and a strip of small holes on the left side panel.The air that comes directly in the front passes over the HDDs and is exhausted out the rear of the unit by the large 120mm fan.
The left side of the QNAP TS-451+ is fairly simple. There is a small vent near the front in order to draw cool air in to help with CPU and motherboard component cooling.
The right side doensn't come with ventilation holes.
The right side has a sticker on it that contains the Cloud Key. This is used to get the system set up quickly. Go to the website and enter the key. The process gets the initial configuration of the NAS done very quickly and all you have to do is answer a few questions.
On the back of the QNAP TS-451+ a 120mm fan is the most prominent feature. The fan speeds can be adjusted either manually or by the system and is configured via the GUI interface.The back the TS-451+ features a pair of USB 2.0 ports, a single USB 3.0 port, dual Gigabit LAN ports, HDMI out and a password and network settings reset switch.At the bottom is the pin & sleeve input for 12V DC power, which is fed from the 90W external power supply brick.
The base has four rubber feet to keep the NAS steady and there are further holes for airflow present.
A small label covers its power specifications.
Installation
In the front we will find four HDD trays already preinstalled into the bays.The frontal trays can be unlocked really easy.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.The drive trays easily accommodate 2.5″ drives without any additional hardware-just use the correct mounting holes located on the bottom surface. QNAP used to not recommend mixing 3.5″ and 2.5″ drives in the same enclosure, but the advent of SSD caching in their business-class devices put an end to that restriction.
If we look inside, we will find the daughterboard is connected with the mainboard and contains the SATA Data/Power connectors.
Each tray slides in with the HDD in the vertical position and locks firmly into place with the lever on the front.Key locks are not included to secure the trays in place, which may or may not be a security requirement for you. The trays are not labeled with the chassis slot number, which sounds like a small thing. They are all physically identical and you can mix and match them all you want, until you build a drive array and then you had better remember which one goes where. If you mix them up the NAS won't recognize the array, and worst case you could end up destroying data as you try to figure out which drive is which. I always keep a stack of sticky notes around whenever I have to pull drive trays out of a NAS, just to be sure.
Four bays is the sweet spot for home office usage, because it allows you to use RAID 5 or RAID 6 and greatly decreases the risk of losing continuous access to your data. The four bays can theoretically hold 16TB of data, in JBOD or RAID 0 modes, with today's state-of-the-art 4TB drives installed in each bay. That's also a very risky option, which requires some sort of compensating storage strategy. Most users will choose the compromise method of RAID 5, which is still quite fast, given the right supporting infrastructure. A high performance storage solution with four drive spindles in play is always going to be better at most everything than a two bay device, assuming that both are based on reasonably modern technology. The greater flexibility for online RAID capacity expansion & online RAID level migration makes the additional cost of the extra drive bays looks like a bargain, instead of conspicuous consumption.Each internal drive can only be formatted with EXT4, although external drives can use FAT, NTFS, EXT3, EXT4, or HFS+ file systems. HFS+ is a newish capability for QNAP, and those who recognize it will know that it serves as the primary file system for Apple's OS X operating system. All Intel-based QNAP NAS units offer the additional option of AES 256-bit encryption and some of the larger units offer native CPU support for the recent AES-NI additions to the Intel64 instruction set.
The TS-451+ can be scaled up to 96TB using expansion enclosures.For those with colossal media libraries, you can choose to connect an expansion enclosure such as the 8-bay UX-800P or the 5-bay UX-500P.
Hardware
The top cover is easily removed once four small screws on the back panel are removed.The unit is not crowded inside and we can see a considerable space left between the daughterboard and the fan in the back.A pair of Intel WGI210AT Ethernet controllers are responsible for all the networking on the QNAP TS-451+.
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.
The mainboard of the NAS is really small, housing all the necessary components to support its functions.
The pair of DDR3 DIMM slots populated with two DDR3L Transcend DIMMs clocked at 1600 MHz.
One heatsink cool down the cpu and chipset.
