QNAP annonce l’arrivée de TS-264. Ce nouveau NAS 2 baies vient compléter la série TS-x64 contenant plusieurs produits. Ce boitier réseau est doté d’un processeur Intel N5095, 8 Go de RAM, ports réseau 2,5 Gb/s… mais ce n’est pas tout. QNAP TS-264, sans compromis Le QNAP TS-264 est un boîtier offrant 2 emplacements en façade pour des disques durs ou SSD. À cela s’ajoutent 2 emplacements pouvant recevoir des SSD NVMe M.2 (PCIe Gen3) à l’intérieur. Ces derniers pourront servir […]

WD Red turns 10!

It is hard to believe that it has been 10-years since Western Digital introduced its Network Attached Storage-focused range of drives, WD Red. In that time, we have seen the technology behind NAS evolve rapidly, in form factor, capacity and performance year-over-year – and throughout all that time, WD Red has been there, evolving every step of the way.

Having the right tool for the job has always been key to any IT professional. Although the NAS industry has existed in some form for the better part of three decades, many people used traditional hard drives that were not specifically designed for 24×7 server use. Regular desktop hard drives were designed with single-use deployment in mind, like a PC. Applications and files were not as data-rich then. In 2012, the WD Red NAS HDD series arrived. These were a different kind of drive, a drive that was designed for the rigours of NAS use, fast read and write speeds to keep things efficient, alongside higher workloads and use in multi-drive, always-on environments.

NAS Storage Evolution

Over the following years, the use of drives for RAID was became increasingly popular and data demands increased drastically. In parallel, we saw the launch of new form factors, from 2.5″ HDDs to SATA and NVMe SSDs, major capacity increases across the WD Red family and the addition of WD Red Pro and WD Red Plus drives. WD Red Pro and WD Red Plus HDDs are optimized for high reliability and support always-on workloads with solutions for families, home offices, and small to medium business IT hubs. These drives are engineered with CMR recording technology to handle high-intensity workloads in 24×7 environments and include NASware 3.0 technology. A key feature of WD Red has always been NASware and NASware 3.0 in WD Red Pro and WD Red Plus enables seamless integration, robust data protection and optimal performance for NAS systems operating under heavy demand.

Together with the multi-axis shock sensor that automatically detects subtle shock events and dynamic fly height technology, the built-in technology features enable the system to increase compatibility, upgradeability, as well as reliability and adjust each read-write function to compensate and protect data. In addition to new form factors, ranges and the evolution of NASware, key technology breakthroughs have shaped the WD Red family that we see today. The introduction of HelioSeal® Technology in the WD Red range was a significant milestone. Helium reduces flow effects during the disk rotation, so thinner and thus more disks can fit in the housing. This enabled WD Red family HDDs to be offered in the higher capacities that we expect today.

Responding to Future Data Demands

As we look to the future, many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) will likely look to transform their organizational structure into remote/virtual organizations to face current market conditions and challenges. These models are driving the acceleration of technology innovation to enable workers to access key resources across different locations, time zones, and devices. Therefore, work from anywhere, remote access, connectivity, scalability, and throughput are defining the new normal workplace. This makes a robust NAS infrastructure with a wide range of options a necessity. Following the addition of the WD Red SA500 SSD to the range and subsequent release of the WD Red SN700 NVMe SSDs, Western Digital most recently turned its focus back to increasing HDD capacity. While helium had enabled the jump to 18TB, its OptiNAND technology is the key to the 20TB and 22TB drives available today. OptiNAND technology optimizes and integrates HDD with iNAND® embedded flash drives which helped provided solutions by delivering additional capacity, performance, and reliability. Western Digital is in a unique position to be able to leverage its in-house manufacturing capabilities with both flash and HDDs to extend the areal density curve of ePMR. Cleverly, ePMR takes the approach of adding more bits per inch (BPI) on the hard drive platter by applying an electrical current to the main pole of the write head throughout the write operation.

The Benefits of OptiNAND and ePMR

This current enables more consistent, and faster switching of the write head, thus reducing timing jitter. Higher BPI is achieved when individual bits of data can be written closer together, which leads to higher areal density. Couple ePMR together with the implementation of OptiNAND and triple stage actuators and Western Digital has been able to achieve 2.2TB per platter. In addition, OptiNAND also plays a key role in achieving higher areal density and optimizing internal algorithms, which also leads to performance benefits. OptiNAND integrates an iNAND Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Embedded Flash Drive (EFD) with traditional spinning disk media and incorporates innovative changes to the firmware algorithm and system-on-a-chip (SOC). OptiNAND has broken through the conventional boundaries of storage which have only added to Western Digital’s legacy of industry-first technologies such as the aforementioned HelioSeal and triple-stage actuators.

Advances in the technology led to the world’s first 20TB and 22TB CMR NAS hard drives for general sale, with the WD Red Pro series. The WD Red Pro HDDs with industry-leading capacities are supported by many NAS systems and offer all the benefits of increased capacity. When used in larger RAID configurations, it also makes the path to petabyte storage for NAS systems much easier to achieve than ever before. The next few years should be just as exciting in the development of NAS offerings as data storage requirements continue to increase exponentially

 

Bargains and Deals on QNAP NAS Drives this Black Friday 2022

Whether it is a brand new purchase that you have been researching these past months OR you are looking to upgrade your old TS-253 Pro, TS-453A or TS-453Be NAS, there seems to be ALOT of planned discounts globally for the current and previous generation of QNAP NAS drive systems. With several high-profile SMB NAS systems in the TS-x64 and TS-x53E series having been released in the Spring/Summer of 2022, this is likely to be the time that these systems see their very first significant discount (especially now that Synology has introduced/revealed/released the DS1522+, DS923+ and DS723+ Winter). Additionally, there is still stock of the older QNAP TS-x53D, TS-51D and even TVS-x72 around, so almost certainly these will be on offer across multiple retailers, at some great discounts. Below is my breakdown of the QNAP NAS systems for budget buyers, Plex Media Server, fast backups, surveillance and even something for the video editors after a 10GbE/Thunderbolt NAS solution – the majority of which will be on offer this Black Friday Day. Alongside this, I will be updating this page regularly throughout the week with further Prime Day deals that myself and my team spot throughout the week in everything from NAS, to DAS, from routers to switches and from HDDs to SSDs! Before we go any further though – What are the MAIN deals you should look for this Black Friday 2022? Let’s begin.

————–  Useful Links  —————

US Amazon – Amazon Black Friday Page

UK Amazon – Amazon Black Friday Page

Amazon Warehouse (20% Off Everything) – USA

Amazon Warehouse (20% Off Everything) – UK

Amazon Warehouse (20% Off Everything) – Germany

TOP QNAP NAS Deals to Watch Out For on Black Friday 2022

Even though there will likely be numerous deals on QNAP NAS systems (largely focused on desktop NAS systems of course), the following three NAS Drives are the ones I recommend for those on a tight budget, those looking for an affordable media/plex server or those looking to do a little bit of EVERYTHING! I have linked each to Amazon in order to check how much it will be on offer during Black Friday, but they will all likely be on offer in numerous locations during the event too. Here is what I recommend:

QNAP TS-464 NAS Drive – This is the new Prosumer desktop 4-Bay NAS from QNAP. Arriving with a fantastic hardware architecture, such as an Intel Quad Core N5105, 4-16GB Memory, M.2 NVMe Bays, PCIe Upgrade Slot, USB 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 4K and more, this is a real compact powerhouse of a system and almost certainly will see good offers across multiple sites – Check HERE

Alternatively, the QNAP TS-464 NAS is also going on a Black Friday sale over on Box. You can find it HERE

QNAP TS-453E NAS Drive – Released a few months after the QNAP TS-464, the TS-453E is a marginally less scalable box BUT it makes up for it with incredible base-level hardware at a fantastic price (even when not on offer). Another (newer) Quad-Core Intel Powered CPU in the J6412, it also arrives by default with 8GB of Memory, NVMe SSD bays, 2.5GbE network ports and all this in a very compact casing. With great performance in Plex Media server, as well as the majority of QTS 5.1 applications, the TS-453E is the Prosumers NAS for home users who don’t need/want to pay extra for upgrades down the line. – Check HERE

QNAP TS-453D NAS – This Summer 2020 released QNAP NAS is continuing to see discounts in a number of locations, as Synology continue to roll out the new TS-X53E and TS-X64 generation desktop NAS devices. However, the TS-453D is still a fantastically solid NAS, with a Quad Core Intel Celeron CPU, 4-8GB of Memory, 2.5G, TONNES of different local ports and even has a PCI e Upgrade slot for 10GbE, More 2.5GbE ports or combo cards. You ca find the offer for this over on eBuyer HERE

QNAP TS-233 NAS Drive – A much more modest system than the two NAS I just mentioned, the TS-233 is a low-power, low-impact 2-Bay NAS (also available in the TS-133 1-Bay and TS-433 4-Bay) that runs on a Realtek Quad Core 64bit ARM processor, 2GB of DDR4 memory and is still able to support a large number of QNAP Applications (including the QVR Elite surveillance App, AI-Powered Photo Tool QuMagie, the Hybrid Backup Sync 3-2-1 Backup service and more. With energy prices increasing noticeably in 2022, this is very much a 24×7 NAS for those keeping an eye on the meter! Check HERE

Best All Rounder QNAP NAS	Best Plex & QNAP NAS	Best Budget QNAP NAS
QNAP TS-464 NAS Drive	QNAP TS-453E NAS Drive	QNAP TS-233 NAS Drive

 

---

BEST QNAP Black Friday 2022 Deal – QNAP TS-464 NAS

When QNAP launched their 2022 generation of hardware, the unit that REALLY stood out from the pack was the TS-464 NAS. This system pretty much delivered EVERYTHING that NAS buyers have been asking/demanding for at this price point for the last 6-7 years. The most powerful and capable Intel celeron featuring in NAS yet, DDR4 memory upto 16GB. M.2 NVMe SSD  says for caching OR storage, 4K HDMI, two 2.5GbE bays, 10Gb/s USB ports AND a PCIe slot to improve the system’s network ports and/or storage even more! The TS-464 was such a beast that when launched, it IMMEDIATELY SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE!!! It took the better part of 4-5 months after release (April/May 2022) of the TS-464 to start seeing stock availability become a little more stable. Fast forward to now on Black Friday 2022 and the TS-464 is now much more available AND it has started seeing it’s price point drop.

Now, although the price change can be attributed a little to the amount of time that the TS-464 has been available to buy, it has also been caused by the release of QNAP’s big rival ‘Synology’ releasing their DS923+ NAS 4-Bay. I can definitely see the QNAP TS-464 NAS appearing on a few limited sales over the Black Friday period, though do not expect the stock to be especially high – so be quick on this one!

QNAP TS-464 NAS	CPU: Intel N5105 4-Core Celeron Memory:Bays: 4-16GB M.2 NVMe Bays: 2x m.2 NVMe, Caching and Storage Pools Network Ports: 2x 2.5GbE USB: USB 3.2 Gen 2 x3 KVM: Yes Network Upgrade: Yes Powered by an Intel® Celeron® N5095, quad-core processor (burst up to 2.9GHz), the TS-464 features two 2.5GbE RJ45 ports and Port Trunking for up to 5Gbps combined bandwidth. With M.2 PCIe Gen3 and PCIe Gen 3 slots, the TS-464 provides flexibility in extending NAS functionality, allowing you to install a QM2 card for M.2 SSD caching, or Edge TPU for AI image recognition and various 10GbE/5GbE network cards. The TS-464 comes with 4 GB RAM for running light VMs and Containers, and supports multi-cloud backup, cloud storage gateways, 4K HDMI output and real-time transcoding, alongside expandable storage capacity and feature-rich apps to perform as a cost-efficient, reliable 2.5GbE NAS. Links Video Review  –  Written Review  –  DealFinder Page

---

---

 

BEST Surveillance NVR NAS Black Friday 2022 Deal – QNAP TS-453D

Arriving at a price point that is a pinch higher than some might expect (especially those weighing up between the TS-453D and TS-453Be), this serves as a more compact and affordable alternative to the TVS-473e and TVS-472XT. The TS-453D NAS is something that QNAP should be proud of. It is a great entry into their already impressive range of desktop NAS devices, finding an excellent balance between home and business users. If you are looking for a brand new ‘powerful on a budget’ NAS to consolidate your home media, Set up a Surveillance network, run virtual OS environments, sort through photo media, support your relatives as the ‘IT whizz’ of the family, or move your business away from Google Drives and DropBox’ onto something safer, more scalable and dependable – then the TS-453D has alot to offer you. It gives you a great base to start using the QTS platform, as well as a good means to upgrade your storage internally at a later date (expansions in memory to 8GB, expansions in storage with the TL & TR Series, expansion in NVMe, 10Gbe both in the QM2 range and more). When it comes to surveillance though, the fact the TS-453D has KVM support, is upgradable in about 5 different ways AND has 8 camera licences with QVR Pro, means that it is a fantastic Surveillance NAS indeed. Plus, now that you can upgrade AI services thanks to the m.2 connected $29 MTU upgrade card. As you can see from the graph below, pricing has been tremendously dynamic since the launch of the TS-464 and TS-453E NAS:

That said, If you are an existing TS-453Be or TS-453B owner, this might not seem like the jump you were waiting for. Likewise, the odd choice of PCIe Gen 2 x2 may present an internal bottleneck for some.

QNAP TS-453D NAS	CPU: Intel J4125 4-Core Celeron Memory:Bays: 4-8GB M.2 NVMe Bays: No Network Ports: 2x 2.5GbE USB: USB 3.2 Gen 1 x 3, USB 2.0 x2 KVM: Yes Network Upgrade: Yes The new-gen Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) trend has driven higher bandwidth demands for wired and wireless network connections. By integrating Intel® Celeron® J4125 quad-core 2.0 GHz processor and 2.5GbE connectivity, the TS-453D not only provides modern businesses an excellent NAS solution to upgrade to 2.5GbE environments for productive daily backup/restore tasks, but also provides gamers with ample storage for their vast game collections. Up to 5 Gbps transfer speeds can be made by setting port trunking with the two built-in 2.5GbE ports. The TS-453D also supports PCIe expansion, multi-cloud backup, cloud storage gateways, 4K HDMI output and real-time transcoding, alongside expandable storage capacity and feature-rich apps to perform as a cost-efficient, reliable 2.5GbE NAS. Links Video Review  –  Written Review  –  DealFinder Page

---

QNAP NAS to Watch Out For this Black Friday 2022

Below is a list of the QNAP NAS that I would recommend for different users. Each has been picked for this list based on their ability to perform a certain task/service (backups, Plex Media Server, Surveillance, Video Editing, etc) and I have supplied links to amazon for each (to check stock and price status), as well as links to the amazon warehouse pages (as it will be a 20% off this Black Friday) and even links to our NASCompares price comparison pages. Take a look and see if these systems meet your needs and your budget this Black Friday 2022.

QNAP TS-133 1-Bay – Budget NAS

Powered by quad-core 1.4 GHz processor, the TS-131K provides 1 drive bays storage space to securely store your important files and data, while allowing you to easily share files with family and friends. Featuring a compact pure white minimalist design, the TS-131K can easily integrate with any home décor and takes up very little space. The TS-131K comes with lockable drive trays, ensuring the drives will not be accidentally removed or fall out and cause data loss. The TS-131K provides comprehensive local, off-site and cloud backup and secure Snapshot technology to help create a reliable backup and disaster recovery plan. In the event of a system crash or accidental file deletion, you can quickly restore the system to its normal state
	Look for Current Offers:	Look for Amazon Warehouse Offers: 20% off During Black Friday

 

---

 

QNAP TS-233 2-Bay – Small & Quiet NAS

Run your own personal cloud storage and enjoy easy file access, sharing, and syncing with the TS-233. Designed to enhance collaboration and increase remote work productivity, the TS-233 also features rich multimedia applications and provides a complete home entertainment portal.
	Look for Current Offers:	Look for Amazon Warehouse Offers: 20% off During Black Friday

 

---

 

QNAP TS-431KX 4-Bay – Value 10GbE NAS

Powered by quad-core 1.7 GHz processor, the TS-431K provides 4 drive bays storage space to securely store your important files and data, while allowing you to easily share files with family and friends. Featuring a compact pure white minimalist design, the TS-431K can easily integrate with any home décor and takes up very little space. The TS-431K comes with lockable drive trays, ensuring the drives will not be accidentally removed or fall out and cause data loss. The TS-431K provides comprehensive local, off-site and cloud backup and secure Snapshot technology to help create a reliable backup and disaster recovery plan. In the event of a system crash or accidental file deletion, you can quickly restore the system to its normal state.
	Look for Current Offers:	Look for Amazon Warehouse Offers: 20% off During Black Friday

 

Black Friday 2022 – QNAP NAS Drives for PLEX

One of the big appeals of a QNAP NAS drive is to use it as a Plex Media Server. Plex (if you didn’t know) is just as slick, fast and beautiful in design as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and HBO Now, but instead of streaming/renting your content, you play the movies, tv shows and music that you own! Having your own Plex Media Server QNAP NAS is fantastically appealing and a much more financially appealing choice than paying monthly for content you do not get to own. Below are the best 3 QNAP NAS deals this Black Friday for a Plex Media Server in 2022.

