Top products from r/qnap

Ok, I really like the advice of /u/zottelbeyer

, but I will try to give my own. Just remember: There is never enough storage space.

My current setup: TS-673 with 2x512GB M.2 SSD RAID 1 as system volume + 4x10TB HDD RAID 6 ad storage volume, with intention of expanding up to 6x10TB as I need more space. Synology DS218J with 1x10TB+1x3TB HDD JBOD used as backup unit.

First: I personally don't think I'd use RAID 10 when I can use RAID 6. RAID 6 offer better drive protection than RAID 10, so yes, I'd also switch to RAID 6.

Second: Backup in the same machine is not considered backup. There are tons of things that can destroy all drives in a case at same time. For example:

https://old.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/dc8hda/nearly_lost_all_my_data/

So, The fact that you are backuping your main RAID 10 data into a different 8TB drive inside the same NAS means that you are in fact not performing any backup at all. One ransomware infection will destroy the totality of your data.

Ok, now, let's dive in.

Currently, the sweet spot of cost/storage are located in 8TB drives, but slowly switching to 10TB. Personally, I'd go with 10 or 12 TB drives. You can get 10TB WD red drives for 189€ (WD element drives shucked). With 5x10TB drives in RAID 6 you get 30TB (27.3 TB of usable space). If you use RAID 5 (more about that later), you can bump up to 40TB (36.4 TB of usable space). That is 5 times what you currently have, and without need to buy a new enclosure. That is leaving your 6th bay as offsite for the other user.

Right now, IMHO there is no reason to stick with lots and lots of low storage drive. Get fewer with higher capacity. Prices have dropped enough.

You have also to take into account that bay space is also an important issue. That makes in the end bigger drives more valuable that small drives.

You can start increasing your drive count slowly, and adding more drives as your space needs increase.

About backups: I really encourage you to move your backup outside your TVS-673. If you go the bigger drive route you will have 4TB drives spare (your current RAID array) that you can use to perform backup. I used this:

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Docking-Station-Support/dp/B0099TX7O4/

or a cheaper version:

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-USB-Cable-USB3S2SAT3CB/dp/B00HJZJI84/

Connect your drive, then you can create a backup job to store your important files on it, and then disconnect it and store it away. Repeat with each drive you want. Perform a new backup once a week. In case of NAS destroy, you have full backup available.

I personally prefer to use another cheap NAS to automatically perform backups, but that means spending some more money. About RAID 0 backups, it's not ideal, but it is doable. RAID is not backup, is intended to reduce downtime. Strictly speaking, you don't need RAID if you are willing to assume downtime while you restore from your backups. So, RAID 0 (or JBOD) is acceptable as backup plan. Yes, if one drive of your backup fails, you lose everything, but it is a backup. All you have to do is switch the failing drive and recreate the backup from scratch. Pretty straight forward and it doesn't risk your data. Since your main data is a RAID array, in case of failure of your backup RAID 0, you still have tolerance for at least another drive failure (RAID 5) or even two (RAID 6) in your main array.

• Main RAID 1, 5 or 6 + Backup RAID 0 or JBOD: Ok
  
• Main RAID 0, JBOD or non array + Backup RAID 1, 5 or 6: OK
  
• Main RAID 0, JBOD or non array + Backup RAID 0 or JBOD: NOPE
  
  Finally, if you decide to go "full datahoard mode" (rack server, +10 bays, ZFS or BTRFS , etc) then by all means, go to /r/DataHoarder and /r/homelab. Tons of useful advice there.
  
  In case you go this route, then yes, get a nice rack, set ZFS, and use your TVS-673 as an expensive backup NAS to keep your data safe. I personally use borg backup, but ZFS has a nice snapshot backup utility with incremental copy.
  
  Sorry for the wall of text. I think I addressed most of your concerns, right?

This should probably get the job done to your satisfaction.

Not sure if it matters on UPS devices, but black friday is just around the corner so it might be worth it to wait a couple of days.

It is on https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00T7BYV6W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 for around £72 which seems like a reasonable offer.

Best of luck!