I removed the CPU heatsink to take a good look at it.Powered by a new 22nm 64-bit quad-core Intel Celeron 2.41GHz processor means they boast video transcoding capability that's 18x faster than earlier Atom based solutions.This more powerful hardware enables the NAS device to provide desktop virtualisation capabilities with Linux and Windows operating systems both supported.The TS-451+ can also automatically increase the processor's clock rate from 2.0GHz to 2.41GHz when needed for CPU-intensive tasks.The processor also features a 2MB L2 cache and is equipped with an Intel HD Graphics engine capable of running at 854MHz.The J1900 is an FC-BGA 1170 processor which means it is soldered directly to the PCB and is therefore not interchangeable.
QNAP has gone with a 100% solid capacitor(Nippon Chemi-Con) design,which is said to improve the TS-451+'s durability.While i don't doubt that's true to some extent, it's always difficult to quantify such claims.
Super I/O controller chip is the Fintek F71869AD.
The buzzer of the mainboard.
The 512MB flash memory on the NAS is provided by Apacer.
An Asmedia ASM1442 controls the HDMI port that is fully exploited by HD Station.
The single PCIe slot and the battery of the mainboard.
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.
The software will offer us a Quick Setup method, which is quite automated or Manual Setup.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.
We will be able to leave the NAS obtain a network IP automatically or specify a manual configuration.
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.When the configuration has been completed and the NAS has automatically rebooted, we will be informed of the operation success.In QTS 4.2 the login screen has changed slightly, but the older version is also available/selectable from the software interface.
Next, we went ahead and defined a RAID Storage Pool, with a volume on it.
QTS also creates some default shared folders on the volume in order to speed things up.
Software Part I
After logging in, we will be welcomed with a fresh look of the whole desktop, including reworked icons, fonts, a more visible Recycle Bin, easy to access widgets and more.
For easy accessing the installed applications from a single screen desktop, we can always click in the top left corner.
Also, there's a slide-out dashboard that shows you system stats, which is well put together and very visually engaging...
From the Control Panel section, we will be able to control most of the systems settings and besides the slightly reworked icons, the arrangement has been kept the same as on the previous QTS.
The System Settings menu comes with sub-sections like General Settings, Storage Manager, Network, Security, Hardware and so on.
From the General Settings area, we can adjust GUI connection specific options,the DST,system time, Codepage options,Login Screen settings Password Strength or Password Strength.
QNAP NAS supports comprehensive RAID types, providing IT administrators with great flexibility in arranging suitable data protection levels. Besides being a secure place for data storage, the Turbo NAS also facilitates storage management and capacity allocation. The QTS Storage Manager makes it simple for IT administrators to create a unified Storage Pool to efficiently manage and deploy storage capacity.
Cache acceleration can be also configured from the same section.
The Network group gives you access to all TCP/IP settings.From the Network menu we can modify the current settings, also including Wi-Fi (with a compatible adapter), IPv6, Proxy, DDNS and so on.
QNAP provides lots of services to strengthen NAS security.Enabling this option can strengthen your system?s security and deny repeated attacks. You can set conditions to block IP addresses or common communication protocols.From the Security area, we can define the firewall settings, enable Network Access Protection or define security certificates.
The Hardware menu allows us to enable/disable the Reset switch, configure the HDD standby mode, light signal alerts, enable write cache, turn on the LED light and adjust the brightness, work with the buzzer settings or adjust the Smart Fan settings.
The Power menu allows us to select the EuP mode, in order to achieve less than 1W consumption while the server is powered off, enable WOL, define Power Recovery behavior or the Power Schedule.
Software Part II
From the Notification menu, we can define a SMTP Server, a SMSC Server or work with Notification Alerts.
The Firmware Update menu permits bringing the system to the latest version.
Next I could mention the Backup/Restore menu which allows us to save the current configuration to a file just to be safe or we can restore the server to default settings, with or without erasing the data.
If we connect external storage on USB, printers or UPS system, then the next menu is what we should check out.
The System Status menu opens inside a separate window, with tabs like System Information, Network Status, System Service, Network Information or Resource Monitor.
The System Logs menu is the same story, with several tabs which open up inside a separate window: System Event Logs, System Connection Logs, Online Users or Syslog Client Management.
The Privilege Settings section will mostly take care of the users and their permissions, along with shared folders and Active Directory configurations.
Users and User Groups can be easily defined from the next two sub-sections.
Next, we can define disk Quota.