 

---

 

QNAP TS-453E 4-Bay – RAID 5 Plex NAS

The TS-453E features 2.5GbE connectivity, 8GB RAM, and M.2 slots for NVMe SSD caching to deliver high performance for applications such as surveillance systems, virtual machines, file servers or backup servers. Dual HDMI outputs also provide direct multimedia playback and robust surveillance monitoring. QNAP will provide long-term availability and support for the TS-453E, providing a great choice for businesses requiring matching NAS models deployed in multiple locations.
	Look for Current Offers:	Look for Amazon Warehouse Offers: 20% off During Black Friday

 

---

 

QNAP TS-464 4-Bay – Best All-Round NAS

Powered by an Intel® Celeron® N5095, quad-core processor (burst up to 2.9GHz), the TS-464 features two 2.5GbE RJ45 ports and Port Trunking for up to 5Gbps combined bandwidth. With M.2 PCIe Gen3 and PCIe Gen 3 slots, the TS-464 provides flexibility in extending NAS functionality, allowing you to install a QM2 card for M.2 SSD caching, or Edge TPU for AI image recognition and various 10GbE/5GbE network cards. The TS-464 comes with 4 GB RAM for running light VMs and Containers, and supports multi-cloud backup, cloud storage gateways, 4K HDMI output and real-time transcoding, alongside expandable storage capacity and feature-rich apps to perform as a cost-efficient, reliable 2.5GbE NAS.
	Look for Current Offers:	Look for Amazon Warehouse Offers: 20% off During Black Friday

 

---

 

QNAP TVS-672XT 6-Bay – 10GbE & TB3 NAS

Powered by an 8th generation Intel® Core processor, the high-performance TVS-672XT NAS features both 10GBASE-T and Thunderbolt 3 high-bandwidth connectivity for tackling heavy workloads and smoothly transferring, displaying and editing 4K videos in real-time. With M.2 SSD support and the ability to install a graphics card, the TVS-672XT provides the ability to boost performance and create a scalable working environment for collaboration and high-speed file sharing. The TVS-672XT is driven by high-quality hardware that delivers optimum performance, comprehensive multimedia features, expandable storage capacity, and numerous other NAS functionalities to inspire greater creativity and accomplishments!
	Look for Current Offers:	Look for Amazon Warehouse Offers: 20% off During Black Friday

 

---

 

Black Friday 2022 – QNAP NAS Drives for Business

Storing your photography or Video Editing archive for post-production on a QNAP NAS is something that has grown in popularity in the last few years. Now in 2022, not only can a QNAP NAS be used to store your photos/video, but with upgraded connections to 10Gbe, Thunderbolt 3 to 10Gbe Adapters and link aggregation becoming more affordable, buying a QNAP NAS this Black Friday 2022 for your post-production and live editing is easier than ever before Below are three great options for editors looking for a QNAP NAS Deal today.

 

---

 

QNAP TS-473A 4-Bay – Best SMB Scalable NAS

The TS-473 is powered by a high-performance and energy-efficient AMD R-Series CPU and provides two PCIe slots for greater functionality. You can install a QNAP QM2 expansion card to add M.2 SSD caching/10GbE connectivity; a compatible wireless card to use the TS-473 as a wireless access point; and an entry-level graphics card to boost system performance for 4K video performance. The TS-473 allows you to flexibly deploy a wide range of applications with a more affordable budget.
	Look for Current Offers:	Look for Amazon Warehouse Offers: 20% off During Black Friday

 

 

---

 

QNAP TVS-872X 8-Bay – Performance 10GbE NAS

Powered by an Intel® Core i3/i5 processor, the high-performance TVS-872X NAS features built-in 10GbE connectivity for boosted virtualization performance and streamlined backup and application workflows from multiple workstations. The TVS-872X also supports M.2 NVMe SSDs for cache acceleration, PCIe expansion, multi-cloud backup, 4K HDMI 2.0 output and real-time transcoding, alongside expandable storage capacity and feature-rich apps to perform as a cost-efficient, reliable, and multifunctional NAS solution.
	Look for Current Offers:	Look for Amazon Warehouse Offers: 20% off During Black Friday

---

Hot Tips when you Buy a NAS this Black Friday 2022

In order for you to get the very best NAS deals this Black Friday, here are some hot tips that I have personally used for the last few years to get the very best deals.

Amazon Warehouse Deals are 20% lower

For those that aren’t aware, Amazon has a whole section of their website that is dedicated to pre-owned and opened items. This includes both NAS, hard drives, SSD and more for your storage. During Amazon Black Friday 2022, the discount on these broken-seal items will be increased by an additional 20% and for those looking for an insane bargain, this will be irresistible.

Another tip when buying NAS or Hard Drives from Amazon Warehouse is that although (as they are broken seal/used/returned items) they have a shorter warranty from Amazon, you will almost certainly be able to claim the FULL warranty coverage from Synology, QNAP, WD or Seagate. They just want your serial number and a receipt of purchase – this will not state the amazon reduced warranty.

Amazon Warehouse for different countries can be found below:

Amazon Warehouse (20% Off Everything) – USA

Amazon Warehouse (20% Off Everything) – UK

Amazon Warehouse (20% Off Everything) – Germany

Latest Deals Update and Notifications

If you want to make sure you see the LATEST Black Friday deals for NAS (as new ones are added every hour) then I would recommend checking the official Amazon Prime page regularly. It will also include the very latest Lightning Deals too

US Amazon – Amazon Black Friday Page

UK Amazon – Amazon Black Friday Page

Amazon Prime for FREE

The prices listed on Amazon for NAS during the Black Friday event are only available to Prime members. If you are not a member, don’t worry, as you can use the 30-Day free trial to sign up for a Prime, or just pay for 1 month of Prime as a student and get it at 50% off. Then after you finish your purchase, you can cancel your subscription. The other bonus of this is that you will qualify for fast, next day delivery for free. I would recommend however that you do not cancel your subscription until you have received your order and tested your item.

As then you will still be able to take advantage of the fast and free return policy extended to Prime members. This is especially useful when buying NAS Hard Drives and you are worried about broken drives!

Improved Delivery on your NAS Black Friday Deal

It is a well-known fact that Amazon Prime membership includes free next day delivery and Amazon has even upped the stakes by stating that they will be providing the fastest-ever Black Friday delivery of just 14 minutes between the cart and the courier, last year we saw and heard numerous examples of delivery issues with Black Friday deals, adding 2-3 days on supposed next-day shipping.

If any of your Amazon Prime delivery dates are not the 24 hours turn around that they promise, then definitely complain to Amazon after you receive your goods (not before) as they will almost certainly have a deluge of customer enquiries after Black Friday 2022 and  in an effort to conclude the matter, you might get an additional discount, a gift vouchers or more. Currently, the trending ‘gesture of goodwill’ gift is a free month of Prime membership.

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?

We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. 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]     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.  

How to 100% Backup Your Google Photos Account to ANY QNAP NAS Drive

If you have made the switch from your limited/paid subscription cloud service from Google in favour of buying your own QNAP Server, then you will know that, for the most part, the storage potential of your new NAS drive has better scalability and longevity in your storage than the cloud. That said, there are still a few services that Google has offered users for quite a few years that have so much of your data in them, that you want to make sure that it is carried over to and/or backed up to your qnap NAS). Creating a Backup or Sync job between most cloud services like Google Drive and a QNAP NAS has been a service that has been available in several ways for years. HOWEVER, Google Photos, the service that backs up all the photos you take on your android device (Phone, Tablet, Chromebook, etc), has always been tricky/impossible to backup in a fluid and native feeling way – TILL NOW! Thanks to QNAP’S new MARS application (Multi Application Recovery Service), this has a specific Google Photos backup and synchronization routine in place that allows users to connect their Google Pictures and Albums to the QNAP NAS, then action backup to the NAS storage ad-hoc or on a schedule as needed. So, today I want to show you exactly how to do it. Let’s start.

The Difference Between a Google Photos Backup and Google Drive Backup

Before we go further, it is worth highlighting that this is not the first guide I have written that covers synchronizing and/or backing up your Google Data to a QNAP NAS. However, my previous guide was on how to backup your Google Drive and Google Photos Data via the Google Takeout service (video here too). A few years ago, Google would store the Google Photos data and Files via Google Drive, which made accessing this data much, MUCH easier. However, in recent years Google separated the Photos data into separate Google Photos software services and that made a seamless and automated backup of this data much harder. It is only now with the QNAP MARS tool that we can natively backup the photos, without using a manual download from the Google Takeout service in the middle.

What You Need to Backup and Sync Google Photos with a QNAP NAS

The setup and execution of using MARS to back up your Google Photos account to your QNAP NAS are really easy, only need to be done once and can be very easily configured at any time. t is also worth highlighting that it is possible with even very, VERY cost-effective QNAP NAS systems. As long as your NAS supports QTS 5 (and therefore has access to the MARS free app in the QNAP App Center), you have everything you need. So, to confirm, in order to use this guide you will need:

• A QNAP NAS Drive – Obviously
• Access to the NAS via a Web browser and account privileges to install Applications
• Access to your Google Photos Account
• A QNAP NAS running QTS 5 / QuTS 5 or Higher
• The QNAP free MARS App
• (Optional) Have Multimedia Console and QuMagie installed on Your QNAP NAS

The optional steps are only going to be needed if you want to create a smart photos NAS setup that includes AI-powered photo recognition (faces, things and subjects), as well as integrating the Google Photos collection that you are pulling over to the NAS in with your existing QNAP  NAS Photo collection.

Backing Up Your Google Photos Account to your QNAP NAS Step By Step

These are the steps you need to follow to create a connection between your QNAP NAS and your Google Photos account, for backup or Synchronization services. There are also additional steps that allow you to add browse these photos more effectively in the QNAP QTS platform with Multimedia Console and QuMagie (with AI photo recognition), but these steps are optional.

Step 1 – Log into your QNAP NAS and QTS GUI via the web browser and head into the Application Center

Step 2 – Download and Install the MARS application

Step 3 – Run the MARS Application and select the Google Photos option on the left-hand side

Step 4 – Select the ‘Add Service’ option on the top right, name the connection (anything will do) and then click ‘Connect Google Photos’

Step 5 – Enter Your Google Photos login information and give QNAP MARS access rights

Step 5 – Select the Backup Option on the left, select ‘Google Photos’, name the backup job and then select the ‘Source’ Browse Button

Step 6 – Select the Google Photos Account you connected earlier

Step 7 – Now select the ‘Destination’ Browse Button and highlight where you want the Google Photos to be stored on the QNAP NAS

Step 8 – Select the ‘Multimedia Console’ option if you already have the App installed to ensure it gets indexed

Step 9 – Select ‘ALL’ if you want the entirety of your Google Photos Account Backed Up, or Select Individual Albums here

Step 10 – Select if you want the Google Photos to QNAP NAS Backup to be Manual or on a schedule

Step 11 – Select the Backup Schedule to be at the least inconvenient time (1AM?)

Step 12 – If you want to create separate Backups select the version number and retention policy here

Step 13 – Run the Backup Job to test that all is working!

Step 14 – The Images from your Google Photos Account should now be in the folder of your QNAP NAS you selected

Step 15 (Optional) – Install Multimedia Console if you want the QNAP to Index the Album for NAS Photo Apps to Use

Step 16 (Optional) – Select the QNAP Photo App (QuMagie or Photo Station) and then add the Google Photos Backup Folder You Made

Step 17 (Optional) – Select the ‘Indexing’ Tab if you want to run Index tasks at certain times and with certain priorities

Step 18 (Optional) – Use the QNAP QuMagie AI Powered App with the Google Photo Backup Folder Indexed to Browse the best way

Step 19 (Optional) – QuMagie will begin to identify Faces, Objects and Subjects and begin to process them

And that is it! Now you can use the QuMagie Application to have a much smarter, quicker and better-catalogued photo collection on your QNAP NAS – as well as now adding your Google Photos collection. This can either be used as another layer of Photo backup OR as a means to browse your decades of photos with AI-supported services to catalogue them much ,MUCH quicker, from the privacy and comfort of your home network (i.w NO INTERNET REQUIRED!). Thanks for reading and I hope this guide helped you!

 

Why Choose QNAP NAS after Google Photos?

Of all the brands in NAS, QNAP is one of the most innovative and generally considered to be one of the most flexible brands in terms of their software architecture. Whereas the previous brand, QNAP, will typically ask you to do things their way, QNAP is a great deal more customisable in its software and hardware architecture, allowing you to do things in a way you’re already familiar with and the NAS drive will adjust accordingly. With a greater range of hardware solutions on offer than most other NAS brands, the portfolio can be a touch intimidating. There are significantly more applications available on the software, mobile devices and desktop clients than any other brand and this applies to both photography and generally data. This large degree of flexibility and hardware options can often be to their detriment, as users that want their hand held a little or just want something to work straight away out of the box might find a QNAP a bit of a steep climb by comparison to Google Photos. That said, the software user interface accessible via your web browser is more stylized and comparable to that of Windows and Android, considerably more customisable than any other NAS software but this is presented at the expense of the relative ease of QNAP’s software. Most popular photo backup solutions in the portfolio include:

TOP QNAP NAS Deals to Watch Out For on Black Friday 2022

Even though there will likely be numerous deals on QNAP NAS systems (largely focused on desktop NAS systems of course), the following three NAS Drives are the ones I recommend for those on a tight budget, those looking for an affordable media/plex server or those looking to do a little bit of EVERYTHING! I have linked each to Amazon in order to check how much it will be on offer during Black Friday, but they will all likely be on offer in numerous locations during the event too. Here is what I recommend:

QNAP TS-464 NAS Drive – This is the new Prosumer desktop 4-Bay NAS from QNAP. Arriving with a fantastic hardware architecture, such as an Intel Quad Core N5105, 4-16GB Memory, M.2 NVMe Bays, PCIe Upgrade Slot, USB 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 4K and more, this is a real compact powerhouse of a system and almost certainly will see good offers across multiple sites – Check HERE

QNAP TS-453E NAS Drive – Released a few months after the QNAP TS-464, the TS-453E is a marginally less scalable box BUT it makes up for it with incredible base-level hardware at a fantastic price (even when not on offer). Another (newer) Quad-Core Intel Powered CPU in the J6412, it also arrives by default with 8GB of Memory, NVMe SSD bays, 2.5GbE network ports and all this in a very compact casing. With great performance in Plex Media server, as well as the majority of QTS 5.1 applications, the TS-453E is the Prosumers NAS for home users who don’t need/want to pay extra for upgrades down the line. – Check HERE

QNAP TS-233 NAS Drive – A much more modest system than the two NAS I just mentioned, the TS-233 is a low-power, low-impact 2-Bay NAS (also available in the TS-133 1-Bay and TS-433 4-Bay) that runs on a Realtek Quad Core 64bit ARM processor, 2GB of DDR4 memory and is still able to support a large number of QNAP Applications (including the QVR Elite surveillance App, AI-Powered Photo Tool QuMagie, the Hybrid Backup Sync 3-2-1 Backup service and more. With energy prices increasing noticeably in 2022, this is very much a 24×7 NAS for those keeping an eye on the meter! Check HERE

Best All Rounder QNAP NAS	Best Plex & QNAP NAS	Best Budget QNAP NAS
QNAP TS-464 NAS Drive	QNAP TS-453E NAS Drive	QNAP TS-233 NAS Drive

 

QNAP NAS Advantages

• By far the most hardware-equipped NAS brand
• The largest number of applications for media and backups
• A wider range of supported 3rd Party platforms and services
• Very software/folder path customizable
• Excellent indexing/thumbnail generation (Multimedia console)

QNAP NAS Disadvantages

• It can be a touch intimidating on day 1
• Less suitable for ‘setup and forget’ users

 

 

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?

We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. 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]     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.  

 

Data Storage Deals to Look Out for on Black Friday 2022

Black Friday 2022 has begun! Remember when this was just a single day event? In recent years, in efforts to remain competitive and to capitalize on the global sales event, many e-tailers have switched to launching their Black Friday events to run the entire week (with arguably, the juiciest offers kicking off on the day itself, Friday 25th November) and NAS brands such as Synology and QNAP are just as keen to jump on board too. Data Storage and Networking Devices are among two of the biggest growth areas of technology we have observed in the last five years, thanks to a growing dependence of home and business users to work/live on internet based services and created hundreds of megabytes of data (and stretching into gigabytes for business) per day. The days of getting by with a drawer full of USB sticks and your free hand full of Google Drive Gigabytes are long gone (when you phone takes 4K photos at 10-15MB a pop) and ALOT of users have been holding out till Black Friday 2022 to either finally take the plunge on their first bit of premium storage tech or upgrade their existing setup. Throughout Black Friday itself, I will be keeping an eye on deals that appear over Black Friday 2022 that I would personally, GENUINELY buy – and I will be publishing a few videos to share them. However, there are already a number of rather attractive NAS deals floating around on the 2020, 2021 and even 2022 generation of storage from the big NAS brands and so I have made this article that details the NAS systems that will be on sale over Black Friday, alongside a list of retailers to check. I have also included price history on each of the devices to help you know when a deal really IS a deal. Let’s take a look at the best deals to watch this week of Black Friday 2022.

BEST Synology Black Friday 2022 Deal – Synology DS920+ NAS

Popular for 2.5 years since it’s initial launch in Summer 2022,the Synology DS920+ NAS has been refreshed recently with the launch of the new DS923+ NAS and for many, the DS920+ is still the superior NAS drive for Multimedia. The Synology DS920+ is regularly on sale at both Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day – and I Definitely see it appearing on sale in a huge number of locations globally, as the brand ushers out the older 2020 generation in favour of hte newer 2022/2023 Diskstation NAS. Indeed, it has seen a huge number of price changes in the last 18months:

With a fantastically compact and low noise chassis, the DS920+ is still a fantastic NAS. Also, the DS920+ will also arrive with the latest version of Synology DSM 7.1, the fully featured NAS software that is included with all Synology NAS. This is almost certainly be THE DEAL of Black Friday 2022 TO WATCH!

Synology DS920+ NAS	CPU: Intel J4125 4-Core Celeron Memory:Bays: 4-8GB M.2 NVMe Bays: 2x m.2 NVMe, Caching Only Network Ports: 2x 1GbE USB: USB 3.2 Gen 1 x2 KVM: No Network Upgrade: No Synology DS920+ is an ideal network-attached storage solution to streamline data management and productivity. Two built-in M.2 SSD slots and Synology SSD Cache technology allow you to boost system I/O and application performance. Scalable storage design lets you start small and expand storage capacity with Synology DX517 as your data grows. Links Video Review  –  Written Review  –  DealFinder Page

---

BEST QNAP Black Friday 2022 Deal – QNAP TS-464 NAS

When QNAP launched their 2022 generation of hardware, the unit that REALLY stood out from the pack was the TS-464 NAS. This system pretty much delivered EVERYTHING that NAS buyers have been asking/demanding for at this price point for the last 6-7 years. The most powerful and capable Intel celeron featuring in NAS yet, DDR4 memory upto 16GB. M.2 NVMe SSD  says for caching OR storage, 4K HDMI, two 2.5GbE bays, 10Gb/s USB ports AND a PCIe slot to improve the system’s network ports and/or storage even more! The TS-464 was such a beast that when launched, it IMMEDIATELY SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE!!! It took the better part of 4-5 months after release (April/May 2022) of the TS-464 to start seeing stock availability become a little more stable. Fast forward to now on Black Friday 2022 and the TS-464 is now much more available AND it has started seeing it’s price point drop.

