Review of the Terramaster D8 Hybrid Storage System

What IS the D8 Hybrid and why is this brand’s newest device getting a lot of media attention of late? Terramaster has been a name in the world of NAS for quite a few years, but what about DAS? Unlike Network Attached Storage, Direct Attached Storage is something that is way, WAY more common and to try and stretch your muscles in this market requires something a little special. It would be unfair to say that Terramaster are new to this market, as they have actually been in this market with numerous USB and Thunderbolt solutions since around 2018/2019. Some of these were RAID enabled, some of them JBOD and thanks to their NAS systems being supporting USB Expansions, this has helped them create a neat crossover between their portfolio of devices. However, what can Terramater bring to the table in the heavy saturated world of USB storage? Well, the D8 is trying something different, with it’s 4 HDD and 4 NVMe USB-C 10Gb connected storage that is half JBOD (loose drives) and half RAID (supporting a mirror RAID on 2x HDDs). There are certainly pros and cons here, putting this much hybrid storage behind a USB connection, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of reliance of a client machine to manage the larger RAID options out there, but the burning question is… is the D8 Hybrid actually any good? Let’s discuss it in today’s review.

Find out more about the bigger Terramaster D8 Hybrid System HERE on Kickstarter

Note – You can watch the full YouTube Review and Benchmarks of the Terramaster D5 Hybrid storage system HERE

Terramaster D8 Hybrid Review – Quick Conclusion

The TerraMaster D8 Hybrid excels in blending the high capacity of HDDs with the quick data access speeds of SSDs, housed within a single, efficient unit. The system’s design emphasizes user-friendliness with features like tool-less drive installation and low operational noise, making it an excellent choice for a variety of settings, from busy office environments to quiet home use. However, potential users should weigh the impact of the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, which, while sufficient for many applications, might not meet the needs of those requiring the fastest possible data transfer speeds. The absence of Thunderbolt technology is a noted limitation, but this is reflected in the D8 Hybrid’s competitive pricing, which targets a segment of the market more concerned with value and reliability than with leading-edge performance. The TerraMaster D8 Hybrid offers a well-rounded solution for those seeking a storage system that combines large storage capacity with respectable speeds at a cost-effective price point. Its performance, although not pushing the upper limits of current technology, provides ample support for most professional and personal storage needs, making it a worthwhile investment for a broad range of users. The thoughtful design and practical features, coupled with the device’s solid build and reliable performance within its defined limits, establish the D8 Hybrid as a standout offering in its category.

Specification	Details
Dimensions	222 x 179 x 154 mm
Weight	1.6 kg
Power Supply	90 W (100V to 240V AC) 50/60 HZ, Single Phase
System Fan	80 mm x 80 mm x 25 mm (x2)
Maximum Noise Level	17.3 dB(A) (Using 4 SATA HDDs/SSDs in standby mode)
Compatible Disk Types	3.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA SSD
Compatible NVMe	M.2 2280 NVMe Slot (x4)
Raw Capacity	Up to 128TB (24 TB HDD x 2 + 8 TB NVMe x 4)
Supported RAID Configurations	SINGLE DISK, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1
HDD Sleep Mode	Yes
Connectivity	USB3.2 Type-C gen2 (10Gbps), DC IN 12V Barrelport
Price	€199-299

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Introduction to the TerraMaster D8 Hybrid

The TerraMaster D8 Hybrid is engineered to cater to the evolving demands of personal and small business storage by amalgamating traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) with the swift, modern NVMe solid-state drives (SSDs).

 

This system includes four versatile SATA bays that support both 3.5″ and 2.5″ drives and four M.2 NVMe slots, offering a broad spectrum of storage options. It utilizes USB 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity, capable of reaching speeds up to 1000 MB/s. However, this setup prompts a discussion about the possible limitations of USB connectivity when used with high-performance storage technologies, potentially creating bottlenecks that could affect data transfer speeds.

Exploring the Design and Build

The D8 Hybrid showcases a durable and user-friendly design consistent with Terramaster’s latest NAS models. The system facilitates easy installation of drives with its tool-free “click and load” mechanism, suitable even for users without technical expertise.

The operational noise level is moderately low, which is a crucial consideration for use in shared spaces like small offices or home environments.

The storage solution accommodates up to four HDDs and four NVMe SSDs but opts out of including faster interface technologies such as Thunderbolt to maintain an affordable price point. This choice might restrict the performance potential of the system but makes the D8 Hybrid more accessible financially to a broader audience.

ASMedia and Realtek are two prominent players in the semiconductor industry, particularly known for their contributions to the development of chips that handle data connectivity and processing in various electronic devices.

ASMedia, a subsidiary of ASUS, specializes in high-speed interface technology, particularly USB and PCIe bridge solutions. Notably, their chips are pivotal in enhancing the performance of USB connections. For example, the ASM3042 is a significant advancement in their USB controller lineup, bridging PCI Express to USB3.2 and providing support for legacy USB functions. This chip showcases ASMedia’s capability to deliver high bandwidth and efficient power management, essential for maintaining low power consumption in various devices

In 2022, ASMedia became one of the first to introduce a USB4 host-controller, the ASM4242, designed to support high data transmission speeds up to 64 Gbps, making it backward compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and other protocols. The incorporation of ASMedia’s ASM4242, a high-performance USB4 host controller, into a device configuration represents a significant step towards future-proofing data transfer capabilities. The ASM4242 supports up to 64 Gbps of bandwidth, providing a robust solution for high-speed data, video, and power transmission over a single USB connection. This level of integration ensures that devices are not only meeting current standards but are also prepared for next-generation needs, with backward compatibility ensuring a broad range of device support.

Realtek’s contributions, while more commonly associated with their audio and network solutions, also extend to data interface technologies. Realtek chips are crucial for managing data transmission and ensuring compatibility across a vast ecosystem of computing and multimedia devices.

Their technology helps to stabilize and optimize the data flow, critical for the functionality of hybrid storage systems where data integrity and speed are paramount.

Detailed Performance Assessment

The performance of the D8 Hybrid was meticulously tested under various configurations to truly understand its capabilities and limitations. Configuring the device with two Seagate 24TB Ironwolf Pro Series HDDs in a RAID 0 setup, the system demonstrated robust performance with peak read/write speeds reaching 551/540MB/s.

Next up, to put this into perspective (and measure what that RAID 0 actually provided vs singular use), I ran the same tests with a single 24TB HDD. The results were notable and though unsurprisingly half that of the RAID 0 Dual Disk pool, did also give you a nice idea of what full hardware RAID on this device (or an externally managed RAID Controller/OS-RAID) could have given us.

Finally, I ran the same tests on a single M.2 NVMe SSD in Slot #1 if the system (a Kingston KC3000 M.2 NVMe) and the results was practical full saturation of the 10G USB connection. If we had used an external RAID controller/OS-RAID, we still would not have been able to escape the USB 3.2 Gen 2 1,000MB/s maximum,but it could have improved IOPS/latency further.

We have to look at this device as a JBOD (with a hint of a mirrored RAID) and therefore scale back our expectations a bit. With that in mind, I am happy with what the D8 Hybrid can do without a RAID in place. I could have managed this with my windows client and thrown on a few different RAID’s using software (softRAID or even just Disk Management and stripe etc), but that would limit the results to just my own system/setup. Overall, these numbers suggest a careful balance between performance and cost, ensuring adequate speed for standard tasks without the premium price tag associated with higher-end interfaces like Thunderbolt.

Is This a Comparative Market?

The D8 Hybrid is strategically positioned in the market to appeal to users who prioritize reliable performance over cutting-edge speed. It serves well for small to medium business applications, home offices, and creative professionals who require a dependable storage solution. The device offers an appealing alternative to more expensive options by providing sufficient speed for everyday tasks, including data backup and accessing large files, without compromising on quality or reliability.

Its cost-effectiveness paired with versatile storage capabilities makes the D8 Hybrid a formidable competitor in the hybrid storage market. It’s particularly attractive for budget-conscious buyers who still require a robust storage solution that can handle a mix of data types and usage scenarios.

Final Verdict and Conclusion of the Terramaster D8 Hybrid

The TerraMaster D8 Hybrid excels in blending the high capacity of HDDs with the quick data access speeds of SSDs, housed within a single, efficient unit. The system’s design emphasizes user-friendliness with features like tool-less drive installation and low operational noise, making it an excellent choice for a variety of settings, from busy office environments to quiet home use. However, potential users should weigh the impact of the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, which, while sufficient for many applications, might not meet the needs of those requiring the fastest possible data transfer speeds. The absence of Thunderbolt technology is a noted limitation, but this is reflected in the D8 Hybrid’s competitive pricing, which targets a segment of the market more concerned with value and reliability than with leading-edge performance. The TerraMaster D8 Hybrid offers a well-rounded solution for those seeking a storage system that combines large storage capacity with respectable speeds at a cost-effective price point. Its performance, although not pushing the upper limits of current technology, provides ample support for most professional and personal storage needs, making it a worthwhile investment for a broad range of users. The thoughtful design and practical features, coupled with the device’s solid build and reliable performance within its defined limits, establish the D8 Hybrid as a standout offering in its category.

PROs of the Terramaster D8 Hybrid

CONs of the Terramaster D8 Hybrid

Good sustained performance (if you preferred that to ‘Peak’ performance Low Power Use and Low Noise Good internal processor choices, especially for the price point NAS Supported, so can be used as a tiered expansion box Very simple to use Mac/Windows Supported (even worked connected to my Android phone!) Almost completely toolless Solid build and good ‘feel’ Supports 8TB M.2 NVMes (Tested Addlink A95 8TB 2280 NVMe) HDD Bay 1+2 are RAID Supported Affordable!

Software is limited and Premium features require a subscription Peak performance is much lower than what you would expect, despite 3×1 speed (max 1GB) on each m.2 USB 10Gb/s is going to be a bummer for those thinking about the real speed that 3x m.2 SSDs could hit. Disappointing that there is no USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (40Gb/s) or USB4/TB4 Version

Face aux menaces de plus en plus nombreuses, QNAP a choisi de proposer par défaut un Centre de sécurité (Security Center en anglais) avec QTS 5.2 et QuTS Hero 5.2. Ce dernier se veut un rempart contre les attaques en mettant en place une surveillance des activités sur les fichiers… mais ce n’est pas tout. Qu’est-ce que le Centre de sécurité/Security Center de QNAP ? « Vérifier, analyser, protéger votre NAS », voilà ce que propose le Centre de sécurité de QNAP. L’application serait indépendante du système, ce qui permettra de la mettre à jour sans passer par l’installation d’une nouvelle version […]
Lire la suite : QNAP et le Centre de sécurité

Aujourd’hui, je vous propose un article pour vous présenter mes 20 logiciels gratuits préférés. Ces outils, je les utilise régulièrement que ce soit sur un macOS ou sous Windows. Que vous soyez un particulier ou un professionnel, cette sélection de logiciels gratuits vous aidera à optimiser vos tâches quotidiennes. Gestion des mots de passe Bitwarden Bitwarden est un gestionnaire de mots de passe qui permet de stocker et de gérer vos mots de passe en toute sécurité grâce à un chiffrement de bout en bout. D’un côté, vous avez la partie serveur qui peut s’installer sur un NAS, et de […]
Lire la suite : Mes 20 logiciels gratuits préférés pour macOS et Windows (2024)

CWWK Q670 Gen 5 NAS Board Review

With so, SO many DIY mini server motherboards in the market, what exactly does the $200 CWWK Q670 NAS motherboard bring to the party that we haven’t seen dozen times before? The booming market for 24×7 server mobos in ‘M-ITX in the last 18-24 months has been somewhat meteoric, with Chinese brands such as CWWK and Topton gaining a lot of industry attention for providing versatile solutions that challenge the hardware power and value that we have come to expect. The CWWK Q670 certainly continues this trend, arriving as a M-ITX motherboard that is ready for the slowly rolling out 14th Gen of Intel CPUs (as well as 12 and 13th Generation), Gen 5 PCIe architecture, DDR5 memory in the triple figures, eight native SATA drives and three m.2 NVMes SSDs (covering Gen5x4 and at 22110 length too). There is ALOT here on this little board. But power isn’t everything! How does it all come together? Have compromises been made? And ultimately, does it deserve your data? Let’s find out whether the Q670 deserves to find a home in your homelab.

Important Note – The photos taken for this article were taken AFTER I installed a CPU, Memory and heatsink. The default $200+ model of the CWWK Q670 arrives without any kind of extras.

Component	Details
Form Factor	Mini-ITX (17 cm x 17 cm, 6.7-in x 6.7-in)
Chipset	Intel Q670
Supported CPUs	Intel 12th/13th/14th Generation LGA1700 desktop processors
Memory Technology	Desktop U-DIMM DDR5
Memory Slots	2* U-DIMM DDR5 dual channel
Memory Speed	DDR5 supports 5600MHz by default (12th gen processors only support 4800MHz)
Max Memory Capacity	Single memory maximum 96GB; two memories maximum 192GB
M.2 Slots	1* M.2 NVMe PCIe 5.0 x4 (2280/22110 size, front of motherboard)
	2* M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4 (2280 size, back of motherboard)
SATA Ports	8* SATA 3.0 (6Gbps)
Network Ports	1* Intel i226-V 2.5G RJ45
	1* Intel i226-LM 2.5G RJ45 (supports Intel vPro remote management function)
Expansion Slots	1* PCI-E x16 (PCIe 5.0 x16 signal) supports graphics card/network card expansion
Display Outputs	1* HDMI 2.0 (supports 4K 4096×2160 @ 60Hz)
	1* DP 1.4 (supports 4K 4096×2160 @ 60Hz)
	1* D-Sub (supports 1080P 1920×1200 @ 60Hz)
USB Ports	2* USB 2.0 Type-A (rear)
	2* USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (rear)
	1* USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (rear)
	2* USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (via header)
	1* USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (via header)
	2* USB 2.0 Type-A (via header)

Where to Buy? CWWK Q670 8-Bay Gen5 NAS MoBo ($203 AliExpress) – HERE CWWK x86 P5 NVMe NAS Board ($155 AliExpress) – HERE CWWK x86 P5 Barebones + Case ($239 Amazon) – HERE

CWWK Q670 NAS Board Review – Quick Conclusion

As long as you do not lose sight of the fact that the CWWK Q670 NAS mobo is designed to be part of a larger and more powerful NAS build, there is ALOT to love here – especially at 200 bucks! For an M-ITX board this thing out specs a lot of bigger and broader M-ATX boards at the price. The Gen 5 architecture, if you are going to build around it ‘hardcore’ enough, as well as spend the time needed to tweak it, is definitely this board’s USP. As is that it manages to challenge conceptions of what an MITX board should arrive with, thanks to those eight native SATA ports. The remote BIOS-level access is a nice extra and although its not going to be used by everyone, in a pinch (ie ‘back against the wall troubleshooting and/or maintenance), it’s a great little bonus. The huge scalability afforded to the NAS builders with the UDIMM memory choice over SODIMM and three M.2s really does allow for a much more aggressively storage-focused system here. All that said, things are super cramped here and extra care is advised when buying your accessories (especially cooling), as aside from airflow restrictions, there is the potential here to accidentally create a air flow dead end! This is NOT a motherboard for the learner homelab’er or shiny new NAS enthusiast… but if you are happy to spend a little more and have the time to configure accordingly, this thing can be a fricking POWERHOUSE!

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? These Offers are Checked Daily

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CWWK Q670 Gen 5 NAS Board Review – Design and Hardware

Although I set up the CWWK Q670 NAS motherboard with a 12th Gen i5 processor, it’s worth highlighting that this board supports all the way up to the latest 14th Gen of Intel Core processors (no mean feat, given their launch very late last year and very few mobos of this scale being compatible without significant compromise. Bring an M-ITX does mean that there are architectural compromises of course (more on that later) but they do manage to squeeze ALOT in here (for good, and for bad).

It’s also worth touching on that there are 2 versions of the 670, with a remote access network card that allows the end user to access system control and bios level customization over the network via Intel vPro and Intel EMA remotely. It’s quite a niche service for anything less than enterprise/bigger-business use, but its an incredibly useful feature for those that do not have the time or physical deployment for keyboard, Video & Mouse. This service is bound to one of the 2.5G ports, and does not prevent it for typical LAN use by the NAS system.

The CPU and cooler requirements are LGA1700 and the rear of the Q670 is a clean layout, and CWWK have used this spec to include two Gen4 M.2 slots (more eon these later), but we have to talk about something far more intriguing in this M-ITX board…

The Q670 features EIGHT native SATA 6Gb ports (no mini-SAS fan out requires or an m.2-to-SATA adapter) which really is a breath of fresh air, even if this NAS mobo wasn’t so feature rich already. Additionally, native SATA massively smooths any potential NAS OS BIOS conflicts in the event of managing large drive layouts.

That said, this is definitely one of the earliest examples of this motherboard cramming in ALOT of hardware. The 8x SATA ports are directly next to the UDIMM Memory slots. The Q670 features two UDIMM memory slots, which one the face of it is GREAT! Rather than SODIMM (which most would expect from a mobno of this scale), UDIMM allows for larger memory capacity per module, as well as more common ECC modules available in UDIMM. Equally, newer generation CPUs support ALOT of memory, which this board is clearly ready to capitalize on! So what is the problem?

Well, those UDIMM slots are remarkably close to the CPU cooler and although there are plenty of good coolers in the market with a taller and slimmer profile, this can become problematic depending on the NAS case you are choosing to use.

Alternatively (I can hear you thinking) you could just rotate the cooler? Well, on the other side of the cooler is your PCIe Gen 5×4 slot – and for those that know, PCIe Gen 5×4 gets HOT! So, it is always recommended that you use a fan assisted heatsink for a Gen 5 SSD – which will be directly in the path of your CPU cooler, if you rotate it.

Ok, what about facing it downwards? Well, that places you pretty squarely above your PCIe slot. The CWWK Q670 arrives with a very beefy PCIe Gen 5×16 card slot – but that’s just it – a single slot (one of those fun limits of M-ITX that is quite common, that I mentioned earlier). So you will likely be using this for a NIC upgrade (2 port 10g/25GbE card perhaps to get some serious saturation of those M.2 and/or 8xSATA) or adding a multi-port Gen 5×4 M.2 SSD card to start carving up that 5×16 slot into multiple SSDs via bifurcation? Hell, maybe even go extra wild and look at mid-high tier GFX cards.

Regardless, you once again face quite alarming proximity with that CPU cooler if it faces in that direction! In 2 outta 3 (technically 4) of these placements of the cooler, you have nothing to worry about (even less still with a taller and narrower cooler), but that is still a lot of very high throughput components in close proximity that have quite obstructed airflow! Again, there are ways and means to mitigate with upright coolers, or even using watercooling and pipes – but that’s a lot to wrap around an M-ITX board when this scale of mobo is mostly there to reduce physical space on the server enclosure vs ATX.

