Bonjour à toutes et tous ! Nous voici de nouveau ensemble afin de poursuivre notre découverte de la solution Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows. Jusqu’à présent, nous avons vu la présentation et l’installation de cette solution ainsi que les étapes à suivre afin de faire la configuration d’un job de sauvegarde et également la procédure …Windows Server 2022 est disponible depuis plusieurs semaines. Dans cet article, nous allons nous intéresser aux différentes éditions de Windows Server 2022 car il y a du changement.
Chaque sortie de Windows Server s'accompagne de son lot de changements et nouveautés. Au-delà des nouveautés fonctionnelles de Windows Server 2022, il y a aussi des changements sur les éditions proposées.
Voici la liste des éditions de Windows Server 2022, avec les spécificités de chacune :
L'édition Standard elle celle que l'on connaît depuis toujours et elle le reste, il n'y a pas de changement notable.
L'édition Essentials évolue avec Windows Server 2022 puisqu'elle est limitée à 25 utilisateurs, 50 appareils et 1 seul CPU physique avec 10 cœurs au maximum. Par contre, Essentials ne sera plus une édition à part avec des fonctions spéciales (tableau de bord, access anywhere, plus de rôle "Windows Server Essentials Experience" etc.). Il s'agit désormais d'une version Standard mais bridée.
L'édition Datacenter est une version Standard avec des fonctionnalités spécifiques en supplément, comme Software-defined Networking, Storage Replica et Storage Spaces Direct.
L'édition "Datacenter: Azure Edition" intègre des fonctionnalités inédites et elle tourne seulement dans le Cloud Azure. Elle bénéficie de la fonctionnalité "hotpatching in Core" qui permet d'appliquer des mises à jour correctives à chaud, c'est-à-dire qu'il n'est plus nécessaire de redémarrer après l'installation des mises à jour ! C'est un détail mais cela a son importance car un redémarrage peut être synonyme de coupure de la production, etc.... Et aussi d'une remise à zéro de l'uptime. Ahah.
Par ailleurs, la fonctionnalité "SMB over QUIC" est une exclusivité de cette édition, et elle permet d'accéder à des fichiers stockés sur un serveur de fichiers Windows Server 2022 de façon sécurisée, à partir d'Internet, grâce à des connexions basées sur TLS 1.3 (une version active par défaut), en UDP sur le port 443 (HTTPS). Cela signifie que le flux SMB n'utilise pas le port 445.
Il est à noter qu'avec Windows Server 2022, il n'y a pas de version Hyper-V Server où l'on peut installer directement un serveur Hyper-V avec un accès en ligne de commande. Pour le moment, l'alternative consiste à passer chez la concurrence, sur Azure Stack HCI ou à rester sur Hyper-V Server 2019.
Pour finir :
Pour rappel si vous êtes sur Windows Server 2012 ou Windows Server 2012 R2, le support prendra fin le 10 octobre 2023 (sauf sur Azure où il y a 3 ans de plus).
Que ce soit pour les éditions Standard ou Datacenter, Microsoft précise qu'au niveau des ressources matérielles, Windows Server 2022 supporte un maximum de 48 To de RAM sur l'hôte physique (contre 24 To pour Windows Server 2019), 2048 processeurs logiques (coeurs - contre 512 avec WS 2019).
Voir la documentation Microsoft
The post Les différentes éditions de Windows Server 2022 first appeared on IT-Connect.Dans ce tutoriel, nous allons voir comment monter un partage NFS sur Windows en installant un client NFS via PowerShell ou l'interface graphique.
Nativement, il n'est pas possible d'accéder à un partage NFS depuis Windows, que ce soit les éditions Desktop (Windows 10 ou Windows 11), ou les éditions Server comme comme Windows Server 2019. Ce n'est pas surprenant, car ce type de partage réseau étant créé dans la plupart des cas sur un hôte Linux.
Heureusement, Microsoft a tout prévu pour permettre l'accès à un partage NFS depuis Windows Server. Il suffit de passer par l'installation de fonctionnalités facultatives.
Pour cela, j'utilise un serveur Windows Server 2019 en tant que client NFS, concernant le serveur NFS il s'agit d'un serveur Debian avec le partage /srv/partagenfs.
Si vous souhaitez découvrir le protocole NFS plus en détails, voici mon tutoriel d'introduction :
Deux méthodes d'installation seront détaillées : méthode graphique / méthode PowerShell (beaucoup plus rapide).
Ouvrez le Gestionnaire de serveur, cliquez sur "Gérer" et "Ajouter des rôles et fonctionnalités". Lorsque l'étape "Avant de commencer" apparaît, cliquez sur "Suivant".
Sélectionnez "Installation basée sur un rôle ou une fonctionnalité" et poursuivez.
Ensuite, sélectionnez le serveur sur lequel vous souhaitez installer la fonctionnalité, continuez. Concernant l'étape "Rôles de serveurs" vous pouvez la passer, car dans ce cas c'est l'installation de fonctionnalités qui nous intéressent.
Désormais, nous arrivons à l'étape la plus importante de l'installation : le choix des éléments à installer. Vous devez cocher deux fonctionnalités :
- Client pour NFS
- Outils d'administration de serveur distant > Outils d'administration de rôles > Outils de services de fichiers > Services des outils de gestion du système de gestion de fichiers en réseau (ceci étant un outil RSAT).
Une fois les deux choix effectués, cliquez sur "Suivant".
Enfin, cliquez sur "Installer" et patientez un instant.
Ouvrez une console PowerShell, et, saisissez la commande suivante sur votre serveur Windows :
Install-WindowsFeature NFS-Client,RSAT-NFS-Admin
Patientez pendant l'installation, vraiment très simple et efficace en PowerShell une fois le nom des fonctionnalités repéré.
Si vous souhaitez installer le client NFS sur une édition Desktop de Windows, comme Windows 10 ou Windows 11, la commande est différente :
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -FeatureName ServicesForNFS-ClientOnly, ClientForNFS-Infrastructure -Online
L'installation étant effectuée, on peut désormais monter le partage NFS sur le serveur Windows. Ouvrez une Invite de commande, et, utilisez la commande mount comme ceci pour un montage anonyme :
mount -o anon <serveur>:<partage> <lettre-montage>:
N'utilisez pas une console PowerShell pour monter le partage NFS avec la syntaxe ci-dessus, car cela ne fonctionnera pas : il y a un alias entre "mount" et "New-PSDrive".
mount -o anon 192.168.100.121:/srv/partagenfs N:
Si vous utilisez une console PowerShell, vous pouvez utiliser ceci :
New-PSDrive -Name N -Root "\\192.168.100.121\srv\partagenfs" -PSProvider FileSystem
Néanmoins, je trouve que les résultats sont assez aléatoires pour monter un partage NFS avec New-PSDrive. Préférez plutôt la commande "mount" dans l'Invite de commande.
Le partage NFS se retrouve bien sous la lettre N sur le serveur :
Nous pourrions également monter ce partage NFS à partir de l'Explorateur de fichiers Windows, en précisant le chemin vers le partage au format UNC. Cela donnerait : \\192.168.100.121\srv\partagenfs
Lorsque le partage NFS est monté comme nous venons de le faire, il y a de fortes chances pour qu'il soit monté en lecture seule. Si vous avez besoin d'être en mode anonyme tout en ayant les droits de lecture et d'écriture, il va falloir modifier la base de Registre de Windows.
Ouvrez l'éditeur de Registre en tant qu'administrateur :
regedit.exe
Parcourez l'arborescence comme ceci :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ClientForNFS\CurrentVersion\Default
Ici, il va falloir créer deux valeurs "DWORD (32 bits)" nommées : AnonymousGid (ID du groupe) et AnonymousUid (ID de l'utilisateur).
Pour ces valeurs, la valeur décimale doit correspondre à l'ID déclaré dans la configuration du partage NFS, sur le serveur distant. Pour ma part, mon partage s'appuie sur l'utilisateur nobody et le groupe nogroup. Ces deux éléments ont le même ID : 65534.