Now, although the price change can be attributed a little to the amount of time that the TS-464 has been available to buy, it has also been caused by the release of QNAP’s big rival ‘Synology’ releasing their DS923+ NAS 4-Bay. I can definitely see the QNAP TS-464 NAS appearing on a few limited sales over the Black Friday period, though do not expect the stock to be especially high – so be quick on this one!

QNAP TS-464 NAS	CPU: Intel N5105 4-Core Celeron Memory:Bays: 4-16GB M.2 NVMe Bays: 2x m.2 NVMe, Caching and Storage Pools Network Ports: 2x 2.5GbE USB: USB 3.2 Gen 2 x3 KVM: Yes Network Upgrade: Yes Powered by an Intel® Celeron® N5095, quad-core processor (burst up to 2.9GHz), the TS-464 features two 2.5GbE RJ45 ports and Port Trunking for up to 5Gbps combined bandwidth. With M.2 PCIe Gen3 and PCIe Gen 3 slots, the TS-464 provides flexibility in extending NAS functionality, allowing you to install a QM2 card for M.2 SSD caching, or Edge TPU for AI image recognition and various 10GbE/5GbE network cards. The TS-464 comes with 4 GB RAM for running light VMs and Containers, and supports multi-cloud backup, cloud storage gateways, 4K HDMI output and real-time transcoding, alongside expandable storage capacity and feature-rich apps to perform as a cost-efficient, reliable 2.5GbE NAS. Links Video Review  –  Written Review  –  DealFinder Page

---

BEST Asustor Black Friday 2022 Deal – Lockerstor 4 Gen 2 NAS

Unlike higher profile brands such as Synology and QNAP, Asustor has always played the long game when it comes to their hardware. Unlike other brands that in 2022 released complete new refreshes of their systems, Asustor too the decision to upgrade their existing Lockerstor system to a Gen 2 version and…well…pretty much upgrade EVERYTHING! The Lockerstor 4 Gen 2 (also known as the AS6704T) arrives with the same high end Intel Celeron N5105 CPU as the QNAP TS-464, but then doubles down by providing 2933Mhz memory (4GB that can be upgrade to 16GB) and a massively surprising FOUR M.2 NVMe SSD bays (caching or pools, your pick). The system then ups the game with 10G USB and HDMI 2.0b (the only NAS in the market to feature this). Hell, the Lockerstor Gen 2 4-Bay can also swap the M.2 NVMe SSD bays out for a 10GbE card and/or a (coming soon) combination M.2 NVMe SSD + 10GbE upgrade card! The lockerstor Gen 2 series was already a huge bargain and Black Friday 2022 only makes this point louder!

Alongside all this, it is worth highlighting that we are seeing the Lockerstor Gen 1 (in 2 and 4-bay) also see a noticeable price drop in a number of locations. Ultimately, when it comes to NAS hardware, the AS6704T is near unbeatable at teh value for money and it also arrives with ADM Software and services included. Basically – a BARGAIN!

Asustor AS6704T NAS	CPU: Intel N5105 4-Core Celeron Memory:Bays: 4-16GB M.2 NVMe Bays: 4x m.2 NVMe, Caching and Storage Pools Network Ports: 2x 2.5GbE USB: USB 3.2 Gen 2 x2 KVM: Yes Network Upgrade: Yes Quad-Core 10 nm Intel Celeron N5105 CPU – 31% more performance over Gemini Lake Superfast 2.5-Gigabit Ethernet ports Flexible PCIe slot for 10GbE NICs or M.2 SSDs Supports PCIe 3.0 SSDs for up to twice the performance of PCIe 2.0. Uses DDR4-2933 with 40% more performance USB 3.2 Gen2 ports – 10Gbps speed Enjoy, download, upload and stream content with 4K transcoding Increased ventilation for SSDs Supports Wake on LAN and Wake on WAN Links Video Review  –  Written Review  –  DealFinder Page

---

 

BEST Terramaster Black Friday 2022 Deal – F4-423 NAS

Terramaster is a brand that we regularly see on offer during the Black Friday period over on amazon. However, we are only now starting to see their latest FX-423 2022 generation of devices start to see any meaningful discount. The F4-423 already arrived at a more affordable price point that the 2020 released DS920+, whilst also having the same hardware as the Lockerstor 4 Gen 2 and QNAP TS-464 for the most part. The F4-423 arrives with the Intel N5105, 4-16GB of DDR4 Memory, 2.5GbE and USB 3.2 Gen 2, yet is almost $100-130 cheaper than it’s competitors!!!

Further to this, the Terramaster F4-423 has recently been updated to TOS 5, the brand’s NAS software. This has seen numerous improvements in it’s GUI, responsiveness and default security. It also now includes a surveillance application, AI powered photo recognition tool, several new backup and synchronization tools and improvements to the file systems and services. The learning curve on a terramaster NAS is a little steeper tha some of the other brands, but the F4-423 is still a fantastic choice to consider this Black Friday 2022.

Terramaster F4-423 NAS	CPU: Intel N5105 4-Core Celeron Memory:Bays: 4-16GB M.2 NVMe Bays: 2x m.2 NVMe, Caching and Storage Pools Network Ports: 2x 2.5GbE USB: USB 3.2 Gen 2 x2 KVM: No Network Upgrade: No The 4-Bay F4-423 is suitable for SMB users who need high-performance storage solutions. High performance means that users can easily handle high-load workflows, while multiple business-level backup solutions guarantee data safety and safeguard against the risk of data loss. This is a high-performance storage solution that provides a virtual storage and database service for SMB users. It uses an Intel Celeron N5105/5095 quad-core processor with 2.0 GHz and a maximum turbo of 2.9 GHz. It is integrated with a GPU graphics card and AES NI hardware encryption. In addition, it is equipped with two 2.5 GbE interfaces and a 4 GB DDR4 dual-channel memory (expandable up to 32 GB). Moreover, this storage solution is internally installed with 2 M.2 NVMe slots, which accelerate SSD caching and double the storage efficiency of your RAID. Links Video Review  –  Written Review

---

 

Affordable Home 4K Plex NAS Black Friday 2022 Deal – Synology DS220+

Plex Media series still continues to be one of the most popular reasons that many home users choose to make the jump into the world of NAS storage – with Black Friday all too often being the point that head to the checkout!  Plex Media Server gives users the ability to access, view and browse their existing multimedia collection with  the same level of graphical flare and services hat paid subscriptions services like Netflix and Disney+ include (Trailers, Cast information, media box art, reviews, etc). Plex is a little hungry as an application though and it can be tough to find a NAS drive that has the right amount of hardware to play 4K media, without breaking the bank. The Synology DS220+ arrives at an incredible affordably price point, yet (with a plex pass and concentrating on h.264 mEDIA AT UPTO 60Mb bitrate of 32Mb HEVC) it can still play ALOT of current multimedia! Add to this that the NAS is very low in power use and is a quite little 2 bay, and what you have is by far one of the best value 4K Plex NAS’ in the market.

The DS220+ will almost certainly see a refresh in 2023 towards a DS223+ NAS (with question marks about whether it will feature an Intel or AMD CPU – and even more questions on the whether it will have integrated graphics), the DS220+ is 100% going to be on offer at a number of retailers, as Synology begins to run down the stock of the 2020 gen, in favour of the 2023 generation. If you see the DS220+ at £250 o less this Black Friday, SNAP IT UP!

Synology DS220+ NAS	CPU: Intel J4025 2-Core Celeron Memory:Bays: 2-6GB M.2 NVMe Bays: No Network Ports: 2x 1GbE USB: USB 3.2 Gen 1 x2 KVM: No Network Upgrade: No Synology DS220+ is a compact network-attached storage solution designed to streamline your data and multimedia management. It features smooth data sharing, video streaming, and photo indexing, as well as well-rounded data protection and recovery options. Video Station lets you easily manage and organize movies, TV shows, and home videos, and stream content to computers, smartphones, and media players. Organize your photos intelligently with Moments, a modern, AI-enabled photo management application that lets you effortlessly preserve your precious memories. Audio Station is your personal music center, designed to intelligently sort and organize your audio files, and stream to Google Cast enabled devices. Audio Station supports lossless formats to ensure pristine audio quality. Links Video Review  –  Written Review  –  DealFinder Page

---

 

BEST Budget/Value NAS Black Friday 2022 Deal – Synology DS220+j

If you HAVE decided to buy a NAS as a low key multimedia server for DLNA/uPnP streaming and/or low/2n tier backup server – then the incredibly affordable DS220j NAS will make ALOT of sense! It arrives at a fraction of the price of the more powerful Intel options mentioned above in the 2020 generation, but still has DSM on board, a quad-core 64bit ARM CPU and (although a little slower and needs a pinch more patience at times) is a really impressive, small scale NAS!

This is another NAS that is fully expected to see a 2023 refresh (largely down to the talk of a new Synology Value NAS with the Realtek RTD1619 CPU coming). So, be sure to look for this bargain on the week of Black Friday 2022!

Synology DS220j NAS	CPU: Realtek RTD1296 4-Core ARM v8 64bit Memory:Bays: 512MB M.2 NVMe Bays: No Network Ports: 1x1GbE USB: USB 3.2 Gen 1 x2 KVM: No Network Upgrade: No DS220j is an entry-level 2-bay NAS designed for home and personal users to store and share photos, videos, and documents. The private cloud solution is powered by the award-winning DiskStation Manager (DSM) OS, providing an intuitive user interface and safe data protection approaches for easy digital asset backups from computers and mobile devices at no additional cost.  Synology’s comprehensive multi-version backup solution protects your digital assets on computers (Windows/Mac) and mobile phones (Android/iOS) against malicious attacks, including the rising encryption-based ransomware threats. Storage management is easy with Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) technology. SHR is an automated RAID management system that allows you to easily create and expand storage volumes and migrate RAID types without requiring details on the RAID setup. SHR provides 1-disk redundancy to safeguard your data in case of drive failures. Links Video Review  –  Written Review  –  DealFinder Page

---

 

BEST Surveillance NVR NAS Black Friday 2022 Deal – QNAP TS-453D

Arriving at a price point that is a pinch higher than some might expect (especially those weighing up between the TS-453D and TS-453Be), this serves as a more compact and affordable alternative to the TVS-473e and TVS-472XT. The TS-453D NAS is something that QNAP should be proud of. It is a great entry into their already impressive range of desktop NAS devices, finding an excellent balance between home and business users. If you are looking for a brand new ‘powerful on a budget’ NAS to consolidate your home media, Set up a Surveillance network, run virtual OS environments, sort through photo media, support your relatives as the ‘IT whizz’ of the family, or move your business away from Google Drives and DropBox’ onto something safer, more scalable and dependable – then the TS-453D has alot to offer you. It gives you a great base to start using the QTS platform, as well as a good means to upgrade your storage internally at a later date (expansions in memory to 8GB, expansions in storage with the TL & TR Series, expansion in NVMe, 10Gbe both in the QM2 range and more). When it comes to surveillance though, the fact the TS-453D has KVM support, is upgradable in about 5 different ways AND has 8 camera licences with QVR Pro, means that it is a fantastic Surveillance NAS indeed. Plus, now that you can upgrade AI services thanks to the m.2 connected $29 MTU upgrade card. As you can see from the graph below, pricing has been tremendously dynamic since the launch of the TS-464 and TS-453E NAS:

That said, If you are an existing TS-453Be or TS-453B owner, this might not seem like the jump you were waiting for. Likewise, the odd choice of PCIe Gen 2 x2 may present an internal bottleneck for some.

QNAP TS-453D NAS	CPU: Intel J4125 4-Core Celeron Memory:Bays: 4-8GB M.2 NVMe Bays: No Network Ports: 2x 2.5GbE USB: USB 3.2 Gen 1 x 3, USB 2.0 x2 KVM: Yes Network Upgrade: Yes The new-gen Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) trend has driven higher bandwidth demands for wired and wireless network connections. By integrating Intel® Celeron® J4125 quad-core 2.0 GHz processor and 2.5GbE connectivity, the TS-453D not only provides modern businesses an excellent NAS solution to upgrade to 2.5GbE environments for productive daily backup/restore tasks, but also provides gamers with ample storage for their vast game collections. Up to 5 Gbps transfer speeds can be made by setting port trunking with the two built-in 2.5GbE ports. The TS-453D also supports PCIe expansion, multi-cloud backup, cloud storage gateways, 4K HDMI output and real-time transcoding, alongside expandable storage capacity and feature-rich apps to perform as a cost-efficient, reliable 2.5GbE NAS. Links Video Review  –  Written Review  –  DealFinder Page

---

BEST Price Per Terabyte NAS Hard Drive Black Friday 2022 Deal – WD Red Plus 8TB

WD Red Plus 8TB NAS Hard Drive	Interface: SATA Size: 3.5″ NAS Drive Scale:1-8 Bays Recording Method: CMR/PMR RPM: 7200RPM Cache: 256MB USP: NASware 3.0, 180TB Workload, Balancing and Vibration Protection Warranty: 3yrs Packed with power to handle the small- to medium-sized business NAS environments and increased workloads1 for SOHO customers, WD Red Plus is ideal for archiving and sharing, as well as RAID array rebuilding on systems using ZFS and other file systems. Built and tested for up to 8-bay NAS systems, these drives give you the flexibility, versatility, and confidence in storing and sharing your precious home and work files. Built for Optimum NAS Compatibility WD Red Plus drives with NASware technology takes the guesswork out of selecting a drive. Optimized for NAS systems, our unique algorithm balances performance and reliability in NAS and RAID environments. Simply put, a WD Red Plus drive is one of the most compatible drives available for NAS enclosures. But don’t take our word for it. WD Red Plus drives are a reflection of extensive NAS partner technology engagement and compatibility-testing. Links Video Review  –  Written Review  –  Hard Drive Tests

---

 

BEST Large Scale / Business NAS Hard Drive Black Friday 2022 Deal – Seagate Ironwolf Pro 16TB

Seagate Ironwolf Pro 16TB NAS Hard Drive	Interface: SATA Size: 3.5″ Recording Method: CMR/PMR NAS Drive Scale:1-18 Bays RPM: 7200RPM Cache: 256MB USP: 300TB Workload, Balancing and Vibration Protection, Data Recovery Services Warranty: 5yrs IronWolf® Pro drives are engineered to deliver 24×7 performance, reliability, and dependability in multi-bay, multi-user commercial and enterprise RAID storage solutions. Total peace of mind with five-year limited warranty, complimentary three-year Rescue Data Recovery Services, and IronWolf Health Management. • Built with Agile Array firmware for RAID optimisation and 24×7 use. • Rotational Vibration sensors on higher capacity drives to mitigate vibration in multi-bay applications. • Iron Wolf Health Management is built into compatible NAS operating systems that monitors drive health. • 300 TB/year workload rate for busy multi-user s allowing users to push more data through the hard drive and NAS. • 5-year with 2-year data recovery service. Links Video Review  –  WD vs Seagate HDDs –  Seagate Eescue Data Recovery Guide

---

 

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?

We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. 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]     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.  

What NAS is the Cheapest to Run 24×7?

Have you SEEN how much electricity costs these days? Because of any one of about a hundred different global factors (local conflict, slow renewable energy uptake, monopolizing energy companies with powerful lobbying – take your pick!) most of us in2022/2023 have seen increases in energy costs. In this energy-aware climate, it can be appreciated that a NAS drive (a 24×7 appliance) seemingly has its cost to the end user in terms of electricity as something of a vague number. With so many kinds of NAS available in the market, featuring a mix of CPUs, PSUs, Bays and utilities, PLUS the wide range of HDD/SSD drives in the market to choose from – there are just so many variables when trying to work out how much power your NAS drive is using and how much that is translating to in your monthly energy bill! So, to resolve this concern, we have created this chart below that details the power consumption of several popular Synology and QNAP NAS systems in the market right now, defined by their reported power consumption (supplied on their official pages) and worked out how that translates into $, £ and Euros! But before we start, what is the difference between ACTIVE power use and IDLE power use? It’s pretty important when it comes to a device that will be on days, weeks, months and even YEARS at a time.

Can NAS Manufacturers be trusted to provide accurate power consumption numbers?

Popular NAS brands such as Synology, QNAP, Asustor and Terramaster are all obligated to provide a certain degree of information/specifications to end users when selling their wares globally. The extent of this information can vary, with some brands only giving you the CPU, Memory and PSU/Power brick wattage, whereas more reputable brands give you details breakdowns of the reported/average power usage of the device when in active, standby and/or idle use. Now, the question is, how much can you trust/rely on these figures? Surely it is in the interest of the brand to keep this number as LOW as possible to entice the end user? Well. I will say you can definitely, 100% TRUST the figures that the NAS brands report on their devices in use, HOWEVER, you need to always scroll down to the bottom of the page and check the DRIVES and RAID that were used in the testing. It is not uncommon for a NAS brand to use specific low-powered SSDs, or a RAID 0 as opposed to RAID 5 (which requires less system operation to maintain). These are not terrible guidelines, as there ARE users that use these setups, but it would be better if there was a form of universal standard in place (e.g separate 4TB / 8TB / 16TB / 22TB tests).

Note – Alongside these results based on officially provided energy consumption, I have been making videos and articles on SPECIFIC power usage tests, covering Active/Idle usage. These tests are going to take place throughout the next 12+ months and will cover around 30 NAS’ and 18 drive variations (capacity, performance, brands, SSD vs HDD, etc). You can read the MASSIVE article that is being regularly updated with fresh test results HERE. You watch the playlist so far HERE on YouTube.

What is the Difference Between a NAS Drive ‘Active’ and in ‘IDLE / Standby’?

