"The HybridDesk Station (HD Station) has an integrated XMBC media player, allowing you to directly enjoy multimedia files stored on a TS-x53 Pro/SS-x53 Pro using an HDMI-enabled display. With a QNAP remote control in hand, you can easily select what videos, photos, and music you would like to enjoy" - is seems really cool, a legitimate replacement for my (nuc)
For the HTPC stuff, a dedicated box (NUC or a real HTPC) is always preferable - let the NAS do its job of serving content on storage over the network :)
UI is improving slowly.. Pre-QTS 4.x, the interface was barely usable, but with the modern 'mobile app' layout, it has become better. That said, responsiveness of the UI is still an issue compared to some of the market leaders out there.
i'm still using v3.8.3 on my qnap and prefer it to the v4.0's desktop approach. i prefer the lists on the left side where i know where everything is and is of easy access.
1 click i'm where i need to be.
Some prefer v4, some prefer v3, it's a matter of preference is all. Not less usable.
Yes, 4x GbE aggregation is supported. (Synology already has it in their x13+ series).
Note that these units can run two VMs concurrently - so, they each take up one GbE port. In the end, many users might end up with 2x GbE aggregation only. It all depends on the usage scenario.
QNAP supports SSD caching even in the x51 series (though I don't expect home users to take advantage of that).
Can someone **please** enlighten me why *****all***** nas use legacy ext4 on mdadm and not zfs?? we had tons of boxes running this combo and switched allmost all to zfs (ubuntu) for increased stability (simply put: night-and-day) and thus maintainablity - with increased data protection as a secondary benefit...
ext4 legacy? it seems like you are a bit confused about linux.. Anyway, zfs is not mainline in linux kernel, This alone will suffice. And zfs is not for mainstream, first of all you need ECC memory to run it as it should. There are a whole lot of reason to let it out from the mainstream market.
I really don't get why people still buy these crappy NAS boxes, instead of building one yourself..
Or even buy a real server!!
I built a machine for the same cost as a 5bay QNAP/Synology, with room for 6 drives.. Core i5 4570 and 16 gb ram. I run 4 virtual windows 2008 and plex without any problems...
Because people don't want to tinker with building something. This just works out of the box.
A dedicated NAS is better than what you can build, because the stuff you do is not typical of normal operations. You don't need the machine you listed for %99 of the stuff a NAS is for.
NAS'es aremainly used to host media files: video, images and music, secondly for backup & files
Handling media is a heavy duty task, way more heavy than simple file handling.. Transcoding, resizing etc demand a big cpu, something you don't get for free in most NAS units.
Hosting PLEX, web photo albums and music can't be done simultaneously on the cheapest NAS units.. So if your in the market for a $600+ NAS, the best option is to build it yourself.
Regarding the OS and apps/services, the level of freedom is also much greater..
Of cause, not all have access/capabilities to install windows server.. So instead use FreeNas or Linux...
You are right, regarding plug and play... But in any case, i believe that any NAS require a lot of technical skills anyway - so why not go for the best equipment from the start?
The latest generation of QNAP NAS models easily hardware transcoding, run virtual machines (can import OVF and VMWare VMs), manage IT infrastructures and have more functionality than any bare-bones server unless you spend days/week planning and installing them. They offer free backup apps to use with Amazon S3, Azure, DropBox, etc, along with the built-in Rsync and RTRR scheduled backups. They can run a IP phone system, McAfee Anti-virus, Squid (web cache/proxy), various web servers and CMS, home automation, signage, surveillance, mail servers.
It doesn't matter that you have more choice with a bare-bones server, you still need time and money to set them up. Most QNAP apps are free eg. TwonkyServer (not free when used separately)... AND you have various Android & Apple apps to control the NAS, provided free by QNAP (I even have them on my Kindle Fire HD).
It's also about saving time and money, without comprimising on security and reliability.
You may want to view the QNAP website.
BTW, regarding "handling media is a heavy duty task", my TS-110 (over 5 years old) easily handles media hosting, BitTorrent, 100GB music, 500GB video. I don't transcode or resize because I don't need to (who does?)!
Thanks for posting this Ganesh - I'm really looking forward to seeing what the extra 2 CPU cores, memory, and 4 way LAGG can offer for performance. This could possibly be the Home Server solution I've been waiting for (in particular if they ever get Plex server using Quick Sync...)
I got here looking for real-people reviews of the TS-451 and saw the x53 mentioned. I'm not an IT guy by trade, but also not a doofus around computers. I'm a home user who wants the things NASs are providing these days...storage, single location/multi-point access for files, music streaming, movie storage/serving, secure photo sharing for distant family, and secure file sharing with IP address restriction. I also want minimal troubleshooting and integrating of software for the thing to work right. Add easy-to-use apps to the list.
THAT's where the box-in-a-box comes in. I have a one-stop-shop for setup and periodic administration. No need to spend time getting different software to work together or resolving conflicts when a change is made. And if there is conflict, it's minor and easily handled. Support is also one-stop, rather than having one provider suggest going to the other provider instead of supporting their software.