Example on Aliexpresss HERE

Returning to the M.2 Gen 5×4 slot, the Q670 might well be the first Gen5 M-ITX NAS Mobo that CWWK have ever released (and there are not a vast number of others out there from other brands either). Additionally, this slot supports up to the longer 22110 M.2 scale, which allows for larger capacity drive potential, better NAND distribution drives (i.e more, smaller capacity NAND cells on an M.2 PCB result in higher consistent performance vs fewer NAND cells of a larger capacity), plus longer 22110 SSDs can put the NAND all on one side of the PCB to better manage heat dissipation and physical space upon installation. This isn;t even factoring PLP SSDs either! This is a savvy move, as SSD makers are now hitting performance and temp walls when expanding Gen5 SSD technology and are perhaps instead favouring side-grading these drives to improve sustained performance and stability.

The rear M.2 NVMe slots are Gen 4×4, which makes a lot of sense, given just how far the architecture on this mobo has been stretched. As the mobo does not arrive with a CPU, the full extent to which an end user can tinker with the architecture and how much lane/speed can be afforded to these slots is up for debate. Just because the board CAN hit Gen 5 and 4 respectively on these M.2. does not mean you are going to get it without the right CPU choice!

Both the Gen 4×4 slots are 2280 in length (only the Gen 5 is 22110) which, in a way, is a bit of a shame, as these two slots have a whole lot of surface area to play with compared with the comparatively cramped surface when the Gen5 slot lives. Nevertheless, it’s great that this board is ready to go for 8 SATA HDD/SSDs and 3 M.2 NVMes (and that is even before you start considering the PCIe Upgrade slot. That said, the BIOS on this board is (on the plus side) incredibly flexible in it’s configuration, but also (bad side) tremendously intimidating in it’s range of choices, with lane distribution depending on your CPU choice being quite hard going!

This opens the door towards how many/much of those M.2 are going to be usable with the PCIe slot in use. With a higher, more modern and more capable processor, there’s a good deal to share around, otherwise you end up making touch lane speed choices!

The rang of ports and connections on the board are actually a fraction ‘safe’, with the USB connectivity and an additional network control feature being the only area with a slight bit of difference from the bulk of CWWK boards.

There is a fairly pedestrian USB-A 3.2 port, but there IS a 20Gb/s USB-C port. This is listed as just “3.2 20Gb/s”, so its a little unclear on whether this is USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 or a USB 4 port that that has had its bandwidth halved.

There are visual outputs of course (an HDMI 2.0 and a DisplayPort 1.4) which can output at 4K 60FPS, but the extent to which these can be used is going to be heavily dependant on your NAS OS of choice again.

The USB Type A connectivity is 5Gb(s) Gen 2 and there are two ports available, a bit ‘so-so’. But better to have lots of USB 5G ports than 1-2 10G ports (I know this is not an opinion often shared!)

But I do like the internal USB 2.0 port, as that is perfect for an UnRAID setup on this motherboard – and now that ZFS pools are fully stable and supported in UnRAID, it makes the 8+3 storage slot CWWK Q670 exceedingly desirable.

The network ports are both 2.5GbE, which is going to be something of a bottle neck externally (especially when you factor in that even a medium-sized mechanical Pro/Ent HDD can hit speeds of 250-282MB/s), but that is where that PCIe slot will add network scalability, and don;t overlook the appeal of combo cards (M.2 + 10G cards) from brands like QNAP that work on this board (I tested the first gen QM2 Combo card).

However, interestingly the Q670 also arrives with the support of Intel vPro which, for most users, is going to serve as the ideal gateway to manage their system backend configuration remotely – I am talking BIOS level. In practice, that means that having to awkwardly KVM into a system that is typically deployed without any accessories is avoidable. It requires a little setup and using the vPro interface requires further setup, but ultimately this is a nice extra that is a lot rarer in DiY NAS boards than you might expect.

Overall, this might be the best balance of hardware scalability and storage scalability on a reduced physical scale that I have EVER seen, not just in DiY. Plus, arriving at the $200 price tag all adds up to a NAS board that provides tremendous hardware customization on a larger NAS system, without braking the bank + allows you to put that money you saved towards a beefy CPU and some excess memory! Let’s discuss that hardware configuration internally and what a fairly average and affordable CPU can get out of it?

CWWK Q670 Gen 5 NAS Board Review – Performance and Tests

Performing any tests on a NAS motherboard that is not available with an integrated CPU was always going to be tricky, as it means the results are always going to be fantastically relative to that specific configuration and represent one of hundreds or even thousands of configurations – and the CWWK Q670 is no exception. To get some base level understanding of the board on it’s own, here is the hardware spec it arrives with:

Feature/Service	Details
vPro Function	Requires i5-1X500 or above processor. F series does not support it and requires core graphics.
Power Efficiency	Recommended T processors such as 13500T for power efficiency and long-term use
Supported Memory Speed	DDR5 supports 5600MHz by default (12th gen processors only support 4800MHz)
USB Features	Built-in set of USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 pin sockets for panel connection
Display Support	HDMI + DP dual display output supports 4K @ 60Hz
Network Management	Intel i226-LM 2.5G RJ45 supports Intel vPro remote management function
Operating System Compatibility	Supports Microsoft Windows 10/11 64-bit, Compatible with Linux (EFI mode only)
Memory Compatibility	Dual-channel desktop U-DIMM DDR5 slot supports 5600MHz backward compatibility
Miscellaneous Software	Supports U disk encryption, system booting

I went ahead and installed an Intel 6-Core / 12 Thread 12th Gen i5 Core and 16GB 4800Mhz non-ECC DDR5 Memory. Straight out the gate, just using three M.2 NVMes on the system (full benchmarking, Gen 4 and Gen 5) the system hit around 45W utilization. Had I connected eight SATA HDDs, I can imagine this would have been almost doubled! However, there were not 8 drives in our test area available at the time of this review.

As mentioned earlier, the BIOS that is available on this board is pretty deep, even by ‘bare mobo’ standards. Also, adjusting the PCIe Gen goes up to Gen5 all over the shop!

I went ahead and ran UnRAID on the system (thank you, small internal USB Port!) and a;; the SATA/M.2 slots were visible and good to go!

The layout of the system in it’s default configuration (using the i5 I installed) was reasonable, but the speeds on the M.2 slots was definitely a little ‘funky’, especially when you factor in that I installed Gen 4 Kingston KC3000s and a Gen 5 Phison E26 M.2 in their respectively supported slots.

The first disappointment is that, unless I used up a scaled-up processor and spent some time playing with the bios, the Gen 5×4 slot was downgraded to Gen 4×4. Gen 4 is still good, but the major appeal of this Mobo for some users is going to be the fact its Gen 5 SSD ready. What about the Gen 4 slots?

Well, good news and bad news there. The first Gen 4 M.2 slot was defaulted at Gen 4×4 WITHOUT any downgrade. Great stuff, right? Well…

The 2nd Gen 4 slot had been downgraded to Gen 3×4! Remember, this is how the the system has default laid things out with the i5 12th Gen processor I choose to use. I am sure there is wiggle room for this and as mentioned several times, this configuration is one of literally thousand of possibilities, but I raise this to demonstrate that this board needs some hands on work by the user when its installed to get the most out if it for the end user’s needs.

Looking at performance, within the gen and speed that this motherboard defaulted to, these are all reasonable. Eg the Gen 5×4 slot (that SHOULD hit a potential 10-12GB with the right drive) was hitting a respective 6GB/s, as it was downgraded to 4×4.

Likewise, the Gen 4×4 m.2 slot that had not been downgraded hit 5.9-6GB/s. Not the reported 7GB that Kingston says this drive will be capable of hitting of course, but those benchmarks are based on much more powerful setups and tools than these comparatively primitive tests.

And then there was the Gen4 slot that had been downgraded to 3×4. Thanks to it still being ‘x4’, the Gen 4 drive, even with it’s forced downward auto-negotiation, was still hitting respectable 2.9-3.0GBs numbers.

The forced downgrades that kicked in, I am sure, could be negotiated with a better setup and with more time being spent in bios – but those looking at more modest and affordable NAS setups are likely going to lose out on the full abilities of this motherboard. M.2 slots that sharer lanes with the PCIe slot (or even shared across multiple M.2s) are not a new thing, but ultimately you need to keep in mind that this board is not going to immediately give you a perfect system base to work with – it just opens to doors and windows enough to get you on your way, with an M-ITX NAS build.

CWWK Q670 Gen 5 NAS Board Review – Conclusion and Verdict

As long as you do not lose sight of the fact that the CWWK Q670 NAS mobo is designed to be part of a larger and more powerful NAS build, there is ALOT to love here – especially at 200 bucks! For an M-ITX board this thing out specs a lot of bigger and broader M-ATX boards at the price. The Gen 5 architecture, if you are going to build around it ‘hardcore’ enough, as well as spend the time needed to tweak it, is definitely this board’s USP. As is that it manages to challenge conceptions of what an MITX board should arrive with, thanks to those eight native SATA ports. The remote BIOS-level access is a nice extra and although its not going to be used by everyone, in a pinch (ie ‘back against the wall troubleshooting and/or maintenance), it’s a great little bonus. The huge scalability afforded to the NAS builders with the UDIMM memory choice over SODIMM and three M.2s really does allow for a much more aggressively storage-focused system here. All that said, things are super cramped here and extra care is advised when buying your accessories (especially cooling), as aside from airflow restrictions, there is the potential here to accidentally create a air flow dead end! This is NOT a motherboard for the learner homelab’er or shiny new NAS enthusiast… but if you are happy to spend a little more and have the time to configure accordingly, this thing can be a fricking POWERHOUSE!

PROs of the CWWK Q670 NAS Motherboard	CONs of the CWWK Q670 NAS Motherboard
A Gen5 M-ITX NAS Mobo…SOLD! 8x SATA Ports (actual SATA, not via an m.2 adapter or miniSAS) Good scope to support 13th Gen and more CPUs 3x M.2 at Gen 5 and 4 (one of the 22110) PCIe 5×16 Slot Excellent USB Outputs Full-Length DIMM Memory Support (i.e more memory possible) Very well priced at just over $200+	CPU Cooler vs Memory slot placement is VERY tight! Need a lot of BIOS tuning by the end user No pre-bundled (CPU/RAM) options 1 PCIe slot (standard M-ITX build) will lead to hard choices about NIC upgrades

Where to Buy? CWWK Q670 8-Bay Gen5 NAS MoBo ($203 AliExpress) – HERE CWWK x86 P5 NVMe NAS Board ($155 AliExpress) – HERE CWWK x86 P5 Barebones + Case ($239 Amazon) – HERE

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Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions   Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

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Depuis 3 ans, j’ai amélioré mon installation avec un point d’accès WiFi 6 de la marque Ubiquiti. Un seul petit boîtier U6 Long-Range (gamme UniFi) me permet de couvrir tout mon domicile. Cependant, dans de rares circonstances et de façon ponctuelle, j’ai besoin d’une couverture plus étendue. Après avoir exploré plusieurs solutions, j’ai choisi le U6 Extender… Prise en main de l’UniFi U6 Extender L’achat du point d’accès U6 Long-Range m’a fait basculer dans l’écosystème UniFi en 2021 et je ne le regrette pas. J’ai commencé avec un seul appareil et j’ai fait évoluer mon installation au fil du temps. […]
Lire la suite : Étendre son Wi-Fi UniFi avec l’U6 Extender

Is Ubiquiti Launching a UniFi NAS in 2024?

*clicks fingers* And JUST like that, it looks like we might FINALLY be seeing a UniFi NAS system! I have been in and around the world of storage for well close to 2 decades and in that time I say seen a lot of things. One consistent name in network technology that has been a mainstay of the prosumer and business landscape that want pure ‘Easy to Setup and Forget’ tech that you can trust has been Ubiquiti and their UniFi series of devices. Yet, with such an extensive range of network hardware and software solutions, the brand has never pushed forward with their own 1st party NAS server… until now it appears! UniFi has always supported the likes of Synology and QNAP NAS systems in their network architecture, but many of those deep in the UniFi landscape have requested something proprietary, something uniform and ultimately something streamlined in a way that is largely the USP of UniFi. Numerously pieces of information (ranging from compatibility listings, to product docs and references on companion media) have bubbled to the surface in the last month or so that seem to indicate that not only that a UniFi NAS is ‘a thing’, but also that the brand is jumping in with both feet – launching 10GbE equipped, quad-core, desktop and rackmount solutions which are truly native to the UniFi ecosystem. So, let’s discuss everything we have learnt, whether this is all legit, how it compares with the current NAS status quo and ultimately – would a UniFi NAS be a good idea?

What is UniFi and Who Are Ubiquiti (just in case you want to be up to speed)?

As massively unlikely as it is that anyone reading this is unaware of what UniFi is, just to play it safe, here goes! UniFi is a range of network equipment and related solutions developed by Ubiquiti, which targets large businesses, but has nonetheless become popular with prosumers and home users, as they offer enterprise-grade products with no licensing fees. The UniFi range includes high-performance Wi-Fi access points, switches, firewalls, and routers which are formulated to offer a strong and flexible networking solution. These devices come with features such as network routing, firewall capabilities and network VPN to allow for efficient network operations. Furthermore, UniFi provides Network Video Recorder (NVR) and high definition cameras for UniFi Protect video surveillance systems to offer all-round security and surveillance management. The UniFi Dream Machine Pro and Max are both standalone, massively fully-featured solutions offering the capability of traditional routing, as well as diverse security and networking management tools in the UniFi application ecosystem inside one machine, useful for homes or businesses.

The UniFi software platform is considered as the core element of this system since it allows managing and configuring all UniFi devices through a single interface – it’s kinda their whole appeal! This software can be run locally hosted or via a cloud-based computing service provided by Ubiquiti which makes it easier to expand. UniFi also offers products in the range of switch aggregators and data center solutions that can handle heavy demands of high-density deployment. Able to deliver considerable connectivity with minimal hassle and offering an enhanced range of features, UniFi appliances and devices are popular in a variety of applications, from home use to complex company networks. They provide a single and technical interface for managing all network devices, hence conducting operations on the networks of different types of devices is easily done. So, given the popularity of NAS systems in the last few years (as cloud providers increase base prices and large scale data download pricing for businesses) you can see what introducing a native UniFi NAS product into an existing UniFi ecosystem would be appealing. NAS systems CAN be intimidating for the less data/networking technically and therefore a modular and seamless deployment of a central data system has enormous promise! But is the UniFi U-NAS series real?

What Evidence is there of a UniFi NAS in development?

There is a surprisingly larger amount of data circulating online about a possible UniFi NAS system, referring to devices/SKUs that include the ‘U-NAS Pro’ and ‘U-NAS Professional’.  One of the clearest and most obvious indications comes from an official UI.COM outlet, with a 10GbE 5 Port switch that, in it’s diagrams of deployment, show a new tower system connected via 10GbE (as well as a workstation). I will touch on this later with a leaked datasheet that appeared on reddit, but there are plenty of indications that this is a UniFi NAS.

Source (Official eShop) HERE

But you do not even need to dig that hard after these product deployment images, as you literally click the deployment tab and a similar product layout appears on a new image that clearly labels this white tower system as a NAS server. Even if you wanted to play devils advocate and speculate that this is a 3rd party server, the system carries the familiar U logo on the top. Plus, Ubiquiti/UniFi/UI.com  VERY rarely show 3rd party hardware on their product pages (for understandable reasons).

Source (Official eShop) HERE

Then, then via the same outlet, we find that an add on is available on the UI pages that listed an 8TB and 16TB UI labelled HDD that is listed as ‘ideal for storage-intensive UniFi systems’. Under this drive are numerous part numbers that relate to the brand’s Dream Machine Pro and Dream Machine Pro MAX systems. So, maybe these are just drives for cross-purpose and dedicated surveillance systems, right? Well, maybe, but the workload ranging heavily indicates enterprise storage use (i.e an ENT or PRO class server drive) which really does seem overkill for some of those systems that are highlighted that are 1-2 SATA/SAS slot systems. I KNOW how tenuous this sounds, but…

Source (Official UniFi Outlet) HERE

The fact that the ‘Enterprise Class’ media seems separate from that of the surveillance media is quite telling too. Could easily be nothing, but surveillance storage media is typically much more focused/geared towards ‘heavy write’ activity – as surveillance is often 95% write and very irregular read (when you need to check those past feeds!), whereas a NAS, especially a Prosumer/Business/Enterprise focused system will be at it’s best with drives that deliver peak on BOTH! Or shift gears entirely and switch to SSD. These enterprise drives definitely link with Surveillance systems that scale up considerably from UniFi, but having this division in their media is slightly overkill for just surveillance deployment alone.

Source (Official UniFi Outlet) HERE

Still not enough for you? Well, luckily an enterprising soul on reddit snuck what looks like a product datasheet for a new rackmount system that appears similar to some of the UNVR-PRO systems, but is clearly defined as a NAS server solution in the UniFi Drive series. If this is fake, it’s an impressive bit of work! Definding everything from the internal hardware specifications and system hardware feature set, right the way down to system PSU and projective power requirements!

Source (Reddit) HERE

Base on this document, the UniFi NAS would come in an rackmount steel chassis with optional brackets and would feature a Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A57 processor running at 1. 7 GHz, 4 GB DDR4 system memory and 32 GB eMMC on-board flash storage. With a power budget of 135W for drives and a maximum power consumption of 160W, it is powered by a 200W internal AC/DC power supply. Connectivity options include a 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ45 port and a 1/10GbE SFP+ port and Bluetooth v4. 1 for RF interface. It also has a 1. 3” touchscreen LCM display for system status and firmware updates via Ethernet in-band interface.