Although a NAS is designed to be in operation 24×7 and is consuming electricity when running, the actual reality of this and the extent to which it is consuming it is actually alot more nuanced. Most home users who have a NAS system will use the NAS directly for a significant;y smaller portion of time per day than it is actually powered on for. Perhaps to stream a movie or a couple of TV episodes, run a daily backup, have a couple of cameras in/outside their home that are sending recordings (or more likely just alerts and associated captures) to the NAS and that is about it. They will periodically do more than these, maybe a VM, more sophisticated backup or use some of the other services ad hoc, but the result is that in most domestic/bog standard home scenarios, a NAS will be switched internally to Idle/Standby after no pro-active use quite quickly and spend 80-90% of the time in low power modes. Business users might well be using the system 24×7 for sync’d tasks and on-going camera recording, but even then, this will be a lower %  of system resources in use. So, in order to find a comparable and relative means to study the electricity use of a NAS and it’s cost, I have conducted two tests per NAS+HDD configuration. The first, a 24 Hour Active test, with the system using a decent % of it’s CPU+Memory, a swell as the HDDs not being given the chance to switch to Idle/Standy (by constantly writing AND performing S.M.A.R.T tests hourly). The idle tests involve all of those apps, services and scheduled operations being cancelled and the network cable being disconnected from the NAS (for another 24hrs). From here we can work out the cost of an hour of power usage by either setup in high activity and near-zero activity. But how can we work out the COST of the electricity used by the NAS in that time period?

All Synology and QNAP NAS Drives, Listed in Power Use and Cost (Best to Worst)

Below are the NAS we have added so far to our energy calculator. You can add your own electricity price/tariff/rate in the box at the top if you want to narrow things down a little and/get a better understanding how the reported power usage by each NAS device will work out for you in costs per day, month and year. We will be adding more NAS brands and devices as time goes on.

Brand	Model	Power Usage	Power saving mode	Daily usage	Monthly/ Yearly
Qnap	TS-130	7.29W	3.45W	£0.059	£1.78/21.71
Qnap	TS-133	7.32W	2.74W	£0.06	£1.79/21.8
Synology	DS118	9.4W	4.22W	£0.077	£2.3/28
Synology	DS120j	9.81W	4.68W	£0.08	£2.4/29.22
Qnap	TR-002	10.15W	2.98W	£0.083	£2.48/30.23
Synology	RT2600ac	10.80W	7.94W	£0.088	£2.64/32.17
Qnap	TS-233	10.81W	3.43W	£0.088	£2.65/32.2
Asustor	AS1102T	11.6W	5.97W	£0.095	£2.84/34.55
Qnap	TS-131K	11.62W	7.29W	£0.095	£2.84/34.61
Asustor	AS3302T	12.3W	6.04W	£0.1	£3.01/36.63
Qnap	TS-262	12.448W	8.198W	£0.102	£3.05/37.08
Qnap	TS-253D	12.448W	8.198W	£0.102	£3.05/37.08
Synology	DS220j	12.46W	5.06W	£0.102	£3.05/37.11
Synology	MR2200ac	12.95W	5.21W	£0.106	£3.17/38.57
Synology	DS220+	14.69W	4.41W	£0.12	£3.6/43.75
Synology	DS218	14.99W	5.78W	£0.122	£3.67/44.65
Qnap	TS-251D	15.25W	8.08W	£0.124	£3.73/45.42
Qnap	TS-231P3	15.6W	8.46W	£0.127	£3.82/46.46
Qnap	TS-231P	15.6W	8.46W	£0.127	£3.82/46.46
Qnap	TS-231K	15.6W	8.46W	£0.127	£3.82/46.46
Asustor	AS6602T	15.9W	9.2W	£0.13	£3.89/47.36
Synology	DS720+	16.44W	6.19W	£0.134	£4.02/48.96
Synology	DS218play	16.79W	5.16W	£0.137	£4.11/50.01
Asustor	AS5202T	17W	10.5W	£0.139	£4.16/50.63
Asustor	效能	17W	10.5W	£0.139	£4.16/50.63
Qnap	TS-251+	18.09W	10.56W	£0.148	£4.43/53.88
Qnap	TS-253E	18.09W	10.56W	£0.148	£4.43/53.88
Qnap	TR-004	18.21W	4.17W	£0.149	£4.46/54.24
Qnap	TS-473A	19.576W	29.792W	£0.16	£4.79/58.31
Asustor	AS6702T	21W	13.5W	£0.171	£5.14/62.55
Synology	DS420j	21.71W	7.88W	£0.177	£5.31/64.66
Qnap	HS-453DX	22.38W	13.55W	£0.183	£5.48/66.66
Qnap	TS-433	22.54W	8.45W	£0.184	£5.52/67.13
Asustor	AS1104T	23.1W	10.1W	£0.188	£5.65/68.8
Asustor	AS3304T	23.1W	10.1W	£0.188	£5.65/68.8
Qnap	TS-873A	25.668W	54.067W	£0.209	£6.28/76.45
Qnap	TS-464	25.98W	11.3W	£0.212	£6.36/77.38
Qnap	TS-462	25.98W	11.3W	£0.212	£6.36/77.38
Qnap	TS-453D	25.98W	11.3W	£0.212	£6.36/77.38
Synology	DS418	26.49W	8.78W	£0.216	£6.48/78.9
Qnap	TS-431K	26.57W	11.928W	£0.217	£6.5/79.14
Qnap	TS-431KX	26.7W	11.65W	£0.218	£6.54/79.52
Qnap	TS-431P3	26.7W	11.65W	£0.218	£6.54/79.52
Qnap	TS-431X	26.7W	11.65W	£0.218	£6.54/79.52
Qnap	TS-431P	26.7W	11.65W	£0.218	£6.54/79.52
Asustor	AS5304T	27W	12.6W	£0.22	£6.61/80.42
Asustor	AS6604T	27.6W	12.6W	£0.225	£6.76/82.2
Qnap	TBS-464	28W	18W	£0.228	£6.85/83.4
Synology	DS420+	28.30W	8.45W	£0.231	£6.93/84.29
Qnap	TS-453B	30.04W	15W	£0.245	£7.35/89.47
Qnap	TS-435XeU	30.878W	17.367W	£0.252	£7.56/91.97
Qnap	TS-431XeU	30.99W	12.42W	£0.253	£7.59/92.3
Qnap	TS-453DU	32.038W	17.209W	£0.261	£7.84/95.42
Synology	DS920+	32.17W	9.69W	£0.263	£7.88/95.82
Qnap	TS-451+	33.88W	15.78W	£0.276	£8.29/100.91
Qnap	TS-453E	33.88W	15.78W	£0.276	£8.29/100.91
Synology	DS620slim	34.88W	7.59W	£0.285	£8.54/103.89
Asustor	AS6704T	35W	17.3W	£0.286	£8.57/104.24
Qnap	TS-464eU	35.297W	21.105W	£0.288	£8.64/105.13
Qnap	TS-653D	35.437W	18.634W	£0.289	£8.67/105.55
Qnap	TS-664	35.437W	18.634W	£0.289	£8.67/105.55
Qnap	TVS-472XT	37.32W	24.14W	£0.305	£9.14/111.15
Synology	RS422+	37.93W	13.43W	£0.31	£9.29/112.97
Qnap	TS-453BT3	38.101W		£0.311	£9.33/113.48
Qnap	TS-432PXU	39.558W		£0.323	£9.68/117.82
Synology	DVA3221	43.92W	28.43W	£0.358	£10.75/130.81
Qnap	TVS-h674	45.6W	26.52W	£0.372	£11.16/135.82
Qnap	TVS-672X	45.6W	26.52W	£0.372	£11.16/135.82
Qnap	TVS-672XT	45.6W	26.52W	£0.372	£11.16/135.82
Qnap	TS-673A	45.898W	21.891W	£0.375	£11.24/136.7
Synology	RS822RP+	47.69W	16.7W	£0.389	£11.67/142.04
Synology	RS822+	47.69W	16.7W	£0.389	£11.67/142.04
Asustor	AS6504RD	47.7W	28.4W	£0.389	£11.68/142.07
Asustor	AS6504RS	47.7W	28.4W	£0.389	£11.68/142.07
Asustor	AS6504RS/RD	47.7W	28.4W	£0.389	£11.68/142.07
Asustor	AS6706T	48.5W	27.7W	£0.396	£11.87/144.45
Synology	RS1221+	49.89W	22.64W	£0.407	£12.21/148.59
Synology	RS1221RP+	49.89W	22.64W	£0.407	£12.21/148.59
Synology	DS1621+	51.22W	25.27W	£0.418	£12.54/152.55
Synology	DS1522+	52.06W	16.71W	£0.425	£12.74/155.06
Qnap	TS-432PXU-RP	53.343W		£0.435	£13.06/158.88
Qnap	TS-473	56.23W	33.24W	£0.459	£13.77/167.48
Qnap	TS-832PXU	56.412W		£0.46	£13.81/168.02
Synology	DS1821+	59.8W	26.18W	£0.488	£14.64/178.11
Qnap	TVS-675	60.794W	41.897W	£0.496	£14.88/181.07
Qnap	TS-h686	61.115W		£0.499	£14.96/182.02
Synology	DS1621xs+	62.85W	34.26W	£0.513	£15.39/187.19
Qnap	TS-673	63.69W	35.11W	£0.52	£15.59/189.69
Qnap	TS-977XU	64.22W		£0.524	£15.72/191.27
Qnap	TVS-h874	65.03W	41.47W	£0.531	£15.92/193.69
Qnap	TVS-872X	65.03W	41.47W	£0.531	£15.92/193.69
Qnap	TVS-872XT	65.03W	41.47W	£0.531	£15.92/193.69
Asustor	AS6508T	66.9W	37.2W	£0.546	£16.38/199.25
Synology	RX1217	68.60W	27.45W	£0.56	£16.79/204.32
Synology	RS1619xs+	68.68W	34.78W	£0.56	£16.81/204.56
Qnap	TS-832PXU-RP	69.191W		£0.565	£16.94/206.08
Qnap	TS-873	70.26W	36.43W	£0.573	£17.2/209.26
Qnap	TS-883XU	72.16W		£0.589	£17.66/214.92
Qnap	TS-877XU	73.1W		£0.596	£17.89/217.72
Synology	DS2422+	73.11W	32.12W	£0.597	£17.9/217.75
Qnap	TS-983XU	74.35W		£0.607	£18.2/221.44
Synology	FS2500	74.83W		£0.611	£18.32/222.87
Qnap	TS-h886	75.79W		£0.618	£18.55/225.73
Qnap	TS-977XU-RP	76.43W		£0.624	£18.71/227.64
Qnap	TS-h977XU-RP	76.43W		£0.624	£18.71/227.64
Qnap	TS-1635AX	76.69W	39.74W	£0.626	£18.77/228.41
Asustor	AS6510T	76.8W	41.1W	£0.627	£18.8/228.74
Asustor	AS7110T	78.7W	40.1W	£0.642	£19.27/234.4
Qnap	TS-1273AU-RP	78.92W	43.67W	£0.644	£19.32/235.06
Synology	RS2421RP+	79.56W	34.89W	£0.649	£19.48/236.96
Synology	RS2421+	79.56W	34.89W	£0.649	£19.48/236.96
Qnap	TS-1232PXU-RP	83.57W		£0.682	£20.46/248.9
Qnap	TS-983XU-RP	84.74W		£0.691	£20.74/252.39
Qnap	TS-877XU-RP	86.04W		£0.702	£21.06/256.26
Qnap	TS-883XU-RP	89.99W		£0.734	£22.03/268.03
Asustor	AS7112RDX	92.4W	45.5W	£0.754	£22.62/275.2
Synology	DS3622xs+	94.42W	54.33W	£0.77	£23.11/281.22
Qnap	TS-1673AU-RP	97.34W	47.75W	£0.794	£23.83/289.92
Synology	RS2821RP+	97.54W	49.57W	£0.796	£23.88/290.51
Qnap	TS-1283XU-RP	105.12W		£0.858	£25.73/313.09
Qnap	TS-h1283XU-RP	105.12W		£0.858	£25.73/313.09
Qnap	TS-h1277XU-RP	106.66W		£0.87	£26.11/317.68
Synology	FS3410	113.84W		£0.929	£27.87/339.06
Asustor	AS6512RD	115W	67W	£0.938	£28.15/342.52
Qnap	TS-h1886XU-RP R2	117.92W		£0.962	£28.87/351.21
Qnap	TS-h1886XU-RP	117.92W		£0.962	£28.87/351.21
Asustor	AS7116RDX	121.7W	51.5W	£0.993	£29.79/362.47
Qnap	TS-h1683XU-RP	130.43W		£1.064	£31.93/388.47
Qnap	TS-1683XU-RP	130.43W		£1.064	£31.93/388.47
Qnap	TS-h1677XU-RP	136.45W		£1.113	£33.4/406.4
Synology	SA3400	137.17W	70.95W	£1.119	£33.58/408.55
Synology	RS3621RPxs	140.01W	65.94W	£1.142	£34.27/417.01
Synology	RS3621xs+	142.5W	72.76W	£1.163	£34.88/424.42
Synology	RS3618xs	142.76W	55.05W	£1.165	£34.95/425.2
Qnap	TS-h2477XU-RP	143.97W		£1.175	£35.24/428.8
Synology	RS4021xs+	145.79W	62.68W	£1.19	£35.69/434.22
Synology	SA3600	156.23W	72.37W	£1.275	£38.25/465.32
Qnap	TS-h1090FU	157.97W		£1.289	£38.67/470.5
Qnap	TS-h2483XU-RP	168.97W		£1.379	£41.36/503.26
Qnap	TS-2483XU-RP	168.97W		£1.379	£41.36/503.26
Synology	FS3600	258.23W	127.99W	£2.107	£63.21/769.11
Qnap	TS-h3088XU-RP	261.81W	129.57W	£2.136	£64.09/779.77
Qnap	TS-h2490FU	277.64W		£2.266	£67.97/826.92
Synology	FS6400	288.49W	145.8W	£2.354	£70.62/859.24
Synology	UC3200	417.48W	274.38W	£3.407	£102.2/1243.42
Synology	SA3200D	417.48W	274.38W	£3.407	£102.2/1243.42
Qnap	TDS-h2489FU	467.59W		£3.816	£114.47/1392.67
Qnap	ES1686dc	500.87W		£4.087	£122.61/1491.79
Qnap	ES2486dc	579.59W		£4.729	£141.88/1726.25
Synology	HD6500	1025.2W	418W	£8.366	£250.97/3053.46

 

UK: Energy Price (October 2022) electricity rate of 34.00 pence per kWh.

USA: Average (Feb 2022) electricity rate of 14.80 cents per kWh.

Germany: Average (June 2021) electricity rate of 31.93 Eurocents per kWh.

Australia: Average (March 2022) electricity rate of 23.59 cents per kWh.

Canada: Average (2020) electricity rate of 8.50 cents per kWh.

Source – https://www.sust-it.net

There are the rates that we will be using to calculate the running costs of the Synology and QNAP NAS systems (and more importantly their respective WD Drive setups and CPU usage).

Arx One est une société française spécialisée dans les solutions de sauvegarde pour les entreprises depuis plus de 10 ans. Elle dispose de ses propres serveurs redondants répartis sur 2 sites en France pour ses services Cloud. Arx One a développé 2 agents de sauvegarde pour les NAS : un pour Synology depuis plusieurs années et plus récemment un autre pour les NAS QNAP. Découvrons ensemble leur solution Arx One Backup… Arx One Backup Nous avons rencontré Arx One en […]

En toute discrétion, QNAP a mis en téléchargement QuTS hero h5.0.1. Contrairement à ce que pourrait faire penser sa numérotation, cette nouvelle version est importante. En effet, cette dernière se concentre sur la sécurisation du système pour NAS, quelques nouveautés et améliorations. Explications… QNAP QuTS hero h5.0.1 Près de 2 mois après l’arrivée de QTS 5.0.1, QNAP nous livre son équivalent sous QuTS hero. Pour rappel, QuTS hero peut s’installer sur un nombre restreint de NAS (principalement orientés entreprise). La […]

How Well Does the QNAP TS-453E NAS Perform as a Plex Media Server? The QNAP TS-453E NAS Drive serves as an interesting desktop release in the brand’s portfolio. Arriving with a hardware architecture that is similar to the slightly more expensive TS-464, but with the hardware inside geared less towards expandability and more towards day […]

QNAP TS-464 or the Synology DS923+ NAS Drive – Which Should You Buy? Let’s face it – this comparison was inevitably going to be one that I was really looking forward to. Over the years, I have compared hundreds of different NAS systems (with Synology and QNAP being two of the most common brands compared) […]

QNAP vient de lancer 2 nouveaux routeurs : QHora-321 et QHora-322. Ces deux boîtiers s’adressent aux professionnels et aux particuliers les plus exigeants. Il s’agit de routeurs simples, entendez par là qu’ils ne font pas points d’accès Wi-Fi. Ils ont objectif de servir de passerelle Internet rapide grâce aux ports Multi-Gig (2,5 Gb/s et 10 Gb/s). Le prix démarre à partir de 515€… QHora-321 & QHora-322 Cela fait plusieurs années que le fabricant de NAS, QNAP, a décidé de diversifier […]

QNAP NAS Security Check List – 23 Vital Steps to Secure Your NAS

It must be frustrating to hear about all ransomware and other kinds of attacks on QNAP. Especially if you plan to buy one or own a NAS already. In simple terms, you need to treat your NAS just like your computer. You would not risk going online without an antivirus installed on your Windows PC. Nowadays, Microsoft has built-in antivirus, but systems like NAS do not follow the same route. This is something you need to do manually just like in the olden days. And there are a lot more risks to consider when exposing your server to the internet. At best few brands like Synology will have built-in security advisor software. This will scan the system and notify you about all weak areas in your setup. But even that is not perfect. In this article, I will try to write from a hacker’s perspective. How would they think and what strategies they will use to attack your home network and your NAS.

How hackers attack your NAS?

NAS Security Checklist

How do you secure your NAS?

Bonus – How to secure your Network?

What are the ways your system can be attacked?

There are dozen of different kinds of methods to attack. But there are only a few that actually can affect a big number of NAS users. The rest of the attacks are very targeted at a single victim. Something for unique personal benefit. So the most popular attacks will be explained later in this article.

How does a hacker know I have a NAS?

They won’t until you tell them you have one. Hackers tell robots to scan every single IP in the world on daily bases. This is a single ping (something like saying Hello to a person). By default, devices are configured to reply with hello if they hear the ping. This is where hackers will initiate an open port scan which we will talk about in the next chapter.

Why do I have open ports?

Ports are like doors to different departments in your office. Something like IT office (NAS control panel), The Office Canteen (NAS multimedia apps), HR (NAS email and databases), the dispatch office (file transfer protocols) and so on. Random people pressing buttons on the control panel could cause the company to collapse. In order to keep people out, we use keycards (NAS user authentication).