The TS-451+ model can be also set as a Domain Controller, which is a very useful feature.The Domain Security menu also permits us to specify the type of authentication.
Next,we have the Network Services menu, which also comes with Network Recycle Bin and Qsync features.There is an FTP service option should you want to implement an FTP server on the NAS.
For syncing files between different devices we can always use Qsync.
Applications
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.
Station Manager will allow us to access the regular QNAP applications directly, without the need of logging in to the main interface first.
First i would like to mention the Photo Station 5 application which allows us to organize our private photo collection, but also run slideshows.Photo Station is a web album for you to organize and share photos and videos with your friends, family, and the world. You can also share the photos by email or publish them to popular social networking websites.
DLNA Media Server options are now also available.To allow DLNA media player to access and play the multimedia contents on the NAS via QNAP Media Server, enable QNAP Media Server and configure the Media Library for QNAP Media Server.
The Media Library service can scan multimedia files, such as photos, music and videos from designated media folders and index them into the media library for their display in multimedia applications. Thumbnails of photos, music and videos will be automatically generated to enhance your user experience as you browse through multimedia files in their corresponding applications.
Transcoding features:
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.
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.
Backup Station helps replicating the data to another storage device, including cloud.Ηere we can also access the remote NAS to NAS backup function.
myQNAPcloud provides various remote access services, such as DDNS and CloudLink services. No matter where you go, you can always and securely access.
Applications Part II
App Center is the place to go in order to install/remove the regular QNAP applications, but also modules coming from third parties.
QNAP released a new QTS app called Qsirch and it works a lot like you?re used to from Google, Bing, and similar search engines, except this one runs on your own NAS and searches your files.Qsirch doesn?t just search by filename, it searches within the content of the files as well as taking tags such as author into consideration. Media tags found in audio and video files are also included and the results come in fast.
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).
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.
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.
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!
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.
Container Station is the application which works hand-in-hand with Linux Station.This module is integrating LXC and Docker lightweight virtualization technologies, allowing us to operate multiple isolated Linux systems on a QNAP NAS.
QNAP HD Station integrates the powerful XBMC 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+.
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.Plex Media Server is the back-end media server component of Plex. Plex Media Server is used to host the content and plugins that are then streamed to Plex Media Center and Plex mobile app clients, either on the same machine, the same local area network or over the Internet. Plex Media Server can be configured to index content in any directory on the machine -hosting it, as well as automatically acquiring iTunes and iPhoto content. Content may be transcoded by the server before it is streamed in order to reduce bandwidth requirements or for compatibility with the device being streamed to. Plex Media Server allows extensibility through the addition of plug-ins. Many of these plug-ins are available through the built-in Plex Online digital distribution service. The library organizer gives you the best browsing and watching experience through different platforms.
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.
With the growing trend of "Software-defined everything (SDx)" in today's IT environments, QNAP has taken the lead in offering the exclusive QNAP virtualized Personal Computer (QvPC) Technology that allows you to use the Turbo NAS as a PC. All you need to do is plug in a monitor, keyboard and mouse to be able to operate the system via "HybridDesk Station" on the screen. QvPC consolidates a number of high-end technologies including Virtual Machine (VM) integration, multimedia transcoding, HDMI output, cloud integration and NAS connection technologies to fulfill your needs in various applications whilst promoting a greener IT environment with on-demand OS usage that reduces the need for unnecessary and out-of-date PCs.
Virtualization has been around since the 1960s, but it wasn't till Intel and AMD started introducing hardware acceleration features that the feature started gaining mainstream focus outside enterprise applications. In addition to several applications in the enterprise space, virtualization has also started to lower the cost of IT infrastructure even for SMBs (think in terms of virtualized Exchange servers and similar applications).However, does the current state of virtualization offer any applications / benefits to home users? What are the ways in which regular users can take advantage of it?The answer to the second question is partly provided by QNAP's Virtualization Station package in the TS-x51+ series.The answer to the first question will decide whether the Virtualization Station package can offer compelling enough benefits for users to choose the QNAP TS-x51+ series over competing models from other vendors.