Sur mon serveur Linux, dans le fichier "/etc/exports", j'ai la configuration suivante :
/srv/partagenfs 192.168.100.0/24(rw,sync,anonuid=65534,anongid=65534,no_subtree_check)
Ce qui me donne dans le Registre :
Suite à cette modification, il faut redémarrer le serveur. Ensuite, vous devriez pouvoir accéder au partage NFS en lecture et écriture !
En cas de nécessité, sachez qu'il est possible de paramétrer le client NFS que nous avons installé. Pour cela, accédez aux Outils d'administration et ouvrez "Services pour NFS". Lorsque la console est ouverte, effectuez un clic droit sur "Client pour NFS" et cliquez sur "Propriétés".
Divers paramètres sont accessibles, comme le(s) protocole(s) de transport à utiliser par le client NFS (UDP, TCP ou les deux) ou encore les autorisations UNIX à attribuer par défaut aux fichiers créés sur le partage.
Enfin, l'onglet "Sécurité" sert à spécifier les stratégies de sécurité autorisées. Tout ce qui concerne Kerberos, à savoir "krb5", "krb5i" et "krb5p" nécessite d'utiliser NFS v4 au minimum.
The post Comment monter un partage NFS sur Windows ? first appeared on IT-Connect.The Windows Server Migration Tools (WSMT) have shipped with Windows Server since version 2003. Admins can use them to transfer roles and features to a newer version of the operating system. Since Microsoft hasn't updated these tools for quite some time, they show some bugs when used with Server 2022. Nevertheless, the WSMT are still a viable option when upgrading Windows Server.
The post Migrating roles and features to Windows Server 2022 using WSMT first appeared on 4sysops.One of Windows's most recently introduced features is SMB compression. This can reduce the amount of data transferred between the client and the server. Compression may now be activated for file shares or mappings, and is managed via Windows Admin Center or PowerShell.
The post Compress SMB data in Windows 11 and Server 2022 first appeared on 4sysops.When organizations decide to move services from an older Windows Server version to a newer one, there are a few options. Businesses can perform an in-place upgrade of the current server to a more recent Windows Server version. There are also options for migrating roles and services from an older server to a newer one. Windows Server Migration Tools (WSMT) serve this purpose.
The post Migration to Windows Server 2022: WSMT vs. in-place updates first appeared on 4sysops.Bonjour à toutes et tous ! Nous voici de nouveau ensemble afin de poursuivre notre découverte de la solution Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows. Jusqu’à présent, nous avons vu la présentation et l’installation de cette solution ainsi que les étapes à suivre afin de faire la configuration d’un job de sauvegarde. Dans l’article du jour, …Bonjour à toutes et tous ! Nous voici de nouveau ensemble afin de poursuivre notre découverte de la solution Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows. Jusqu’à présent, nous avons vu seulement la présentation et l’installation de cette solution, aujourd’hui, dans l’article du jour, nous allons voir les différentes étapes à suivre pour la création d’un job …As many of you may have heard, in recent weeks there were two vulnerabilities identified in the OpenSSL encryption platform, a popular SSL option for many sites and servers, that provided an opening for particularly industrious interlopers to access a site via a weakness in the platform. Although not a service that is developed by Synology or QNAP NAS, it is used in several smaller areas/applications in their respective DSM and QTS software platforms. This is not uncommon for a brand to use a third-party provider and OpenSSL is one of the most popular open-source SSL platforms in the world. This vulnerability in OpenSSL was identified in late August and although alot has happened in that time, though the vulnerability is beginning to be resolved, it is still not fully resolved on the Synology or QNAP NAS affected software and services. So, today I wanted to go through what an SSL is, what OpenSSL is, the nature of the vulnerabilities, what has been resolved, what hasn’t and ultimately explain where things are right now. Let’s get started!
You know when you browse the internet and there is that little padlock next to the www.website bit? That symbol indicates that communication between your web browser and the website/server you are communicating with is encrypted. This padlock identifies the SSL certificate, or Secure Sockets Layer and in recent years it has become heavily encouraged that any website you visit has a valid and secure SSL in place (with google warning you if you go to an ‘unsecure’ site and openly recommending SSL engaged sites higher on page 1 of Google. If you are choosing to access your NAS via the internet, then then it is recommended (and set as a default on the NAS platforms in many ways) to access your server via an SSL equipped connection, as this adds a valuable security protocol and creates an encrypted link between a web accessed server and a web browser.
OpenSSL is a open-source encryption tool/library – released in 1998 and REGULARLY updated, it is regularly used by both Synology and QNAP in a number of their software and services that feature a remote access component. It is not just them and many, MANY others use OpenSSL in PARTS/ALL of the architecture of their remote connections for encrypted data transfers. The use of OpenSSL is by no means a negative mark on any brand, as it has been developed over an exceedingly long time and is regularly updated.
In August, two vulnerabilities in the OpenSSL platform were identified and OpenSSL themselves were contacted immediately. The “CVE-2021-3711” and “CVE-2021-3712” security holes were in the as-then-latest release of OpenSSL and in their own security updates and advisory, were listed as Moderate and Severe in importance. Likewise, OpenSSL (among others no doubt) contacted Synology and QNAP to highlight this vulnerability and each brand added entries into their security advisory and posted on their own platforms about this, adding that they were working on a resolution (almost certainly to be based on the resolution formed and executed by OpenSSL themselves). The two vulnerabilities were still remarkably small and required a rigid-set scenario and knowledge in order to be in any way usable. However, they did open the door to the following negative actions and allowing attackers to:
In the case of Network Attached Storage (NAS) from the likes of Synology and QNAP, it was highlighted very early on that it could only effect NAS systems with internet connectivity. On August 24th 2021, OpenSSL was able to resolve these vulnerabilities, closing the matter and issuing a patched update to OpenSSL that removed them both. However, at the time of writing, both vulnerabilities are listed as ongoing on both the Synology and QNAP Security Advisory page (where they highlight any/all security issues on their platforms that have been resolved/worked on).
Both Synology and QNAP have been updating their users on the resolution of these OpenSSL vulnerabilities, though both brands have yet to implement a full fix at this time for all vulnerabilities across their software platforms. Given that both brands use a unique/modified version of Linux to create their software and services, a simple application of the OpenSSL fix issued on the 24th August is likely incredibly difficult and modification, application and testing of any resolution needs to be conducted by both internally before a widespread software update is issued. While Synology or QNAP does not provide an estimated timeline for these incoming updates being fully concluded, last month Synology told BleepingComputer that it generally patches affected software within 90 days after publishing advisories. Fairplay to Synology publishing information on this immediately.
| Product | Severity | Fixed Release Availability |
| DSM 7.0 | Important | Ongoing |
| DSM 6.2 | Moderate | Ongoing |
| DSM UC | Moderate | Ongoing |
| SkyNAS | Moderate | Pending |
| VS960HD | Moderate | Pending |
| SRM 1.2 | Moderate | Ongoing |
| VPN Plus Server | Important | Ongoing |
| VPN Server | Moderate | Ongoing |
Indeed, below is a statement issued online from Synology to be.hardware.info responding these vulnerabilities and why the brand is handling them internally this way (translated from German to English):
Synology-SA-21:24 OpenSSL includes two vulnerabilities, CVE-2021-3711 and CVE-2021-3712.
CVE-2021-3711 does not affect most Synology devices as they do not use SM2 encryption by default. Although our NAS devices are currently sold with an affected version of OpenSSL, there can only be said to be a security risk if administrators use third-party software with SM2 encryption.
CVE-2021-3712 addresses specific functionality related to the creation of x509 certificates (used for security protocols such as https) that may cause denial-of-service on the affected device. It is difficult to abuse this as it requires administrator privileges.
Furthermore, the manufacturer emphasizes that the priority of updates is based on the frequency of the affected configurations, the complexity of exploiting the vulnerability and the extent of the potential damage that can be caused. In its own words, it should be sufficient to remedy the aforementioned risks within the usual 90-day period.