One major consideration of DIY vs pre-built NAS is the power requirements. Big difference if it is left on, as most will be, for anytime-anywhere access.------pretty much a full-blown PC vs a kid's nightlight.
So,
"NAS'es are mainly used to host media files: video, images and music, secondly for backup & files"
Agree
"Handling media is a heavy duty task, way more heavy than simple file handling.. Transcoding, resizing etc demand a big cpu, something you don't get for free in most NAS units."
Agree, but not much required unless you are providing transcoding services for more than yourself.
"Regarding the OS and apps/services, the level of freedom is also much greater.."
Agree, but Synology, QNAP, and a few other MFG single-software package does everything most people want/need.
"You are right, regarding plug and play... But in any case, i believe that any NAS require a lot of technical skills anyway - so why not go for the best equipment from the start?"
Not really. It can be almost as simple as setting up a new PC with separate logins for the family.
i want to store my files on NAS and i want to have possibly highest read/write speed of serving content on storage over the network.dont need any gimmicks(HDMI,USB,media player,remote control,download station,photo album,etc). why qnap,synology, thecus and Co. dont offer straight NAS with appropriate possibilties (100 MB/s read/write for small files; 4xGBit net; 4xHDD) for some reasonable price? i am sure this is posssible,because hardware prices for such device will be in order of 150 $ and linux (as OS) is anyway for free?
You just have to connect an external USB3 Hard-drive to your computer and share it with your local network in this case.
NAS provides much more services, including redundancy (using different RAID levels), easy setup for different users, sharings with limitations, ability to access files from Internet (so anywhere anytime), backup and/or versioning, etc etc.
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twistedgamez - Sunday, August 10, 2014 - link
more details in the pdf: http://inside.littlebit.ch/files/IN/Assets/Docs/DS..."The HybridDesk Station (HD Station) has an integrated XMBC media player, allowing you to directly enjoy multimedia files stored on a TS-x53 Pro/SS-x53 Pro using an HDMI-enabled display. With a QNAP remote control in hand, you can easily select what videos, photos, and music you would like to enjoy" - is seems really cool, a legitimate replacement for my (nuc)
imaheadcase - Sunday, August 10, 2014 - link
Very interesting indeed. Need some reviews to see if it is really worth it. But judging from reviews online Qnap systems not really great UI wise.My NUC does all the XBMC stuff, better than one of these, i will prob just get a synology simply for storage.
ganeshts - Sunday, August 10, 2014 - link
For the HTPC stuff, a dedicated box (NUC or a real HTPC) is always preferable - let the NAS do its job of serving content on storage over the network :)UI is improving slowly.. Pre-QTS 4.x, the interface was barely usable, but with the modern 'mobile app' layout, it has become better. That said, responsiveness of the UI is still an issue compared to some of the market leaders out there.
smitty123 - Sunday, August 10, 2014 - link
i'm still using v3.8.3 on my qnap and prefer it to the v4.0's desktop approach. i prefer the lists on the left side where i know where everything is and is of easy access.1 click i'm where i need to be.
Some prefer v4, some prefer v3, it's a matter of preference is all. Not less usable.
basroil - Sunday, August 10, 2014 - link
4 gigE ports? If they support 4x aggregation that's some massive speed. Not sure that it's worth it unless you have a caching SSD includedganeshts - Sunday, August 10, 2014 - link
Yes, 4x GbE aggregation is supported. (Synology already has it in their x13+ series).Note that these units can run two VMs concurrently - so, they each take up one GbE port. In the end, many users might end up with 2x GbE aggregation only. It all depends on the usage scenario.
QNAP supports SSD caching even in the x51 series (though I don't expect home users to take advantage of that).
bernstein - Sunday, August 10, 2014 - link
Can someone **please** enlighten me why *****all***** nas use legacy ext4 on mdadm and not zfs?? we had tons of boxes running this combo and switched allmost all to zfs (ubuntu) for increased stability (simply put: night-and-day) and thus maintainablity - with increased data protection as a secondary benefit...AlexAlex - Monday, August 11, 2014 - link
ext4 legacy? it seems like you are a bit confused about linux..Anyway, zfs is not mainline in linux kernel, This alone will suffice.
And zfs is not for mainstream, first of all you need ECC memory to run it as it should.
There are a whole lot of reason to let it out from the mainstream market.
Morawka - Sunday, August 10, 2014 - link
Any pricing details? wonder if the 4 bay is at all affordable for the enthusiast.Montago - Monday, August 11, 2014 - link
I really don't get why people still buy these crappy NAS boxes, instead of building one yourself..Or even buy a real server!!
I built a machine for the same cost as a 5bay QNAP/Synology, with room for 6 drives.. Core i5 4570 and 16 gb ram. I run 4 virtual windows 2008 and plex without any problems...
No dedicated nas can do that at the same price
imaheadcase - Monday, August 11, 2014 - link
Because people don't want to tinker with building something. This just works out of the box.A dedicated NAS is better than what you can build, because the stuff you do is not typical of normal operations. You don't need the machine you listed for %99 of the stuff a NAS is for.