Some of the door names (ports) are very specific to a certain NAS. This is how hackers can guess what kind of NAS you own.

A simple scan from online   https://pentest-tools.com  (check your IP) would check the most common ports and tell you if they are open.

A remote scan from a MAC terminal using the command nmap would show not just a few, but all single ports open.

Why open ports are potentially dangerous?

With additional commands like ‘vuln’, and ‘exploit’ hackers will check for software vulnerabilities. All services need regular updates. If not updated specific scripts will detect an outdated service and will allow hackers to abuse it. Similar to having an office key that is 100 years old. Even kids could break in.

So your first defence here is your router. If you have not opened any ports since you received your modem/router from your broadband company you should be safe.

But it is worth checking those ports. When you log into your NAS as an admin you can tell your router to open ports. This will be called Port Forwarding. Be careful what you click. There is nothing wrong with open ports if you have security set up. I will talk about security configuration later on.

Here is a list of QNAP default ports link And here is Synology.

 

Brute force

Now when hackers know you have a NAS with certain ports open, they can start the most basic attack which is guessing your password.

They will try the most common usernames and passwords (such as Admin Password).

 

Where do hackers find my passwords?

First of all, they will use robots to try every single word inside the dictionary.

There are lists of stolen user names and passwords available on the black market for hackers to buy. You can check if any of your passwords are being sold here https://haveibeenpwned.com or here https://www.avast.com/hackcheck/

When someone is asked to replace or improve the password people so often simply capitalise the first letter, then add the number 1 and ! mark at the end of the password. Of course, hackers will try all stolen passwords with this modified version of it.

 

Phishing Attack

This is more popular among targeted attacks where people gain access to your personal data which is priceless. Since this attack is more profitable hackers can spend more time on every person individually. They would normally send you an email that looks very similar to QNAP official emails. They will say something like “your password is compromised, please change it here”. Then they will ask for old password and the new one. This is where they steal your password because you landed on hackers website that looks like QNAP. Always make sure URL is actually QNAP and not something like QNAPpp.com.

 

MAN in the middle 

Another popular phishing method is in places with Public Wifi (coffee shops, trains etc ). Man in the middle can see all data you send and receive if you don’t use HTTPS in URL. Hackers can also direct you to the page that again looks similar to QNAP page where you put your password in. But actually, it’s hackers website. Never access your important stuff or log into anywhere from free wifi EVER!

 

Zero-Day Exploit

Every piece of software becomes vulnerable with time. Either it is an Operating system or individual apps. Zero-day exploit means that there is a way to break into a system because there is no patch created or the patch has been installed on a particular system. So this makes it a ticking time bomb. They don’t even need your username and password.

It depends on each company how they deal will vulnerabilities. Some companies run Security Bug Bounty Program and some don’t. When a hacker finds a new security hole in the system they have to make a choice. Either they sell this information to a NAS brand or they sell this information to the black market. Or sometimes people simply share vulnerability info for free here https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-10080/QNAP.html .

It is up to each brand how quickly they make a patch for each hole. Until there then you either need to disable the service or add another layer of security that doesn’t allow hackers to take advantage of this security hole.

You can scan your network for vulnerabilities and exploits using NMAP command.

 

Or for the visual interface, you can use Zenmap.

 

 

What about other attack types?

Malware Attacks

This will be vare rare occasion to get an actual virus. This usually happens with computers when you try to open a suspicious email attachment file. It could be zip or exe file or similar. On a NAS this could happen when manually installing OS or app. Instead of using AppStore or automated updates.

These viruses include worms, spyware, ransomware, adware, and trojans. This could be done via cheap smart plugs from China or elsewhere if you connect them in the same network (it’s good practice to connect them via guest wifi).

How To Choose The Right Settings to Secure Your NAS?

How do you secure your NAS

Now it’s time to go through the checklist and make sure your NAS is safe. You do not need to tick all of the boxes on the checklist. You start with the top and make your way down. The lower you get, the more secure your system gets.

Security Level		Protects against
BASIC	A strong password IP/USER autoblock Two-Step auth Disable Admin Create non-Admin users Remove Apps Disable services Change/ close ports	Brute Force Attack
MEDIUM	Enable auto-updates Install Security Advisor Install Antivirus / Set scan schedule Enable Firewall (GEO) Set User access rights (shared folders) Use VPN to connect to your NAS remotely (Norton etc.) Use SSL (HTTPS) Isolate NAS apps Use separate Volumes for storage and OS	Phishing Attack MAN in the middle Zero-Day Exploit
HIGH	Firewall (IP based) Ubiquiti unify dream machine, pfsense switch Open VPN, quWAN Hide NAS IP via free VPN Isolate smart devices VLAN (plugs,speakers etc) Backup	Targeted attack

1. How to Check and/or Change Your Password

If you use the same password on multiple websites to log in, you risk that your password could be stolen from one of those websites and used to log in to any of your accounts on any other website.

It is humanly impossible to create a strong password that is unique to every account and Still Remember it. So use password generators and save those passwords. One day, when two-step authentication will be required on every system, then weak passwords will not be an issue anymore. And all passwords as you know them will seize to exist.

Protecting ADMIN account with a Very complicated password is the most important thing you have to do. Hackers will be able to access ANYTHING they want on your NAS. If they gained an access to a non-admin user the damage will be very limited.

You can use this random string generated every time you reload this page

Or with Google Chrome browser use an auto generator

QNAP default Admin password is NIC MAC address, maybe you can use a similar method with a strong password printed on sticker

To change a password, log into your QNAP and click on your user name on the top bar. Then select Options.

Click on the tab ‘Password Settings’

If you do not trust Google password wallet, you can store your passwords on an encrypted SSD like datashur. You will need to physically have this USB stick around and it can be accessed only with a pin code.

Something similar to a password is a SSH KEY. Instead of having an 8-character string, you can have an entire document filled with random characters. This is called ssh key. You can keep it on a fingerprint-based memory stick. Simple Lexar USB will do the trick.

You can enable SSH Key login option when you open User settings and click on SSH Keys tab.

 

2. How to Enable IP/Account autoblock

Hackers will usually deploy robots to use all possible combinations and stolen password lists to hack your account. If you enable autoblock this will stop the robot after a certain number of attempts. You can block an IP or the user account. You will find respective tabs when you open Control panel/ Security. IP Access Protection is for IP based blocks and Account Access Protection is for locking the account for everyone not just that IP. Some advanced robots will be using various IP addresses from the zombie computers they have gained access to before.

 

 

3. How to Enable two-step authentication

Two-step authentication means that you will use a code from another device that only you can have access to. This could be SMS code, email code or Authenticator App code. QNAP only allows Authenticator App that you can install on your Android or iPhone.

 

4. How to Disable Admin Account Access

Just like I mention above, ADMIN account has no limits on what it can do. You can create several Admin accounts. All hackers know that the default Admin account is named ‘Admin’, so all they need to do now is try all possible passwords. Simply disabling the main Admin account and creating another one with some unusual name would slow hackers down quite a lot. Slowing down does not mean stopping them. So make sure accessing this account is very difficult, even for you.

 

5. How to Create non-Admin users and tailor their Access

When accessing your NAS on daily bases you should use a non-Admin account that has limited functionality and access to the services and files.

6. Remove Apps you don’t use – How to Check and Change Them

When people get a new NAS they usually are so excited and install every possible app to try it out. But no one removes them nor updates them. More apps you install, more potential attacks you can expect. Each app has its own volnurabilities that gets fixed via regular updates. If you never use half of your apps, why take the risk of potential security holes in any of those apps? Disable or remove apps you don’t use.

7. How to Disable Services that you don’t use

This could include SSH/Telnet that us used for command line access to your NAS. And UPnP / CloudiD firewall hole punching for remote access.

• Telnet
• SSH
• UPnP
• QNAP CloudiD

You can find all services in QNAP Settings page

Go to app center/ myQNAPcloud to find UPnP and CloudiD settings

 

 

8. How to Close Unused Ports and/or Change ports

Disabling services you don’t use will also close relevant ports. If you do enable services such as SSH, make sure you set a different port. This will confuse and slow hackers down. By default, hackers will test if you have port 22 open before they decide to attack. If ports is changed to 2889, you are less likely to be attacked. The most important ports hackers will use are SSH/Telnet and Ports 80, 443, 8080 and 8443 (HTTP and HTTPS).

 

9. How to Enable auto-updates on your NAS

Every time there is a notification about new updates indicates that hackers have found a new hole in the software. Not always hackers can get into your system because of this software bug. But in certain circumstances, they can. The chances to attack increase dramatically when you have open ports on your router and have no firewall or any malicious traffic prevention tools enabled.

Sometimes NAS is configured in a specific way that an update might disable important features. It is OK not to update these NAS ASAP as long as the system is not exposed to the internet thanks to open ports.

You can enable automatic App updates when you open AppCenter/ Settings/ Update.

You can also enable automatic operating system updates when you open Control Panel/ Firmware Update/ Auto update

10. Make Sure You Install the Security Advisor and Councilor Application!!!

With so many apps and services, it is hard to know what is going on behind the scenes. Security Advisor will run system checks and will alert you if any apps have open ports or have changed configuration that is not safe. You can install it via AppCenter.

You can then choose the level of security you need. The basic level is often all you need for home use. Businesses might go for the Advanced level. Top-level will suggest disabling a lot of features that is not useful for home use.

11. Install Antivirus and Set a Scheduled Scan on Day 1

Security counsellor app will allow you to enable 4 crucial parts of your NAS security.

• Security Checkup (will scan for configuration weaknesses)
• Antivirus (scan files for viruses)
• Malware Remover (Remove any malware found on the system)
• QuFirewall (limit the access your NAS based on IP, GEO and other rules)

 

By enabling Antivirus, this actually do not do any scans. You need to manually set the scan schedule. Go to Control panel/ Antivirus/Scan Jobs to set it up.

 

12. How to Enable Firewall protection on Your NAS on Day 1

Having a firewall will automatically block anyone if they do not pass tests like location or IP address. Similar to WD NAS, you can choose to have access to the admin panel ONLY when you are physically present inside your business network. Any access attempts to the control panel over the internet will be blocked. You need to open QuFirewall app and select one of these

• Basic protection (allow your country only to access)
• Subnets Only (allow only your local network to access)
• Restricted security (allow access to popular services only)

 

13. How to Set and/or Change User Access Rights

As suggested before, only use non-admin accounts for daily use. Admin account is only meant to be accessed for configuration changes. Make sure that users have no access to other user data. You can create separate shared folders that can be shared. If hackers will manage to gain access to this user account, they can only destroy this user’s data and not others. If the admin account is hacked then all users will lose the data.

You can create a separate shared folder with unique access rights under Control Panel/ Shared Folders. I would have separate shared folders and user names for Multimedia, surveillance and Backups.

You can also specify different volume for each shared folder. This could also protect your data. Last ransomware attacked only volume1. Those with multiple volumes were not as affected. Especially who use volume one for OS and apps only. You can also encrypt shared folder. If someone steals your NAS, they can not see any data in this folder.

 

14. Use VPN to connect to your NAS (Norton etc.)

Never connect to your NAS via free WiFi. If you have to, use VON on your phone or computer. This will create a private network between your laptop and VPN server. No one in this free WiFi network will be able to see what you are doing. What data you are sending or receiving.

https://us.norton.com/products/norton-secure-vpn

 

15. Install an SSL (HTTPS) Certificate for Encrypted Access

If you do not have VPN installed on your laptop and you are for some reason connected to free wifi or work wifi that you do not trust, always make sure you use HTTPS in the URL. This will encrypt any user names, passwords and any other data you fill in boxes on any website. Same applies to the URL when visiting NAS applications. If for some reason it has no HTTPS/ SSL/ TLS encryption enabled, you can install a new certificate in Control Panel/ Security/ SSL & private Key tab.

 

16. How to Separate and Isolate NAS Applications

If there is a security hole within an app like Video Station, hackers will damage as much data as possible using the username from this app. If an app is using Admin-level access rights, hackers can not only damage this app but also gain access to anything else on your NAS. With Synology, you will notice that for example, Plex app has its own username and shared folder created automatically. This user has no other access. The worst hackers can do is delete or enjoy your movie collection. On QNAP you will need to create a Video user manually. Then you go to settings and allow only this user within the app. No admin.

Control panel/ multimedia console/ video station permission settings is the place to configure this. Similar steps apply to other apps.

If you go to Control panel/ user groups and click the last icon (application privilege), you can choose which apps user can have access to.

17. How to Separate Volume for Storage and the OS Installation/Storage

If you have separate volumes, this might save you from lazy hackers. In the last ransomware attack, they only targeted volume1. This saved a lot of people’s data.

You can create volumes under Storage & Snapshots / Create

 

 

18. Hide NAS IP with VPN

You can install VPN on your router or NAS. This way, no one knows what your real IP address is. This can prevent targeted attacks. Nord VPN will change your IP every 5 minutes. This is the average time hackers will need to scan through every single port on your network. So if they find open ports or vulnerabilities, it is too late. You now have a different identity. Do this only with trusted VPN service providers. At the end of the day, when you connect to any VPN server/proxy, you do not know who else is connected to that VPN.

I would use a separate MR2200ac router connected to my main router. All unsafe devices like smart plugs, light bulbs and other similar devices would connect to this individual WiFi network. These smart devices if hacked would have no access to your NAS and other important devices with sensitive data.

 

If you have Synology  router with SMR 1.3 you can avoid setting this up on your NAS itself

To use your Synology Router as a VPN client, go to Network Center > Internet > Connection > Primary Interface > VPN settings to modify the settings.

 

 

19. Alternatively, How to Use Open VPN, TeamViewer, nConnect , quWAN

You can create a VPN server on your NAS. You can then connect to your NAS via a computer client using this encrypted tunnel.

https://www.QNAP.com/en/how-to/tutorial/article/how-to-set-up-and-use-qvpn

If you own QNAP smart switches and you want to link your office with your home, use quWAN. This will link these two networks together. This will give a feeling that you NAS and other network devices are actually in the same room.

Here is some more info https://www.QNAP.com/en-uk/software/quwan

Here is a video on how to set this up.

You can also achieve similar results with two MR2200AC routers (priced at around $100 each).

20. How to Isolate smart devices VLAN (plugs, speakers etc)

This allows you to create an invisible fence in your existing network. You can connect all devices using LAN ports on your switches/router. In the management portal you can select which LAN ports can or can not tlk to each other. So this way you can connect your NAS, computer and other important devices on VLAN1 and less trustworthy devices such as smart home system and speakers on VLAN2. Even though you ports on the router are closed, these smart devices are allowed to open doors from inside. Similar to your computer. You can only received data back after your computer have sent a request to some destination. This opens a private hole in your network for this transaction. Who knows how safe those cheap smart home devices are.

Here are some cheapest devices that support VLAN

NETGEAR GS305E and MR2200ac

21. Ubiquiti unify dream machine, pfsense, Synology switch with an intrusion system

As I mentioned in the paragraph above, your devices in your local network are opening and closing holes in your network every second. If your computer has a malware infection, it will be opening ports and sending your private data to hackers. You will notice your computer being slower than usual. I would recommend going to the system monitor and checking the resources consuming most of the CPU, running time etc. Then research what is service name is about. Also, go through installed apps and see if there is something you don’t recognise. And install Antivirus and scan the system when you notice unusual activity.

If you purchase DreamMachine router, pfsense or Synology router, you will get an intrusion system built in. This will scan all your internal network devices. What ports they are opening and where data is being sent. This traffic will be compared against databases that daily update IP lists from hackers etc. These routers will also block traffic from unknown devices that run a suspiciously high number of requests.

Here are a few DreamMachine, pfsense and Synology routers/switches.

22. Firewall (IP based)

 

 

23. Backup, Backup, BACKUP!!!! Set up a QNAP NAS 3-2-1 Backup Routine

The last and most overlooked thing to do is a backup. It is not IF, but WHEN your NAS will be attacked, stolen or broken. Runing automated backups nowadays is easy. You can even make an agreement with a friend that you back up each others NAS. One reserves some space on their NAS for you, and you do the same for them. Every night or hour your data will be encrypted and stored there. Only you can access it.

We covered pretty much ALL the ways you can backup your QNAP NAS in this video below:

Quick Setup – How to secure your Network?

1. Secure your router
   1. Check open ports and close unnecessary ports
   2. Enable firewall
   3. disable ping response
   4. disable port forwarding [if there is no firewall and other measures in place]
   5. disable router remote management option
   6. Use WPA2 or newer WiFi mode and make sure the password is strong
   7. Guest WiFi (private)
   8. Use VPN
   9. Enable automated updates
   10. VLAN (smart devices)
   11. An intrusion detection system (Synology)
2. Redesign your internal network
   1. Keep your network devices under different network segments
   2. Use switches with built-in firewalls and filters [Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine or unifi software]
   3. Add physical firewall [pfsense] https://shop.netgate.com/products/1100-pfsense

 

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?

We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. 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]     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.  

How Much Does it Cost to Run a NAS 24×7? QNAP TS-453E

The growing cost of electricity and how much you need to factor this into your budget is quite a valid concern. Due to any one of about a hundred different global factors (local conflict, slow renewable energy uptake, monopolizing energy companies with powerful lobbying – take your pick!) most of us in 2022/2023 have seen increases in energy costs. In this energy-aware climate, it can be appreciated that a NAS drive (a 24×7 appliance) seemingly has its cost to the end user in terms of electricity as something of a vague number. With so many kinds of NAS available in the market, featuring a mix of CPUs, PSUs, Bays and utilities, PLUS the wide range of HDD/SSD drives in the market to choose from – there are just so many variables when trying to work out how much power your NAS drive is using and how much that is translating to in your monthly energy bill! So, today’s article is about working out how much electricity the new 2022/2023 generation QNAP TS-453E NAS and four (current maximum capacity in the NAS HDD world) WD Red Plus 4TB HDDs will consume, as well as how much that equals to you in £, $ or € per day, month and year! Let’s begin.