QNAP stated on their own security advisory last month the following two potential consequences of these vulnerabilities if pushed to their fullest extent:
An out-of-bounds read vulnerability in OpenSSL has been reported to affect QNAP NAS running QTS, QuTS hero, and QuTScloud. If exploited, the vulnerability allows remote attackers to disclose memory data or execute a denial-of-service (DoS) attack. Additionally, an additional out-of-bounds vulnerability in OpenSSL has been reported to affect QNAP NAS running HBS 3 (Hybrid Backup Sync). If exploited, the vulnerabilities allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with the permissions of the user running the application.. QNAP is thoroughly investigating the case. We will release security updates and provide further information as soon as possible.
At NASCompare we provide a regularly updated list of current vulnerabilities and security issues as they are published on the respective QNAP and Synology Security advisors.
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And Lastly, please, please, please:
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Bonjour à toutes et tous ! Nous voici de nouveau ensemble pour la découverte d’une solution de l’éditeur Veeam. Nous avions déjà vu il y a quelque temps dans différents articles la solution Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 et cette fois-ci, nous allons découvrir Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows ! Oui, je sais, nous avions …
Windows Server 2022 will be available in two main editions: Standard and Datacenter. In addition, Microsoft will introduce a new edition for Azure. Windows Server Essentials will no longer be a separate SKU, and there is a new OS for hyperconverged systems.
The post Windows Server 2022: Comparison of editions and features first appeared on 4sysops.Until now, with each new version of Windows Server LTSC, Microsoft released a corresponding version of the free Hyper-V Server. However, this will no longer be the case with Windows Server 2022. Instead, Microsoft now directs users to Azure Stack HCI.
The post Microsoft will not release a free Hyper-V Server 2022 first appeared on 4sysops.Cela fait déjà quelques jours que Microsoft a dévoilé sa nouvelle mouture pour Windows Server. Annoncé sur le discord des techos par Xelion il y a déjà plus d’une semaine je n’avais pas pris le temps de vous faire un petit article. Windows Server fait beaucoup moins de bruit que Windows 11 et cette année …En toute discrétion, Microsoft a publié la nouvelle version de Windows Server 2022 ! Quelles sont les nouveautés ? Quelles sont les éditions disponibles ? Réponse dans cet article.
Depuis quelques années, Microsoft met clairement en avant ses services Cloud : Azure, Office 365 et Microsoft 365. Et puis, ces dernières semaines, ce sont Windows 11 mais aussi Windows 365 qui étaient sur le devant de la scène. Suffisant pour que Windows Server 2022 passe au second plan. Néanmoins, la sortie d'une nouvelle version de Windows Server c'est toujours un petit événement pour les entreprises !
Les fichiers ISO "General Availability" de Windows Server 2022 sont disponibles au téléchargement dès maintenant ! Ce nouveau système est proposé en plusieurs éditions : Standard, Datacenter et Datacenter Azure Edition.
Windows Server 2022 est une version LTSC (Long Term Servicing Channel), cela signifie qu'elle va bénéficier d'un support sur le long terme. Pour être plus précis :
En misant sur Windows Server 2022, vous pouvez bénéficier d'un système d'exploitation maintenu pendant 10 ans ! À condition bien sûr d'opter pour le support étendu, sinon il faudra se satisfaire d'un support sur 5 ans.
Même si j'en ai déjà parlé dans un précédent article, la sortie de Windows Server 2022 est l'occasion de parler des nouveautés.
Secured-Core et System Guard : des protections avancées contre les menaces, à plusieurs niveaux, aussi bien au niveau matériel que du firmware, en s'appuyant sur TPM 2.0. Secured-Core va également apporter une couche de protection pour la virtualisation en intégrant Credential Guard et Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI).
TLS 1.3 sera activé par défaut sur le système.
Support du DNS-over-HTTPS au niveau de Windows
Le protocole SMB quant à lui va bénéficier du chiffrement AES-256, il sera à privilégier partout où ce sera possible.
Windows Admin Center v2103 : meilleure gestion des machines virtuelles, un observateur d'événement plus simple, etc... tout en sachant que Windows Admin Center est disponible également sur Azure.
Azure Arc : un outil qui permet aux clients Azure de gérer et sécuriser leurs serveurs Windows Server on-premise, ou alors en environnement multi-cloud, à partir d'Azure comme point central. Azure Arc donne l'accès à d'autres fonctionnalités d'Azure : Azure Policy, Azure Monitor et Azure Defender.
Amélioration de Azure Storage Migration Service pour migrer un serveur de fichiers local vers Azure, avec la prise en charge d'un nouveau scénario : les baies de stockage NetApp FAS.
Windows Containers : cette fonction s'appuie sur Kubernetes et Microsoft annonce une amélioration importante puisque la taille des images pour Windows Containers sera fortement réduite. Il sera possible aussi de conteneuriser des applications .NET grâce à Windows Admin Center.
Pour en savoir plus sur Windows Server 2022, il faudra patienter jusqu'au 16 septembre 2021 puisqu'il s'agit de la date de l'événement virtuel Windows Server Summit. Cela confirme aussi que Microsoft n'a pas oublié son système d'exploitation pour les entreprises, et c'est tant mieux !
Pour finir, côté Linux, sachez que Debian 11 est disponible depuis quelques jours... Si cela vous intéresse, je vous en parle dans cet article.
The post Windows Server 2022 est disponible dès à présent ! first appeared on IT-Connect.There was once a time when owning any kind of rackmount based storage and/or computer equipment was squarely aimed at high-end business and data centres. Unlike the desktop PC, laptop keyboard or touch screen device that you are likely reading this on, a rackmount scale hardware device is HUGE, can be noisy and is designed for a 24×7 environment that we once considered business-only in both price and size. However, fast forward to 2020/2021 and we find that because of the advances in both the efficiency and capability of the hardware, that rackmounts are affordable to even the most modest of home user – often rivalling the suitability of a more commonplace desktop/tower device. However, rackmounts are generally very awkward in size – either too long, too wide or too deep for most normal deployment. Luckily most NAS hardware developers (Synology and QNAP more so than most) have provided a huge range of different scaled rackmount devices, that vary in capacity, power and (most important of all for today’s article) in physical size. They have produced so many options in fact, that there are now too many to choose from. So, today I want to look at all of the more compact rackmount NAS servers and help you choose the right one for your physical hardware environment.
Much like looking at any physical object, there are the typical parameters of measuring scale (generally measures in millimetres or inches), but in the case of rackmount NAS there are also more hardware-specific ways to measure the suitability of a rack mount NAS device. Here are the ones you need to focus on:
Height – This is a figure that is measured in two ways. First is the physical height that is increased as more and more bays are included for storage. Generally 44mm for a 4-Bay, the 88mm for an 8/12-Bay, 130mm for a 16-Bay and 175mm for a 24-Bay. However, they also use the measurement of 1U, 2U, 3U, etc. These correspond to the number of ‘slots’ in a rack cabinet.
Width – In most cases, this is largely identical on all NAS devices, as a rackmount is designed in rows of 4 bays horizontally, at 481mm – but there are exceptions as you will need to factor in rails and if some devices have handles and/or rails pre-attached.
Depth – This is incredibly important and one of the main driving forces behind how rackmount NAS has evolved. In most cases, the more powerful the NAS – the deeper it is (in order to fit in larger CPU+Heatsinks, Increased PSUs and larger internal cooling). The majority of half depth rackmounts on the market arrive with mid-range hardware inside, but recent years have provided quite a few 10Gbe and Large solutions from companies like QNAP and Synology.