Montago - Monday, August 11, 2014 - link
That's not true...NAS'es aremainly used to host media files: video, images and music, secondly for backup & files
Handling media is a heavy duty task, way more heavy than simple file handling.. Transcoding, resizing etc demand a big cpu, something you don't get for free in most NAS units.
Hosting PLEX, web photo albums and music can't be done simultaneously on the cheapest NAS units.. So if your in the market for a $600+ NAS, the best option is to build it yourself.
Regarding the OS and apps/services, the level of freedom is also much greater..
Of cause, not all have access/capabilities to install windows server.. So instead use FreeNas or Linux...
You are right, regarding plug and play... But in any case, i believe that any NAS require a lot of technical skills anyway - so why not go for the best equipment from the start?
anonanon - Thursday, August 28, 2014 - link
The latest generation of QNAP NAS models easily hardware transcoding, run virtual machines (can import OVF and VMWare VMs), manage IT infrastructures and have more functionality than any bare-bones server unless you spend days/week planning and installing them. They offer free backup apps to use with Amazon S3, Azure, DropBox, etc, along with the built-in Rsync and RTRR scheduled backups. They can run a IP phone system, McAfee Anti-virus, Squid (web cache/proxy), various web servers and CMS, home automation, signage, surveillance, mail servers.It doesn't matter that you have more choice with a bare-bones server, you still need time and money to set them up. Most QNAP apps are free eg. TwonkyServer (not free when used separately)... AND you have various Android & Apple apps to control the NAS, provided free by QNAP (I even have them on my Kindle Fire HD).
It's also about saving time and money, without comprimising on security and reliability.
You may want to view the QNAP website.
BTW, regarding "handling media is a heavy duty task", my TS-110 (over 5 years old) easily handles media hosting, BitTorrent, 100GB music, 500GB video. I don't transcode or resize because I don't need to (who does?)!
anonanon - Thursday, August 28, 2014 - link
Bitch please, why would any SMB or home user want spend a shedload of time to build a server that takes-up 10x more space compared to a NAS?Maybe you don't get it because you still live with your parents or you don't work in the real-world...
kmob - Monday, August 11, 2014 - link
Thanks for posting this Ganesh - I'm really looking forward to seeing what the extra 2 CPU cores, memory, and 4 way LAGG can offer for performance. This could possibly be the Home Server solution I've been waiting for (in particular if they ever get Plex server using Quick Sync...)matt905 - Tuesday, August 12, 2014 - link
I got here looking for real-people reviews of the TS-451 and saw the x53 mentioned. I'm not an IT guy by trade, but also not a doofus around computers. I'm a home user who wants the things NASs are providing these days...storage, single location/multi-point access for files, music streaming, movie storage/serving, secure photo sharing for distant family, and secure file sharing with IP address restriction. I also want minimal troubleshooting and integrating of software for the thing to work right. Add easy-to-use apps to the list.THAT's where the box-in-a-box comes in. I have a one-stop-shop for setup and periodic administration. No need to spend time getting different software to work together or resolving conflicts when a change is made. And if there is conflict, it's minor and easily handled. Support is also one-stop, rather than having one provider suggest going to the other provider instead of supporting their software.
One major consideration of DIY vs pre-built NAS is the power requirements. Big difference if it is left on, as most will be, for anytime-anywhere access.------pretty much a full-blown PC vs a kid's nightlight.
So,
"NAS'es are mainly used to host media files: video, images and music, secondly for backup & files"
Agree
"Handling media is a heavy duty task, way more heavy than simple file handling.. Transcoding, resizing etc demand a big cpu, something you don't get for free in most NAS units."
Agree, but not much required unless you are providing transcoding services for more than yourself.
"Regarding the OS and apps/services, the level of freedom is also much greater.."
Agree, but Synology, QNAP, and a few other MFG single-software package does everything most people want/need.
"You are right, regarding plug and play... But in any case, i believe that any NAS require a lot of technical skills anyway - so why not go for the best equipment from the start?"
Not really. It can be almost as simple as setting up a new PC with separate logins for the family.
paor - Tuesday, August 12, 2014 - link
i want to store my files on NAS and i want to have possibly highest read/write speed of serving content on storage over the network.dont need any gimmicks(HDMI,USB,media player,remote control,download station,photo album,etc).why qnap,synology, thecus and Co. dont offer straight NAS with appropriate possibilties (100 MB/s read/write for small files; 4xGBit net; 4xHDD) for some reasonable price?
i am sure this is posssible,because hardware prices for such device will be in order of 150 $ and linux (as OS) is anyway for free?
iAPX - Tuesday, August 12, 2014 - link
You just have to connect an external USB3 Hard-drive to your computer and share it with your local network in this case.NAS provides much more services, including redundancy (using different RAID levels), easy setup for different users, sharings with limitations, ability to access files from Internet (so anywhere anytime), backup and/or versioning, etc etc.