The QNAP TS-453E NAS Current Price/Availability on Amazon –$699+	The WD Red Plus 4TB HDD (x4) Current Price/Availability on Amazon –$79
Intel J6412 CPU, 4-Core 2.0-2.6Ghz Celeron CPU 8GB 3200Mhz non-ECC Memory, 2.5GbE	4 Terabyte Capacity – SATA 3.5″ Form Factor 5400RPM – 64MB Cache – 4x 1TB Platters

NAS Power Use Test Setup

Choosing the appropriate NAS drive for these tests was always going to be tough. I DO intend on repeating these tests with several different NAS drives after this in some follow-up articles (the larger article that I will be adding to can be found HERE), but wanted this test to be focused on one of the newest releases for home users by QNAP (and the TS-453E is their latest prosumer devices and already quite popular). This NAS has been paired with the WD Red Plus 4TB HDD, by far (even in 2022) the most popular storage tier/scale in the HDD lineup. The aim here is to identify the difference between using newer gen CPUs and Larger drives vs using older-generation devices and smaller-capacity media. This will involve 2x tests on each NAS+Media configuration. Here is a breakdown of the hardware configurations and test architectures:

• QNAP TS-453E NAS, Default Celeron+8GB Memory Setup over 1/2.5GbE
• 4x WD Red Plus 4TB (QNAP Test in RAID 5)
• During ‘ACTIVE’ 24hr Tests, the NAS was prevented from going into standby/idle. 1 VM running, 1-Core and 1GB Memory, 2x IP Cameras recording non-stop, drive S.M.A.R.T tests scheduled to be hourly
• During IDLE 24hr Tests, the VM was deleted, VM and Surveillance Software disabled, ALL S.M.A.R.T tests disabled and network cable (1GbE network, 2.5GbE Port) disconnected.
• The first day of operation (which includes initialization and RAID creation) not counted (but visible at the start of the graph).
• Power was monitored with a GOSUND SMART KIT Smart Plug, Mini 13A – Find HERE

The initial 24 hours (used for system initialization and RAID configuration) were NOT included in the power usage monitoring, as although they appear on the graph they are one-off single-event scenarios. Each test (Active vs Idle) was conducted for 24hrs and the overall electricity usage was displayed in kw (kilowatt). But what is the difference between Active and Idle activity? Why does it matter?

What is the Difference Between a NAS Drive ‘Active’ and in ‘IDLE / Standby’?

Although a NAS is designed to be in operation 24×7 and is consuming electricity when running, the actual reality of this and the extent to which it is consuming it is actually alot more nuanced. Most home users who have a NAS system will use the NAS directly for a significant;y smaller portion of time per day than it is actually powered on for. Perhaps to stream a movie or a couple of TV episodes, run a daily backup, have a couple of cameras in/outside their home that are sending recordings (or more likely just alerts and associated captures) to the NAS and that is about it. They will periodically do more than these, maybe a VM, more sophisticated backup or use some of the other services ad hoc, but the result is that in most domestic/bog standard home scenarios, a NAS will be switched internally to Idle/Standby after no pro-active use quite quickly and spend 80-90% of the time in low power modes. Business users might well be using the system 24×7 for sync’d tasks and on-going camera recording, but even then, this will be a lower %  of system resources in use. So, in order to find a comparable and relative means to study the electricity use of a NAS and it’s cost, I have conducted two tests per NAS+HDD configuration. The first, a 24 Hour Active test, with the system using a decent % of it’s CPU+Memory, a swell as the HDDs not being given the chance to switch to Idle/Standy (by constantly writing AND performing S.M.A.R.T tests hourly). The idle tests involve all of those apps, services and scheduled operations being cancelled and the network cable being disconnected from the NAS (for another 24hrs). From here we can work out the cost of an hour of power usage by either setup in high activity and near-zero activity. But how can we work out the COST of the electricity used by the NAS in that time period?

How Energy Costs in these NAS Tests were Calculated?

The results of the energy usage are then cross-referenced by ‘sust-it.net’ and calculations of the cost of the used electricity per day, month and year was calculated for the UK, U.S, Germany, Australia and Canada. Now, using a select energy tariff is much harder, as there are quite literally thousands of different energy providers globally, each with their own pricing on the cost of energy per ‘kWh’. So, I used the national average calculations that were provided by ‘sust-it’ for each of those areas. Some are clearly more up-to-date than others (i.e the United Kingdom Avg Energy cost tariff is dated October 2022, whereas the Canada’s average energy cost is from way back in March 2020), however, these will still provide a good basis for understanding what a NAS drive is going to cost you in electricity when it is in operation. The national tariff averages used in this article for each region are as follows:

UK: Energy Price (October 2022) electricity rate of 34.00 pence per kWh.

USA: Average (Feb 2022) electricity rate of 14.80 cents per kWh.

Germany: Average (June 2021) electricity rate of 31.93 Eurocents per kWh.

Australia: Average (March 2022) electricity rate of 23.59 cents per kWh.

Canada: Average (2020) electricity rate of 8.50 cents per kWh.

Source – https://www.sust-it.net

There are the rates that we will be using to calculate the running costs of the QNAP NAS system (and more importantly its WD Drive setup and CPU usage).

Click to view slideshow.

Test #1 – QNAP TS-453E NAS and 4X 4TB WD Red Drives

I set the QNAP TS-453E NAS and WD Red 4TB Hard drives up in the following configuration for the Active tests:

• QNAP TS-453E NAS PSU = 100W External PSU, Intel Celeron J6412 Quad Core 2.0-2.6Ghz, 8GB DDR4 3200Mhz Memory
• WD Red Plus 4TB HDD, RAID 5
• QVR Pro 9 and 2x Reolink Dome IP Cameras (24hrs Active)
• QNAP Virtualization Station, 1x Windows VM, 1 Core, 1GB Memory (24hrs Active)
• QNAP Storage Manager (QTS 5.1) and S.M.A.R.T Tests per Hour (24hr Active)
• Reported Average power requirements of a WD Red Plus 4TB (Single):
  • Read/Write: 4.7
  • Idle: 3.1
  • Standby Sleep: 0.3

Let’s see how those results translated into your potential energy bills.

QNAP TS-453E NAS and WD Red Plus 4TB HDD Test Results:

0.03125kW use per Hour in full access/use and 0.0204166kW use per Hour in idle/standby:

1hr Active Use (KW)	UK Power Use £	U.S Power Use $	Germany Power Use €	Australia AU$	Canada CA$
Per Hour	£0.01	0.0046	0.01	0.0074	0.0027
1hr Idle Use (KW)	UK Power Use £	U.S Power Use $	Germany Power Use €	Australia AU$	Canada CA$
Per Hour	£0.01	0.003	0.0065	0.0048	0.0017

Here are the results for 24 HOURS OF ACTIVITY (no standby time or drive hibernation)

24hr Active Use (KW)	UK Power Use £	U.S Power Use $	Germany Power Use €	Australia AU$	Canada CA$
Cost Per Day	£0.25	0.1104	0.24	0.1776	0.0648
Cost per Month	7.738	3.358	7.3	5.402	1.971
Cost Per Year	92.856	40.296	87.6	64.824	23.652

Here are the results for 24 HOURS OF IDLE/STANDBY with no system use and ethernet/network connection disconnected

24hr Idle Use (KW)	UK Power Use £	U.S Power Use $	Germany Power Use €	Australia AU$	Canada CA$
Cost Per Day	£0.17	0.072	0.156	0.1152	0.0408
Cost per Month	5.037	2.19	4.745	3.504	1.241
Cost Per Year	60.444	26.28	56.94	42.048	14.892

So, what about if you were to only use the NAS at active use for around 25% of the day (i.e 6hrs of active with backups, multimedia, etc) and 75% of the day as idle (i.e 18hrs unused):

6hr Active Use and 18hr Idle Use (KW)	UK Power Use £	U.S Power Use $	Germany Power Use €	Australia AU$	Canada CA$
Cost Per Day	£0.19	0.0816	0.177	0.1308	0.0468
Cost per Month	5.71225	2.482	5.38375	3.9785	1.4235
Cost Per Year	68.547	29.784	64.605	47.742	17.082

Stay tuned, check below to see if other NAS power tests have been published and recommended to you, or watch the video version of these tests (which goes into more detail on the current predicaments in the energy crisis facing many of us in 2022, 2023 and beyond.

 

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?

We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. 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]     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.  

 

Prime Day Bargains on NAS, Hard Drives, SSDs, Cameras and Network Equipment ANOTHER Amazon Prime Day in 2022? Yep, just a month before Black Friday kicks off and Amazon has decided to host an impromptu 2nd in-house sale event beginning on Tuesday 11th Oct until midnight on Wednesday 12th Oct (in 15 countries; Austria, Canada, […]

How Well Does the QNAP TS-233 NAS Perform as a Plex Media Server?

Deciding on buying a NAS for use as your own private Plex Media Server is NOT an easy choice for many users. Although the building blocks of NAS servers are comparable to domestic PCs and Laptops, NAS systems are alot of focused/specific in their utility and for many, the price tag that many of these systems arrive with (despite having CPU+Memory combos that seem rather low-end) can be quite a barrier. Alot o NAS brands are aware of this and alongside more power/expensive systems, also have an area of their portfolio that includes a great many more affordable/value solutions for smaller scale buyers. QNAP is no exception to this and every couple of years will release a new generation affordable/value-series NAS solution that is designed to provide NAS to those of a more limited budget or task requirements. That is where the QNAP TS-233 comes in, a new ARM-powered NAS released in 2022 that promises to run the bulk of home user NAS applications without hurting your wallet too much. However, the modest specifications of these more affordable NAS drives tend to restrict Plex Media server use and many are concerned that the TS-233 NAS might not have the horsepower to get the job done. So, today I want to test the QNAP TS-233 NAS as a plex media server with 1080 and 4K media. But before we start, what is Plex? And How has it become so popular? The appeal of accessing all the movies, boxsets, music and home movies that you physically/digitally own in the style popularized by Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video (flashy GUI, summary, all the box art, trailers, cast details, reviews and more) is undeniable. The rise in popularity of streaming platforms like Netflix has also been accompanied by rising monthly subscription costs and rising concerns about never truly owning the media that you want o watch. Even when you buy movies and TV boxsets in digital download forms from Amazon Video etc, you are still at the mercy of 1) needing somewhere to store it if you do choose to download it and 2) potentially losing access to it if the site/platform you purchased from has lost the license to host it (a common complain of the increasingly digital world of PC/Console gaming, as games are pulled from eStores). Hosting your media in a subscription-free form, whilst it still being presented in the universally accessible and premium GUI form of Plex is one of the most compelling reasons for many home/prosumer users deciding to make the jump towards buying their own plex media server. However, NAS drives have grown incredibly diverse in terms of hardware design and therefore one NAS might not play media in plex as well/efficiently as another – and the QNAP TS-233 NAS is no exception to this. Today I want to detail my tests of the TS-233 as a Plex Media Server and I hope this will help you decide whether a QNAP NAS deserves your Multimedia in 2022/2023.

What is the Hardware of the QNAP TS-233 NAS Drive?

The QNAP TS-233 NAS drive is quite similar in architecture to most PCs or Laptops (in that it features a CPU+Memory+Storage), but differs in that it’s components are designed to be more efficient (as they will be in operation 24×7) and have a larger degree of focus on storage-related applications (where as the hardware in a PC/Laptop is designed more for the applications you run with storage service concerns/provisions being far more rudimentary). The TS-233 is made up of a popular mid-range server CPU, DDR4 memory and supports Hard Drive and SSDs in SATA. although most of the specifications of QNAP NAS drives are unrelated to Plex, below I have picked up the hardware specifications of the TS-233 that are relevant to Plex:

• CPU: Realtek ARM 64bit, Quad Core 1.4Ghz
• Embedded Graphics: No
• Memory (Quantity & Maximum): 2GB (Cannot be upgraded)
• Number of Storage Bays: 2x SATA Bays
• M.2 NVMe Caching Bays: No
• Network Connectivity: 1x 1GbE

Next, let’s quickly touch on how we measure how good/bad the QNAP TS-233 NAS is for Plex Media Server.

Understanding the Plex Media Server Tests of the QNAP TS-233 NAS

Important Terms to Understand in Plex/NAS/Multimedia that will make the TS-233 NAS Plex Tests Easier to Understand.

• SD, 160p, 240p, 480p, 720p, 1080p, 4K : This is the resolution that the media is being displayed at. The higher the resolution, the larger number of pixels that are available and depending on the original recording quality of the media in question. High resolutions, such as 1080p and 4K require more work to be done by the NAS hardware in order to playback the file. More often than not, a NAS with weak embedded graphics or no embedded graphics at all will be unable to play 4K very well or indeed at all. It is important to remember that just because a NAS brand like QNAP says that their latest NAS can natively play back 1080p or 4K media (natively = played using their own NAS software, software client tools and/or DLNA), that does not mean that the TS-233 will play to the same standard in Plex, as Plex is a 3rd party tool
• Transcoding, Encoding, Decoding : These are all different techniques/names for when a file needs to be changed in order to be better suited to the connected client device connection, strength or hardware. If you are accessing all your media on the local area network (i.e only accessing your plex media at home), then transcoding will rarely be something you will use (unless your media is largely H.265/HEVC based, see earlier). However, perhaps you are accessing your plex library on the train to work or from a sun bed whilst on holiday. Perhaps you have a smaller data bandwidth/allowed MB/GB, maybe a weaker internet connection, perhaps you are using a smaller phone device and you might not need to watch your 4K 50GB Blu-ray rip of the latest Marvel Movie – in these situations, you might well want to access the media on your QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS at a lesser quality than the original version, so transcoding/re-encoding on the fly (as in, at the same time it is being played) is what you would want to do. Remember, transcoding is by far the most heavy-weight thing you will need to do on a NAS. It is also worth remembering that in order for Plex o be able to use the FULL resources of a NAS CPU (such as embedded graphics) that you will need to enable ‘Make My CPU Hurt’ in the Encoder Menu of the Plex NAS Settings menu – this also potentially requires a Plex Pass subscription, depending on the NAS in question

• H.264, HEVC, H.265 :  These are compression techniques that are designed to allow large-scale media presentations that were made for a cinema to be viewable from your sofa (with H.265 being the more effective/powerful compression level). H.264 can largely be played by ALL devices, but many devices do not have permission or a license to play H.265/HEVC (they are the same thing). This is because, where H.264 is an easy license and comparatively free to use, H.265/HEVC licencing and patents are spread across multiple providers and allowing a device license to use this compression technique can be complex, expensive or simply impossible. Therefore HEVC/H.265 media will sometimes AUTOMATICALLY need to be converted/transcoded into H.264 etc in order to be played – therefore eating up more system resources. The TS-233, much like the rest of thte QNAP NAS range do not arrive with HEVC support by default
• Bitrate : Bitrate is the amount of data encoded for a unit of time, and for streaming is usually referenced in megabits per second (Mbps) for video, and in kilobits per second (kbps) for audio. Higher quality and higher resolution media tends to be of a much higher bitrate

For more information on the most important terms to understand when discussing/researching a NAS as a Plex Media Server can be found in my video below:

Any further questions, you can use the free advice section at the bottom of the page and ask me and Eddie directly.

How was the QNAP TS-233 NAS Tested in Plex?

The setup for testing the TS-233 NAS for Plex was as follows:

• The QNAP TS-233 NAS was accessed over a 1GbE network, however in order to test how the NAS would cope with transcoding/encoding, I would force the Plex Player client to transcode the file manually
• The TS-233 NAS was used in the default CPU+Memory state that the base model arrives in (no upgraded memory or upgraded caching media)
• Tests were performed one after the other with a short break between each test, so you might see the tail end of the previous test on a CPU graph, but I have pointed at the are of the % utilization that is important as per each test.

Regarding test results, CLEAR PASS means that the file successfully played and there were sufficient resources for the NAS to continue to do other things comfortably, PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU % means that the file played, but it utilized a significant amount of system resources in order to do so in a heavier use situation (i.e other NAS users connected) it might not play and FAIL AND-OR DID NOT PLAY means that the file either did not play or the time taken to play back the files was outpaced by the natural playback of the file – i.e. the file would stop-and-start constantly in order to try and catch up. If you want to watch the FULL video recording of all the Plex tests that I performed on the QNAP TS-233 NAS, you can watch the video below. Be warned, it is quite long! Alternatively, you can scroll past and see each of the test results, one-by-one, detailing which ones worked and which ones didn’t:

What % System Resources did the QNAP TS-233 NAS Use in Plex when Idle?

Running the Plex Media Server application, even when no multimedia is being played on the TS-233 is still going to require a % of system resources to be occupied, in order to ensure that PLEX can play media from the QNAP NAS as soon as it is requested remotely. Additionally, although Plex runs at its best with at least 2 Cores of CPU power and 2GB of Memory, many NAS also reserve areas of CPU/RAM for the system itself. So, therefore, knowing how much system resources are being consumed by the QNAP TS-233  NAS when Plex is idle is going to be useful to know how much system power is available when playback actually starts. Here is a screenshot of the TS-233 when Plex is running, but no media is being played/accessed:

Plex Test 1 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 Original Playback

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 2 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 Transcode to 480p 1.5Mbps

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 Transcode to 480p 1.5Mbps File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 3 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 Transcode to 160p 0.2Mbps

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 Transcode to 160p 0.2Mbps File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 4 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Original Playback

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 5 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Transcode to 480p 1.5Mbps

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Transcode to 480p 1.5Mbps File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 6 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Transcode to 160p 0.2Mbps

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Transcode to 160p 0.2Mbps File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 7 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 3Mbps H.264 Original Playback

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 3Mbps H.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 8 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 10Mbps H.264 Original Playback

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 10Mbps H.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 9 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 10Mbps H.265 – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 10Mbps H.265 – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264 File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 10 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 30Mbps H.264 Original Playback

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 30Mbps H.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: FAIL AND-OR DID NOT PLAY

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 11 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 100Mbps H.264 Original Playback

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 100Mbps H.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 12 – QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 4K 120Mbps H.264 Original Playback – FAILED

Here is how the QNAP TS-233 Plex NAS – Jellyfish 4K 120Mbps H.264 Original Playback – FAILED File Performed:

RESULT: FAIL AND-OR DID NOT PLAY

Extra Notes: Realistically, I had zero expectations that the TS-233 would play a 4K file in plex. So this file not playing was not a huge surprise.

---

 

Is the QNAP TS-233 NAS Any Good outside of Plex and Where Can I buy It?

If you are interested in learning more about the QNAP TS-233 NAS Drive, I am pleased to confirm that the review here on NASCompares is already live and you can find out more about this device below.

