[ad_1]
You need a place to keep your files, but sometimes you want more functionality from your storage. Network-attached storage (NAS) drives like the QNAP TVS-463 ($749) offer extras, like HD video and 4K photo playback, local apps, and virtualization functionality in a box. While it’s still primarily used for storage, the TVS-463 can also perform many tasks for which you once needed a separate PC or server. It’s speedy enough for quick jaunts online, and its proprietary OS and AMD Radeon APU help with features like scheduled overnight downloads.
Design and Features
The metal drive is gold and measures 7 by 7 by 9.25 inches (HWD). Its four lockable drive sleds are visible on the front, beneath a two-line LCD status screen. The display has basic controls for cycling through information like network and drive status. A front-mounted USB 3.0 port lets you quickly hook up an external drive to the NAS, and a Copy button makes it easy to duplicate the content of that hard drive to the TVS-463.
Connectivity is very good. There are two Gigabit Ethernet ports on the back, along with two HDMI ports, and four USB 3.0 ports. These ports make it easy to administer to the NAS. You just hook it up to an HDTV or a monitor to access its proprietary operating system locally. The USB 3.0 ports also support up to two QNAP expansion enclosures for more storage. There’s a PCI Express (PCIe) slot free for additional Gigabit or 10 Gigabit networking ports.
Similar Products
Western Digital My Cloud DL4100 (24TB)
Check Stock
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Western Digital My Cloud DL4100 (24TB) Review
QNAP TS-251
Check Stock
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our QNAP TS-251 Review
Seagate NAS 2-Bay
Check Stock
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Seagate NAS 2-Bay Review
Synology DiskStation DS414slim
Check Stock
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Synology DiskStation DS414slim Review
Asustor AS-602T
Check Stock
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Asustor AS-602T Review
Asustor AS-202TE
Check Stock
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Asustor AS-202TE Review
Thecus N2310
Read Our Thecus N2310 Review
Buffalo LinkStation LS420D
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Buffalo LinkStation LS420D Review
QNAP TurboNAS TS-470
Check Stock
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our QNAP TurboNAS TS-470 Review
QNAP’s QvPC technology and QTS user interface let you play back media and run basic desktop-style apps like Google Chrome, Firefox, and You Tube. A downloadable media player can be used to view photos up to 4K resolution, and videos up to 1080p resolution. Other apps can be downloaded to manage torrent downloads, listen to online radio, transcode downloaded videos, or access cloud storage like Dropbox($0.00 at Apple.com)(Opens in a new window) or iDrive($0.00 at Apple.com)(Opens in a new window).
The drive also supports virtualization for apps that support functions like document management, IP telephony, PC client backup, and security systems. Cirtix, VMware, and Windows Hyper-V virtual machines are supported. It will help if you have a background in IT, as you’ll have to configure some of the utilities and keep up with software updates manually. Most of the apps are developed and supported by third parties. The QTS UI simply gives you an easy way to install them. It won’t replace your standard laptop or desktop, but the TVS-463 can handle many of the light duties that a living room PC can.
The enclosure comes without hard drives installed, which helps keep purchase and shipping costs down. (The price of a NAS bundled with high-capacity drives is easily $1,000 more expensive.) This also means that your ultimate capacity will hinge on the particular drive(s) you buy for the TVS-463. We used four 6TB Hitachi Deskstar NAS drives in a RAID 5 array to give us a total of 16TB for our testing, and they cost an extra $1,200. We installed them on the drive sleds using the included screws, and slid them home. Keyed locks keep those drives safe and sound. Some NAS boxes like the QNAP TS-251( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) and the Western Digital My Cloud DL4100( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) don’t have locks on their drive sleds. There’s also a Kensington security port in the back so you can lock the NAS to your desk.
Setting up the TVS-463 for file service is fairly simple, and it is easy to access the administration page and files shares using Chrome OS, Mac OS X, and Windows clients. That said, some other functions are quirky. Since the NAS is sold without drives, its monitoring alarms are set to conservative default settings. During testing, we were consistently getting overheating warnings from the drive thermal sensors, until we contacted QNAP technical support. Under its direction, we increased the alarm threshold by 10 degrees Celsius (still well within the Hitachi Deskstar NAS drives’ operating specs), which solved the problem. The TVS-463 comes with a two-year warranty.
Performance
The TVS-463 is equipped with a 2.4GHz quad-core AMD G-series processor with integrated Radeon graphics and 8GB of RAM (upgradeable to 16GB). The G-series processor is made for embedded solutions like a NAS, rather than the usual A-series APU that we see in Windows PCs. While it can run some PC-style apps, like Google Chrome or BitTorrent utilities, it’s not fast enough to perform PC tasks. Even simple $300 laptops will transcode videos faster than the TVS-463. That, plus the fact that the TVS-463 runs a proprietary operating system, is why we don’t run our standard Windows benchmark tests. Other NAS drives like the Western Digital DL4100 have a simpler, Web-based interface without the extra multimedia abilities beyond the core backup and file service.
Instead, we ran our timed file-transfer test, and the NAS performed very well. We copied a 4.9GB test folder containing thousands of text, music, photo, and video files from our Toshiba Tecra Z50-A1503 testbed on an Asus RT-AC68U Dual-band Wireless-AC1900 Gigabit Router($141.64 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) via both Gigabit Ethernet and wirelessly using close-range 5GHz 802.11ac. We were able to write our test folder at 79MBps and read the same folder at 86MBps over wired Ethernet. The Western Digital DL4100 was slower on the same test, at 69MBps write and 82MBps read. When we switched to our wireless network, things slowed considerably, but the TVS-463 was still measurably faster (21Mbps write; 23MBps read) compared with the DL4100 (10Mbps, write; 12MBps, read).
If you’re looking for a speedy NAS for SOHO or SMB use that can be customized to run more automatic tasks, the QNAP TVS-463 is a very good choice, particularly if you’re willing to go down the rabbit hole with eyes wide open and keep up with software updates, download apps, and keep on top of its administrative functions. However, the Western Digital My Could DL4100 remains our top choice for SMB NAS drives because it is more of a turnkey device, one that is easier to administer and install.
4.0
(Opens in a new window)
(Opens in a new window)
The QNAP TVS-463 is a speedy network-attached storage (NAS) drive with PC-like features including video playback and virtualization. You’ll have to provide your own drives, but after that, you’ll have a quick storage array with plenty of extras.
[ad_2]
Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/qnap-tvs-463