Below is a breakdown of the available rackmount solutions that you can sort by their size.
| Brand | model | Form | Height (mm) | Width (mm) | Depth (mm) | Height (inch) | Width (inch) | Depth (inch) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synology | FS2017 | 88 | 430.5 | 692 | 3.46 | 16.95 | 27.24 | |
| Synology | FS3017 | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | FS3400 | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | FS3600 | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | FS6400 | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | RC18015xs+ | 44 | 480 | 515 | 1.73 | 18.9 | 20.28 | |
| Synology | RS1219+ | 88 | 481.9 | 306.6 | 3.46 | 18.97 | 12.07 | |
| Synology | RS1221+ | RS1221+ : 88 | 482 | 306.6 RS1221RP+ : 88 | 0 | 18.98 | 12.07 | |
| Synology | RS1221RP+ | RS1221+ : 88 | 482 | 306.6 RS1221RP+ : 88 | 0 | 18.98 | 12.07 | |
| Synology | RS1619xs+ | 44 | 480 | 518.6 | 1.73 | 18.9 | 20.42 | |
| Synology | RS18016xs+ | 88 | 430 | 692 | 3.46 | 16.93 | 27.24 | |
| Synology | RS18017xs+ | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | RS217 | 44 | 479.4 | 295.5 | 1.73 | 18.87 | 11.63 | |
| Synology | RS2416+ | 88 | 430 | 692 | 3.46 | 16.93 | 27.24 | |
| Synology | RS2418+ | 88 | 482 | 696 88 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 27.4 | |
| Synology | RS2418RP+ | 88 | 482 | 696 88 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 27.4 | |
| Synology | RS2421+ | RS2421+ : 88 | 482 | 552 RS2421RP+ : 88 | 0 | 18.98 | 21.73 | |
| Synology | RS2421RP+ | RS2421+ : 88 | 482 | 552 RS2421RP+ : 88 | 0 | 18.98 | 21.73 | |
| Synology | RS2818RP+ | 132.3 | 482 | 656.5 | 5.21 | 18.98 | 25.85 | |
| Synology | RS2821RP+ | 132.3 | 482 | 656.5 | 5.21 | 18.98 | 25.85 | |
| Synology | RS3617RPxs | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | RS3617xs+ | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | RS3618xs | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | RS3621RPxs | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | RS3621xs+ | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | RS4017xs+ | 132.3 | 482 | 656.5 | 5.21 | 18.98 | 25.85 | |
| Synology | RS4021xs+ | 132.3 | 482 | 656.5 | 5.21 | 18.98 | 25.85 | |
| Synology | RS815+ | 44 | 430.5 | 457.5 44 | 1.73 | 16.95 | 18.01 | |
| Synology | RS816 | 44 | 430.5 | 295.5 | 1.73 | 16.95 | 11.63 | |
| Synology | RS818+ | 44 | 480 | 492.6 44 | 1.73 | 18.9 | 19.39 | |
| Synology | RS818RP+ | 44 | 480 | 492.6 44 | 1.73 | 18.9 | 19.39 | |
| Synology | RS819 | 44 | 478 | 327.5 | 1.73 | 18.82 | 12.89 | |
| Synology | RS820+ | 44 | 480 | 492.6 44 | 1.73 | 18.9 | 19.39 | |
| Synology | RS820RP+ | 44 | 480 | 492.6 44 | 1.73 | 18.9 | 19.39 | |
| Synology | SA3200D | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | SA3400 | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | SA3600 | 88 | 482 | 724 | 3.46 | 18.98 | 28.5 | |
| Synology | UC3200 | 88 | 430.5 | 692 | 3.46 | 16.95 | 27.24 | |
| Qnap | tds-16489u r2 | 130.81 | 443.99 | 743.97 | 5.15 | 17.48 | 29.29 | |
| Qnap | tes-1885u | 87.88 | 442.47 | 530.61 | 3.46 | 17.42 | 20.89 | |
| Qnap | ts-1232pxu-rp | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-1232xu | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-1232xu-rp | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-1253bu | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-1253bu-rp | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-1253du-rp | 88.65 | 482.09 | 423.93 | 3.49 | 18.98 | 16.69 | |
| Qnap | ts-1263xu | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-1263xu-rp | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-1273au-rp | 88.9 | 432.05 | 372.11 | 3.5 | 17.01 | 14.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-1273u | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-1273u-rp | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-1277xu-rp | 88.39 | 482.09 | 562.1 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 22.13 | |
| Qnap | ts-1283xu-rp | 88.39 | 482.09 | 562.1 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 22.13 | |
| Qnap | ts-1673au-rp | 132.08 | 432.05 | 372.11 | 5.2 | 17.01 | 14.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-1673u | 130.05 | 481.08 | 535.94 | 5.12 | 18.94 | 21.1 | |
| Qnap | ts-1673u-rp | 130.05 | 481.08 | 535.94 | 5.12 | 18.94 | 21.1 | |
| Qnap | ts-1677xu-rp | 130.05 | 481.08 | 573.53 | 5.12 | 18.94 | 22.58 | |
| Qnap | ts-1683xu-rp | 130.05 | 481.08 | 573.53 | 5.12 | 18.94 | 22.58 | |
| Qnap | ts-1886xu-rp | 88.39 | 482.09 | 549.66 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 21.64 | |
| Qnap | ts-2477xu-rp | 176.28 | 481.08 | 672.08 | 6.94 | 18.94 | 26.46 | |
| Qnap | ts-2483xu-rp | 176.28 | 481.08 | 672.08 | 6.94 | 18.94 | 26.46 | |
| Qnap | ts-431xeu | 43.94 | 438.91 | 291.08 | 1.73 | 17.28 | 11.46 | |
| Qnap | ts-432pxu | 43.94 | 438.91 | 499.11 | 1.73 | 17.28 | 19.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-432pxu-rp | 43.94 | 438.91 | 499.11 | 1.73 | 17.28 | 19.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-432xu | 43.94 | 438.91 | 499.11 | 1.73 | 17.28 | 19.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-432xu-rp | 43.94 | 438.91 | 499.11 | 1.73 | 17.28 | 19.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-451deu | 43.94 | 430.02 | 294.89 | 1.73 | 16.93 | 11.61 | |
| Qnap | ts-453bu | 43.94 | 438.91 | 499.11 | 1.73 | 17.28 | 19.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-453bu-rp | 43.94 | 438.91 | 499.11 | 1.73 | 17.28 | 19.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-453du | 43.18 | 482.6 | 483.87 | 1.7 | 19 | 19.05 | |
| Qnap | ts-453du-rp | 43.18 | 482.6 | 508.76 | 1.7 | 19 | 20.03 | |
| Qnap | ts-463xu | 43.94 | 438.91 | 499.11 | 1.73 | 17.28 | 19.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-463xu-rp | 43.94 | 438.91 | 499.11 | 1.73 | 17.28 | 19.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-832pxu | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-832pxu-rp | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-832xu | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-832xu-rp | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-853bu | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-853bu-rp | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-853du-rp | 88.65 | 482.09 | 423.93 | 3.49 | 18.98 | 16.69 | |
| Qnap | ts-863xu | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-863xu-rp | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-873au | 88.9 | 432.05 | 372.11 | 3.5 | 17.01 | 14.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-873au-rp | 88.9 | 432.05 | 372.11 | 3.5 | 17.01 | 14.65 | |
| Qnap | ts-873u | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-873u-rp | 88.9 | 482.09 | 533.91 | 3.5 | 18.98 | 21.02 | |
| Qnap | ts-877xu | 88.39 | 482.09 | 562.1 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 22.13 | |
| Qnap | ts-877xu-rp | 88.39 | 482.09 | 562.1 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 22.13 | |
| Qnap | ts-883xu | 88.39 | 482.09 | 562.1 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 22.13 | |
| Qnap | ts-883xu-rp | 88.39 | 482.09 | 562.1 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 22.13 | |
| Qnap | ts-977xu | 43.18 | 482.6 | 484.12 | 1.7 | 19 | 19.06 | |
| Qnap | ts-977xu-rp | 43.18 | 482.6 | 505.46 | 1.7 | 19 | 19.9 | |
| Qnap | ts-983xu | 43.18 | 482.6 | 484.12 | 1.7 | 19 | 19.06 | |
| Qnap | ts-983xu-rp | 43.18 | 482.6 | 507.49 | 1.7 | 19 | 19.98 | |
| Qnap | ts-h1277xu-rp | 88.39 | 482.09 | 562.1 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 22.13 | |
| Qnap | ts-h1283xu-rp | 88.39 | 482.09 | 562.1 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 22.13 | |
| Qnap | ts-h1677xu-rp | 130.05 | 481.08 | 573.53 | 5.12 | 18.94 | 22.58 | |
| Qnap | ts-h1683xu-rp | 130.05 | 481.08 | 573.53 | 5.12 | 18.94 | 22.58 | |
| Qnap | ts-h1886xu-rp | 88.39 | 482.09 | 549.66 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 21.64 | |
| Qnap | ts-h2477xu-rp | 176.28 | 481.08 | 672.08 | 6.94 | 18.94 | 26.46 | |
| Qnap | ts-h2483xu-rp | 176.28 | 481.08 | 672.08 | 6.94 | 18.94 | 26.46 | |
| Qnap | ts-h2490fu | 88.39 | 481.08 | 510.29 | 3.48 | 18.94 | 20.09 | |
| Qnap | ts-h3088xu-rp | 88.39 | 481.08 | 515.11 | 3.48 | 18.94 | 20.28 | |
| Qnap | ts-h977xu-rp | 43.18 | 482.6 | 505.46 | 1.7 | 19 | 19.9 | |
| Qnap | tvs-1272xu-rp | 88.39 | 482.09 | 562.1 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 22.13 | |
| Qnap | tvs-1672xu-rp | 130.05 | 481.08 | 573.53 | 5.12 | 18.94 | 22.58 | |
| Qnap | tvs-2472xu-rp | 176.28 | 481.08 | 672.08 | 6.94 | 18.94 | 26.46 | |
| Qnap | tvs-872xu | 88.39 | 482.09 | 562.1 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 22.13 | |
| Qnap | tvs-872xu-rp | 88.39 | 482.09 | 562.1 | 3.48 | 18.98 | 22.13 | |
| Qnap | tvs-972xu | 43.18 | 482.6 | 484.12 | 1.7 | 19 | 19.06 | |
| Qnap | tvs-972xu-rp | 43.18 | 482.6 | 507.49 | 1.7 | 19 | 19.98 | |
| Qnap | tvs-ec1280u-sas-rp r2 | 87.88 | 442.47 | 530.61 | 3.46 | 17.42 | 20.89 | |
| Qnap | tvs-ec1680u-sas-rp r2 | 130.05 | 442.47 | 530.61 | 5.12 | 17.42 | 20.89 | |
| Qnap | tvs-ec2480u-sas-rp r2 | 176.28 | 442.47 | 530.61 | 6.94 | 17.42 | 20.89 | |
| Brand | model | Form | Height (mm) | Width (mm) | Depth (mm) | Height (in) | Width (in) | Depth (in) |
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Without much ado, Microsoft has released Windows Server 2022. The number of innovations is not impressive, but there are some interesting features among them. However, two of them are reserved for the Azure edition. The focus is on security, with additional improvements for SMB and Hyper-V.