Also, the 87mm height confirms that this system is a 2U rackmount, as well as not being full depth either (a little over half depth infact). Here are the rest of the specifications that were on the doc found on reddit:

Category	Specification
Dimensions	442 x 325 x 87 mm (17.4 x 12.8 x 3.4″)
Weight	Without rackmount brackets: 9.2 kg (20.28 lbs)
	With rackmount brackets: 9.45 kg (20.83 lbs)
Enclosure material	SGCC steel
Mount material	SGCC steel
Hardware
Processor	Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A57 at 1.7 GHz
System memory	4 GB DDR4
On-board Flash storage	32 GB eMMC
Max. power consumption	160W
Max. power budget for drives	135W
Power method	(1) Universal AC input 100-240V AC, 3A Max, 50/60 Hz
	(1) UPS-Battery DC input 11.5V DC, 13.91A
Power supply	AC/DC, internal 200W
Network interface	(1) 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ45 port
	(1) 1/10GbE SFP+ port
RF Interface	(1) Bluetooth v4.1
LCM display	(1) 1.3″ touchscreen
	Bootup animation: bootup in progress
	Firmware upgrade icon: firmware upgrading
	Steady white: factory defaults, awaiting adoption
	Steady blue: device is adopted
Management interface	Ethernet in-band
ESD/EMP protection	Air: 12kV
	Contact: 6kV
Operating temperature	-5 to 40°C (23 to 104°F)
Operating humidity	5 to 95% non-condensing
Certifications	FCC, CE, IC
LEDs
Ethernet	Green: 1Gbps
	Amber: 10/100 Mbps
SFP+	White: 10Gbps
	Green: 1Gbps
HDD	Amber: disk error
	White: disk detected
Battery	Blue: ready

Some details, such as the LCM Control panel are quite unique in the NAS server market (with many other brands out there largely retiring LCD panels, despite end users still wanting it). Others are a little more common but still very desirable, such as the confirmation of 10GbE (fiber / SFP+). That said, the CPU choice, if true, is going to divide opinion slightly. ARM processors are designed to be incredibly power efficient – something that is understandably desireable in a 24×7 NAS server of course. That said, even a 64bit ARM processor is going to be a little lean on the hardware capabilities.

This would indicate that, if real, the U-NAS system is going to be very fixed in it’s feature set, as ARM processors in NAS are much MUCH better at rigidly sticking to a handful of services and tasks (fixed defaults, allowing the software development to be a great deal more targetted and resulting in greater system efficiency). That would not make the system ‘weak’ – one look at how the likes of Synology can run DSM 7.2 on the ARM Realtek RTD1619b 64but ARM would show you just how much you can do with a dedication to efficiency in hardware, but it would be interesting to see how Ubiquiti/UI/UniFi approach the software and feature of this system. Will it be a wholly dedicated GUI or an extensive of the existing software platform that users UniFi users already have at their fingertips? Another photo also went on to appear on a reddit thread indicating a product stamp/label, but there wasn’t a huge amount of backing for this one.

Source (Reddit) HERE

Then there was a scree that was highlighting in an official UI video that was picked up by YouTube Channel ‘MacTelecom’ that raised queries about a product that was featured in a promo video. It would be easy to just assume that it is just a surveillance system, but…

Source #1 (Mactelecom) HERE and Source #2 (Official UniFi Channel) HERE

Obviously, the most compelling thing here is the product datasheet and the direct references to a 10GbE ‘NAS Server’ on the official product pages for the USW-Flex-XG, but we have to also take all this with a pinch of salt. plenty of times we have observed products alluded to online or even revealed at official event’s by brands that do not cross the technological finishing line! Still, it’s still tremendously hard to argue with that Ubiquiti/UI and by extensive the UniFi series, are dabbling with NAS systems. What about Synology and QNAP NAS systems? Arent they already an option?

---

Can You Use a Synology or QNAP NAS with UniFi?

Yes. Adding a NAS to an existing UniFi network is not new, and even now you can connect an external NAS (a QNAP or a Synology, for instance) to a network that is operated using the UniFi devices and increase its storage and data-organization-related capabilities multiple times. This integration means that the NAS will now act as part of the UniFi system as in that it can contain multiple services within a single NAS device. For example, the NAS can be used to store recorded video from the UniFi Protect system, using RTSP streams to guarantee that any footage that is recorded is either in the NAS or is used to send video data to the NAS as well. Furthermore, the NAS can be leveraged for backup for network devices; this is basically used to store the critical configurations and data that can be lost in the devices in question. It is also possible to configure SMB or NFS on the NAS storage in order to offer dedicated shared network storage for the network users to simplify the file sharing procedure.

In addition, this configuration should be supported by UniFi networking capabilities in order to make the workflow even more productive. The NAS is also capable of interfacing with security gateways as well as UniFi Switches and Access Points to offer a highly functional network solution. This integration also enhances the process of management and back up of data besides supporting other utilities such as the Time Machine for Mac users and enhance the use of the community network. Thus, using the offered functions of the QNAP/Synology NAS in the UniFi network allows to organize a powerful system with a potent scalability and capable of fulfilling a wide spectrum of tasks in both business and home environments. So why would a user care about a UniFi Official NAS device?

Why Would a Ubiquiti Launched UniFi NAS Be a BIG DEAL?

If Ubiquiti were to launch their own first-party NAS device, users would likely be happy and excited for several reasons:

1. Seamless Integration: If they launched a NAS, it would no doubt be created to ease the workload for the company regarding supporting all its network devices and storage devices within the existing UniFi system. It would make it easier for those who are already using UniFi devices to plan their set-up and maintenance, centralizing that data, as well as potentially facilitating further backups from there (3-2-1 etc)

2. Unified Management Interface: Let’s face it, UniFi is all about central management and a potential UniFi NAS product would continue to be managed through the UniFi software platform and the central management features will be carried over to managing the storage resource pool. This shortens both the time and the effort used in managing the network and this is widely considered to be very efficient.

3. Enhanced Features: Another appeal of a possible 1st party UniFi NAS would mean that it would open the door to Ubiquiti establishing features that are tailored to its network hardware. Such as optimization for UniFi Protect’s video surveillance storage, optimizing backups, and build photo sharing capabilities within the Ubiquiti network. Matching this functionality specifically for the product could offer a better user’s experience when compared to third party NAS solutions.

4. Consistent Updates and Support: For those that have already integrated a Synology/QNAP NAS into their ecosystem, they are well aware that this means allowing for the system to access updates whilst 24×7. A potential UniFi NAS would require this also, BUT would benefit from that seamless 1st party management and services, like any other Unifi product in the environment, This would be beneficial to users because the NAS could get supported firmware updates as regular AND also open the door to technical support from Ubiquiti to make sure that it is safe, operating, and up-to-date. This could make deployment easier and faster in the case that any issue arises to do with the issue deterring from having a flexible integration in the UniFi ecosystem.

5. Aesthetics and Form Factor: Though Ubiquiti is 20 years old, the UniFi series is much newer by comparison, but stands out with it’s is very popular for its modern design. It might sound fantastically shallow, but if UI launched a NAS device, they would definitely want to maintain this house/brand style and would target the look and feel of the rest of the equipment from the UniFi ecosystem – there would definitely be an audience for this!

6. Vendor Trust and Loyalty: A number of users are brand loyal: data security in 2024 is MASSIVE! People like using services by a particular brand that they trust and prefer to stay with this brand. Many consumers who are pleased with the functionality offered by Ubiquiti in the areas of networking would be much more likely to comfortably integrate a NAS device constructed and certified by that brand compared with a 3rd party, thus easing their lives of an additional device and learning a new GUI and UX. Not everyone of course, some will look at the product history of established NAS vendors and that will be enough – but that ‘if it ain’t broke, don;t fix it’ attitude is definitely out there!

The popularity and interest that would come from the idea that storage will be ‘in house’ in a reliable and simplified form that fully integrates and supports the expanded features provided by Ubiquiti and it’s UniFi series would be popular, there’s no debate there. However we have to also acknowledge that Ubiquiti and UniFi (if real!) would be a relatively new player in this field, with a narrower and very specific history in network data management, that is perhaps a little more specific than the more open storage utilization of network-attached storage. If a NAS is coming from UniFi – we have to wonder what new take that might bring to the table beyond the uniformity of UniFi devices and that ecosystem (arguably their USP!).

If it IS Real, When would the UniFi U-NAS Series Be Released?

That’s the BIG question really, as demands for a UniFi ‘in house’ NAS have been long-running for years. That said, the evidence discussed is pretty conclusive to say the least. Additionally, we are not discussing small mis-shared text or off-hand remarks at a tradeshow – we are seeing product images, direct references to two NAS products on official pages and even system add-ons that are listed on the brand’s eRetail outlets. Then there is the fact that the bulk of these references and documents are all within the last month, which seemingly indicates the revving up of a launch on the horizon. This all adds up to a product that is far along in development and one that is nearing release – Q3/Q4 2024 at the latest. However, without official confirmation, this still needs to be treated as speculation! Watch this space.

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This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions   Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

WE LOVE COFFEE

 

Toshiba annonce l’arrivée de disques durs Nearline d’une capacité de plus de 30 To grâce aux technologies HAMR (enregistrement magnétique assisté par chaleur) et MAMR (enregistrement magnétique assisté par micro-ondes), leur disponibilité n’est pas immédiate. Aussi, nous ne vous les recommandons pas pour vos NAS. Explications… Toshiba franchit la barre des 30 To Contrairement à d’autres secteurs, il n’existe pas 36 fabricants de disques durs à travers le monde, Toshiba est l’un des trois principaux, avec Western Digital et Seagate. Il produit des disques durs pour les particuliers et les entreprises. Aussi, il met à disposition ses lignes de production […]
Lire la suite : Toshiba annonce ses premiers disques durs 30 To

QNAP TS-464 or the Synology DS423+ NAS Drive – Which Should You Buy?

Choosing Between the Synology DS423+ and QNAP TS-464 NAS is more than just about how you are spending your money at checkout! Making a move away from 3rd public cloud storage can be a big, BIG decision for some users. The ‘freemium’ and low cost monthly subscription to the likes of Google Drive and DropBox seems like a drop in the ocean, right up until you realise that over the years you have spent hundreds of pounds and you face the fact that you are going to need to consider moving that data onto something more long term and ‘in house’. For many users, this is their first encounter with two of the bigger brands in the world of NAS, Synology and QNAP and although at a glance they seem to provide the same kind of solution, even a brief second glance reveals that these two brands have very, very different ideas of where you should be spending your money. Synology is the sleek, apple-esc presented solution that promises a smooth and uncomplex experience, with an arguably more rigid and fixed architecture. Whereas QNAP is the more customizable and flexible in its hardware and software, but has a slightly higher learning curve and requires more time to configure perfectly. Both brands provide an excellent range of NAS solutions with each of the solutions in today’s comparison being quite similar in price, but what you are getting for your money, the range of software included, the scope of hardware that is available and how they translate to upgradable and scalability is incredibly different! So, today we are going to compare the Synology DS423+ NAS released in March 2023 (HEAVILY comparable to the 2020 gen DS920+) against the spring 2022 released QNAP TS-464 NAS.

Synology DS423+ vs QNAP TS-464 NAS – Design

The design of the QNAP TS-464 and Synology DS423+ are both very uniform to the brands, utilizing existing designs in their respective Home/Prosumer/SMB ranges. Both are 4-Bay desktop solutions that are designed to be deployed easily and pretty much anywhere. They are largely the same in physical volume, with the Synology DS423+ arriving the tiniest pinch larger, but both systems provide a similar level of storage on their four SATA and 2x NVMe M.2 SSD bays. The Synology has the more traditional shape of the lockable storage media bays being immediately visible, but finish this with an incredibly modernistic shape and matt surface design. The front of the system features a single USB backup port, as well as 5 LEDs for system/drive activity and those two M.2 SSD bays are located on the base of the system. The QNAP TS-464 NAS uses a more glossy and slightly coloured design by comparison (featuring a copper side panel), with the 4 drive bays of the system being covered by a slidable and lockable semi-translucent panel. The QNAP also featured the same LED/USB present, but there are more LEDs on the QNAP and the USB here is both a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Port (10Gb/s) and is accompanied by a one-touch copy button. This is one of the early examples of how things in the NAS market have moved forward in hardware but Synology has instead doubled down on their focus of it’s DSM software platform above all else. The QNAP TS-464 is certainly the more expensive NAS of the two, with the DS423+, despite being newer and having a different position in the brand’s portfolio (see the DS923+ to learn more), but the hardware you are getting for that price tag is notably different and will become a clear divide between these two. Because of the compact design, both systems need to factor in intelligent cooling, as they will likely be in operation 24×7. This is another clear area where the brands have gone in different directions here.

QNAP TS-464 NAS 168mm × 170mm × 226 mm	Synology DS423+ NAS 166 mm x 199 mm x 223 mm

The ventilation on the Synology DS423+ is certainly more visible but in a much more ‘branded’ and slick way. The QNAP TS-464 features no front-facing ventilation, instead using two small areas of ventilation on the sides of the chassis and the base of the TS-464 featuring further ventilation under each of the storage bays. The Synology on the other hand has much more passive airflow, with each of the individual storage bays being surrounded by a slit of ventilation and the side panel of the DS423+ having the Synology logo featured as further ventilation. Higher-end Synology desktop models feature metal mesh panels inside these logos to capture dust, but this is less of a concern in the more compact and discreet DS423+. Overall, I would certainly say that the Synology DS423+ have more visible efforts to maintain system temperature than the QNAP TS-464 (which is a real surprise when you see how the hardware these two systems are sporting compares) but both maintain a good operation temperature.

QNAP TS-464 NAS	Synology DS423+ NAS

When you look at the rear of the TS-464 and DS423+ NAS, you see another big difference in how each system maintains their respective internal temperatures, with the QNAP featuring a single 120mm fan that covers the bulk of the internal hardware airflow path and the Synology featuring two 92mm fans that cover around 70% of the rear of the chassis. Of the two, I would say the QNAP TS-464 is the noisier in operation of the two (when populated with 4x 4TB WD Red HDDs) by the tiniest of margins, but it isn’t really till you entertain the idea of enterprise HDDs or drives larger than 10TB that you need to worry about ambient sound around these two systems. Both the DS423+ and TS-464 can have the rotations per minute (RPM) of their fans changed manually or left on automatic as the system changes the internal cooling to ensure maximum efficiency.

QNAP TS-464 NAS	Synology DS423+ NAS

Overall, the design of the Synology DS423+ is still the better-looking system of the two and although I personally really like the copper and glossy look of the QNAP TS-464 NAS, I know that the bulk of users will want to ‘set up and forget’ their NAS, so these aesthetic design choices are less important to them. Equally, although the QNAP fan has the potential to cool its respective system much more, I think the Synology features a better balance of active airflow and passive ventilation overall. The QNAP still wins pretty big on its inclusion of a USB 3.2 Gen 2 One Touch Copy button enabled port for faster and more manual backup options (as well as still allow automated and connection-triggered backups as the Synology), but overall on points, this round belongs to the Synology DS423+ NAS.

QNAP TS-464 versus Synology DS423+ NAS – Internal Hardware

This is an area where you really see how both brands focus their priorities on the solutions they offer, as well as how the components common to NAS have evolved in the 2 years between their respective releases. The Synology DS423+ arrives with a familiar architecture to it’s predecessor (the DS420+) and is a fairly tried and tested formula by the brand. Synology was the first company to introduce NVMe SSD storage bays into desktop NAS systems around 5 years ago (something that QNAP has only really been catching up on in the last 2 YEARS). Likewise, Synology has made a few very brand-specific decisions in their system architecture that this rather more proprietary brand is often keen to implement. For example, the default DDR4 memory inside (2666Mhz SODIMM) is actually soldered to the main internal board (4x 256MB Modules), with an additional empty memory slot to allow an additional 4GB Synology-branded memory module. As the DS423+ has a CPU that has a maximum 8GB of memory, this is an oddly artificial limitation that results in the DS420+ only allowing 6GB of max memory, an odd move that is perhaps done out of system PCI/Bandwidth, rather than any kind of manufacturer restriction. The QNAP features a newer gen CPU (as you would expect after the later release) and this CPU allows up to 16GB of memory (4GB in the default model) across two upgradable slots. Likewise, returning to those M.2 NVMe slots, both system feature 2 bays that can be used for SSD storage upgrades, although both the DS423+ and TS-464 support SSD caching (when a pool of SSDs is used to speed up data write/read in conjunction with the larger HDD RAID array), Synology ONLY RECENTLY allowed NVMe Storage Pools on their platform, whereas QNAP  has allowed NVMes as standalone storage pools, for app booting, running the OS from and even their own special internal tiering system known as QTier. This is the first of several key differences between the QNAP TS-464 and Synology DS423+ NAS that show the divide in hardware between these units.

Model	QNAP TS-464	Synology DS423+
Price	£559               $650              €675	£508               $549              €569
Storage Media Support	4x SATA, 2x m.2 NVMe 3×1 for Cache/Pools/QTier	4x SATA, 2x NVMe SSD Cache/Pool Bays
CPU Model	Intel N5105/N5095	Intel J4125
CPU Frequency & Cores	Quad-Core 2.0-2.9Ghz	Quad-Core 2.0-2.7Ghz
CPU Benchmark Score	CPU benchmark 4161	CPU benchmark 3006
Memory Default/Max	4-16GB SODIMM DDR4	2-6GB SODIMM DDR4 (4GB onboard)
PSU Power & Design	90W External PSU	100W External PSU
Physical Fans	1x 120m FAN	2x 92m FAN

Of course, the clearest difference that most PC builder-minded people are going to notice is the CPU. NAS systems are designed to be operational for days, weeks, months and even years at a time. Therefore, in order to maintain optimal performance, as well as lower power consumption and lessen the damage that long-term operation can inflict on a processor, the CPUs used in NAS are a great deal more modest. In the case of the Synology DS423+ and QNAP TS-464 NAS, they feature Intel Celeron processors, each featuring an embedded graphics component (allowing graphical operations, multimedia handling and visual data to be handled by a specialized area of the processor), quad-core architecture and a base level clock speed of 2.0Ghz that can be burst (turbo/increased when needed). However, the newer generation N5105/N5095 CPU in the QNAP is able to reach a higher overall clock speed and also is more efficient (i.e uses a little less hardware resources to get a task done than it would take on the J4125 typically, so, therefore, can do more tasks overall when the full CPU power is utilized). Indeed, CPUBenchmark rated the newer CPU 30%+ higher in it’s scoring than the J4125 (again, as you would expect for a CPU released more than a year later by Intel), so this processor means that more can be done on the QNAP (in like for like tasks) and also this CPU allows a greater range of hardware to be built into the system. CPUs are one of the largest quantifying factors of how a NAS is built and this is because they can only handle a certain amount of connected hardware (storage bays, ports, expansion slots, etc) when connected to a larger controller/motherboard. This is commonly referred to as the # of PCI lanes and the chipset used in the build of the system. Because this newer Intel N5105 / N5095 CPU has more lanes to use at once than the J4125, it allows the newer NAS drive to have more hardware.

QNAP TS-464 NAS – Intel N5105/N5095 CPU

Synology DS423+ NAS – Intel J4125 CPU

These additional CPU resources, as well as the increased maximum memory and flexibility of how the M.2 NVMe SSD slots can be used ultimately mean that in terms of internal hardware, the newer released QNAP TS-464 wins over the Synology DS423+ NAS. It is worth remembering that the M.2 NVMe SSD slots on the QNAP TS-464 are PCIe Gen 3 x1 (down to the Celeron CPU still not having anywhere near the scope in it’s flexibility that the likes of an Intel Core, Ryzen or Xeon might have) and will bottleneck at 1,000MB/s, but this is still better than nothing and there is still the lingering question of the Gen 2 slots on the DS423+ being 2×2 or 2×4 – which will potentially limit the M.2 NVMes on the DS423+ further still. So the QNAP still seems to have a better balance of NVMe SSD support in its architecture overall.