Put simply, the virtualization concept that we are discussing today refers to the creation of computing resources that exist 'virtually' - i.e, independent of the underlying hardware infrastructure.Most commonly, the creation of a virtual machine (VM) implies the setting up of a computer (guest machine) on certain hardware resources (host machine) such that the software / OS being run on the VM is separated from the host's hardware resources. An example could be the setting up of a Linux distribution as a VM on a computer running Windows as the host OS. Software developed for Linux can be run on the VM.The combination of hardware and software on the host machine which enables the creation and running of VMs is called as the hypervisor.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.
Virtualization Station does not come pre-installed on the TS-451+.I had to go to the App Center to install.A straight forward process:
Once installed,the app was opened to complete the configuration:
Then you must select the network card to use:
Installed:
For the first test virtual machine,I decided to do a migration from an existing vmware Windows 8 virtual machine.You need to copy the vmware image to the NAS before commencing:
Firing up the console and greeted by the familiar Windows 8 screens:
Ubuntu VM installing:
Ubuntu VM installed:
QNAP has bundled a featured called RTRR (real-time remote replication) into their firmware and it allows you to have your QNAP NAS schedule a sync or a backup either from an RTRR servers or through FTP.RTRR can work in a number of ways.It can be configured for any of the following:
-Local Folder to Remote folder ? Synchronize files from a local folder to a remote folder.
-Remote folder to local folder ? Synchronize files from a remote folder to a local folder.
-Local folder to local folder/external drive ? Synchronize files from a local folder to another local folder or external drive.
For this to work you are going to have an FTP server installed on your server or your home server.I like FileZilla and have here a tutorial for installing it on WHS (it works for all Windows Server builds).
For our purposes here,we will blast through the Wizard welcome screen by hitting.
Since we want our data replicated from the Server to our QNAP offsite,we are going to choose the option for Remote Folder to local folder as our ?Sync Locations?. After we have our selection and hit Next.
We have to configure the QNAP to recognize or FTP server for replication. For in-house replication,we can use our server?s hostname, but if you are offsite you can use your static IP address.If you subscribe to an internet service provider that doesn?t give you a static IP address, you can use a free service like DynDNS or,if you are a WHS user, your xxxx.homeserver.com name in the IP Address/Hostname field. For the server type, choose FTP Server and populate your FTP Username and Password.Hit Test to verify everything is working.After you have your FTP information populated and verified.
Hitting the Next button will bring you to a screen that wants you to select your Folder Pairs.The left side of the screen represents your FTP Server?s folder structure and the right side is your QNAP?s folder structure.I am only going to show you one folder pair in my example,but if you select the box at the bottom of the Wizard screen you can add more than one folder pair. When you have all your folder pairs setup the way you want.
This next step will be for you to choose between real-time replication or replication based on a schedule.For this,this is personal preference.I prefer to have this done at off-peak hours,so I would choose Schedule and pick a time like midnight.You will want to check the box for Configure policy and filter then hit Next.
The policy and filter screen is optional,but for things like Pictures or Business documents,I choose to leave the setting for Delete Extra Files unchecked,but for things like Software and Music,I am not as anal and would most likely want extra files to be deleted.
For synchronization filter,I leave everything blank.
Next,you can name your job something descriptive.
Confirmation of settings.
Congratulations,you are finished!Now you can rest assured that your important data will be backed up on a daily basis.
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.
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.
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.
App Center allows us to enable/disable the currently installed applications, but also browse more apps.
Backup Station allows accessing different backup functions like NAS to NAS, Rsync, RTTR and so on.
We can also perform downloads directly to our NAS from the mobile phone/tablet, but also search BT files.
From System Tools we can access connected external storage, block-list and more.
Qmusic app will let us browse through our libraries after we log in.
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.
The free Qmusic app allows you to listen to your terabytes of music collection on the Turbo NAS anytime and anywhere.
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.
When enjoying the HD Station, rather than hardware remotes, Qremote app is so convenient to make your mobile devices as a handy remote control.
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
Using a single hard drive and four HDD (Seagate Barracuda 3TB XT 7200RPM)for testing the NAS.
Performance
Performance from the unit is strong.
Atto Raid0:
Atto Raid1:
Anvil:
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.
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+ draws only 25W idling.The highest figure I saw was 40W while installing the QTS software.