The post Windows Server 2022 released: Overview of new features first appeared on 4sysops.One of the biggest barriers that home and business users encounter when considering making the switch from convenient, but less secure subscription-based cloud services and to their own private server is the complexity involved and the general maintenance of the system moving forward. Here on the blog, I have spent years recommending network-attached storage to thousands of users as a viable and easy alternative to the likes of Google Drive and Dropbox, genuinely believing it to be a relatively low learning curve. However, many would disagree and into this arena, we find the Amber Pro by Latticework, a hybrid cloud solution that also provides prosumer router capabilities. This remarkably slick designed alternative to the arguably more intimidating NAS alternatives promises to be the most user-friendly way to make the switch from those third-party clouds, keeping things simple yet fully functional at all times. Is the Amber Pro the user-friendly option for many that tried NAS and gave up? Does it earn its £500+ price tag? Ultimately, does the Amber Pro from Latticework deserve your data? Let’s find out.
Although the Amber Pro private cloud is not going to outperform most traditional NAS at this price point, it does manage to fulfil that simplicity that NAS in its current form may have been missing. From the simplicity of setup and integration with the included cloud services, down to the hassle-free connectivity whereby a users understanding of network storage and protocols can be zero and much like the apple time capsule releases of the past, the Amber Pro is certainly a user-friendly piece of kit. Additionally, the inclusion of docker to allow users to experiment with their own range of container applications and stretch their IT muscles a bit is a welcome inclusion. Finally, the Amber Pro is one of few systems outside of WD that includes the storage media with the unit, bundle cloud storage and roll all the hardware under a single warranty – thereby doubling down on that ease and simplicity mission statement. The router capabilities of the system and how it integrates with the available RAID enabled storage is also something I have only ever seen available in this fashion from around 5 other devices in the last decade, each of which arrived almost three times as expensive as the Amber, so kudos to them for this. However one simply cannot ignore that this system is rather modest in its available hardware architecture and services when compared to modern NAS releases, which currently feature every single application and service that the Amber offers in one shape or form. Additionally, the inclusive storage media with the Amber of just 1-2TB (also RAID dependant) of storage on standard Seagate Barracuda hard drives is pretty underwhelming for a system that promises to provide backups to a wide range of devices, as well as version retention and containers that will quickly eat up that available storage capacity. Amber counter this with optional USB external storage support and an inclusive two-year 2GB cloud storage service (which is pretty low in 2021 realistically). But all of this still adds up to an impressively designed and fantastically simple to use system that may feature a low glass ceiling for many uses down the line. Recommended to home users or the ZERO I.T knowledgeable who just wants something to sit there and do its job.
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If there is one area that Amber clearly prioritised in it development, it is design, branding and marketing their product as something cool. Very much moving away from the more tech and I.T focused presentation of regular NAS drives like Synology and QNAP, they do succeed in providing a unit that will look attractive on your local IT shop shelf, as well as give you an understanding of the company reputation and product focus. A Slick image covered branded box containing the Amber Pro private cloud system and is very well protected for transit.
Inside we have the standard accessories that you would expect from a private cloud system. This is one of the few NAS devices I have featured here on NAScompares that has inclusive storage media, which is already pre-installed inside the Amber Pro (2x1TB or 2X2TB). The accessory box contains information on initial setup, warranty information, first-time app installation references, a cat5e ethernet cable and an external PSU. All fairly standard stuff. Indeed, you have to factor in that this system is both a private cloud and combined router system, but even then this is more than enough accessories as you no doubt have cables knocking around your home for connecting more network devices.
The PSU featured on the Amber Pro is an external 65-watt power brick. This is a fairly low powered PSU and fairly standard for modest external NAS drives at this scale. I am still a little surprised by the size of the device, especially given the PSU is external. An external PSU is always recommended for easy replacement in the event of a failure, but it still leaves me wondering what all that space in the Amber Pro is being used by.
In terms of presentation, Amber talks a big game and although it looks very slick and nice to look at, this is all fairly standard stuff once you get past the snazzy packaging. So let’s now focus more on the design of the product and whether it brings something new and exciting to the market.
Up until this point, I had only really seen the Amber Pro in images across the internet and the first thing that struck me when I got my hands on it is that it is a fraction larger than I thought. Giving this system contains comparatively modest internal hardware that cannot be expanded and the inclusive storage media is 2.5″ SATA hard drives, I was expecting a unit noticeably smaller in size. Indeed when comparing the unit next to a Synology DS220+, it is arguably larger in volume.
One particular area in hardware whereby Amber Pro really doubles down on is the subject of ventilation. This might be one of the most well ventilated compact servers I have seen in a while, yet the system is pretty whisper quiet. Presumably, the system operates almost exclusively on an architecture of passive heat sinks and the cylindrical top half of the system easily dissipating warm air with a low noise fan. With ventilation on literally every side of this device, there is plenty of passive airflow potential on this router&NAS system.
That top-mounted cylindrical vent also acts as the single means of identifying the system when in operation. Similar to Drobo systems and the quirkily similar data transporter released a few years ago, the Amber Pro has an LED light system with different colours to denote system activity and status. Once again, this is fantastically understated and latticework definitely gets bonus points for style once again. At this scale, an LCD panel or numerous LEDs for drive and network services would be a touch overkill and the ‘blend in the background’ style that the Amber Pro has decided to opt with definitely better suits this understated LED light ring.
Despite the fact the system is a fraction larger than one might expect for a system that houses comparatively modest hardware specifications, you cannot really fault the style and design of this private server and router combined. Although differing in its design against traditional rectangular box NAS, this very much works to its favour in standing out uniquely to users looking for simple and attractive hardware in their home or business environment. Let’s take a closer look at the ports and connections on the Amber Pro as I think there are a few little surprises here.