Synology DS423+ or QNAP TS-464 NAS – Ports & Connections

Now ports and connections on the Synology DS423+ and QNAP TS-464 NAS is an area that is INCREDIBLY diverse in it’s approach by either brand. Once again, the reasons clearly to do with the CPU choice and position on their respective brand portfolios, but also the brand’s own decisions in build architecture/priorities still massively continue to be a contributing factor here. The Synology DS423+ NAS certainly comes across as the weaker of the two here in its connectivity and although a lot of the QNAP’s advancements in connectivity could be described as ‘future upgrades and simply facilitating extras or addons’, it still manages to provide a greater deal of connectivity to the day 1 user than the Synology system here. The port(s) that almost certainly will be the one that jumps out immediately on each system is the network connections. The DS423+ NAS arrives with 2x 1GbE ports which, although allowing link aggregation to create 2GbE with a smart switch, was still a little underwhelming in 2023 when released and looking increasingly out of step with modern network tech in 2024 (as we had already started seeing 2.5GbE arriving at the same price as 1GbE with a number of client hardware devices in 2020). The newer QNAP TS-464 features 2x 2.5GbE (so 5GbE via link aggregation and a supported switch) which now that some ISPs and budget switch manufacturers are providing affordable 2.5GbE solutions, will be incredibly useful. Then the is the additional PCIe upgrade slot on the QNAP NAS that allows upgrades towards 10GbE, dual-port 10GbE cards and even combo cards to add 10G and further M.2  NVMe bays via a single card. Again, there ARE upgrades and not something in the baseline model, but you can not argue with the future-proofing available here. Additionally, the DS923+ NAS released in December 2022 had the option to upgrade to 10GbE – something hugely absent here in the eyes of many on this 4xSATA and 2xNVMe DS423+ NAS. There is simply no avoiding that the 2023 released DS423+ looks a little dated in 2024, in large part to those 1GbE ports are something of a limiting factor.

Model	QNAP TS-464	Synology DS423+
Network Ports	2x 2.5GbE	2x 1GbE
USB 3.2 Ports	2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gb)	2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gb)
USB 2.0 Ports	2x USB 2.0	0
HDMI Ports	1x HDMI 2.0 4K 60FPS	n/a
PCIe Upgrade Slots	PCIe Gen 3×2 Slot (2Gb/s)	n/a

After the network and PCIe differences that favour the TS-464, the distance between the 2023 and 2022 NAS hardware architecture here is further extended. The Synology DS423+ features a further USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gb/s) port, but LACKS the option to upgrade it’s storage down the line with an expansion (such as with the eSATA port on the DS920+ and DS923+ NAS supporting the DX517 official expansion). QNAP counters this on the TS-464 with the inclusion of another USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gb/s) port, as well as some (obviously less useful) USB 2.0 ports. These USB 2.0 Ports are primarily designed to be used in conjunction with the optional visual output (HDMI 2.0 4k 60FPS) on the QNAP as a KVM (Keyboard, video and mouse) setup with the included parallel HD Station application and its tool. The HDMI and direct interface of the QNAP is still pretty niche as a service on this system, but it has a number of useful multimedia, surveillance and VM utilities that can be quite impressive. Expansions on the TS-464 are more diverse than the 5-Bay DX517 on the DS423+ (which again, is NOT supported anyway), with QNAP offering 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12-Bay expansion chassis (arriving in JBOD or hardware RAID enabled) that connect over USB or an inclusive PCIe card. Overall, it comes as no surprise that in terms of hardware, the QNAP TS-464 still takes the first place, as the Synology DS423+ (like most of the brand’s solutions) is prioritizes the DSM platform and it’s tools/services over the hardware. Let’s discuss the software on each of these brands.

QNAP TS-464 or the Synology DS423+ NAS – Software

When you are choosing to buy a Synology or QNAP NAS, it is always worth bearing in mind that you are not just buying a bunch of hardware, but you are actually getting a fully-featured software solution. Both the Synology DS423+ and QNAP TS-464 arrive with each brand’s premium NAS software and services platform, DSM and QTS respectively. Both of these platforms include a traditional operating system level of accessibility and control, that can be accessed via pretty much any web browser or desktop OS, as well as numerous tailored mobile client applications. The Synology DSM platform is a lot more comparable in design and control with Mac OSX and is by far the more user-friendly option of the two. The QNAP QTS platform is a lot more comparable to Android in its initial GUI and then more like Windows in it’s navigation, arriving as the option with a greater deal of configuration and control, but with a steeper learning curve. Another big difference between QTS and DSM is how they present their services, with QNAP providing a larger degree of support of 3rd party applications (both in the app center and in the configuration of their own range of 1st party applications. Synology DSM on the other hand proves a larger and more impressive range of fist party tools that are designed to replace/improve upon the 3rd party tools you might be using, with many of it’s applications being comparable to top tier 3rd party paid tools in the market (the Synology collaboration suite, the Surveillance Station application and pretty much everything in Synology Drive, just as a start). The QNAP platform also, in it’s efforts to be as widely compatible and configurable as possible, occasionally stems into over-complexity and risks the user tripping over itself as it tries to manage the larger scale of configuration Whereas, although the Synology DSM platform may seem a pinch more closed and fixed, it manages to prevent the users from accidentally ruining their own storage system. Here is a full breakdown of the key applications that are included with the QNAP TS-464 and Synology DS423+, broken down into categories:

	QNAP TS-464	Synology DS423+
Browser Support	Supports all Browsers	Supports all Browsers
	Browser File Management	Browser File Management
	Photo/Music/Video Tools	Photo/Music/Video Tools
	Multimedia Console	Synology Drive
	AI Photo Recognition	AI Photo Recognition
	Edge m.2 Coral TPU Support
Storage Services
	SED Drive Support	SED Drive Support
	QTier	Synology Hybrid RAID
	Hybrid Mount	Hybrid Share
	ISCSI Target/LUN	ISCSI Target/LUN
	vJBOD
	Snapshots	Snapshots
	SSD Cache (Read/Write/Both)	SSD Cache (Read/Write/Both)
	Cloud Sync / QSync	Cloud Sync
	Ex-FAT is Free	Fast RAID Rebuild
	RAID Resync control	RAID Resync control
	Secure Erase	Acrtive Backup Suite
	Lots of Expansions (TR/TL)	Hyper Backup
	HBS 3	Synology CMS
	Qfiling and Qsirch
Business Applications
	QVR Pro – 8 Camera Licenses (+USB Camera Support)	Surveillance Station – 2 Camera Licenses
	Virtualization Station	Virtual Machine Manager
	Ubuntu Linux Station 18/20	Docker Support
	Container Station	Active Backup 365 & Workspace
	Hypervisor Protector	Synology Office, Chat, Calendar
	QMailAgent	Synology Mail / MailPlus
	HD Station	Synology C2 and Services
	BoXafe
	Security Councillor	Security Councillor
	Malware Remover	Synology VPN Plus
	McAfee Anti-Virus Scanning	Log and Notification Center
	QVPN	Auto Blocking on SSH, Telnet etc
	Log and Notification Center	256 bit Encryption
	Auto Blocking on SSH, Telnet etc	2 Step Authentication
	256 bit Encryption	Firewall App
	2 Step Authentication	Access Protection and Allow/Deny list
	Firewall App	Synology Secure SignIn
	Access Protection and Allow/Deny list	Synology C2 Password

As you can see, both NAS brands provide similar levels of software, services and features, but they are presented in very different ways. Once again, I cannot emphasise enough how much more the QNAP platform is configurable but ALSO how it can often give you too much configuration and risk overwhelming less experienced users. The Synology DSM platform, for all its comparative rigidicy, is still overall the better software experience and you definitely see that Software over hardware priority from the brand clearly here. I have made long, LONG reviews on each of the NAS brand’s and their software platforms, which you can watch below for much, much more information on their respective strengths and weaknesses.

QNAP QTS 5.0 Review	Synology DSM 7 Review

Ultimately, it will come as no surprise that Synology come out on top in terms of software compared with the QNAP. That is not to say that the QNAP QTS platform is not good, it really, really is and some of the applications that are included for home and business users are often genuinely impressive, unique and provide facilities to the end-user that are wholly unavailable on any other NAS platform (eg Multimedia Console as a single portal media manager, the 2-3 Click VM storages and repository that are available in Virtualization Station, Linux Station and Container Staton or the QuMagie AI-powered tool that is able to cover a greater range of subjects and categories that any other NAS photo tool out there). However, the QNAP QTS platform is not quite as polished, as user-friendly and as responsive as the Synology DSM platform overall. If you want a better idea how these two NAS software platforms compare directly (i.e face to face), then you can check out my DSM vs QTS video below:

Alternatively, if you are NOT interested in using the software included with your NAS, there is always the option to install TrueNAS – Something that is surprisingly easy on the QNAP NAS (see video below):

QNAP TS-464 or the Synology DS423+ NAS – Conclusion

Ultimately, choosing between the Synology DS423+ and QNAP TS-464 largely comes down to a question of hardware vs software. The QNAP TS-464 is by a long distance the more advanced in hardware in practically every way (thanks of course to the brand’s focus in this direction) which leads to that system having a tremendously large scope in terms of what you can do with it, how far the storage can be expanded and how upgradable the system can be. The QNAP is the better future-proof hardware choice and despite the Synology NAS platform having a stronger software platform, it still has a vast array of software and services available in QTS nonetheless. For those that are hardware-focused or want a NAS to support their existing 3rd party client tools and apps, the QNAP TS-464 is by and larger the better choice. The Synology DS423+ NAS on the other hand, despite its 2-3 year older hardware (already premiered in the 2020 released DS920+) and arguably safer/sensible stance on hardware in general, is still a great NAS that will likely becoming more popular and palatable in the 4-Bay NAS market as the pricing becomes a bit more flexible (as many will still weigh the DS423+ with the older DS920+ that still has stock floating around and opt for the latter). Add to that the core strength and first-party focus of DSM leading to this hardware+software solution providing you with a huge array of polished and premium feeling tools at your disposal. As long as you are happy to do things ‘Synology’s way’ and are looking for an easy to use system that will not tax the end-users brain, you will find Synology the better software choice overall.

QNAP TS-464 NAS – Spring/Summer 2022		Synology DS423+ NAS – Spring 2023
Reasons to Buy it? Better Hardware inside and out More Expansion/Upgrade Options Able to run more simultaneous apps/clients at once Faster USB Ports (10Gb/s) Larger bandwidth PCIe upgrade slot (PCIe 3×2 vs 2×2/2×4) Higher CPU Frequency, Efficiency & Proficiency M.2 SSD Useable Tiered Storage Option		Reasons to Buy it? Much more user-friendly Synology Hybrid RAID for flexibility Overall Better 1st Party Software Better Surveillance Access/Streaming Lower Price Point as it in the SOHO part of Syn’s Portfolio Quieter Operation First Party Accessories (HDD, SSD, Memory, etc) Available
Buy on Amazon	Where to Buy	Buy on Amazon	Where to Buy

 

Les mini PC sont très en vogue depuis quelque temps, grâce à leur faible encombrement, leur puissance et leur faible consommation énergétique. Depuis quelques semaines, j’ai eu l’occasion de tester le nouveau mini PC de chez Geekom : le XT12 Pro. Ce modèle ressemble très fortement au modèle A7 testé précédemment. Cependant, il y a quand même quelques petites différences visibles et d’autres plus importantes sous le capot. Dans cet article, nous examinerons de près les caractéristiques de ce mini PC dont le prix démarre à partir de 749€. Test du Geekom XT12 Pro CPU Intel Core i9-12900H (Alder Lake) : […]
Lire la suite : Test du Geekom XT12 Pro, mini PC à base d’Intel de 12ème génération (Alder Lake)

AOOSTAR GEM10 SSD NAS Review – SUPER COMPACT FLASH!

With so, SO many Chinese players entering the OS-free NAS scene in the last couple of years, several names have bubbled to the top (natural selection in IT?) and one name that is making big waves is Aoostar! At a glance, you could easily lump them into the ever  growing pile of ‘mini PC’ companies that spam your Facebook pages, AliExpress and eBay. But what has set them apart is their specifically NAS-tailored development of their server releases. The mini PC crossover from SoC/Mobile scale processors of your favourite Intel Core or Ryzen processor is nothing new, but the growing market for NAS systems that need to spread the focus towards storage and network connectivity is all too often a leap that separates the men from the boys – and what has make Aoostar a player in this arena it would appear. Back in December ’23, I reviewed the Aoostar R1 and Aoostar R7, and I was massively impressed by what these affordable UnRAID/TrueNAS-ready boxes were achieving! Today is the turn of the Aoostar GEM10 – An m.2 NVMe Flash NAS System that features Gen4 SSD architecture, USB4, 32GB DDR5 Memory, 2.5G and oCulink. So, does the Aoostar GEM10 NAS deserve your hot data? Let’s find out in today’s review.

Where to Buy? Aoostar GEM10 3x Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe NAS (AliExpress $465) – HERE Aoostar GEM10 3x Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe NAS (7940HS Amazon) – HERE Aoostar GEM12 3x Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe NAS (7840HS Amazon) – HERE Aoostar GEM10 3x Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe NAS (6800H Amazon) – HERE

AOOSTAR GEM10 SSD NAS Review – Quick Conclusion

The Aoostar GEM10 is making some pretty bold hardware promises, given it’s scale! The ‘dazzle’ of how powerful mini PCs have been getting in the last few years has definitely become a little duller, as it grows more common. But given how Aoostar has merged this into a much more NAS-tailored system in a meaningful way that clearly cost some $ at the R&D level needs to be appalled. This is not a small SSD NAS with is covered in Mini-PC caveats – this IS a NAS and one that I think might well be the most powerful for it’s scale in the market right now (especially at $499+). That said, it certainly ain’t perfect! Network scalability is a mixed bag, the way memory has been approached (in architecture and ECC support) is debatable, the CPU choices in the range of 4 with the differing process and PCIe layouts is a big baffling and the full utility of oCuLink in this NAS context is still far from fleshed out. BUT, There are prosumer concerns for the more technically minded and IT sophisticated, which I think does not make up the bulk of this device’s target demographic. I struggle to call this system turn-key (due to it’s lack of an included NAS OS, even a 3rd party one, as seen in the UnRAID license-ready LincStation N1), but it’s certainly miles more user-friendly than full DiY. I have often spoken of the growing middle ground between full NAS DiY from the ground up and full ‘out the box’ turnkey from brands like Synology and QNAP. The Aoostar GEM10 is a FANTASTIC example of the kind of product that can evolve from this – well build, powerful, 3rd party OS ready and a step above the churned-out Chinese budget fodder found elsewhere in the ‘pre-built OS free NAS sector’. Recommended – IF you have the time to set it up right!

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? These Offers are Checked Daily

AOOSTAR GEM10 SSD NAS Review – Design

The design of The GEM10 is a little beefier than most mini PCs (though, obviously much smaller than comparable desktop NAS devices running on MITX boards), and a lot of this space is needed for the chunky cooling system internally.

The GEM10 arrives at just 10.7cm x 10.7cm x 6cm in size and just a little under 1KG when fully populated with SSDs. The retail kit includes an external power adapter, instruction manual (which arrives in 2 languages and is a little space tbh), mini screwdriver and thermal pads. Depending on whether you purchase the version with SSD and 32GB DDR5 Media, this will change the # of thermal pads inc.

There is ventilation on practically every side of the device – which given the 8-core 4.7Ghz , 16 thread architecture of the device and it’s three Gen4 M.2 slots should NOT come as a big surprise! This tony little chassis has a lot crammed in and the potential for temperature-related system bottlenecks and throttling is MASSIVE!

Alongside the passive ventilation panels on all 4 sides and the top section (above where the CPU is located), the system also features who internal active cooling fans built into the top and base. Even a casual check through the vented panels reveals the internal heatsink of that CPU. This is a decent amount of cooling provisioning for the scale of the system, even for a Ryzen SoC like this one, for when SSD NAS operations truly kick off!

The base fan is not silent, but it manages to be pretty mild (in the grad scheme of things), as it is parallel with the desk when deployed. I will say that full control of this fan (and the CPU fan) is debatable, as the system does not arrive with NAS software (no Aoostor 1st party NAS OS, or an included UnRAID/TrueNAS/OMV license either). So, how much control you have over these cooling measures is going to be debatable.

For such a compact chassis, you can definitely feel the weight of the internals. The external casing is largely plastic, which I was a little surprised by. Nevertheless, you cannot fault that the brand has clearly factored cooling and ventilation in to their device, whilst still keeping an eye on keeping it fantastically compact. Let’s discuss the connectivity of the Aoostar GEM10.

AOOSTAR GEM10 SSD NAS Review – Ports and Connections

Credit where it is due – Aoostar has done a 10/10 job here to get as many ports featured on this device as they have, given the scale of the GEM10. The ports are located on the front and rear panel, and although there are the usual ‘mini PC’ telltale ones (audio in/out for example, that has practically no use in traditional NAS outside of a locally deployed VM), I will definitely give them credit for keeping pretty much everything else very NAS friendly – with a fun little twist at the end!

The ports are largely separated into network ports and storage ports (at least when you use NAS software) with the front featuring 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gb/s), USB 4 (40Gbps) and an Oculink port (more on that later).

The rear on the other hand features two 2.5GbE ports (so, a little good news / bad news there), twin HDMI 4K/8K outputs and two more USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gb ports. So, although this mini NAS is a little more on the expensive side compared to other Mini SSD NAS that have been launched from China in the last 18 months, I will say that this device features some of the very ports hardware ports out there I have been at this price point.

We are starting to see more and more USB4 NAS-ready devices arrive on the market from China, as the booming industry for NAS-ready Mini ITX and Micro ITX boards scene grows more and more. However, once again, the extent to which you can use this functionality is hugely NAS OS-dependent. So, although I am willing to bet that most NAS software you install on this will happily give you USB 4 speeds on a connected external SSD drive, I do not think we will see this for use as a direct PC/Mac-to-NAS connection anytime soon – QNAP still dominates the market on Thunderbolt NAS devices that allow such a feature.