​

The linked site is about 10% more expensive than Amazon UK for the same thing. Also that table of QNAP Nas's leaves out a lot of models and is totally user unfriendly since the tables don't list the models, don't buy from them, if you are smart and like the best deal here's what you should really do instead. TS-251 - £187.64 + Kingston 8gb installable RAM (that you install yourself, it's easy) - £26.30 + QNAP RM-IR002 - £8.99 (optional) is best in my opinion, £222.93 for a TS-251 with 8gb ram vs. £255.60 TS-251+ with 2gb ram

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CQ35HBQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This was the exact product that I had bought and used in the 251+ - I can say with certainty because I actually went back to my amazon orders history so I wouldnt have to open up the laptop. You'll probably notice though that the listing is only for 1x8 GB stick - I had already had an 8 GB stick of the same model and ordered this one to match it.

I dont know why manufactures make the claim that it only supports 8GB, because it certainly worked fine with 16 GB. Just a heads up though on that note, I want to say I've read that installing anything over 8 GB can void the warranty if thats something that matters to you.

Some cameras (like the Foscam FI8910W) can upload to FTP on motion alert. You can enable FTP on the qnap and setup an account. I've done it.

I'm pretty confident that none of the off-the-shelf doorbells allow for it. There's no incentive. Monthly service charges are too lucrative.

Just to give you a heads up that you can get a card with just 2 m.2 ports and no 10gb ethernet. They are about half price or more then the one with 10gb.

SATA M.2- https://www.amazon.co.uk/QNAP-Dual-SATA-Erweiterung-PCIe/dp/B07CT8WHJL/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=QM2-2S-220A&qid=1554135131&s=gateway&sr=8-1

NVME M.2- https://www.amazon.co.uk/QNAP-Dual-PCIe-expansion-card/dp/B07CTD5ML5/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=QNAP+QM2-2P-244A&qid=1554135071&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull


I would suggest to save some money though and get the sata card. Drives are cheaper and the pci-e bus on the nas is only x2 so you wont get anything above 800MBps.
But yeah it would be nice to see if anything would work that isn't on the official compatibility list.

Edit: Changed the links to UK since op is obviously from their.

Pretty sure its max 8GB, i ordered mine when i bought the NAS

Corsair 8gb 2x4gb

EDIT: Mine is not a "+", so not sure of the difference between TS-451 and TS-451+

I have a TS-563 as well. I think I'd just populate all 4 bays of the TR-004 with 8TB drives.

You'd still have 2 USB ports on the TS free for a USB drive dock (like this) for your swapping needs.

> Kingston HyperX Dimms

Did you use the 2133 MHz or 2400 MHz? Is ECC memory supported?

For example, which do you recommend?

• Crucial 2133 CL15 $164.00 * 2 = $328
  
• Corsair 2400 CL16 $438.99
  
• Ballistix Sport 2400 CL16 $189.99 * 2 = $379.98
  
• Kingston HyperX 2133 CL14 $494.11
  
• Kingston HyperX 2133 CL13 $215.99 * 2 = $431.98
  
• Kingston HyperX 2400 CL15 $493.24
  
• Kingston HyperX 2400 CL14 $233.99 * 2 = $467.98
  

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HVOIKHS/

---

^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

I just got this for my TS-451 and works great:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C53B2FW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you are going to be have multiple workstations, I would not worry about Thunderbolt, and focus on 10GbE instead.

See the following post from the QNAP forums by someone who works with this much more than I do.

https://forum.qnap.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=119614&p=583952#p583952


That being said, you may also want to look at the new TVS-873 model. https://www.amazon.com/QNAP-TVS-873-8G-IP-SAN-Quad-core-10G-ready/dp/B01MYXBX9V

It gives you good CPU performance, 10GbE capability (via add-on card) at a much lower price-point than the 871t.

It also has option for adding m.2 SSD, and can be expanded up to 64GB memory.

I would always go with the lowest memory config for any QNAP and upgrade the memory yourself. It is MUCH cheaper. Just use quality chips (I use Kingston HyperX for a lot of mine).


You can find some more information about the family here and how it compares to the other models:
http://www.slideshare.net/QNAP_Inc/all-new-upgraded-business-nas-tvsx73-series

and here:
https://youtu.be/MFn_Iqm6GgU

I just picked up the TVS-673 and have been very happy with it. Just waiting on some heatsinks to install my m.2 SSD's

TS-451A is very finicky with RAM module, I've tried using Hynix and Crucial, but that didn't work.
In the end I bought ADATA 4GBx2 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HVOIKHS/ and it works well with this model.
I've read forum a user reported issue with 8GBx2, but i didnt bother to try ADATA 8GB one.