You would think, given the branded simplicity and understated tech nature of the Amber Pro, that they would be similarly restrained on ports and connections. However, that is one area that really surprised me the most about this device as it features a moderately impressive range of ports and connections for a device at this scale.
In line with the system being a combined router and personal cloud, we find three individual gigabit ports. One acting as the WAN connection and two additional LAN ports. Although combed services like, failover, port bonding and link aggregation are a little thin on the ground on this device, this is nonetheless another area in which this comparatively more modest scale server has broken the mould with what NAS providers put on there are more affordable 2-bay solutions in 2021/2022. My only real small critique is that these connections are 1Gbe and not the growing in popularity 2.5GBe arriving in a lot of premium routers this year. Although there is an argument that a 2-bay may not be able to fully saturate 2.5Gbe, given the emergence of this higher bandwidth connection appearing on more and more hardware in 2021, at the same cost as standard gigabit ethernet, it’s a shame that Latticeworks did not include this higher bandwidths connection on this system.
There are USB ports that allow you to attach additional external storage to the Amber Pro cloud device, arriving in both USB Type-A and USB Type-C. Although these are 5Gb USB ports, that is perfectly acceptable at this tier of storage and the fact that you can attach additional storage media for backup or in system file access is always beneficial. Another interesting inclusion on the Amber Pro is the HDMI port that allows you to cast media from your remote device to the Amber Pro and visually output it to a connected HDMI TV or monitor. There is also access to the HDMI for container applications in the supported docker area of the Amber Pro, which opens the door neatly to the media centre and surveillance applications down the line. There is an additional WPS button as standard in most routers available and of course, there is the power button. Integrated around either side of these rear ports and connections are the two SATA storage bays inside this device. Accessing them is relatively straightforward by the removal of a couple of screws and sliding the back panel away. So let’s take a look at the storage media inside this device and talk a little bit about the internal hardware architecture that the Amber Pro runs on.
As previously mentioned, the Amber Pro is a relatively modest device in terms of traditional architecture when compared against a network-attached storage device. Designed around simplicity and carefree use, the system arrives with an Intel-powered processor, DDR4 memory and RAID supported media that is included in the cost of the device. Removing that rear panel allows you to access the two included SATA hard drives that this system arrives with. Amber Pro do state that users can install alternative storage media if they like, but they are unable to provide warranty support on this media inclusive of the device.
I am still quite surprised that this system utilizes 2.5 in SATA hard drives internally, instead of SATA SSDs. Given the amount of passive cooling that this system utilizes, the scale of the device in physical size, storage capacity and just generally the price tag it arrives with, leaves me to query the choice of slower mechanical media inside this system. There are arguments that this private cloud requires drives with typically higher long-term endurance than that of SSD, but I think at this scale and with inclusive RAID, 1-2TB capacity and additional cloud storage, SSD would have been welcome and understandably expected.
Another small disappointment is that the system, when removing the drives, reveals that the Amber Pro utilizes Seagate Barracuda hard drives. Now, in Latticeworks defence, this is a RAID 0/1 equipped system and the typical RAID advantages of NAS engineered hard drive media are less vital here. However drives like this are more typically designed for laptops in single-use that although are engineered towards efficient power consumption, are less designed for 24/7 activity. Additionally, there are NAS and 24/7 optimised hard drives in the market such as the WD Red mobile or Seagate Firecuda hard drive, so these drives are a little underwhelming if you are purchasing this system solely for its private cloud capabilities with the rather aggressive price tag that this system arrives with.
The intel CPU at the system utilizes is an N4000 dual-core processor that starts off with a modest 1.1GHz clock speed that can be burst as required for demanding tasks up to a more acceptable 2.6GHz. Even in terms of traditional storage, this is quite a modest processor and although it is an x86 64-bit with embedded UHD 600 graphics, it does look a tad underwhelming compared with the Intel J4205 inside the majority of NAS brands right now at this tier. Though in the system’s defence, throughout the entire software testing of the Amber Pro, we saw little to no slowdown of the available storage services and access when directly interacting with the system, so clearly they have done a great deal of optimisation in the Amber as to maximize this processes throughput on both this CPU and the media they selected inside. Alongside this processor, the system also arrives with 2GB of DDR4 memory. 2GB is exactly what I would expect from a system like this but the fact it cannot be upgraded is a bit of a shame, particularly if you are a user that plans to take advantage of the docker support that the Amber Pro arrives with. Still, for typical storage utilisation, home and prosumer business shares, and running a handful of containers, 2GB should get you by quite well. However, the real test of this system is how well it performs the Amber iOS software in typical utilisation. Let’s take a moment to talk about the Amber OS, what it does, what it doesn’t and if it has a place in your home or business environment.
The software, services and simple way that Amber Pro promises to run your own private cloud is the main driving force behind their product. Ultimately the system provides several means with which you can interact with the system that vary in utility and level of technical knowledge required. The bulk of these client applications and browser-based means of access are certainly user-friendly and very clear in what they allow the user to do. From AI-assisted photo recognition to the means with which your client devices access the cloud server via the network or internet being handled without your intervention – these are two of the main appeals for the more technologically amateur looking at switching to a private server. Digging a little deeper shows a furthermore I.T savvy entry point into the system that, though more limited in the means with which it can be accessed, does allow for more configuration in the back-end of the system. Alongside all of this, the Amber Pro also allows container installation with its arguably more limited supported app centre and custom container creation options. Many brands find that achieving a balancing act between these different user groups hard to maintain and Amber Pro seemingly promises to remedy this. During this review, multiple client applications and browser portals were used. Latticework state that among other services and software, the system supports:
Protect your data with automatic backups to redundant drives for maximum safety. Protect it from unwanted access with powerful encryption
Securely access and share files with employees, contractors, and clients from anywhere on your own terms.
Extend Amber’s capabilities with your own containerized applications or thousands of existing applications available on dockerhub.com.
Speed up backups, and everything else you do wirelessly, with Amber’s powerful WiFi router.
Cloud-based health monitoring and storage usage makes it easy to deploy Amber at multiple locations.
Compatible with rsync, Acronis True Image, macOS Time Machine, Windows Backup, and more.
Add as many office or remote users as you like without paying any additional fees.
With OTA updates, Amber is an investment that gets smarter and more powerful over time.
Here is how each app fits into this and how I found them in the testing of the Amber Pro for this review.
Almost certainly the first and most recommended app that you will install to take advantage of the Amber Pro on Day 1, Amber IX provides light system management, competent file management, synchronisation tools and generally is probably the app that most users who buy an Amber pro is going to install on their mobile device. It also provides probably the best experience of the photo AI recognition tools. Artificial Intelligence and photo recognition is not new but is still something that private server owners are only recently able to integrate into their systems in a comparable way to the likes of google photos. At the time of writing, Latticeworks highlighted that AI-powered recognition on this systems is still in development and will improve down the line, however, it did seemingly run very well with good facial recognition and although the ‘thing’ recognition was less fruitful at this stage in development, it looks promising. Aside from these elements though, along with creating an easy 3 step instant phone camera to private cloud server backup routine, the app did seem a little sparse. It still lacked a few features, such as accessing the private cloud server and online cloud services together or controlling files in anything more than a breadcrumb copy/paste way.
Amber life feels like it should be the premium application but in testing, although the file folder management side was very responsive and reactive to requests, accessing AI recognition folders was a little less responsive than found in the previous app. Amber life is much more media-centric and shares many of the file the backup and sharing tools of Amber IX. Neither of these tools provided quite the same level of control and customisation that the desktop client or backend browser access points allowed but these are still fairly competent (if a little overly understated in features) application to use with the system.
Amber Manager is more of a system management tool to utilise on your mobile phone and action upgrades, periodically check the system health and storage or monitor status alerts from the system. It is by no means a complex app, that still provides a little bit more analytical and backend information to the system when it’s in operation. That’s said, Amber’s backend services and more bespoke customisation options for the private server and router are exceptionally limited on all three of these mobile applications and it is only when you move on to accessing the device via the browser-based GUI that you have access to more configuration options.