The GEM10 arriving with two 2.5G ports is mixed news really. Obviously, these two (even if your NAS OS of choice supports LAG, Trunking, SMB MultiChannel or even Load Balancing) mean a total network connection potential of 550MB/s or so (half a gigabyte) network throughput, so these are going to be massively oversaturated with even a single SSD inside. That said, there are still a lot of users who will be happy with this (at least you have 2x ports for failover) as they prioritize internal performance, IOPS and throughput for complex databases, VMs, containers and more. Given the scale of the system, you won’t be surprised to learn that a PCIe slot is simply not available for any kind of NIC upgrade card. You CAN use 2.5G/5G-to-USB adapters (again, NAS OS dependant) as the system has several USB ports available, but the system also arrives with another trick up its sleeve – oCuLink.

OCuLink is a relatively new kind of technology that allows the benefits and scalability of PCIe to be available over an external connection. Hotswapping and plug-n-play is still not in anyway advised, but it does mean that the GEM10 has the potential to add PCIe-connected hardware upgrades (via supports Oculink-to-PCIe enclosures). oCuLink is predominantly associated with eGPU upgrades to allow the power of graphics cards to be added to systems with ease, but the potential to use this for improved network connectivity with 10G/25G/100G cards is MASSIVE!

Noise-wise, I cannot say that the GEM10 is silent by any means. Because of the two FANS inside (base and CPU fan) during peak periods, the ambient noise was noticeable. It was still very much on a small scale and the only really problematic at less than 1 metre distance, but they were definitely there! In idle, the fans were non-existent in noise and I had to check a couple of times to see that it was on! But when the SSDs were in heavy write (as well as during the initial 15 secs of boot), the fans were around 32-35 db.

The power use of the Aoostar GEM10 was pretty reasonable. Obviously, we have to factor in that this is an exclusively M.2 NVMe system and therefore this does seemingly scale the power use down, but this is still a pretty beefy CPU inside (comparative to the non SoC version of course). Idle power use was a conservative 10-12W (this was after the initial boot, running UnRAID and then the system was left to go into IDLE, with all drives in idle).

During heavy active use (UnRAID, accessing all drives and the CPU at 50-60% utilization) the power use was at 34-38W. Had this been a SATA HDD system, it would likely have hit the 50-60W scale easily. Pretty good for the size of the system.

Keep in mind that the CPU supports power adjustment at BIOS and, depending on your NAS OS choice, could result in even better power consumption numbers in your own bespoke setup. Overall, I am not going to say that the GEM10 gives you anything incredible in the connectivity department – but I will say that it is a complete gamechanger when compared to what is on offer from the bulk of Mini-PC NAS hybrid devices in the market. Aoostar have clearly spent serious time and R&D to finesse their NAS range (the GEM10, GEM12, R1 and R7 series are great examples) that are designed to be more than just a mini PC that is pretending to be a NAS. The GEM10 here has the kind of connectivity that I would love to see on more traditional turnkey NAS devices. But what good is all that connectivity, without the right H/W inside to fulfil it! Let’s discuss the internal hardware.

AOOSTAR GEM10 SSD NAS Review – Internal Hardware

The base of the system come away with the removal of four base screws. Doing so reveals the individual storage bays, the WiFi 6 wireless NIC structure and the base cooling and active fan provisioning.

The base fan is encased in its own panel and the intervening panel is a metal plate that sits directly connected to the M.2 SSDs. This is pretty smart (in a way) as it ensures that the heat being generated by the SSDs (Gen4 m.2 SSDs remember) will be passed (via the thermal pads) directly into the metal panel and dissipated into the airflow of the fan. Not an unusual method, but a smart tradeoff of the limited space and creative cooling.

The system arrives with three gen 4×4 SSD bays (according to the specifications tables, but there is room for debate, given the 4 different CPU configurations that are available in the Ryzen 7 7840HS, 7735H, 6800H and Ryzen 9 7940HS), so I will be digging into the BIOS and SSH later on to check. Plus, it becomes clear wh the included thermal pads that the GEM10 arrives with were so thin – there is very VERY little space between the individual M.2 bays and the metal fan-assisted panel. You can FORGET any kind of m.2 heatsinks in between, even particularly aggressive heatshields on SSDs are going to be a little tight.

If you purchase the pre-populated 1TB model, it arrives via a BIWIN 1TB Gen 3×4 SSD (available here for specs on Amazon). On the one hand, having an OS drive is always going to be handy, and in the case of some NAS OS such as TrueNAS, you need a clearly separate operating system OS drive target. But the drive being Gen3 means that you are already potentially underusing that Gen4 slot (you only have x3 total!). Additionally, if you plan on NAS software such as UnRAID (running from an USB) it means that you will need to replace this drive with something a little more uniform and higher performance soon-ish! Just a note to keep in mind when buying a pre-configured version of the GEM10.

Interestingly, another move by Aoostar here to manoeuver so much connectivity into this slim size (and be as efficient as possible with the 20 lanes afforded to that SoC Ryzen AMD chip) is that alongside those 3 Gen4 slots, they have added an adapter into a 4th slot that separates into a wireless NIC adapter slot and into that oCuLINK connector on a riser board. Obviously, this does bring up the question of removing the adapter card to remove wireless connectivity and the oCuLink, in favour of a 4th SSD. That’s one to ponder, for sure!

The WiFi 6 card is a fairly common $20-30 AX200NGW Intel adapter, that has 2×2 connectivity via two antennae that run from the card to two sides of the enclosure – so 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, and 800Mb and 1.2Gb wireless bands afforded to you. Once again, the NAS OS you use makes all the difference and very few NAS OS’ actually support wireless connectivity in both connections (i.e to attach the NAS to your WiFi network AND connecting to the NAS over WiFi directly as it’s on AP.

Accessing the underside of this board, to access that CPU proved very difficult, as it would undermine the later tests in this article (so I will be coming back to this at a later date and/or in the review). The CPU in the model I reviewed was the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS mobile SoC and 32GB of memory (pre-attached via individual flash cells – no upgrading). The R7 6800HS integrates all eight cores based on the Zen 3+ microarchitecture. They are clocked at 3.2 (guaranteed base clock) to 4.7 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT / Hyperthreading (16 threads). The chip is manufactured on the modern 6 nm TSMC process. The HS variant offers a 10 W reduced TDP and therefore a lower sustained performance than the H version.

AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS

Product Family

AMD Ryzen Processors

Product Line

AMD Ryzen 7 Mobile Processors with Radeon Graphics

# of CPU Cores

8

# of Threads

16

Max. Boost Clock

Up to 4.7GHz

Base Clock

3.2GHz

L1 Cache

512KB

L2 Cache

4MB

L3 Cache

16MB

Default TDP

35W

Processor Technology for CPU Cores

TSMC 6nm FinFET

Unlocked for Overclocking

No

CPU Socket

FP7

Max. Operating Temperature (Tjmax)

95°C

*OS Support

Windows 11 – 64-Bit Edition

Windows 10 – 64-Bit Edition

RHEL x86 64-Bit

Ubuntu x86 64-Bit

*Operating System (OS) support will vary by manufacturer

PCI Express® Version

PCIe® 4.0

System Memory Type

DDR5

Memory Channels

2

Max Memory Speed

4x1R

DDR5-4800

4x1R

LPDDR5-6400

Graphics Model

AMD Radeon 680M

Graphics Core Count

12

Graphics Frequency

2200 MHz

The new Zen 3+ is a refresh of the Zen 3 architecture and should not offer a lot of changes. The chip itself however, offers a lot of new features, like support for USB 4 (40 Gbps), PCI-E Gen 4, DDR5-4800MT/s or LPDDR5-6400MT/s, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth LE 5.2, DisplayPort 2, and AV1 decode. A big novelty is the integrated GPU Radeon 680M, that is now based on the RDNA2 architecture and offers 12 CUs at up to 2.2 GHz. It should be the fastest iGPU at the time of announcement. This Ryzen 7 has a default TDP of 35 W (also known as the long-term power limit). Which is definitely too high to allow for passively cooled designs. The CPU is cooled by a pre-attached double copper pipe radiator that fans out into the edges of the case.

The scope of this processor is great and exactly the kind of processor you would want if you want to have fast and stable performance from a RAID’d group of SSDs in such a compact system. The fixed memory, although of a decent amount at 32GB (4x 8GB Cells, attached to PCB, not SODIMM), is annoying that it is fixed – additionally, there have been mixed reports online supporting the overclocked speed potential of the LPDDR5-6400 in this configuration.

Plus, there is a lot of ‘grey’ when it comes to ECC support here too – as the 6800HS DOES support ECC memory, but it is very much BIOS, physical config and OS dependant to a degree – so ECC is only really going to be a ‘thing’ here if Aoostar have included it! All that aside, if you are less interested in hardware tinkering and OC’ing the architecture and just looking for fast and stable performance in the default config 0 this has ALOT of the building blocks in hardware that you would want to see on a competent flash NAS.

AOOSTAR GEM10 SSD NAS Review – Software and Performance

The Aoostar GEM10 NAS unit I received arrived with Windows 11 on board and an included OS SSD (this drive is available included, alongside the 32GB pre-attached memory). This software will almost certainly be abandoned after purchase, in favour of the system having UnRAID, TrueNAS, OMV, etc installed by the end user, but whilst it was there, I took a moment to check the Geekbench scores for the CPU and GPU. The GEM10 scored a highly respectable 2039/9435 Single/multi core rating.

The GPU score (something that many plex/vm/container users are going to be concerned with) was pretty good for a smaller class system, at 29336.

Digging into the terminal/SSH we were able to learn a little more about the PCIe allocation across the system. That SSD that was included with the device in m.2 NVMe SSD Bay #1 was indeed a PCIe Gen 4×4 slot, without any kind of downgrade in place – nice to see!

Likewise, slots 2 and 3 were also both 4×4 and not downgrade – surprisingly rare in 2024, with so many flash systems in the market needing to lower the speeds of m.2 bays for reasons of resource use, bifurcation or just heat generation.

Performance testing on these bays was reasonable, with the Seagate Ironwolf 525 SSD (with a reported maximum performance of 5GB/5,000MB/s) hitting in excess of 4GB/s Read on sustained/repeated 1GB file tests.

Likewise, the maximum reported write performance of this drive of 4.4GB/s / 4,400MB/s by Seagate, was not too far off the 3.85GB/s average performance that the drive reached in the GEM10 in sustained 1GB write testing.

Then I tested the performance of copying data between 2 of the M.2 NVMe SSDs. This ended up hitting quite a low number at 1.155GB/s. This was not unusual (shared channel/lane etc vs system overhead etc). but I would have liked/hoped to have at least seen this hit closer to 2GB at least. Still not, terrible, just not great.

The top performance you should be expecting will be MASSIVELY influenced by the drives you chose to use and the NAS OS you choose to install. In the UnRAID and Seagate 525 Ironwolf setup I use, the power use, noise, performance and response times I observed were all pretty solid. But there’s plenty of room for improvement/error in other configurations compared with a standard turnkey solution, especially at this scale.

I reached out to Aoostar on some of the areas of this GEM10 Review that users frequently asked about with Mini PC styled NAS devices, and Aoostar was able to provide the answers to the most recurring questions below

Q – Why Does the Aoostar GEM10 not have ECC Memory?

A – On the subject of ECC, currently 95% of the mini computers on the market don’t support ECC memory, it’s not that we don’t want to get it that way, it’s restricted by some part of the authority, so it leads to most of the mini computers on the market don’t support ECC memory at the moment. However DDR5 does support on die ECC, which provide a similar level of data inconsistency protection.

Q – Why is the Aoostar GEM10 at a maximum 32GB of memory when the CPU supports more?

A – Unfortunately, there is no 64G of inlay RAM available at this scale and deployment, it’s not that we don’t want to do this configuration. If you want to use dual-channel DDR5 RAM like other models, then the size will be bigger, and it will not be able to meet the “mini size” we advertise. But the 32G RAM capacity is good enough for most uses

Q – With so many configurations of the GEM10 and GEM12 series, how does a buyer avoid confusion on what they need?

A – In view of your confusion about the configuration of the GEM10 series of CPUs, let me introduce you to the GEM10 series of CPUs: GEM10 AMD R7 6800H CPU (inlaid memory 32G); GEM10 AMD R7 7735H CPU (inlaid memory 16G, currently discontinued); GEM10 AMD R7 7840HS CPU (32G of inlay memory); GEM10 AMD R9 78940HS CPU (32G of inlay memory). The best price/performance ratio is the GEM10 6800H CPU, but as a company that puts a lot of money into R&D and seeks to produce cost-effective products, the GEM10 Intel N100 SKU (32G of inlaid memory) is already ready, but we are still testing it for the engineering machine, and it should be officially launched in a few months.

Q – Why does the GEM10 use USB4 and not Thunderbolt4?

A – About Thunderbolt and USB4 ports. As we all know, the Thunderbolt interface is Intel’s project, so they produce their own mini-computers are equipped with the Thunderbolt interface. USB4 interface is more open, AMD does not have a proprietary interface of the project, and they, as a competitor to INTEL, want to get the authorization of the Thunderbolt interface is in fact very difficult, which is why the market is equipped with the AMD mini-computer are USB4 interface! . Our company will also launch the INTEL series of minicomputers next month, but I still don’t know whether the project team will license these minicomputers with Thunderbolt interfaces or USB4 interfaces

 

AOOSTAR GEM10 SSD NAS Review – Conclusion and Verdict

The Aoostar GEM10 is making some pretty bold hardware promises, given it’s scale! The ‘dazzle’ of how powerful mini PCs have been getting in the last few years has definitely become a little duller, as it grows more common. But given how Aoostar has merged this into a much more NAS-tailored system in a meaningful way that clearly cost some $ at the R&D level needs to be appalled. This is not a small SSD NAS with is covered in Mini-PC caveats – this IS a NAS and one that I think might well be the most powerful for it’s scale in the market right now (especially at $499+). That said, it certainly ain’t perfect! Network scalability is a mixed bag, the way memory has been approached (in architecture and ECC support) is debatable, the CPU choices in the range of 4 with the differing process and PCIe layouts is a bit baffling and the full utility of oCuLink in this NAS context is still far from fleshed out. BUT, There are prosumer concerns for the more technically minded and IT sophisticated, which I think does not make up the bulk of this device’s target demographic. I struggle to call this system turn-key (due to it’s lack of an included NAS OS, even a 3rd party one, as seen in the UnRAID license-ready LincStation N1), but it’s certainly miles more user-friendly than full DiY. I have often spoken of the growing middle ground between full NAS DiY from the ground up and full ‘out the box’ turnkey from brands like Synology and QNAP. The Aoostar GEM10 is a FANTASTIC example of the kind of product that can evolve from this – well build, powerful, 3rd party OS ready and a step above the churned-out chinese budget fodder found elsewhere in the ‘pre-built OS free NAS sector’. Recommended – IF you have the time to set it up right!

PROS of the GEM10 Flash NAS

CONs of the GEM10 Flash NAS

Insanely Compact, especially for the hardware configuration 8 cores and 16 threads to play with on an SSD NAS – Yum Yum Dual LAN Connectivity = failover USB 4 Support and 4x 10G USB oCuLink inclusion is unusual, but adds potential scalability 32GB LP Memory TONNES of cooling and ventilation No 3rd party NAS OS Locks or Limitations Gen 4 Architecture on the SSD Bays Scope to add a 4th M.2 SSD Bay (removing oCulink and WiFi6 Card)

Low Noise, but definitely not silent! ECC Support and Memory overclocking is debatable Confusion of CPU configurations

Where to Buy? Aoostar GEM10 3x Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe NAS (AliExpress $465) – HERE Aoostar GEM10 3x Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe NAS (7940HS Amazon) – HERE Aoostar GEM12 3x Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe NAS (7840HS Amazon) – HERE Aoostar GEM10 3x Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe NAS (6800H Amazon) – HERE

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This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions   Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

WE LOVE COFFEE

 

Bonjour à tous, J’espère que vous allez bien. Pour ma part, tout se passe pour le mieux. J’ai un peu ralenti l’écriture sur Cachem ces dernières semaines. Entre les vacances et les jours fériés, je me suis octroyé quelques jours de déconnexion. Cependant, cela ne signifie pas que je vous ai oubliés… je vous assure. J’ai encore un peu de bricolage à faire et après cela, on repasse au rythme habituel 😉 Comme il y a  moins de nouveautés chez Synology, QNAP et Asustor… j’en ai profité pour sortir 2 tests de chez TerraMaster (le NAS F4-424 et le DAS […]
Lire la suite : Édito du 17 mai 2024

Asusor Reveal the Lockerstor Gen 3 NAS series in 4, 6, 8 and 10-Bay

With the recent reveal of the Asustor Flashstor Gen 2 and a recent refresh of a number of their cost-effective units being refreshed to Gen 2 versions, you would be forgiven for thinking that this slightly smaller brand in the world of NAS might have little more to offer in 2024. However, alongside the Flashstor Gen 2, Asustor have also revealed the Lockerstor Gen 3 – the 3rd iteration of their very popular Prosumer Desktop series (first launched back in 2020). Asustor has tended to scale up and double many elements of their devices with each refresh, and the Lockerstor Gen3 is no exception to this rule. Arriving in 4, 6, 8 and 10 Bay configurations, the AS68 series features a more raw performance-focused CPU, DDR5 ECC Memory, scaled-up network bandwidth and four faster M.2 SSD support. All the while arriving in the family enclosure design as it’s predecessors and supporting the full range of ADM’s software and services (with promises of ADM 5 rolling out later this year). Let’s discuss this new desktop HDD and M.2 NVMe SSD Hybrid NAS for 2024.

What Are the Hardware Specifications of the Asustor Lockerstor Gen 3 NAS Series?

The previous release in the Lockerstor series (the AS67 range) was an Intel Celeron base system that, although provided popular features such as integrated graphics opening the door to improved plex transcoding and Intel QuickSync , also reduced the available number of PCI lanes across the system architecture and also lowered the overall system performance potential notable. The Locksterstor Gen 3 sought to remedy this with a significantly more capable processor that provided much more power, more lanes to play with, Gen4 architecture and support of ECC memory – which in a system that features such a bulk of storage and m.2 SSD bays, is going to be very desirable! Let’s take a look at the reported internal specifications fo the Lockerstor Gen 3 NAS:

Model	Asustor Lockerstor Gen3 Series
Model	AS6804 / AS6806 / AS6808 / AS6810
CPU	AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14 (2.3-3.8Ghz) Zen3 Processor
Integrated GFX	N/A
Cores and Threads	4 Cores / 8 Threads
TDP	15W (Configurable to 10-25W at CPU level TBC)
CPU LANES	20 Lanes, Gen4
MEMORY	TBC – But DDR5 and ECC Support Indicated (32GB TBC)
M.2 DRIVE SLOTS	x4 Gen 4×1 via a sister/riser card
HDD	4 / 6 / 8 / 10 SATA
MAXIMUM DRIVE BAYS WITH EXPANSION	Additional 8 Bays via Offical Expansion
SUPPORTS SINGLE VOLUME LARGER THAN 16TB

Choosing the right CPU for a NAS is, frankly, not easy! It would be SO easy to just lump in some beast desktop gamer PC processor, but the reality is that the CPU is a NAS that needs to be able to run 24×7, needs to be powerful enough to get the jobs done but at the same time not be TOO power hungry as it will cost a fortune to run.. oh.. and it needs to manage it’s temperature well and not get too hot that it throttles. Not enough? Oh it also needs to support ECC memory to ensure data integrity from things like bitrot. have plenty of cores and/or vCPUs for VM allocation and needs to be affordable. SERIOUSLY!!!