FYI I have a TVS-1282T3 with 2 TX-800Ps daisy-chained, with an Apple Thunderbolt adapter and 2 Apple Thunderbolt 2 cables.

It works perfectly, except the Thunderbolt 2 ports on the TX-800Ps seem shallower than they should be so the plug ends up loose. As a consequence, the slightest touch to the plug will make the unit go offline and then reinitialize. I've found this cable is much less stiff than the Apple one, but the plug's still loose.

I wish QNAP made a T3 expansion chassis.

First off, you linked to a switch and not a hub. There is a difference. Second, the only way you will see increased bandwidth due to connection aggregation is if you use LACP (802.3ad, or Dynamic Link Aggregation), which requires a managed switch to set up the port bundle on the other side so both sides can negotiate a LACP bond. The Netgear switch ain't it, you're after something like this. All other modes of port-trunking on the QNAP are meant for fault tolerance or load balancing, they will not aggregate bandwidth.

Understand, however, that port-trunking (QNAP's description for network aggregation) tends to break some other things like Linux Station. Plus, if all you're concerned about is increased throughput to your laptop, unless you're doing the same thing on your laptop all that extra bandwidth is going to be wasted anyway. There's something to be said if multiple devices are hitting it at once, but your description didn't specify that.

You could also use an ethernet-wifi bridge device like the Netgear EX3700, a travel router, or a regular old router in client mode (if it has that feature, or if alternate firmware enabling it is available).

It seems that your comment contains 1 or more links that are hard to tap for mobile users.
I will extend those so they're easier for our sausage fingers to click!


Here is link number 1 - Previous text "UPS"



----
^Please ^PM ^/u/eganwall ^with ^issues ^or ^feedback! ^| ^Delete

16 GB for a little over a year. No issues like you describe.

Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2)... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007B5S52C

QNAP is really picky about ram. Technically they only support what they sell on their site but it is pricey. this is what I got and has been rocking for 1.5yrs in my TS-451A no issues - well there been many issues causing me to swear off qnap but the ram wasn't the issue.

ADATA Premier DDR3L1600MHz 4GB Memory Modules (ADDS1600W4G11-S) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HVOIKHS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_0k4TBbC4T4Z4M

These...

Zero issues.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007B5S52C/ This one works, you can check the specs if they are similar.

Here's what I used:
Crucial - DDR3 PC3 12800

>DDR3
>
>L

Will this one work?

Ack, I meant why is it MORE money! Ridiculous for exactly the reasons you state. Editing now.

Two NAS units definitely does seem to be the way to go. Thinking I'll either get the TVS-873 and have my 863+ be the backup, or keep the 863+ as my primary and get a TS-831X as backup.

Woah I'm running exactly the same ram also working non-stop with no problems, Here's an Amazon link where I got mine from: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JCRZ6XS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_hQm4DfHcUvJil

I got these. Pain to get them in as you have to take the 451+ apart and slip the sticks between the board and the metal chassis. Took about 15 minutes and it's now a lot faster and I run the Windows VM with 8gb of ram which makes it run just as fast as my old server.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007B5S52C?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

While I doubt that this is a common use case, the truth is that QNAP simply uses the standard Linux mdadm utility for RAID. They then throw the volume into an LVM pool. If you choose encryption the specific LVM volume is then LUKS encrypted.* Depending on your use case, that may be enough to get you through.

If you require high of availability for a network share (where even Amazon's next day delivery is too slow), then you need a fail-over box. Because I guarantee you that any time the NAS goes down you're going to spend 12+ hours checking the raid array for errors, and another quite a few more hours making sure my data is instact, updating my backups, and then running the extended hard drive self tests. I sure as heck wouldn't just put disks where the enclosure itself failed back into operation without at least every check I can throw at them. In addition to the possibility of the array having issues, the disks themselves could have suffered damage at the same time.

Speaking of which, the box is on a UPS right? And plugged in via USB and configured to turn itself off before the UPS battery dies right?

tl;dr: If you require that sort of uptime, then you need a full fail-over machine with the QNAP synchronizing with it fairly often.

* The caveat being that QNAP uses their own utility. To call the C crypt function (based on MD5) with their own static seed. So the password you use in the GUI is different than the real LUKS password.

Caveat the second is QNAP does not do this when encrypting external disks. However, the GUI silently limits you to a 16 character password.