Quick Verdict of the QNAP TS-233 NAS – What We Said in the TS-233 Review:

Overall – I would say that the QNAP TS-233 NAS Drive IS good value, although maybe not as good a value as we have seen in previous releases from the brand. On the plus side, this is by far the most modern CPU that we have seen from a NAS brand in the ‘value’ tier. After a few years of fatigue from everyone using the Realtek RTD1966, this newer and more powerful/capable Cortex A55 is a breath of fresh air and allows a larger range of QNAP services and simultaneous services to be used at once. Equally, QTS 5 seems to have taken a lot of the criticism that people have had towards QNAP in 2021, its ‘default heavy’ security, over-flexibility in its design that gave some users too much rope to hang themselves and presets – then tightened many of them up, changed how users are informed of issues, bolstered the default security tools and increased its recommendations on backup tiers. QTS still has a steeper learning curve than other NAS brands, but now thing seems a lot tighter on day 1 and changing some options that users might use carelessly has been a big part of that. The 2GB of DDR4 memory in the system is a welcome day 1 inclusion too, when many affordable systems from competitors have 512GB or 1GB (which in 2022 is rather mind-boggling), however, the lack of scalability in that memory to go higher, the default 1GbE and those USB 2.0 ports are a touch surprising from a brand that generally tends to push the envelope in the hardware department more than many others. Overall, a solid release, if a little tame and safe at times. If you are looking at entering the QNAP NAS ecosystem and are on a tight budget, the TS-233 is a solid release and excellent value.

Read the Rest of the Review HERE. Alternatively, you can find out the Pros and Cons below, as a few retailers that sell the QNAP TS-233 NAS. Thanks for reading and if you need any further help choosing the right NAS for your Plex Media Server, use the free advice section linked below. Have a great week.

 

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?

We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. 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]     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.  

How Well Does the Synology RS422+ NAS Perform as a Plex Media Server? The rise in popularity of rackmount NAS servers being used as Plex Media Servers by home users has been surprisingly swift, largely thanks to more and more NAS brands releasing affordable (yet powerful and efficient) rack solutions. The Synology RS422+ Rackstation solution […]

QNAP TS-464 NAS 10GbE RAID 0/5/6 Testing with the WD Red Pro 22TB HDDs

When you buy a new NAS and drives, one of the most important long-term decisions that you will make is choosing your RAID level. A RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is the process of combining multiple media drives together into a single area of storage (a Storage Pool). Different RAID configurations provide different benefits and although it is not impossible to switch/change your RAID level years down the line it is not particularly straightforward, is quite limited in the range of RAID change options and often just makes you wish you had picked better the first time around! That is one of the main purposes of today’s article, to understand the performance differences between the big three RAID configurations that people choose for their first NAS system – RAID 0, RAID 5 and RAID 6. In order to achieve this, I have opted to use the 2022 released QNAP TS-464 4-Bay NAS, combined with a 10GbE upgrade and alongside this I have fully populated the device with FOUR of the new massive capacity 22TB WD Red Pro series Hard drives. What we have here is a fully-featured, Prosumer NAS system with an external 1,000MB/s external throughput and a potential 88 Terabytes to play with! This will be a great way to test the performance potential of RAID 0 vs RAID 5 vs RAID 6 for users who are considering a modest scale 4-Bay NAS and want to make sure they pick the right RAID configuration for their needs right – FIRST TIME!

Skip Ahead? Use the links here to skip ahead to the Appropriate Test:

RAID 0, 10GbE Testing, QNAP TS-464 and WD Red Pro 22TB HDDs

RAID 5, 10GbE Testing, QNAP TS-464 and WD Red Pro 22TB HDDs

RAID 6, 10GbE Testing, QNAP TS-464 and WD Red Pro 22TB HDDs

Before we get started, if you are interested in emulating these tests for yourself, or are keen to achieve these results in your own setup and want to know the devices I used in these tests, you can use the links below to find each item on Amazon in your local region. Using these links will result in amazon sending a small % back to us here at NASCompares that goes directly back into our site and services, allowing us to continue making these articles, videos and more – Thanks in advance!

Hardware Used in today’s Tests QNAP TS-464 NAS – Check Amazon WD Red Pro 22TB NAS Hard Drive – Check Amazon QNAP 10GbE Upgrade – Check Amazon Sonnet Solo TB3-to-10GbE Adapter – Check Amazon QNAP QNA-UC5G1T 5GbE-to-USB Adapter – Check Amazon Sabrent NT-S25G 2.5GbE-to-USB Adapter – Check Amazon

Note – If you would rather WATCH these tests in video form, you can watch the WD Red 22TB and QNAP TS-464 NAS Performance Tests here on the NASCompares YouTube Channel. Alternatively, you can watch my review of either the QNAP TS-464 NAS or WD Red Pro 22TB NAS Hard Drive below:

QNAP TS-464 NAS Review	WD Red Pro 22TB Review

QNAP TS-464 NAS & WD Red Pro 22TBs – The Test Setup and Hardware Used

These tests were conducted in a Windows 10 client machine environment over 3 days (factoring RAID rebuild times and cool downs) and all three RAID configurations (RAID 0, 5, 6) were conducted with four WD Red Pro series 22TB hard disks. The benchmark software used for these tests was Atto Disk Benchmark, as it provides a very wide range of test setups – as well as working much more smoothly with iSCSI targets/LUNs in windows and providing clearly information to display to the layman for this article. Additionally, given that just one of the WD 22TB hard drives can achieve more than 250MB/s throughput, I went ahead with a 10GbE, point-to-point connection between my PC and the NAS, using a QNAP 1st party 1 Port 10GbE card and the Sonnet Solo 10GbE Thunderbolt to 10GbE adapter. Here is a breakdown of the specific test setup components:

• QNAP TS-464 4-Bay NAS with QTS 5

• WD Red Pro 22TB NAS Hard Drives x4, RAID 0 or RAID 5 Configuration (dependingClick to view slideshow.
• 20TB iSCSI LUN via the Default iSCSI Manager Target, connected to the Windows PC with the iSCSI initiator as a local appearing drive for Atto Disk Benchmark

Click to view slideshow.

• Local PC Network Adapter using the Thunderbolt-to-10GbE adapter

Click to view slideshow.

• Windows 10 Pro PC, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8750H CPU @ 2.20GHz 2.20 GHz, 32GB DDR4 2666Mhz Memory, Internal Samsung 970 Pro 1TB SSD

• MTU / Jumbo Frames set to 9K on both the NAS and the Network Adapter, Direct Connection (LAN-to-LAN), no network switch

Click to view slideshow.

Before we go further though, we need something to measure against. Here is the default performance of a SINGLE WD Red Pro 22TB NAS Hard Drive, using the QNAP QTS Storage Manager Benchmark Tool:

As you can see, even on it’s own, a single WD Red Pro 22TB HDD can largely saturate even a single external 2.5GbE connection. So, at the very least, you are going to get 240-260MB/s with just the one drive. So, let’s get down to business! I performed a wide scope of tests, so let’s go through those results!

QNAP TS-464 NAS, RAID 0 10GbE Performance Tests

The first RAID we are testing in our WD Red Pro 22TB and QNAP TS-464 NAS setup is RAID 0. In a RAID 0 configuration, ALL of the available capacity of the drives you select is available BUT you have no redundancy (i.e no safety net if a drive fails) and in the event of one of your HDDs going bust, you almost certainly lose ALL of your data (this can be very marginally negated if you spend some time deciding on a spanning or stripe style RAID protocol). So, why do people choose RAID 0 if it has such a high cost in the event of drive failure? Well, there are the massive storage benefits of course, but there is the other big bonus that the NAS will be reading and writing ALL the drives at once, hugely increasing the maximum performance that can be achieved. Also, as RAID 0 has no redundancy and no CPU resources are being used to calculate parity (a blueprint of data that is used for data restoration) which further increases performance AND lowers overall system hardware use. Therefore I expect the performance of the WD Red Pro 22TB HDDs to be very good in a RAID 0 configuration over 10GbE.

ATTO DiskBenchmark 64MB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 803MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 837MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 256MB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 803MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 835MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 1GB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 814MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 835MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 4GB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 806MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 730MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 16GB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 803MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 805MB/s

---

QNAP TS-464 NAS, RAID 5 10GbE Performance Tests

Next, I wanted to test the most popular RAID configuration for 4-Bay NAS drives like the QNAP TS-464 – RAID 5. In this configuration, it pools the four 22TB WD Red Pro hard disks together, but thanks to a system of data being striped across the disks during writing (i.e. data is written across the disks in a 1, 2, 3, etc pattern continuously AND one disk on each stripe having parity data (a blueprint of the data written on the other disks in that particular stripe), it means that in the event of a drive dying, you can rebuild the data that was on the broken drive from the remaining data on the other disks and the availability parity data. This also means that in order to maintain a balance of combined storage and ensure space for parity data, a RAID 5 will result in 1 drive’s worth of data capacity being educated from the overall total. So, in the case of the TS-464 and four 22TB Hard Drives, you would get 66TB of available data (as 22TB of that is used for parity data provisioning). Additionally, although you are still reading AND writing from multiple disks at once, the calculation, creation and maintenance of parity data in a RAID 5 has a negative impact on the total performance, as the system is using more resources (CPU+Memory) in order to keep things running smoothly in your storage pool. Modern NAS systems have done an excellent job of choosing very capable CPUs and RAID 5 configurations in recent years have been substantially better in performance. However, a RAID 5 will still have a lower degree of performance to a comparable RAID 0 hardware setup. Here is how the RAID 5 on the WD Red Pro 22TBs and the QNAP TS-464 NAS performed:

ATTO DiskBenchmark 64MB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 800MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 779MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 256MB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 517MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 781MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 1GB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 535MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 781MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 4GB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 520MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 687MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 16GB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 525MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 724MB/s

---

QNAP TS-464 NAS, RAID 6 10GbE Performance Tests

Our final test of the QNAP TS-464 NAS was a configuration setup up of a RAID 6 on the four WD Red Pro 22TBs. Now, a RAID 6 is highly comparable to a RAID 5 (discussed above), but instead of 1 drive of failure protection (the redundancy/safety net), you have TWO drives of safety. You need at least four drives in order to setup a RAID 6, but most users who consider RAID 6 are using much, much larger bay configurations and you generally find RAID 6 in homes/businesses where the data on the drives is mission critical, priceless or utterly impossible to recreate (from company accounts to photos of your children growing up!). Now, alongside the expected drop in capacity being 2 drives lower (so in the case of this configuration of 4x 22TB HDDs, you have 44TB available to storage data), the system’s overhead in creating parity/blueprints of the current data in efforts to maintain that two disk redundancy/safety net is twice as much, so performance will decrease further. So, let’s see how the QNAP TS-464 and the WD Red Pro 22TBs faired in performance over 10GbE in a RAID 6 set up:

ATTO DiskBenchmark 64MB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 809MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 780MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 256MB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 399MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 781MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 1GB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 430MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 781MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 4GB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 444MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 625MB/s

---

ATTO DiskBenchmark 16GB File Test, 512B-to-64MB I/O Size

Peak Write Performance – 422MB/s  /  Peak Read Performance – 623MB/s

---

QNAP TS-464 NAS + WD Red 22TB RAID 6 Tests – Verdict & Conclusion

Overall, the performance that the QNAP TS-464 NAS and those 22TB WD Red Pro HDDs provided in each RAID configuration was pretty much what I would have expected. The Celeron CPU inside this NAS is a much more middle-of-the-road processor compared to more ‘file system’ and ‘general throughput-focused’ alternatives in the AMD-embedded Ryzen, Xeon or Atom that are found on other bulkier NAS systems, so it was always unlikely to saturate a full 10GbE connection with just four drives, even in a RAID 0 with an Intel Celeron processor. However, the RAID 5 configuration regularly hit the 600-700MB/s mark in this 4 disk RAID 5 configuration which, considering we are still talking about mechanical HDDs (even at 22TB and 265MB/s per drive) is pretty impressive! The RAID 6 performance clearly took the wind out of the sales of this 4-Bay though and unless you were using a larger 6-8 Bay configuration (such as the TS-664 or higher), this NAS hardware configuration struggled at the double parity level. Overall, the WD Red Pro 22TB hard drives perform exceptionally well and were consistent in their operation and the QNAP TS-464 NAS did exactly what it promised! If you are looking for a huge amount of capacity in a compact package, this potential 88TB 4-Bay desktop NAS combo is pretty incredible!

 

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?

We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. 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]     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.  

What is the Best Way to Backup Your Data Every Day?

I know it is not going to be shocking news when I say that Data is really, really important. That should not come as a staggering fact. If you found this article thanks to a rather perceptive google search, then clearly you think data is very important too. It is all too easy to rely on your data living on multiple machines in your office or home. Centralized backup is a very unappealing idea. For a start, it is expensive. You will spend hundreds, if not thousands of pounds on storage, then you find out that you need to have it in ANOTHER location too (as otherwise, it isn’t truly a backup) and then worse still it isn’t even being spent on making more space, but actually to duplicate your old data and not be used. You are spending all this money on what can be described as a remarkably large insurance policy. Worse still if you have all the machines in your home or office backing up to a device in that same location, almost all data safety and storage experts will scream to high heaven that this is still not enough. Sadly this is true, because not only do you put yourself at risk of complete critical loss in the event of fire or flooding, but also in the case of theft you end up having all your eggs in one basket and making the thieves lives much easier. So ultimate you have to stop thinking about this only in terms of how much this storage is going to cost. If you think like that, you will never move past stage one. No, you have to think about how much will this data cost you to LOSE. Your personal media (family, events, memories), your client’s data or perhaps your surveillance data. Take a moment and think how much it would cost your business right now if you lost your data – hundreds? Thousands? Close the business? The ideal backup solution should always be based on the cost of loss, not gain! Although a little trite, it is still a reliable rule of thumb to have a 3-2-1 backup solution operation that looks like this:

1. Primary Data (Where data is initially created/collected, the PCs, the Macs, the Phones, etc)
2. On-site Backup solution (where multiple devices are backup’ed up to internally, also more commonly referred to as the bare-metal backup)
3. Off-site/different location Backup (where the copy of the on-site backup lives that is separate network and/or physical location. This can range from another NAS, to a cloud provider and even a USB drive)

Stages 2 and 3 should be encrypted in case they are stolen/entered, as well as feature login credentials and an admin system in the event of them being occupied/accessed illegally. Today I want to focus on the 2nd and 3rd stages of your backup routine and help you decide the best ways to spend your budget on the most effective safety net and recovery system for your needs.

Backup and Redundancy – DO NOT GET THEM MIXED UP!

Way, WAY too many NAS (network-attached storage) or DAS (direct-attached storage) owners think their data actually have a backup layer in place when they refer to their RAID configuration, their versioning or their snapshots. These are NOT backup methods and are actually designed primarily as a means of recovering your data in the event of an HDD/SSD dying, an accidentally deleted file or rolling a file back to a previous revision. Think of RAID/Snapshots/Versioning as ‘safety nets’, The only work from INSIDE the infrastructure NOT outside of it. If the NAS server or RAID enabled DAS box does, then there is a very high chance that your data cannot be recovered via these methods (not impossible, just touch and certainly not foolproof). Below is a video that breaks down a number of different Backup and Redundancy methods inside a single NAS system:

How Expensive is a 2-Stage Backup and Do I need it?

The cost of a 2-stage backup (i.e having 2 backups of your data) operation can be measured by the amount of data you/your company produces on a daily basis. Additionally, depending on your commitment to holding onto your data (so, for business, you might have a 6 year or 12-month retention policy) there are ways to make economies in between the stages. However, whether you are a home user of a business user, there are few instances where a double-layered backup is not ideal. Let’s look at this from a business and home user point of view:

Why Business and Enterprise users need an Extensive Data Backup Plan

Example. Your company has 10 employees. Each has their own workstation and they contact clients on a daily basis to drum up new sales, fulfil existing quotes and maintain a customer relationship manager (CRM). You have both #1 AND #2 stage backups (so local PCs and A NAS in-house maybe) covered. Plus you have business insurance in case of a fire or flood. One morning you arrive to find your office has been flooded/burnt/burgled/struck by lightning and everything is fried. At first, you think, lucky we have insurance. They will pay up for whole new office equipment, PCs and your server. However, what about all that customer data? Not only can the insurance company not replace it but they will not pay its consequential value (with VERY few insurance policies covering data recovery services). So now you have to start from square 1. Plus now you also have a bundle of rather angry customers from the previous days and weeks whose requirements go unfulfilled. This coupled with starting your business network from scratch, employees salaries continuing as normal and several IT guys (or 1 guy working for days) setting everything up from scratch again (this WILL be the case from fire, flood or theft) could easily KILL a company. Now, in that context, isn’t a few thousand put towards an off-site #3 Backup so bad? Thought not.

Why Home and Private users need an Extensive Data Backup Plan Too

Ok, so a home user has a smaller ecosystem to maintain and now the mission-critical data and the life or death nature of your information is less so. Or is it? Example #2. What about all those important house documents you’ve scanned? Those TV shows and movies you bought on a one time download? What about your wedding picture or those of your children growing up? Those videos of your friends and relatives that are no longer with us? Not to be bleak, but it is often the case that although much of a person’s data is not of huge financial value, it is still utterly and completely irreplaceable in the literal sense.

Likewise, if your many devices (phones, computers, hard drives) get corrupted, hacked with malware/ransomware or simply broken, don’t you want the peace of mind of knowing that there is always a backup of EVERYTHING? If you are copying the data of all your devices to a large hard drive enclosure in your home, this is NOT a perfect backup. It just protects you from the loss of one or more of your mobile/individual devices. Additionally, the minute you start deleting files on your phone/laptop to ‘make some space because it is already backed up on the NAS‘, your NAS is not a backup, it is the single repository for that data!  So, as you can see, the need for a reliable true backup is paramount regardless of whether you are a home user or business user. However accepting that you need a backup is not enough, you need to know what to consider when choosing the right backup. Home users and their data volume/frequency can always consider USB backups of course, which can be good but only upto the time that the last backup took place AND on the assumption that the USB drive is stored offsite periodically.

What are the factors I need to take into account when considering my Backup Solution?