This is why the processor that the Lockerstor Gen3 arrives with is such a great choice! There will be those of you who will be disappointed in the lack of integrated graphics, but it’s worth highlighting that the Lockerstor Gen 3 does not seem to be ‘replacing’ the Gen 2 model currently (as well as no 2-Bay option in the Gen3 series), but instead expanding the range – so those that want GFX will have the Celeron version. but those looking for a compact and powerful workhorse system will have the Lockerstor Gen 3 version with its AMD Ryzen V3C14 processor to play with. This processor manages to crank to up to 3.8Ghz when needed, on it’s 4 core and 8 thread architecture (so, technically 8 virtual CPUs to play with on your containers and VMs). Likewise, die hard storage enthusiasts will be pleased to note that this CPU not only supports DDR5 memory but also ECC (Error Correction Code / Error Code Correction) up to 32GB. We are still yet to 100% confirm the base included level or memory and if it is soldered or SODIMM deployed, as well as the quantity included in the 6 and 12 Bay models respectively. Power consumption on this processor, despite it’s scale of capabilities, is also an impressively low 15 TDP according to AMD (with configuration possible to allow 15W and 25W TDP – but how much of this will translate to the Lockerstor Gen3 and ADM is still TBC). Also, a minor but important note, AMD have a fantastic reputation in their Embedded Ryzen series and this processor is slated for support till 2032, a HUGE change up for the 3-4yr support cycle by Intel in a number of their Celeron processors. Here is how that CPU is broken down in the specs:

Product Line	AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000 Series
Model	V3C14
Release Date	September 27, 2022
Market	Desktop
Architecture	Zen 3+ (Rembrandt)
Socket	AMD Socket FP7
Foundry	TSMC
Process Size	6 nm
Package	FP7r2
Cores	4
Threads	8
Base Frequency	2.3 GHz
Turbo Frequency	Up to 3.8 GHz
TDP	15 W (configurable between 10-25W)
Memory Support	DDR5, up to 4800 MT/s, Dual-channel with ECC support
PCI-Express	Gen 4, 20 Lanes (CPU only)
Cache	L1: 64 KB per core, L2: 512 KB per core, L3: 8 MB (shared)
Features	AVX, AVX2, AMD Secure Processor, AMD Memory Guard, other performance enhancements
Longevity	Planned product availability until 2032

You might well have also spotted that this system arrives with 20 lanes of PCIe Gen 4 architecture – This is a HUGE scale up for the 9 Lanes of Gen 3 in the Lockerstor Gen 2 series. This means that the AS68/Gen3 has more than double to lane allocation to distribute across the system AND those individual lanes are twice the bandwidth. Here is a diagram layout of this processor series by way of reference:

Interestingly, the range arrives in a decent range of storage profiles too, in 4-Bay, 6-Bay, 8-Bay and 10-Bay of SATA storage. With full support of RAID 0/1/5/6/10, as well as support of BTRFS and numerous backup/archival tools included with the software – this is an impressively broad range of hardware options to arrive with this CPIU+RAM combo. There is support of 3.5″ HDDs and 2.5″ SSDs, also to Asustor’s credit, they are quite responsive and meticulous on their compatibility lists (certainly compared with the bulk of other NAS brands) and 24TB NAS HDDs and 8TB SSDs are already present on their support pages as compatible already.

However, the real kicker in terms of storage is that the 4x M.2 2280 support has been carried over from the Lockerstor Gen 2 series – making each device in the Lockerstor Gen3 series an impressive hybrid NAS system. However, the newer AMD V3000 embedded Ryzen processor means that these individual slots are Gen 4 (so 2000MB/s per lane), double that of the Gen2 series. Now, these ARE Gen 4×1 (almost certainly for reasons of available resources and what can be delivered efficiently), but that does still provide a decent amount of bandwidth per SSD slot which can be combed thanks to RAID storage pool support on these bays (alongside read/write caching of course).

Additionally, as the bays are only x1 speed, there is hope that excessive drive temperatures (leading to throttling) can be avoided. Until we have the unit here for review, we can only speculate on this, but fair play to Asustor, when I raised this concern in the launch of the Lockerstor Gen 2, they published a video specifically on the subject of SSD temperatures on the Flashstor series when it has 6-12 SSDs at x1 speeds (see below) to show that temperatures were notably lower.

Overall, the internal hardware of the Lockerstor Gen 3 is decent-sized jump over the Gen 2 series, but mainly in terms of bandwidth and power across the board (Gen 4 lanes, more CPU threads and higher clock speed). That said, unless you are well versed in the technicals – the scope of these improvements are going to be easy to miss. Let’s discuss the ports and connectivity of the Lockerstor Gen 3 NAS.

Lockerstor Gen 3 Series, Ports and Connections

People’s demands for their private server storage have certainly scaled up in recent years. Part of this is the improved speeds afforded to internet speeds thanks to Fibre and even cellular 5G coverage – but also, the standard of consumer client hardware and it’s network connectivity has also scaled up, allowing access to WiFi 6/6e at 1.2Gb and 2.5GbE connectivity becoming ‘baseline’ in 2024 for a lot of current tech. Then you have the increasing affordability of 10GbE and 2.5/5GbE network adapters in the market (with USB-connected adapters starting at as little as $15) meaning that a NAS device arriving now with ‘simple’ Gigabit/1GbE connection is going to look a touch bottlenecked. When your internet speed crosses the gigabit speeds, then the idea of your LOCAL network storage capping at the gigabit speed is at best annoying, and at worse hugely impactful on your workflow. So, it was always going to be the case that Asustor would roll out the Lockerstor Gen 3 with greater than gigabit connectivity – hell, they were possibly the FIRST turnkey NAS brand to roll out a 2.5GbE desktop NAS (the Nimbustor series in 2019). However, they kinda went a bit bananas on the Lockerstor Gen3. Here are the ports and connections:

Now, I can say that in more than a decade following NAS releases, I have NEVER seen a desktop system arrive with twin 10G ports AND twin 5G network ports – maybe a rackmount, but even then, given the relative lack of 5GbE integration in the market, 5GbE system are still surprisingly rare. There are also going to be users who say “Hold Up, NOTHING I use is 5GbE!”. So, why is the inclusion of 5GbE alongside those 10G a good thing? Well, much like the use of 2.5G ports by brands in recent years, the point is to allow the potential to FULLY use the full extent of the bandwidth on offer from the system architecture. Thanks to ‘auto-negotiation’ in most )(but crucially, not all) 10GbE connections, it means that if you were to connect a copper 10GbE switch/router/client to these 5GbE ports, you would still be able to get 550MB/s or so max bandwidth. Sure, it’s not 10GbE – but better that beating hugely throttled down to standard gigabit connectivity and the available bandwidth on the system going to waste!

Although 5GbE support in switches natively is pretty thin on the ground, there are several different USB to 2.5GbE and 5GbE adapters you can buy on the market that allow you to make the most fo this bandwidth – especially if you are going to bypass the use of a switch entirely and opt instead for a direct connection between your client Mac/Windows/Linux machine and directly connect them to the NAS. This is something often used by photo/video editors that was to action post-production on projects directly on the NAS (rather than occupying local storage space). The 10GbE and 5GbE ports open up the external network connectivity on the Locksterstor Gen 3 towards 30Gb/s (shared across those connections of course – 5G+5G+10G+10G), and thanks to older combination services such as Link Aggregation and Port trunking, as well as newer and simplified services like SMB MultiChannel, that means that it is more than possible that a single client devicewith the right connections can open the flood gates to the bulk of this bandwidth! Add to that the potential RAID performance benefits afforded to 4-10 bays of SATA storage and the 4x Gen4x1 M2 NVMe storage, the potential to FULLY saturate that 30Gb/s external connectivity is also pretty good too!

All that positivity aside though, we do need to address that Asustor’s choice to opt for a less graphically enabled CPU means that HDMI and/or multimedia outputs (eg S/PDIF etc) are not available and no opportunity to add a GFX card to add them. So, the multimedia flexibility afforded to the Lockerstor Gen 2 is absent here. However, the Gen3 series DOES arrive with USB 10G connectivity for 1,000MB/s backup SSD drives, as well as supporting USB 4, which means 4,000MB/s bandwidth external drives too (though, in reality, most external USB 4 SSD drives will max around 3,300-3,500MB/s). The extent to which this USB 4 port can be used for non-storage peripherals (eg docking stations) is unknown right now, but the option to add a high performance USB4 Docking station and add further USB connections, network connections and more would certainly be something! Bottom line, the Locksterstor Gen 3 seems to be much more focused on file transmission and harnessing high bandwidth enabling, and the ports and connections are reflective of that! Let’s discuss the software and 3rd party NAS OS’.

Asustor Lockstor Gen 3 Software and Services

The Asustor Lockerstor NAS arrives with the latest version of ADM included. Additionally, this software receives frequent updates to ensure that the software runs the very best it can on this system, as well as keeping up to date with security patches and application versions.Also Asustor has also highlighted that they will be launching ADM 5 (the latest revision) alongside these devices – still awaiting confirmation on Beta status or full incremental rollout. The NAS software is accessible via a web browser and displayed very much like a normal computer operating system (desktop, user accounts, customizable themes, file management, running multiple tasks in windows that can be switched in the native tabs), but there are also a range of desktop client tools for accessing the NAS on your local machine natively, as well as a whole bunch of mobile applications that allow tailored access from your phone/tablet in more task-specific means (eg a photo app for viewing pictures and creating phone backup routines, a video app for enjoying your movies and boxsets, surveillance app to access your cameras, etc).  There is also a large range of support of 3rd party applications too in the ADM platform. Asustor is not as big a company as the likes of Synology and QNAP, whole put ALOT more money into their software development, but Asustor try to counter this by (when they do not have an in-house app) making native versions of 3rd party tools in their platform (example, they do not have a 1st party Virtual Machine app, but DO include huge support for VirtualBox). The platform is not quite as fully featured as DSM and QTS, but it is still a very smooth and accessible software platform. The app center has a few more 3rd party applications and slightly crowbarred software (eg the Amazon Media and Streaming service plugins) that is not updated up the original uploaders anywhere near enough (leading to running issues on these tools), but the 1st party apps run very well. The big takeaway on the Asustor software and it’s services is that the standard class of expected features of a modern NAS in 2024+ are here and run exactly as you would want, it is just some of the additional ones that other platforms have doubled down on (such as AI-related services in Photography and Surveillance for example) that are a little lacking. That said, the brand has definitely ramped up a number of the key security protocols and settings in the default setup. But what about 3rd party OS? What is the Asustor position on this?

Asustor have been surprisingly fluid on this one in the last 18 months. Originally, they (along with the bulk of NAS vendors) were steadfast in their position of  “if you install a 3rd party OS such as UnRAID or TrueNAS, it will invalidate your warranty”. However, this position has now changed and they are continuing to support users who opt for 3rd party NAS OS installations, but with the caveat that if that software actively harms the system and/or results in the system being deployed in a fashion outside of what they guarantee the system to operate under (eg, the 3rd party NAS OS software automatically or manually overclocks the heck out of the processor and cooks it! Or overwrites the internal eMMC flash module that contains the ADM bootloader) they will not be able to offer support. I think this is pretty reasonable. However, it is ALSO worth keeping in mind that the Lockerstor Gen 3 series is built using a non-integrated gfx CPU, so there is the question of 3rd party NAS installation without a KVM/Visual output and/or BIOS access – but there ARE ways and means to get around this of course!

When Will the Asustor Lockerstor Gen3 Be Released, And How Much Will It Be?

Unlike the previously mentioned Flashstor Gen 2 which seems comparatively early in it’s development, the Lockerstor Gen 3 seems a lot further along in it’s production and I would expect it to arrive somewhere in the first half of Q3 2024 (July-September). Nothing confirmed yet officially however. Pricing-wise, I would expect things to be pretty close to the Gen 2 pricing, but with maybe a$100 or so more on the price tag on each storage capacity tier – perhaps with the 10 Bay commanding a premium. We should know and learn more about the Lockserstor Gen 3 NAS next month at Computex 2024. Stay Tuned!

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Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions   Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

WE LOVE COFFEE

 

Le fabricant Ubiquiti aime bien le changement, y compris avec son logiciel UniFi. Après le très simple UniFi, nous avons eu le droit au UniFi Controller, récemment renommé UniFi Network Application. Dans cet article, nous installerons cette nouvelle version et détaillerons la procédure de migration depuis une installation UniFi Controller existante. Pour ce tuto, nous utiliserons un NAS Synology avec Container Manager (Docker). UniFi Network Application et NAS Synology Les produits réseau UniFi présentent de nombreux atouts : qualité de fabrication, performance, fiabilité… La partie logiciel n’est pas en reste ! Elle offre une vue d’ensemble de son réseau et […]
Lire la suite : UniFi Network Application sur NAS Synology avec Docker

Review of the TerraMaster D5 Hybrid Storage System

In this review, we delve into the TerraMaster D5 Hybrid Storage System, a versatile and cost-effective solution designed to meet the diverse storage needs of both personal users and small businesses. Combining the high capacity of traditional HDDs with the rapid performance of NVMe SSDs, the D5 Hybrid offers an intriguing mix of speed and storage capabilities within a single device. It features user-friendly design elements like tool-free drive installation and moderate operational noise levels, all while leveraging USB 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity. This review explores the system’s specifications, performance, and overall value to help potential buyers determine if it aligns with their data storage and management requirements.

Find out more about the bigger Terramaster D8 Hybrid System HERE on Kickstarter

Note – You can watch the full YouTube Review and Benchmarks of the Terramaster D5 Hybrid storage system HERE

Specification	Details
Dimensions	222 x 119 x 154 mm
Weight	1.3 kg
Power Supply	40 W (100V to 240V AC) 50/60 HZ, Single Phase
System Fan	80 mm x 80 mm x 25 mm (x1)
Maximum Noise Level	19.0 dB(A) (Using 2 SATA HDDs/SSDs in standby mode)
Compatible Disk Types	3.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA SSD
Compatible NVMe	M.2 2280 NVMe Slot (x3)
Raw Capacity	Up to 68 TB (22 TB HDD x 2 + 8 TB NVMe x 3)
Supported RAID Configurations	SINGLE DISK, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1
HDD Sleep Mode	Yes
Connectivity	USB3.2 Type-C gen2 (10Gbps), DC IN 12V Barrelport
Price	€239.99 – $219.99

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Introduction to the TerraMaster D5 Hybrid

The TerraMaster D5 Hybrid is engineered to cater to the evolving demands of personal and small business storage by amalgamating traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) with the swift, modern NVMe solid-state drives (SSDs). This system includes two versatile SATA bays that support both 3.5″ and 2.5″ drives and three M.2 NVMe slots, offering a broad spectrum of storage options. It utilizes USB 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity, capable of reaching speeds up to 1000 MB/s. However, this setup prompts a discussion about the possible limitations of USB connectivity when used with high-performance storage technologies, potentially creating bottlenecks that could affect data transfer speeds.

Exploring the Design and Build

The D5 Hybrid showcases a durable and user-friendly design consistent with Terramaster’s latest NAS models. The system facilitates easy installation of drives with its tool-free “click and load” mechanism, suitable even for users without technical expertise.

The operational noise level is moderately low, which is a crucial consideration for use in shared spaces like small offices or home environments.

The storage solution accommodates up to two HDDs and three NVMe SSDs but opts out of including faster interface technologies such as Thunderbolt to maintain an affordable price point. This choice might restrict the performance potential of the system but makes the D5 Hybrid more accessible financially to a broader audience.

ASMedia and Realtek are two prominent players in the semiconductor industry, particularly known for their contributions to the development of chips that handle data connectivity and processing in various electronic devices.

ASMedia, a subsidiary of ASUS, specializes in high-speed interface technology, particularly USB and PCIe bridge solutions. Notably, their chips are pivotal in enhancing the performance of USB connections. For example, the ASM3042 is a significant advancement in their USB controller lineup, bridging PCI Express to USB3.2 and providing support for legacy USB functions. This chip showcases ASMedia’s capability to deliver high bandwidth and efficient power management, essential for maintaining low power consumption in various devices

In 2022, ASMedia became one of the first to introduce a USB4 host-controller, the ASM4242, designed to support high data transmission speeds up to 64 Gbps, making it backward compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and other protocols. The incorporation of ASMedia’s ASM4242, a high-performance USB4 host controller, into a device configuration represents a significant step towards future-proofing data transfer capabilities. The ASM4242 supports up to 64 Gbps of bandwidth, providing a robust solution for high-speed data, video, and power transmission over a single USB connection. This level of integration ensures that devices are not only meeting current standards but are also prepared for next-generation needs, with backward compatibility ensuring a broad range of device support.

Realtek’s contributions, while more commonly associated with their audio and network solutions, also extend to data interface technologies. Realtek chips are crucial for managing data transmission and ensuring compatibility across a vast ecosystem of computing and multimedia devices. Their technology helps to stabilize and optimize the data flow, critical for the functionality of hybrid storage systems where data integrity and speed are paramount.

Detailed Performance Assessment

The performance of the D5 Hybrid was meticulously tested under various configurations to truly understand its capabilities and limitations. Configuring the device with two Seagate 24TB Ironwolf Pro Series HDDs in a RAID 1 setup, the system demonstrated robust performance with peak write speeds reaching 262 MB/s. This configuration allowed for transferring 20 GB of data in slightly over two minutes.

When equipped with SSDs, the system’s performance increased notably. Using a single Kingston 500 GB M.2 NVMe SSD, the peak transfer speed observed was 572 MB/s, reducing the 20 GB data transfer time to around 1 minute and 14 seconds. Moreover, employing two Kingston DC600M enterprise-grade SATA SSDs in a RAID 1 configuration yielded the highest recorded speed of 630 MB/s, allowing for the fastest data transfer rate of just over a minute for 20 GB.

These tests underscore that although the D5 Hybrid doesn’t exhaust the full potential of its 10G external connection, it functions efficiently within the confines of its USB interface. This suggests a careful balance between performance and cost, ensuring adequate speed for standard tasks without the premium price tag associated with higher-end interfaces like Thunderbolt.

Is This a Comparative Market?