During my test period all hard drives were held at 30c-Idle (room environment was 24c).
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.
Final Thoughts
Today's NAS solutions are much more than just a centralised data store. Capable of handling everything from simple backups to comprehensive office management, the TS-451+ is a NAS that's equally adept as a basic file server or as a tool for aggregating IT infrastructure.Justifying the initial fee remains an obvious hurdle for powerful NAS solutions, but Qnap is beginning to erode such concerns with an evolving list of capabilities that now includes an array of virtualisation features and, via QvPC, the ability to use the NAS as a PC.In addition, the NAS can play a key role in your home or office's surveillance infrastructure through its Surveillance Station application. It only comes with two camera licenses though, so if you need more (it supports up to 24), you have to buy them at $60 each.The server can be extended via expansion unit in order to include a maximum of 96TB and 2 Gigabit LAN ports are to be found in the back which support LAN aggregation.The one-touch copy button eases regular backup processes and it comes with more apps available than you probably ever will need. The only thing I feel is missing a little bit on a unit like this is the eSATA, but QNAP opted for USB 3.0 for their expansion enclosures and that?s not bad either.There is no front door, or cover on the front of the unit, but the exposed drive trays are nicely finished and blend well with the remainder of the front panel. There are no ventilation grill patterns to disrupt the front surface, and all the plastic parts are well matched in terms of color and texture.The construction quality of the QNAP TS-451+ Turbo NAS is a case study in how to maintain performance and cut costs by taking advantage of modern production methods and practices. The new chassis design uses all the well-proven tricks and techniques for reducing cost and complexity, that are the stock and trade of the mechanical engineering profession. The old chassis design was good, and it served its purpose well, but time moves on and so does the competition. This is still a device that is designed to run 24/7/365 with NO issues, ever. QNAP has an enviable reputation for quality and reliability, both very important qualities for a NAS server, and the TS-451+ design and construction show no sign of backing away from that objective.The addition of an IR receiver on the front panel makes the multimedia features easier to access, in case you want to hook the TS-451+ directly up to a hi-res screen.I actually prefer the mouse and keyboard for entering passwords, browsing the Web, searching YouTube, and whatnot. Remote-control cursoring and selecting letters one-by-one is not my bag.The totally silent part is something that is true, as there isn't a single thing that can make noise. The only noise you'll hear is the light buzzing from your hard drives when they are being accessed. The case is so well shielded that I only heard my NAS drives when paying close attention at night when everything else was muted.There is one downside to the TS-451+.The lack of support for 4K content.Overall I like the combination of TS-451+ and QTS 4.2 but you don?t really appreciate how well the package works until you plug in an HDMI cable for a direct connection to the NAS and see just how easily everything works.The software is an absolute triumph and balances function with ease of use to a very pleasing degree.QTS is still one of the most friendly server user interfaces i have seen and supports regular upgrades from time to time.This is backed up by a processor that is fast enough to make the NAS snappy and responsive.Having a quad-core 2GHz processor gives us a wide array of flexibility on what and how much we want to run. No enthusiast or SMB should run into any sort of throttling due to CPU limitations and coupled with the support for hardware encryption and media encoding you have all the power you need. The 8GB RAM in this model also help a lot when running VMs, databases, and other memory-hungry apps.There are plenty of security features to go along with it, starting with physical locks. But the software part is also covered well with backup solutions for local, remote, and cloud backups. File syncing, Antivirus, and military grade encryption is also available on the TS-451+.
The QNAP TS-451+ is a massive network-attached storage (NAS) drive that's ideal for use as an home or office server.It supports multiple RAID configurations,so it can be optimized for speed and security,and it comes with lots of business-friendly features.With its massive capacity and high price tag(4GB Model=$479,8GB Model=$599)it's clearly overkill for most home users,but business owners should find it highly capable.This pricing may deter some home users who may want to start with a smaller Qnap and grow using the available expansion units.But if you are looking for a NAS that will provide enough storage for years to come then the QNAP TS-451+ is the way to go.Building on an already-extensive feature set, Qnap's TS-451+ is a box of tricks that's fast, well built, easy to use and genuinely helpful in more ways than one.
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Originally Posted by Shadow_of_1
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