Choosing the best full backup for your data can be a little difficult. With so many variables ranging from cost to size to speed and more, it can be easy to go around in circles and still end up choosing nothing. In almost all cases, the deciding factor is cost. However, this is closely followed by speed. Having a backup is all well and good, but if it takes too long to finish, it can often be slower than the speed at which you create data and create a bottleneck. Likewise, if you choose an unsuitable connection of choice between your primary backup storage and/or off-site 2nd backup storage, then they may communicate inefficiently. Below are the main overheads to consider when choosing your backup.

Distance & Speed – How far is the 2nd backup going to be from the primary backup and/or primary data source? Unless you are considering fibre cabling between different physical sites, you are going to be limited by your upload/download speed and if your network is busy with multiple users, then you will need to provision priority of service to these backup connections, or else risk it affecting day to day operation (particularly VoIP connections – a growing necessity in 2022 with shifting patterns in the way we are working during/ost pandemic). The local connections between your client devices in-house and the primary backup may well only be using an internet network/LAN to communicate, but that can still become oversaturated. So be sure to provision switches where appropriate too (we will touch on 10GbE later)

Power (Watts etc) – The power of the hardware inside the primary (bare-metal) data storage device, secondary backup target and (depending on your setup) even the power of your client hardware in house is also an important factor to take into consideration when scaling and provisioning an appropriate backup strategy. Critical power failure (i.e a power cut) in one or more of these locations can not only result in some data not being backed up, but more importantly can compromise the backups themselves, with some systems suffering critical hardware failure and SSD/HDD damage in the process. It is HIGHLY recommended for users who are considering a private server for their data have it connected to the mains power via a USB device, in order to allow the system to still operate in the event of power failure AND shut itself down safely.

Physical Media – The server of choice for your primary backup is only half of the battle. The media that you are storing the data too can make a huge impact too. Many have their own maximum speed or capacity, so even with a super-fast enclosure and/or connection, you will be bottlenecked by the drives themselves. All media types e.g. HDD, SSD or Tape have their own maximum performance and some are lower than the connection maximum and some are faster and therefore end up creating a limited speed inadvertently. This can be negated in a number of ways. These range from the use of RAID (redundant array of independent disks) that combines media into single storage pools that benefit from redundancy (i.e a safety net if one drive dies) and/or increases in performance. Additionally, you can look at SSD caching, a service that is particularly popular in private NAS servers released after around 2018 and continues to be included in most systems. SSD caching allows the system to have one of more SSDs installed and then utilize the increased performance they offer to benefit write actions (i.e you write data onto the SSDs first and then the NAS moves it over to the slower HDDs afterwards) and/or read actions (where the most frequently accessed files are cloned onto the SSDs and it speeds up their access to client devices) though this is less useful for backups, it is still a useful option.

The Media connection internally – As mentioned, the SATA port on most commercial HDD/SSD has a maximum of 6 gigabits (Gbs) in SATA III – SAS at 12 Gigabits. All of these are internal and are maximum bandwidths available to each media drive installed in each bay. However, realistically, most typical Hard Drives max out at 272MB/s at the very top end (and even then, this is using enterprise-grade HDDs) and most conventional 2.5″ SSDs (with the exception of U.2 and U.3) max out at about 550MB/s). So you are going to need several of these drives inside your primary backup system in a decent RAID configuration to facilitate performance AND redundancy (like a RAID 5 or RAID 5). For your external/2nd backup target, a lot of enterprise users take advance of cold storage such as tape drive media. Designed to be used for data that needs to be held for insurance/archive for years and years, the current highest generation of tape architecture is is LTO-9 = 400MB/s in uncompressed/RAW form and 1000MB/s in compressed, with storage capacities per tape hitting 45 Terabytes! However, a full backup would take (at best, so with everything at full!) over 12 hours to transfer. Additionally, tape backup is fantastically expensive and therefore largely enterprise only as an option.

The external connection – Lastly and possibly the most overlooked part, is the communication between your primary client devices to send data, the primary backup data and the secondary backup. Not just the speed, but the resilience and future-proofing. You need to consider what connection you are going to use today, tomorrow and years from now. The last thing you want is to saddle yourself with a connection now and later when you upgrade your primary hardware on individual clients or locations, end up with a device you cannot access or use with an unchangeable bottleneck. Then your data just becomes a chore to access at best and potentially days or weeks or time to restore. Popular connections and their speed between host and client devices are:

Network Backups (backups that share a LAN or vLANs in a greater network)

• 1GBe LAN/Ethernet = 1Gbit/s, or 100-109MB/s
• 2.5GbE LAN/Ethernet = 2.5Gbit/s, or 250-270MB/s
• 5GbE LAN/Ethernet = 5Gbit/s, or 500-545MB/s
• 10GbE LAN/Ethernet = 10Gbit/s, or 1000-1024MB/s

USB and local Backups directly connected and stored offsite

• USB 3.0 (3.2 Gen 1) = 5 Gbit/s
• USB 3.2 Gen 2= 10 Gbit/s
• USB 3.2×2 = 20 Gbit/s
• Thunderbolt 3 & Thunderbolt 4 = 40 Gbit/s

Fast Local Backups or Direct Connections over large distances

• Fibrechannel / FC – 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 128 gigabit per second rates depending to start
• Tape Based backups, such as LTO 7,8,9 – 300/360/400MB/s uncompressed and 750/900/1000MB/s compressed
• Cloud storage – dependant on connection. Additionally, factors such as upload and download speeds, fair usage policies and more affect the performance. If you are fortunate to have a 1 Gigabit internet connection, that means around 100MB/s for download speeds and a fraction of that for upload speeds

So, as you can see, there are many choices out there for a means of sending backup between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd parts of your backup environment.

What is the Difference in Speed and Cost between different Backup Solutions?

And so to the meat of the subject. Different solutions cost money and in the interests of SPEED, below i have detailed numerous solutions that will provide a backup solution of upto 10TB of storage. All Costs and speeds are based on a solution that is an acceptable distance away for maximum efficiency. Perfect speed results were provided with http://www.calctool.org/ , however, it is worth noting that these are ‘perfect situation’ based and it would be tough to see this maximum threshold. you will comfortably see around 10-20% below this, but that is fine. Finally, it is always worth remembering that the speeds mentioned below are based on an initial 10 Terabyte backup. After that, there is the likely possibility that future backups will be much more granular (this can also be referred to as differential backups, where only the changed files are backed up each time afterwards). But some users may wish to take advantage of time managed backups, where a full backup per day is kept, for X number of days (when eventually the newest backup will overwrite the oldest on rotation).

ALSO IMPORTANT – In all examples where a 4TB SSD (which average around £350-400 over SATA) is mentioned, you can use a 4TB HDDs at around £75-100 (brand depending) to save a considerable sum – but you will effective quadruple or more the time the initial backups will take. Likewise, future incremental backups will be significantly reduced also.  In examples where the SSD would have been substantially bottlenecked by a connection, I have used HDD as you will not need to spend the extra.

The Best Value 1/2.5GbE based Backup Solution for 10TB of data

For a solid LAN based backup (with optional internet access as needed for off-site work) I would recommend the Synology DS220+ 2 Bay Pentium NAS at around £250. Alongside this, you will need a smart Switch (to take advantage of LAG and 2GbE, 2x 10TB HDD at £230 each as you will not see any speed difference on a network connection with SSD (RAID 1). This will cost around just under £800. Alternatively, there have been other improvements in the base level ethernet connectivity in 2-4 Bay NAS solutions in the last few years, with 2.5GbE or even 5GbE available on the likes of the QNAP TS-x53D, TS-x73A or Asustor Lockerstor 2/4 series. These solutions arrive at only a fraction more and although they can possibly add another £100-200 to the price tag, this can be offset by time saved in the backup operations AND by purchasing a 4-Bay NAS over a 2-Bay and leveraging the price vs the redundancy vs the capacity (eg instead of 2x 10TB in RAID 1, purchasing 4x 3TB and getting better performance and an extra 2TB in RAID 5).

What do CalcTool.org have to say about 1GBe

Over 1 Gigabit per second, in a perfect scenario – just over 20 hours. Realistically closer to 25 or 30 hours. SO the first few backups should be conducted over the weekend but all future ‘difference only’ backups should be fin at 12-hour intervals without harming the bandwidth too much, Likewise, you can scale this down as you utilize link aggregation (also known as port trunking, when ports are combined) and/or 2.5GbE/5GbE to reduce this figure down to 8 hours or just 4 hours respectively.

The Best Value 10GBe Network-Based Solution for 10TB of Data

In order to create the perfect cost-effective yet powerful 10GBe Network-based backup solution (so 10x faster than normal LAN) I would recommend the QNAP TS-431X3 with 10GBe  (at around £450) with SFP+ Connection and  SFP+ Cables with transceivers attached (Cable price dependant on length and transceivers). Additionally, you will need a 10GBe switch (at least £150 realistically), and for MAXIMUM speed 4x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf 125 SSD (at £450 per drive) in a RAID 5 which slows things a pinch but gives you the safety of 1 drive worth of redundancy. Of course, you can downgrade to Seagate Ironwolf 4TB Hard drives (at £85 per drive) and save over £1500, but you will see a noticeable dip in performance of around 200-400MB/s (NAS dependant). So the choice is yours. Lastly, you will need a 10GBe interface on the machine(s) you are backing up from in order to maintain the 10GBe throughput (or alternatively just have the NAS on a 10GbE connection and the clients all on 1GbE with bandwidth being shared as appropriate). In total this will cost around £2400+ for the SSD based solution and just £900-1000 for the HDD solution. None of this is set in stone, of course, you can scale things in a number of ways, using bigger NAS solutions (i.e. more bays) or using multiple 10GbE connections in LAG/Trunked connections.

What do CalcTool.org have to say about 10GBe

The performance will largely be dictated by the distance of the backups, choice of HDD or SSD and types of files. However, over 10 Gigabit per second, in a perfect scenario – just over 2 hours. However this is a little optimistic and in practice, it will realistically weigh in closer to 3+ hours, as the complexity of the files (thousand so smaller emails and documents or fewer BIG media files, everyone is different). This of course is for the first few backups of a FULL 10 Terabytes of data. Later with incremental and ‘difference only’ backups, you will see times slashed heavily for the better.

The Cost of Thunderbolt 1, 2 or 3 Backup Solutions for 10TB of data

Fast becoming a connection of choice for photo and video editors in both the Mac and Windows community, Thunderbolt is the no-fuss connection that promises speed, without the technical nonsense. Much like before you can choose to go with SSD drives for supreme speed (at a hefty price tag) or HDD if you want to make economies. Below are the options best suited for a Thunderbolt 1 (although still legacy, still is in use), Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt 3 Backups:

• TB 1 DAS, 4-Bay, Cable, 4x 4TB SSD, RAID 5 enabled = £3000+ —- 2Hours + Backup time with SSD population / 3.5+ Hour for HDD Population
• TB 2 DAS, 4-Bay, Cable, 4x 4TB SSD, RAID 5 enabled = £3500+ —-  1 Hour + Backup time with SSD population / 2-3+ Hour for HDD Population
• TB 3 DAS, 4-Bay, Cable, 4x 4TB SSD, RAID 5 enabled = £4500+ —- 30-45min + Backup time with SSD population / 1.5 Hour for HDD Population

What do CalcTool.org have to say about Thunderbolt 1, 2 and 3

Thunderbolt does not lose speed over distance, however, most conventional cables you can buy max out around 5 metres and the ones included with the above enclosures arrive at 1-1.8m. In a real-world scenario you can realistically double this length of time listed above in the initial backups. However, it will MASSIVELY improve with subsequent backups. With the exception of a few, most Thunderbolt backups arrive with only Thunderbolt ports, so in order to maintain the speed levels of this backup, you need to either ensure that it is connected to your centralised depositary via Thunderbolt, or if it’s backing up multiple devices, that they are using a good networking device, as Thunderbolt Direct attached storage only allows a single connected device at any one time.

The Price, Speed & Suitability LTO-7, LTO-8 and LTO-9 Tape Backup 10TB Solutions

In the case of LTO / tapes, this kind of storage for 10TB can be incredibly inefficient for an extra layer of storage. You can purchase much smaller 1 and 2 tape frames/storage devices, but for what you are paying and the overall accessibility for all machines involved, it isn’t great. If you were regularly backing up 5x or 10x this amount of storage, it would be a different story. Internal operations can be upto 1000MB/s with compressed data and 400MB for raw uncompressed data. SO unless you are synchronizing between two LTO tape loading machines, you will almost certainly use uncompressed. However these are internal operations and as we are discussing backing up from existing systems to a storage device, we have to focus on the external connection. Most likely 10GBe network or 12GB/s SAS will be the means of backing up to your tape device. But Cost is hard to pin – easily £2000-3000 and upwards, over at least two tapes (capacity differed at each LTO generation) etc. Most likely around over  1-3 hours transfer time, but hugely impractical at this scale and most likely much higher in practice. Definite a good option for those at the enterprise tier, but anything less will be squandering their budgets significant with a weak ROI.

The Best Value USB 3.2 Gen 2 Backup Solution for 10TB of data

The latest available version of USB, also known as USB 3.1 Gen 2, is easily the cheapest way to store a 10TB backup at a very respectable 10 Gb/s (comparable to Thunderbolt 1) speed. You will need to ensure that the connected device(s) that you are backing up too/from use the newer USB 3.1 Gen 2 port to ensure you do not get bottlenecked at 5 Gb/s, but this Highpoint 6124V RAID 5 enabled USB 2 Gen 2 DAS enclosure arrives at £350+ and if populated with either 4x 4TB SSD or 4x HDD (same price difference as before), RAID 5 enabled = £2100+ for an SSD Based solution and just £700+ for a HDD based version

What do CalcTool.org have to say about USB 3.1 Gen 2?

With the best drives available you will have this 10TB localized backup over USB 3.1 Gen 2 finished in just over 2 hours. However taking system overheads into consideration, as well as the RAID 5 into account (something you could counter with a RAID 10 and 4x 6TB HDD perhaps) you are looking at between 2.5 and 3.5 hours completion. Additionally, a number of NAS Drive vendors have started implementing USB 3.2 Gen 2 in their systems, which means that a 10Gb/s USB DAS solution can be used as a means of creating a secondary backup by connecting it with your primary backup and running one of the many free backup/sync tools that NAS systems include with your purchase. Just remember that in order for this to be a truly safe 2nd tier backup, it cannot constantly reside in the same location as the primary backup.

Is Cloud Suitable as a 10TB Backup solution?

You may wonder why I have not suggested the cloud as a regular backup yet. It is certainly appealing. No parts are needed, just a healthy internet connection. You already have all the hardware you will need to establish this kind of synchronised backup – this should be by far the cheapest and easiest backup, right? Well yes and no. It IS cheap – in the short-term. Even if you take into account that your Business internet connection costs, from as little as £10 to £50 a month, reaching much higher once you consider fiber channelling, it is still pretty attractive. However you have to consider the time this backup will take and how it will affect the bandwidth throughout your business – otherwise, you will need to be conducted them overnight due to limit consumption. Some brands, such as Synology with their C2 platform, have rolled in an additional cloud service alongside their bare-metal solution. This is intended to be used as an alternative means of accessing an existing storage area that is synchronized with your NAS/local solution remotely (as well as benefiting from significantly easier remote access to data). NAS+Cloud can serve as a great 2-3/double backup option, as well as ensuring that your backups are in very different physical locations. Lastly, with intelligent caching and background synchronization between the NAS-THE CLOUD-CLIENT HARDWARE happening, a lot of the actual backing up can be hugely incremental and lessen the impact on the end-user, whether they are local to the NAS or remotely communicating with the C2 cloud (or 3rd party clouds such as Google Drive and Dropbox that are synced with the NAS). But what about the cloud on its own, not used in tandem with a NAS/Private server?

The first thing to factor in is the data being sent TO the cloud. Remember we are talking about Uploads, not downloads (downloads and a backup should only be considered during recovery, not day to day operations). Most internet services advertise incredible download speeds, but backups are almost exclusively upload based and upload speeds are normally a 10th or less than advertised download speeds. lastly, we can talk about costs. As although the initial costs are much less, let’s go for £50 a month for a dedicated high upload speed connection privately (closer to £500 for a business line) for your off-site backup. That is £600 a year. In 5 years, that is £3,000 (a cost that is the same or higher than most of the solutions discussed previously). The real kicker is that after those 5 years, you either have to continue paying to maintain this backup OR buy a suitable local storage drive to download it too – something you could have had ALREADY by going for the other solutions and thereby saving you thousands of pounds more.

I took the trouble of using the awesome tool at http://www.thecloudcalculator.com/ and if you have a 30Mbps upload speed (fairly respectable and the entry point outside of central city hubs). backing up 10TB initially would take  33 Days, 22 Hours, and 27 Minutes, 11 Seconds

That is horrendously long and you cannot just assume this is a one-off and negotiable with incremental backups and difference-only changes. You need a reliable and adaptive backup solution – not one that will do the job as long as you work within its limits. If you want to entertain the idea of a cloud-based backup of 10TB on a regular basis, we have to look into fiber and at least 2Gbps (so 2000 Megabits) to get to 12 hours for an overnight full backup (non-incremental). This is going to cost a small fortune and unless you intend to take advantage of this speed during the day-time, is a huge outlay for something that is not hugely accessible or reliable.

So, those are your options. Remember you are not limited to just ONE option and each of these solutions can be used in combinations, depending on your budget, physical environment, internet speeds or volume of client devices. In summary:

	NAS BACKUPS	USB DAS BACKUPS	THUNDERBOLT BACKUPS	TAPE BACKUPS	CLOUD BACKUPS
Price (more ★ = Higher Price)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Value (more ★ = more for your money)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Scalability (more ★ = can grow more)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Complexity (more ★ = more complex)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Speed (more ★ = faster)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
User/Usage Type	Home & Business	Home and Local	Home and Local	Enterprise	Remote
What to Buy

Thanks for reading! Need any more help? Why not take advantage of the free advice section below. It is genuinely free, supported by voluntary donations and ad revenue. Nothing is done with your email address and all questions are answered by two humans – Me (Robbie) and Eddie the Web Guy!

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?

We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. 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]     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.  

How to Install TrueNAS Core on a QNAP NAS Drive – Step By Step Guide Have you always wanted to test out or run your very own TrueNAS Core NAS setup, but are intimidated by the building of it? It’s understandable. As respected as the ZFS-powered server software is in the IT community, it is […]