The D5 Hybrid is strategically positioned in the market to appeal to users who prioritize reliable performance over cutting-edge speed. It serves well for small to medium business applications, home offices, and creative professionals who require a dependable storage solution. The device offers an appealing alternative to more expensive options by providing sufficient speed for everyday tasks, including data backup and accessing large files, without compromising on quality or reliability.

Its cost-effectiveness paired with versatile storage capabilities makes the D5 Hybrid a formidable competitor in the hybrid storage market. It’s particularly attractive for budget-conscious buyers who still require a robust storage solution that can handle a mix of data types and usage scenarios.

Final Verdict and Conclusion of the Terramaster D5 Hybrid

The TerraMaster D5 Hybrid excels in blending the high capacity of HDDs with the quick data access speeds of SSDs, housed within a single, efficient unit. The system’s design emphasizes user-friendliness with features like tool-less drive installation and low operational noise, making it an excellent choice for a variety of settings, from busy office environments to quiet home use. However, potential users should weigh the impact of the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, which, while sufficient for many applications, might not meet the needs of those requiring the fastest possible data transfer speeds. The absence of Thunderbolt technology is a noted limitation, but this is reflected in the D5 Hybrid’s competitive pricing, which targets a segment of the market more concerned with value and reliability than with leading-edge performance. The TerraMaster D5 Hybrid offers a well-rounded solution for those seeking a storage system that combines large storage capacity with respectable speeds at a cost-effective price point. Its performance, although not pushing the upper limits of current technology, provides ample support for most professional and personal storage needs, making it a worthwhile investment for a broad range of users. The thoughtful design and practical features, coupled with the device’s solid build and reliable performance within its defined limits, establish the D5 Hybrid as a standout offering in its category.

PROs of the Terramaster D5 Hybrid

CONs of the Terramaster D5 Hybrid

Good sustained performance (if you preferred that to ‘Peak’ performance Low Power Use and Low Noise Good internal processor choices, especially for the price point NAS Supported, so can be used as a tiered expansion box Very simple to use Mac/Windows Supported (even worked connected to my Android phone!) Almost completely toolless Solid build and good ‘feel’ Supports 8TB M.2 NVMes (Tested Addlink A95 8TB 2280 NVMe) HDD Bay 1+2 are RAID Supported Affordable!

Software is limited and Premium features require a subscription Peak performance is much lower than what you would expect, despite 3×1 speed (max 1GB) on each m.2 USB 10Gb/s is going to be a bummer for those thinking about the real speed that 3x m.2 SSDs could hit. Disappointing that there is no USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (40Gb/s) or USB4/TB4 Version

Le Computex 2024 se tiendra du 4 au 7 juin prochain, à Taipei. De nombreuses révélations devraient être faites à cette occasion. Si on sait que QNAP et Synology devraient faire de grandes annonces, c’est aujourd’hui Asustor qui prend les devants : ADM 5.0, FLASHSTOR Gen2, LOCKERSTOR Gen3… Asustor et Computex 2024 Asustor a démarré son teasing (aguichage dans la langue de Molière). En effet, le fabricant de NAS a ouvert le bal avec quelques annonces. Asustor et AMD On commence par le matériel, la première annonce importante, c’est qu’Asustor va à son tour introduire ses premiers NAS basés sur […]
Lire la suite : Computex 2024 – Asustor annonce plusieurs nouveautés

À l’occasion de la Journée des Familles, pCloud surprend avec une offre exceptionnelle. Du 13 au 18 mai 2024, les familles du monde entier peuvent bénéficier de réductions allant jusqu’à 65 % sur les plans familiaux à vie, accompagnés d’un cadeau spécial : le pCloud Encryption gratuit à vie. Qu’est-ce que pCloud propose ? pCloud est une solution de stockage en ligne sécurisée (Cloud) utilisée par des millions de personnes. Fondée en Suisse, la société pCloud opère depuis un datacenter au Luxembourg pour l’Europe. Elle propose ainsi un haut niveau de confidentialité des données, en respectant les lois suisses en […]
Lire la suite : Offre pCloud pour la journée des familles 2024

The Flashstor and Flashstor 12 Pro Gen 2 from Asustor NAS

I do not think it would be an understatement to say that one of the stand-out devices in the world of NAS last year was the Asustor Flashstor NAS series, managing to hit a fantastic sweet spot for users looking at NVMe SSD NAS storage that arrived at an affordable pricepoint, whilst giving you tremendous value for money. Since then, several alternatives to buyers have appeared in the market to challenge it’s popularity and comparative dominance from the likes of QNAP, UGREEN and a slew of OS-free pre-built NAS solutions from mini PC companies. Nevertheless, Asustor seemingly held on to this market, regularly selling out of its Flashstor devices globally. So, inevitably, the brand was always going to be looking at ‘what’s next’ and that brings us to this – the Flashstor Gen 2. Arriving in a 6-Bay (FS6806T) and 12 Bay (FS6812X) form, this system is a less graphically focused and more throughput and performance-focused series that might be one of the most impressive desktop turnkey NAS devices for Flash that I have ever seen. Arrivnig with a beefy AMD CPU, ECC Memory support, 10GbE (possibly even 5GbE too – TBC), Gen 4 architecture for the M.2 slots and even USB 4 for good measure – the Flashstor Gen 2 seems to be a very confident response to the criticisms that were levelled at the original flashstor by those that wanted to squeeze more out of their SSDs! So, lets discuss this new exciting NAS system from Asustor.

The Asustor Flashstor Gen 2 – Internal Hardware

When I said that the Flashstor Gen 2 seeks to challenge some of the criticisms that were made at the original system, the bulk of these were about how much of the throughput that a RAID ready m.2 NVMe SSD system could be enjoyed by the end user. The original Flashstor series arrived with an Intel N5105 CPU (a quad-core Celeron) which although great for graphically demanding tasks and power efficiency, lacked a lot of the ‘umpf’ in terms of bandwidth speeds, lanes to allocate and raw power to get the most out of the SSDs inside. This newer flash system changes gears considerably and switches to an AMD-embedded Ryzen CPU that not only opens the door to Gen4 architecture (so each lane goes up from 1000MB/s to 2000MBs), but also allows for scaled-up memory quality and quality. Here is how the Flashstor 6 Gen 2 and Flashstor 12 Pro Gen 2 stack up on the internal hardware and storage:

Model
Model	FS6806T	FS6812X
CPU	AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14 (2.3-3.8Ghz) Zen3 Processor	AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14 (2.3-3.8Ghz) Zen3 Processor
Integrated GFX	N/A	N/A
Cores and Threads	4 Cores / 8 Threads	4 Cores / 8 Threads
TDP	15W (Configurable to 10-25W at CPU level TBC)	15W (Configurable to 10-25W at CPU level TBC)
CPU LANES	20 Lanes, Gen4	20 Lanes, Gen4
MEMORY	DDR5 and ECC Support Indicated	TBC – But DDR5 and ECC Support Indicated (32GB TBC)
M.2 DRIVE SLOTS	6 x NVMe/SATA	12 x NVMe/SATA
HDD	N/A	N/A
MAXIMUM DRIVE BAYS WITH EXPANSION	14	20
SUPPORTS SINGLE VOLUME LARGER THAN 16TB

So, there is ALOT to unpack here! The star of the show here is the CPU. Choosing the right CPU for a NAS is, frankly, not easy! It would be SO easy to just lump in some beast desktop gamer PC processor, but the reality is that the CPU is a NAS that needs to be able to run 24×7, needs to be powerful enough to get the jobs done but at the same time not be TOO power hungry as it will cost a fortune to run.. oh.. and it needs to manage it’s temperature well and not get too hot that it throttles. Not enough? Oh it also needs to support ECC memory to ensure data integrity from things like bitrot. have plenty of cores and/or vCPUs for VM allocation and needs to be affordable. SERIOUSLY!!!

This is why the processor that the Flashstor Gen 2 arrives with is such a great choice! There will be those of you that will be disappointed in the lack of integrated graphics, but it’s worth highlighting that the Flashstor Gen 2 does not seem to be ‘replacing’ the Gen 1 model, but instead expanding the range – so those that want GFX will have the Celeron version. but those looking for a compact and powerful workhorse system will have the Flashstor Gen 2 version with its AMD Ryzen V3C14 processor to play with. This processor manages to crank to up to 3.8Ghz when needed, on it’s 4 core and 8 thread architecture (so, technically 8 virtual CPUs to play with on your containers and VMs). Likewise, die hard storage enthusiasts will be pleased to note that this CPU not only supports DDR5 memory but also ECC (Error Correction Code / Error Code Correction) up to 32GB. We are still yet to 100% confirm the base included level or memory and if it is soldered or SODIMM deployed, as well as the quantity included in the 6 and 12 Bay models respectively, but given the ‘Pro’ status of the 12 Bay, I would suggest it is going to be 32GB on that model and 4-16GB on the 6-Bay. Power consumption on this processor, despite it’s scale of capabilities, is also an impressively low 15 TDP according to AMD (with configuration possible to allow 15W and 25W TDP – but how much of this will translate to the Flashstor Gen 2 and ADM is still TBC). Also, a minor but important note, AMD have a fantastic reputation in their Embedded Ryzen series and this processor is slated for support till 2032, a HUGE change up for the 3-4yr support cycle by intel in a number of their Celeron processors. Here is how that CPU is broken down in the specs:

Product Line	AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000 Series
Model	V3C14
Release Date	September 27, 2022
Market	Desktop
Architecture	Zen 3+ (Rembrandt)
Socket	AMD Socket FP7
Foundry	TSMC
Process Size	6 nm
Package	FP7r2
Cores	4
Threads	8
Base Frequency	2.3 GHz
Turbo Frequency	Up to 3.8 GHz
TDP	15 W (configurable between 10-25W)
Memory Support	DDR5, up to 4800 MT/s, Dual-channel with ECC support
PCI-Express	Gen 4, 20 Lanes (CPU only)
Cache	L1: 64 KB per core, L2: 512 KB per core, L3: 8 MB (shared)
Features	AVX, AVX2, AMD Secure Processor, AMD Memory Guard, other performance enhancements
Longevity	Planned product availability until 2032

You might well have also spotted that this system arrives with 20 lanes of PCIe Gen 4 architecture – This is a HUGE scale up for the 9 Lanes of Gen 3 in the Flashstor Gen 1 series. This means that the Flashstor Gen 2 has more than double to lane allocation to distribute across the system AND those individual lanes are twice the bandwidth. Here is a diagram layout of this processor series by way of reference:

Although this will translate very well in terms of the connectivity that I will touch on later on, the impact on those individual M.2 NVMe bays is pretty awesome too! Each 2280 M.2 Bay (6x on the Flashstor 6 Gen 2, 12x on the Flashstor 12 Pro Gen2) is PCIe Gen 4×1 – so 2,000MB/s bandwidth potential on each SSD. Yes, this is still throttling things down, but I think most users who are considering 2-4 bays at 4×4 or 12 Bay at 4×1 are going to pick the latter for reasons of storage potential + the performance and redundancy benefits inherent in RAID. Also, as discussed at length in discussion/dispute with Asustor, as these SSDs are going to be at x1 speed, this also means that the heat generated by these SSDs is going to be reduced considerably too. As ADM allows for multiple storage pools, this will also be great to create multiple smaller ‘hot’ pools or create a tiered storage system comprising Gen 3 and Gen 4 drives to be more creative with your budget on Day 1.

(Images from Flashstor 12 Pro for guidance on the 12x M.2 NVMe on the Gen 2 Model)

Until we have the Flashstor Gen 2 system in the studio, we cannot really confirm to what extent Asustor have squeezed all the potential out of this CPU and bulk M.2 architecture, but even at a glance, this system has some phenomenally well-balanced hardware internally that will please ALOT of people hoping to make the switch from HDD to SSD server use or even Cloud and DIRECTLY onto flash NAS. But it’s not just what is on the inside that counts (sadly!), so we need to discuss the ports and connectivity, and how this improved architecture in the Gen 2 scales against its predecessor in the Flashstor series.

The Asustor Flashstor Gen 2 – Ports and Connections

The ports and connectivity that are afforded to the Flashstor Gen 2 is a significant scale up over the 2023 release Flashstor Gen 1, thanks of course to that new CPU and the extra lanes and bandwidth it provides. The 6 Bay ports and connectivity are still up for a little debate, but are looking increasingly likely to be 2x 5GbE connectivity (due to reports of the Lockstor Gen 3 system arriving with 5GbE at Computex in June), whereas the Flashstor 12 Pro Gen 2 has been officially confirmed to be 2x 10GbE – so 20Gb/s to play with externally. This still largely pales in comparison to the potential performance of those 12 Gen 4×1 SSDs in a RAID, but this is still a great amount of network bandwidth to play with. Here is what we know about the connectivity:

It’s not hugely surprising that the Gen 2 Flashstor series has an absence of the multimedia-friendly HDMI (and I assume the loss of the S/PDIF audio out), given the lack of integrated graphics. Likewise, neither system features a PCIe upgrade slot (or even the slowly emerging oCuLink connection). But this is more than made up for by the dual 10GbE connectivity (so double that o the Gen 1 12 Pro).

Given the history of Asustor effectively ‘doubling’ the hardware base on their system with each ‘gen’ upgrade (see the Nimbustor, Lockerstor and DriveStorage series throughout each Gen upgrade for numerous examples of this), the indications that the Flashstor 6 Gen 2 being 1x/2x 5GbE are pretty likely. The Lockerstor Gen 3 AS68 series that will be revealed at the same time next month (but almost certainly released much sooner) is arriving with 5GbE and the same CPU architecture as the Flashstor Gen2 series (arriving in 4, 6, 8 AND 10 configurations), so it’s pretty likely that this will extend across the FS68 series too.

There is also an improvement in USB connectivity, with the Flashstor Gen 2 featuring USB 4 connectivity (Type A or C TBH, Hopefully the latter), thanks to that Gen 4 architecture. Asustor already have some impressive USB expansion devices out there and it will be interesting to see the scope of how this quadruple perbandwidth port will be harnessed by the system compared with the exclusively USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gb on the Gen 1 Flashstor series.

The Asustor Flashstor Gen 2 – Software

The Asustor Flashstor NAS arrives with the latest version of ADM included. Additionally, this software receives frequent updates to ensure that the software runs the very best it can on this system, as well as keeping up to date with security patches and application versions.Also Asustor has also highlighted that they will be launching ADM 5 (the latest revision) alongside these devices – still awaiting confirmation on Beta status or full incremental rollout. The NAS software is accessible via a web browser and displayed very much like a normal computer operating system (desktop, user accounts, customizable themes, file management, running multiple tasks in windows that can be switched in the native tabs), but there are also a range of desktop client tools for accessing the NAS on your local machine natively, as well as a whole bunch of mobile applications that allow tailored access from your phone/tablet in more task-specific means (eg a photo app for viewing pictures and creating phone backup routines, a video app for enjoying your movies and boxsets, surveillance app to access your cameras, etc).  There is also a large range of support of 3rd party applications too in the ADM platform. Asustor is not as big a company as the likes of Synology and QNAP, whole put ALOT more money into their software development, but Asustor try to counter this by (when they do not have an in-house app) making native versions of 3rd party tools in their platform (example, they do not have a 1st party Virtual Machine app, but DO include huge support for VirtualBox). The platform is not quite as fully featured as DSM and QTS, but it is still a very smooth and accessible software platform. The app center has a few more 3rd party applications and slightly crowbarred software (eg the Amazon Media and Streaming service plugins) that is not updated up the original uploaders anywhere near enough (leading to running issues on these tools), but the 1st party apps run very well. The big takeaway on the Asustor software and it’s services is that the standard class of expected features of a modern NAS in 2024+ are here and run exactly as you would want, it is just some of the additional ones that other platforms have doubled down on (such as AI-related services in Photography and Surveillance for example) that are a little lacking. That said, the brand has definitely ramped up a number of the key security protocols and settings in the default setup. But what about 3rd party OS? What is the Asustor position on this?

Asustor have been surprisingly fluid on this one in the last 18 months. Originally, they (along with the bulk of NAS vendors) were steadfast in their position of  “if you install a 3rd party OS such as UnRAID or TrueNAS, it will invalidate your warranty”. However, this position has now changed and they are continuing to support users who opt for 3rd party NAS OS installations, but with the caveat that if that software actively harms the system and/or results in the system being deployed in a fashion outside of what they guarantee the system to operate under (eg, the 3rd party NAS OS software automatically or manually overclocks the heck out of the processor and cooks it! Or overwrites the internal eMMC flash module that contains the ADM bootloader) they will not be able to offer support. I think this is pretty reasonable. However, it is ALSO worth keeping in mind that the Flashstor Gen 2 series is built using a non-integrated gfx CPU, so there is the question of 3rd party NAS installation without a KVM/Visual output and/or BIOS access – but there ARE ways and means to get around this of course!

The Asustor Flashstor Gen 2 – Price and Release

The Pricing and intended launch date for the Asustor Flashstor Gen 2 series is INCREDIBLY vague right now at the time of writing. On the one hand, it would appear that the Flashstor Gen 2 is NOT intended to ‘replace’ the Flashstor Gen 1, but expand the range. This is a good thing in terms of the brand and it’s commitment, but also means that we have practically no idea about how and when the system will arrive and how the brand will price the unit. The Flashstor 6 and Flashstor 12 Pro were incredibly well priced at launch (not ‘cheap’ but excellent value, at $499 and $799 respectively). Realistically, I think we are going to see these devices roll out at (estimated) $599 and $999 at the very least, given their relative rarity in the market at the scale/configuration. Launch is much harder to predict, as alongside the launch of these devices relative to ADM 5 and little-to-no resources online on these right now would suggest a mid-late Q3 release (so August-September EARLIEST). Again, this is mostly speculation, but realistic. We will almost certainly be seeing the bigger names in NAS rolling out some hot hardware for their 2024/2025 generation, as several popular series from Asustor, Synology, QNAP and Terramaster all are crossing the 2 year refresh cycle line this year, which tends to trigger a new release. That said, Asustor have shot a very clear and confident ‘first shot’ in the Flashstor Gen 2 and given the popularity, dominance and good will that was achieved with their Flashstor pipping everyone else to the post, it’s a very smart move to expand this series as soon as possible. I sincerely look forward to having this device in for review soon! Stay tuned!