This is by no means a coincidence and clearly designed so that the complexity of the system is really only available to those that have the know-how, but it’s a shame that the Amber management tool for mobile has not provided a number of key customisation and control options for the system on the fly.
For this review, we tested the Amber IX client for windows 10 and although it provides a similar user experience to that of the mobile Amber IX client, there were several key additions to its user interface that are worth highlighting. Firstly, photo management for tagging, merging and reorganization of AI-assisted folders is significantly easier to implement on the desktop client application than was possible on the mobile. Additionally, accessing and viewing synchronised folders between desktop clients and the Amber, as well as accessing the included cloud space that the system arrives with, was a great deal more intuitive using the desktop client application.
The synchronisation between your computer folders and the NAS is conducted in the background with the app and the server itself taking care of network or internet connectivity choice to ensure that synchronised directories do so with little or no interference from the end-user – always a bonus. The thumbnail generation was slower than I would have liked, but everything else was competent and did its job as I would expect. Near we can switch on to accessing the system via the web browser.
The inclusive 2 Gigabytes of clouds storage that the Amber system arrives with can be accessed directly via the web-based GUI and allows you to have a better understanding of how that storage space is being utilised, as well as allow cross-platform access for different users and file types. It is more of a monitoring tool and the level of actual file access is arguably more primitive than the other apps, but it still handy that this isn’t just blob space acting as a backup with the 0 interaction options.
And now we reach the more technical access point of your Amber system, utilising the latticenode browser-based GUI. From here you can micro-manage practically every part of the systems storage, network capabilities, user access control, RAID management, drive health checks, snapshots, local/NAS/cloud/USB synchronisation and third party current shares, link other Rsync services and install/manage those container applications. There is also a separate parallel portal that allows you to manage the network configuration and security protocols of the router from this point as well.
Having both the private cloud storage and router services running parallel ensures that they can be managed and updated independently, as well as allows the configuration for one without impacted the other as much as possible. Although I know that the Amber Pro is designed around the idea of 0 technological knowledge not being a limitation of owning your own private cloud server, it has to be said that this means of accessing both the system storage and configuring the system, in general, is by far my favourite part. Up until this point, I was starting to get concerned that this system lacked the customisation and personalized configuration options that set private cloud ownership from those of public cloud services. As much as I like this access point and controlling available, it still annoys me that this is currently not accessible to a similar extent by any of the mobile apps.
Finally, there is the advertised access to container installation on the Amber Pro. Arriving with several 1-click installation docker applications available that allow you to integrate media, cloud business platforms and surveillance container applications, there are a number of ways that you can graduate out of the rigid first-party services that the Amber Pro features and into the more customisable world of Docker applications. This is a rare example of this system being marketed towards the little bit more tech-savvy and although it does require an additional Amber Pro activation option in the advanced settings, it does allow the system to graduate out of a home or prosumer bracket and more into an area of SMB utilisation.
Many software-as-a-service (SaaS) users will likely not move away from the existing services when purchasing the Amber Pro and Latticework clearly understand this by allowing the server and router storage cloud hardware to act as a localised synchronisation machine with the services. There are still very few directly available one-click containers on offer in the app centre, but you can create custom docker containers very easy and with integration from repositories like github, you are able to install more services via this docker option.
Much like previously mentioned Amber/latticework supported services, you do get the feeling that docker integration on the Amber Pro is still a little bit in development, will improve over time, is a welcome addition to a system, but runs the potential of being a tad too simplistic for NAS uses to make the switch.
In order to decide on whether the Amber Pro is worth your money and your data in 2021 we have to ask the following:
Frankly, yes! If you are someone whose full experience of remote and network server storage extends to utilising Google Drive, Dropbox and Onedrive, then the Amber Pro gives you everything that they do in terms of simplicity and user-friendly experience services without the monthly subscription fee or storage limitations which the cloud systems often include. The storage levels that both launch versions of the Amber Pro feature are perhaps a little too modest for its $499-599 price tag, but in sheer terms of easy access, available clients and home/prosumer service, I think it hits the mark that it’s going for.
Choosing the Amber Pro as a viable upgrade from an existing NAS server or as a viable alternative to a NAS drive from the likes of Synology or QNAP is a different story. If the idea of purchasing a NAS drive is an intimidating but necessary step for you away from third-party Cloud, then the chewable and easy presentation of the Amber Pro will likely appeal substantially. However one cannot overlook that what may start out as simplicity and carefree use can easily turn into limitations and an early glass ceiling as the demands of the end-user grow in storage capacity, service and customisation. If you have even a pinch of IT knowledge, the Amber Pro may well come across as something of a diluted alternative to a NAS and potentially something you may want to give a miss until the Latticework and Amber software services are more evolved.
As a combined solution, the Amber Pro is one of very few devices that acts as both a competent prosumer router and a private cloud storage system. Although it can be said that in both of these areas, the system is a little safe with its gigabit ethernet, lack of WiFi 6 and low capacity 2x 2.5″ storage, it still remains one of the very few devices in the market that presents these two to hardware clients as a combined solution. Though perhaps with alternatives like the QNAP Qhora-301W and QMiroPLUS-201W combined router and storage systems now available at a lower price than this system, WiFi 6, 2.5Gbe and/or 10Gbe, the Amber Pro is not quite as ‘stand out’ in its particular field as it might have been when a originally conceived. Ultimately what we have here is a competent and polished solution that will appeal to the complete network noob who has not followed the network storage industry over the years, but will be less impressive to anyone who has had even the smallest understanding of IT or followed network-attached storage over the last few years. Certainly a viable alternative to the cloud but not something I would personally recommend over a similarly priced NAS drive in 2021/2022
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Vous pouvez exporter vers un format PST à partir d’un serveur Exchange à l’aide de la commande PowerShell Exchange Management Shell (EMS) New-MailboxExportRequest ou via le Centre d’administration Exchange (EAC). Cependant, ces méthodes présentent certaines limites, telles que : Avec PowerShell et Exchange Admin Center, vous ne pouvez exporter qu’une seule boîte à la fois. […]
The post Stellar Converter EDB pour convertir les fichiers Exchange EDB en PST first appeared on UnderNews.For many users who decided to make the switch from subscription-based Cloud services and to their own private NAS server, it can be tricky to understand exactly what they need in terms of storage and power. Network-attached storage NAS has evolved rapidly over the years and now there is a tremendous range of solutions that vary in size and ability to choose from, often resulting in the most expensive servers not always being the most capable. One of the first hurdles that many users encounter when choosing their first NAS drive is choosing between a 2-bay NAS and 4-Bay. With the majority of NAS brands out there offering most standard solutions and across different hard drive scales, choosing between these different sized NAS is not as straightforward as one might think. So today I’m going to talk to you about the differences between each, which one is the best value, their advantages and hopefully help you decide which one best suits your storage needs. Let’s start.
On the face of it, it seems pretty obvious that a 4-Bay NAS model with its increased storage bays will be the better storage option overall. How on earth can a NAS device that is 50% less in media bays possibly compete?!? Well, in recent years the largest available capacity in hard drives has massively increased and therefore the total potential terabytes available for each media bay has grown drastically. Yes, you could fully populate a four-Bay NAS with 4TB hard drives, but you could always just use a single 12TB hard drive at a lower price per TB in 2021 and regardless of whether you use RAID 0 or RAID1 with two disks, still have a huge capacity in a 2 Bay NAS. Additionally, these days a number of brands provide the same level of external enclosure expandability on both the 2-Bay and 4 Bay NAS systems (eg DS920+ / DS720+ and TS-253D / TS-453D), therefore 2-Bay NAS does not have the lower metaphorical glass ceiling that it once had in terms of additional storage down the line. Indeed, you can even expand a RAID 1 to a RAID 5 on a 2-bay but spreading it over both the NAS and expansion enclosure at once, to provide an excellent way to still increase the storage on your 2-Bay later on and not feel trapped within its dual media design architecture.