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Le TerraMaster D8 Hybrid est ce que l’on appelle un DAS (Direct-attached storage ou en français Stockage à connexion directe). Il s’agit d’une unité de stockage dotée de plusieurs emplacements pour disques, que l’on va brancher directement sur un PC ou un NAS, généralement via USB-C. Le D8 Hybrid propose de 4 emplacements à l’avant pour des disques durs/SSD et 4 emplacements NVMe à l’intérieur. Le prix annoncé est de 299$ et descend à 199$ via son Kickstarter. TerraMaster D8 Hybrid Avec le D8 Hybrid, TerraMaster a repris le design d’un NAS qu’il a légèrement adapté. C’est à l’arrière que […]
Lire la suite : Prise en main du TerraMaster D8 Hybrid

💾

The QNAP QTS 5.2 Beta is Now Available

Most people who own a NAS drive, for business or for pleasure, will realise very early on that the software that these systems arrive with is more than just simple file/folder storage access. In particular, the QNAP QTS system software and services is one that has evolved a great deal over the years and has now found a pretty good balance between providing a user-friendly GUI experience and providing a good degree of system/storage information when needed. Add to this that QNAP has generally been the first to market when it comes to innovation in the NAS industry (sometimes a little sooner than some might like!) and this has led to them introducing a number of key applications in the past before their competitors in NAS (HybridMount, vJBOD, Container Station, Linux Station and Multimedia Console to name a few) in their previous versions of QTS. QNAP is now going to provide users access, test and provide feedback on QTS 5.2. The Beta of QTS 5.2 is now available to download from QNAP HERE and along with numerous background improvements, there are several new application service upgrades, new security improvements, dedicated SMB portal, additional storage and snapshot integration/improvements and thumbnail/file indexing enhancements. Let’s discuss the QNAP QTS 5.2 beta and see what’s new.

You can download the QNAP QTS 5.2 Beta HERE (select your NAS first)

Important – Get Your Backups in Order First!

REALLY IMPORTANT – If you want to go ahead and try out the QNAP QTS 5.2 Beta, double and TRIPLE check that your backups are in order. QTS 5.2 is a beta i.e not a finished operating system and needs to be treated as such. Do not use it for hot data or integral data! You can use the video below that covers all the different ways to backup your NAS, as well as created Sync connections with cloud/NAS devices to ensure that you have your 3-2-1 backup system in place!

Automatically restore accidentally disconnected disks

On some newer NAS models, QTS can now be used to automatically restore disks that are accidentally disconnected from the system. Enabling this feature will help speed up RAID group rebuilds and improve overall storage stability, but may slightly affect write performance. You can go to [Control Panel] > [System] > [Hardware Settings] > [General Settings] > [Enable Disk Automatic Recovery] to make this setting.

If you change this setting, connected devices that support this feature will be affected. To confirm whether the NAS or connected device supports this feature, go to “System Status” > “Hardware Information”, select the NAS or device, and then confirm whether “Automatic Disk Recovery” is on the feature list.

Snapshot size calculation can be performed to facilitate space management

It is now possible to calculate how much space is occupied by snapshots taken in a volume or LUN within a specified time range. The generated report includes an adjustable graph to determine how much space would be freed by deleting a specified snapshot. This feature is useful when you are running out of space and need to decide which snapshots to delete.

To use this function, please go to [Storage and Snapshot Manager] > [Storage Space] > [Storage/Snapshot], find the volume or LUN with the snapshot, and click the snapshot icon to open the [Snapshot Administrator] window , then click Calculate Size to open the Calculate Snapshot Size window.

Supports TCG Ruby Self-Encrypting Disk (SED)

In addition to TCG Opal and TCG Enterprise SED, users can now install and use TCG Ruby SED to meet the latest data security requirements of enterprises and data centers.

You can refer to apps installed on other devices and directly choose which ones to install.

You can now browse the list of installed applications on all devices linked to your QNAP ID and select which applications to install. To view apps installed on other devices, go to the App Center, click Install in the upper right corner, and select Apps Installed on All Devices.

If the devices have been registered as organizational devices in myQNAPcloud, you can manage the applications on these devices in [ AMIZ Cloud ] > [Device Applications]. It can be used to centrally manage applications on various devices belonging to the same organization.

Adopts OpenSSL 3.0 for enhanced security and improved performance

We’ve updated OpenSSL to version 3.0, improving cipher compilation performance, enhancing memory protection, and simplifying integration with modern APIs. The system response speed has been optimized and data protection has been strengthened to improve user experience.

Sync to disk immediately when requested by an SMB client

There is now an option to synchronize data to disk immediately upon request from an SMB client. If this feature is enabled, cached data can be written back to a more stable storage space whenever necessary to improve the data integrity of the system. Please note that while disabling this option may improve read and write (I/O) performance, it may also increase the risk of data loss or corruption during a power outage or system failure.

To enable this option, go to Control Panel > Permissions > Shared Folders > Shared Folders, select the shared folder, and edit its properties.

Enhanced support for file thumbnails in File Station

In addition to media files and PDF files, File Station can now display thumbnails of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and EML files (text-only emails). Now you can quickly know the approximate contents of various files even without opening the file. This function is especially useful when you need to find or select specific files from a large number of files; it can greatly improve the efficiency of file management.

You can enable file thumbnail display in [File Station] > [Settings] > [File]. To use this feature, you must first install Qsirch in the App Center.

ClamAV has become independent from the virus protection service

ClamAV is now a standalone application and consumes less memory resources than when it previously operated as a consolidated service. Standalone operation allows for faster scanning and less time required to react to security threats. But please note that to use the virus protection service, you must first install the ClamAV application in the App Center.

Reduced system startup and shutdown time

Improved the speed of starting and stopping applications during system startup, shutdown, and restart. The system is now more responsive when users perform power-related operations.

AD domain users can log in directly without entering the domain name

If you primarily access your NAS through a single AD domain, you can now easily log into your desktop without prefixing your domain name with your username. For example, now you only need to enter “myusername” instead of “mydomain\myusername”.

If multiple AD domains are used, or a domain user account is used to access the NAS in addition to the local account, please still enter the domain name when logging in with a domain user account.

Enhanced security for system administrator accounts

To enhance the overall security of the device and reduce the occurrence of brute force attacks, users are now prompted to create a new device whenever they restore or reset the device to factory defaults using the hardware reset button or the Control Panel Administrator account, or keep the non-default administrator account you are currently signed in to. In addition, the system automatically deactivates or strongly recommends that users deactivate the default system administrator account “admin”.

Direct read and write (I/O) is used in the core mode SMB resident program to improve read/write performance

We use direct read/write (I/O), which improves read/write performance when the core-mode SMB resident is enabled and all disks on the system device are NVMe SSDs.

To enable the core-mode SMB resident for Microsoft Networks, go to Control Panel > Network & File Services > Win/Mac/NFS/WebDAV > Microsoft Networks and make sure it is checked [Enable File Services for Microsoft Networks (SMB)]. Next, click “Advanced Options”, check “Enable Kernel Mode SMB Resident”, and click “Apply”. (Note: If the core-mode SMB resident is enabled, SMB encryption is disabled.)

SMB service has become a standalone application

Microsoft Networking (SMB) is now a standalone application that can be updated separately in the App Center, called SMB Service, and can be accessed remotely via the Microsoft Networking (SMB) and Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocols. Access files and folders on QNAP devices.

To enable the SMB service, you must first go to [Control Panel] > [Network & File Services] > [Win/Mac/NFS/WebDAV] > [Microsoft Network (SMB)] to enable the file service of Microsoft Network ( SMB).

Editable iSCSI target IQN

When or after an iSCSI target is created, the target’sIQN (iSCSI Qualified Name) can now be edited. To edit the IQN of an existing target, you must first disconnect all connections to the target, then go to iSCSI & Fiber Channel > iSCSI Storage, select the target, and click Actions > Edit . The maximum IQN length is 128 characters.

What are the QNAP QTS 5.2 Changes in full?

• Users can now select what apps to install by browsing the list of installed apps on any devices connected to their QNAP IDs. To access this feature, go the the App Center, click the “Install” icon in the top-right corner, and then select “Apps Installed on All Devices”.
• Added a setting on certain device models for enabling disk auto recovery, which automatically reconnects any disks that have been unintentionally disconnected from the system. The setting can be found in Control Panel > System > Hardware > General.
• File Station now supports the multimedia file formats WebM and WebP.
• Detailed event logs and access logs related to share links are now available.
• In File Station, thumbnail display is now available and configurable for Microsoft Office and EML files.
• Users can now configure 802.1X authentication for greater network security. SAMBA
• Added a shared folder setting which allows the system to immediately synchronize data to disks when requested by SMB clients, thereby enhancing data integrity. You can enable the setting on a shared folder by editing its properties in Control Panel > Privilege > Shared Folders > Shared Folder.
• Microsoft Networking (SMB) service is now a standalone application called SMB Service, which can be updated independently. SMB Service enables remote access to your QNAP device files and folders via the Microsoft Networking (SMB) and Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocols. To enable SMB Service, you must enable Microsoft Networking in Control Panel. Snapshot& Snapshots
• You can now calculate the size of snapshots in a volume or LUN that were taken within a specified time period. This feature can help you determine how much space you can free up by deleting a certain number of snapshots. To use this feature, open the “Snapshot Manager” window of a volume or LUN, and then click “Calculate Size”.
• Added support for TCG Ruby SEDs.
• Administrators can now disable 2-step verification for a user in Control Panel > System > Security > 2-Step Verification.
• To enhance device security, when you initiate restoring a device to factory default in Control Panel, you are now prompted to create a new administrator account or to retain the currently logged-in administrator account, and the default administrator account “admin” will be disabled.
• Administrators can now choose to skip a firmware update when the firmware update notification appears upon desktop login.
• Optimized the desktop loading speed.
• To increase device security, after restoring a device to factory default using the hardware reset button, and then logging in with the default administrator account “admin”, you are now prompted to create a new administrator account and to disable the “admin” account.
• Added support for copying and pasting security code (TOTP) credentials when configuring 2-step verification.
• If you access your NAS primarily through a single AD domain only, you can now conveniently log in to the desktop without including the domain name in front of your username. For example, you can now enter “myusername” instead of “mydomain\myusername”. (Note: However, if you use multiple AD domains or use both local and domain user accounts to access your NAS, you should still specify the domain name when logging in with a domain user account.) iSCSI&FC
• You can now edit an iSCSI target’s IQN during or after target creation (maximum 128 characters). To edit an existing target’s IQN, you must first disconnect all connections to the target, and then go to iSCSI & Fibre Channel > iSCSI Storage, select the target, and click Action > Modify.
• Users can now copy all network information (including IPv4, IPv6, and hardware) of any physical adapter or virtual switch to the clipboard with a single button. Open Network & Virtual Switch, go to “Network” > “Interfaces” or “Virtual Switch”, identify an interface, click “More” > “Information”, and then click “Copy”.
• Improved the calculation method and display of system memory information in Resource Monitor for greater clarity.
• Enhanced the Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) service, which periodically checks the network connection status. You can now enable this setting and configure its checking target no matter whether you choose automatic or manual selection of the system default gateway. To configure NCSI, go to Network & Virtual Switch > Network > Interfaces > Interfaces, and then click System Default Gateway.
• In the Volume Creation Wizard, the setting “Enable snapshot schedule and snapshot retention” is now disabled by default. This ensures that users who do not need snapshots will not unexpectedly encounter insufficient storage space caused by a large number of volume snapshots.
• Improved the synchronization process for read-only SSD cache to optimize data read efficiency and reliability.
• Optimized the RAID group resync speed for NVMe drives.
• Users can now view detailed temperature information about their Seagate EXOS JBOD enclosures in Storage & Snapshots > Storage > Disks/VJBOD > NAS and Enclosure.
• Added support for the newly upgraded QUSBCam (version 3.0.0, previous version known as QUSBCam2).
• The ClamAV antivirus engine is now an independent application, allowing the Antivirus service to consume less memory and spend less time scanning files. Note that in order to use Antivirus, ClamAV must be installed in App Center.
• The system now checks whether a new QNAP Software Terms of Use is available before performing a firmware update. Administrators must agree to the new terms to proceed with the firmware update. SAMBA
• In Samba, Implemented direct I/O in the kernel-mode SMB daemon to enhance read and write performance. System
• Improved the speed of starting and stopping applications during system startup, shutdown, and restart.

Applicable QNAP models that support the QTS 5.2 Beta?

• HS-251+,S2
• QMiroPlus-201W
• Mustang-F100,Mustang-V100,Mustang-200-i7-1T-32G-R10,Mustang-200-i5-1T-32G-R10,Mustang-200-C-8G-R10,Mustang-200
• QBoat Sunny
• QGD-1600P,QGD-1600
• QGD-1602P,QGD-1602
• QGD-3014-16PT
• TS-453S Pro,TS-853S Pro
• TS-216,TS-416
• TS-128A, TS-228A, TS-212P3, TS-130, D1 Rev-B
• TS-932X, TS-832X, TS-332X, TS-532X, TS-932PX, TS-832PX
• TS-432XU-RP,TS-432XU,TS-832XU-RP,TS-832XU,TS-1232XU-RP,TS-1232XU,TS-432PXU,TS-432PXU-RP,TS-832PXU,TS-832PXU-RP, TS-1232PXU,TS-1232PXU-RP
• TS-133, TS-233, TS-433, D4 Rev-C, TS-216G
• TS-1635AX
• TS-435XeU
• TS-251, TS-451, TS-651, TS-851, TS-451S, TS-251+, TS-451+, TS-351, D2 Pro Rev-B, D4 Pro Rev-B
• TS-251A,TS-451A,D2 Pro,D4 Pro
• TS-251B
• TS-451DeU,TS-453DU,TS-453DU-RP,TS-853DU-RP,TS-1253DU-RP
• TS-451U
• TS-253 Pro, TS-453 Pro, TS-653 Pro, TS-853 Pro, TS-453mini, IS-453S
• TS-453Bmini,TS-253B,TS-453B,TS-653B,TS-453BT3,TS-253Be,TS-453Be
• TS-853BU,TS-853BU-RP,TS-1253BU,TS-1253BU-RP,TS-453BU,TS-453BU-RP
• HS-453DX, TBS-453DX, TS-251D, TS-253D, TS-653D, TS-453D, TS-451D, TS-453Dmini, TS-451D2
• TBS-453A, TS-253A, TS-453A, TS-653A, TS-853A, D6 Pro, D8 Pro
• TS-453U, TS-853U, TS-1253U, TS-453U-RP, TS-853U-RP, TS-1253U-RP, R4
• TVS-463,TVS-663,TVS-863,TVS-863+,TS-563,TS-963X,TS-963N
• TS-463U,TS-463U-RP,TS-863U,TS-863U-RP,TS-1263U,TS-1263U-RP,TS-463XU,TS-463XU-RP,TS-863XU,TS-863XU-RP, TS-1263XU,TS-1263XU-RP
• TS-564,HS-264,TBS-464,TS-262C,TS-462C,TS-264C,TS-464C,TS-364,TS-464,TS-664,TS-262,TS-462,TS- 264,TS-464C2
• TS-464U,TS-464U-RP,TS-1264U-RP,TS-464eU,TS-864eU,TS-864eU-RP
• TVS-471,TVS-671,TVS-871,TVS-871T
• TVS-871U-RP,TVS-1271U-RP,TVS-471U-RP,TVS-471U,R8
• TVS-672N,TVS-872N,TVS-872X,TVS-672X,TVS-472X,TVS-472XT,TVS-672XT,TVS-872XT
• TVS-872XU,TVS-872XU-RP,TVS-1272XU-RP,TVS-1672XU-RP,TVS-2472XU-RP,TVS-972XU,TVS-972XU-RP
• TVS-473,TVS-673,TVS-873,TVS-473e,TVS-673e,TVS-873e
• TS-h973AX,TS-473A,TS-673A,TS-873A
• TS-873AU,TS-873AU-RP,TS-1273AU-RP,TS-1673AU-RP,TS-873AeU,TS-873AeU-RP
• TS-873U, TS-1273U, TS-1673U, TS-873U-RP, TS-1273U-RP, TS-1673U-RP
• TVS-675
• TVS-h875U,TVS-h875U-RP,TVS-h1275U-RP,TVS-h1675U-RP
• TS-1277, TS-877, TS-677, TS-1677X
• TS-877XU,TS-877XU-RP,TS-1277XU-RP,TS-1677XU-RP,TS-2477XU-RP,TS-977XU-RP,TS-977XU,TS-h1277XU-RP,TS-h977XU-RP, TS-h1677XU-RP,TS-h2477XU-RP
• TS-EC880 Pro,TS-EC1080 Pro,TVS-EC880,TVS-EC1080,TVS-EC1080+
• TS-EC880U, TS-EC1280U, TS-EC1680U, TS-EC2480U R2, TVS-EC1280U-SAS-RP R2, TVS-EC1580MU-SAS-RP R2, TVS-EC1680U-SAS-RP R2, TVS-EC2480U-SAS- RP R2,TS-EC2480U,TS-EC880U R2,TS-EC1280U R2,TS-EC1680U R2,TVS-EC1280U-SAS-RP,TVS-EC1580MU-SAS-RP,TVS-EC1680U-SAS-RP,TVS-EC2480U- SAS-RP,R12,R16,R24
• TVS-882T,TVS-1282T,TVS-682,TVS-882,TVS-1282,TVS-682T,TVS-1282T3,TVS-882BR,TVS-882BRT3
• TVS-882ST,TVS-882ST3
• TVS-1582TU
• TS-883XU, TS-883XU-RP, TS-1283XU-RP, TS-1683XU-RP, TS-983XU, TS-983XU-RP, TS-2483XU-RP, TS-h1283XU-RP, TS-h2483XU-RP, TS-h1683XU-RP
• TS-1685,TS-h886,TS-h686
• TES-3085U,TES-1885U,TS-1886XU-RP,TS-h1886XU-RP,TS-h1886XU-RP R2
• TS-2888X
• TS-h3088XU-RP
• TDS-16489U
• TS-h2490FU,TS-h1090FU
• TS-328,TS-428,TS-230,D2 Rev-B
• TS-551
• TS-473,TS-673,TS-873
• TVS-951X,TVS-951N
• GM-1000,TNS-h1083X,TNS-h1083X (A Side),TNS-h1083X (B Side)
• TS-i410X, TS-410E
• TS-253E,TS-453E
• TS-h1290FX
• TS-h987XU-RP,TS-h1887XU-RP,TS-h2287XU-RP,TS-h3087XU-RP
• TVS-h474,TVS-h674,TVS-h874,TVS-h874X,TVS-h674T,TVS-h874T
• TDS-h2489FU
• TS-1655, TS-855X
• TS-855eU, TS-855eU-RP
• TS-466C
• TS-AI642
• TBS-h574TX
• TS-h1277AXU-RP, TS-h1677AXU-RP, TS-h3077AFU

Notes

Due to compatibility issues, please update your QVR Face Insight, QVR Face Link, or QVR Face Tiger to version 1.7.1 or later before updating QTS to version 5.2.0.

– Due to compatibility issues, QNAP NetBak Replicator is currently unable to establish an SFTP connection to a NAS running QTS 5.2.0.

 

 

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