However, this is not quite as cut and dry as it appears. Despite the improvements in 2-Bay NAS architecture in recent years, there is always going to be one big day 1 advantage in the flexibility of 4 Bay NAS that 2-Bays cannot really match. That is that you do not necessarily need to fully populate a 4-bay on day one and many users go ahead with just putting two hard drives inside a 4-Bay NAS in a RAID 1 at the start. Not only does this give you exactly the same level of storage and performance that you would find in 2 Bay NAS, but it also allows you to add drives to this partially populated NAS and expand its storage pool from a RAID 1 to a RAID 5, increasing the total storage gradually throughout the lifespan of the system, WITHOUT buying a whole expansion chassis. This allows flexibility in how much storage you use now and how much you need to graduate to later at a minimal cost at the start. In summary, although 4 Bay NAS is still technically the better storage, flexibility and capacity option, a 2-Bay is not necessarily as inferior as it once was.
This is an often underestimated factor in choosing between a 2-bay or 4-bay NAS system. Many people assume that a 4-Bay NAS costs more money to buy and even more money to populate. Although this is still technically true, it is hardly any more expensive to operate a 4-bay NAS 24×7 than a 2-bay. As far as actual day 1 costs go, notwithstanding the flexible storage installation mentioned in the previous subject, 4-Bay NAS systems allow you to use smaller capacity hard drives in order to match the same storage on larger hard drives. What this means is that a 4-ay NAS allows you to install four 4TB drives inside in a RAID5 and arrived at a lower price per terabyte than 2x 12TB drives. Depending on how you scale your storage and the number of drives you use, 2-Bay shares and 4-Bay NAS can retail at a similar price point and will differ only depending on the drive you choose and the RAID configuration you opt for.
Likewise, returning to the point of the cost of 4-bays as being more expensive than 2-bays, the newest generation NAS drives will often barely be more than $100-150 difference in their prices between 2 and 4 bays and are largely identical in CPU, Memory and ports in every other way. 4-Bays may seem like a bigger chunk of money (especially for those already feeling stretched on a prosumer 2-Bay) but if you are prepared to perhaps drop the capacity you have in mind 1-2TB (i.e purchase 4TBs, not 6TBs) to compensate this price difference, the result will be that your 4 Bay NAS can achieve much higher read and write speeds with more drives being accessed simultaneously, whilst also opening the door to dual-drive redundancy configurations (i.e RAID 6) and will ultimately provide a more responsive, higher performing and data safe NAS for all of your needs.
In summary, the savings available in choosing a two-bay over a four-bay can easily be countered in the grand scheme of things by scaling the capacity or architecture of the HDD you choose to put inside. The money saved in a 2 bay might well be money you need to spend a year or two down the line.
As mentioned, using 4 hard drives in a RAID 5 will likely provide better performance than two drives in a RAID 1 environment. This performance can be measured by traditional direct read and write activity between your client hardware and your NAS, or it can be measured by the performance of individual applications and services from within the network-attached storage drive itself (i.e the NAS software and services). When looking at buying your first NAS, many will overlook 2-Bay’s simply because of this performance boost available in the 4-Bay alternative models. However, enterprise-grade/Pro hard drives Seagate ironwolf Pro or EXOs) will often provide performance benefits in a RAID 1 environment that can surpass the use of standard hard drives in a RAID 5. Of course, Pro series drives cost $40-50 more per drive, but also have longer warranties, data recovery services, more onboard cache and faster rpm to increase that read and write speed, so you get more for your money ultimately. Additionally, if you plan on taking advantage of 10Gbe, either with a port already on your NAS or as an upgrade down the line via PCIe, then you are much, MUCH better off with a 4-Bay NAS, as a 2-Bay (even if populated with the latest generation SATA SSDs) cannot fully saturate 1,000MB/s.
Finally, it is worth discussing that a large number of modern 4-Bay NAS systems in 2021/2022 arrived with dedicated SSD caching bays. These bays do not replace the existing SATA hard drives and are parallel media bays that allow you to install M2 NVMe SSD to improve the internal performance of your NAS by copying more frequently accessed files partially or fully onto the SSD to reduced access time to these more popular pieces of data. Although a handful of 2 Bay NAS systems have arrived on the market with support of dedicated SSD caching bays (Lockerstor 2 and DS720+), the feature is still more available on foUr Bay solutions and for many users that want to graduate the utility of their NAS from home to prosumer and inevitably into business use, the ability to upgrade internal performance in this way can often sway buyers to opt for a 4-bay NAS.
Unsurprisingly, the bigger the NAS drive, the more power it will consume. When comparing like-for-like deployments in similar architecture on 2-Bay and 4-Bay NAS, the latter will always use a little bit more. This is the reason that you will generally find that the PSU on a 4-Bay NAS is always of a higher what rating. However overall, unless you are pushing the system particularly hard, the simple act of adding two more SATA hard drives will generally make a minuscule difference and is hardly a reason to compare these two overall – A PSU power rating is the MAXIMUM draw it can make, not the amount it will be using constantly! However, in terms of vibration generated when the system is in operation and the rise in assisted fan operation as usage increases, generates more heat which makes a noticeable impact on the ambient noise generated when you are running a 2-Bay vs a 4-Bay.
The power difference will still remain rather small as these are still quite small components but if you are especially sensitive to noise then the increased drive and fan-based sound will annoy you. Additionally, this increase in ambient noise generation scales accordingly if you use larger capacity drives or more enterprise-level hard drive builds. So therefore if you are looking at a 2-Bay NAS with bigger capacity hard drives, it will still generate a comparable level of ambient noise that a 4-Bay would when populated with standard class NAS media or smaller capacities. Now that brands like Seagate and WD have reshaped their respective portfolios for NAS hard drive media in a way that ALL large capacity hard drive (eg 10TB and above) are Pro class (i.e noisier), it makes the lines increasingly blurry between 2-Bay and 4-Bay NAS noise levels. Below is an example of the noise difference between a standard class and pro class drive noise generation in just a single drive. It may seem a tad irrelevant, but it’s important if you are a user looking to go for a smaller NAS with BIGGER drives:
| WD Red NAS Hard Drive Noise Test | WD Red PRO NAS Hard Drive Noise Test |
So as you can see, the difference between a 2-Bay and a 4-Bay NAS is a great deal more than the number of available hard drives you can use. Each kind of NAS system can have its performance, capacity, ambient noise and power consumption scaled in a multitude of ways in order to facilitate the best possible network attached storage solution for you. Users on a tight budget might all too soon end up purchasing a 2 Bay NAS without realising that a 4-Bay has scalability that can save you money down the line. Likewise, users who like to invest a little bit more long term or prefer their NAS investment to be a little bit more spread over the lifespan of their product will tend to err towards a 4-Bay solution, without realising that a 2-Bay is still quite viable in the short term and modern scalability of NAS means taht a 2-Bay NAS is not quite the dead-end it once was! Below I have detailed some of the BEST examples of 2-Bay and 4-Bay NAS Synology, QNAP and Asustor that are great examples of margins between each tier has become spectacularly narrow. If you are still unsure on how to proceed, be sure to take advantage of the free advice service here on NASComapres using the boxes at the bottom. We (me and Eddie the web guy!) answer every email and do it without profit in mind (i.e it’s absolutely free), so though it might take an extra day for us to reply, we will get back to you with recommendations on the best solution for you.
| Synology DS720+ 2-Bay – $399+
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Synology DS920+ 4-Bay – $559+
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| J4125 4-Core CPU – 2/6GB DDR4 – NVMe SSD – 2x1Gbe
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J4125 4-Core CPU – 4/8GB DDR4 – NVMe SSD – 2x1Gbe
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| QNAP TS-253D 2-Bay – $389+
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QNAP TS-453D 4-Bay – $549+
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| J4125 4-Core CPU – 4/8GB DDR4 – PCIe Slot – HDMI – 2×2.5Gbe
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J4125 4-Core CPU – 4/8GB DDR4 – PCIe Slot – HDMI – 2×2.5Gbe
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| Asustor Lockerstor 2 2-Bay – $379+
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Asustor Lockerstor 4 4-Bay – $499+
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| J4125 4-Core CPU – 4/8GB DDR4 – NVMe SSD – 2×2.5Gbe | J4125 4-Core CPU – 4/8GB DDR4 – NVMe SSD – 2×2.5Gbe |
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
SEARCH IN THE BOX BELOW FOR NAS DEALS
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.
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