NAS by stefan @ 2014-11-29
The TS-653 Pro NAS from QNAP is built on a solid Intel platform and while using the chassis from last year, the power consumption is noticeably less, while keeping a high level of performance. Thanks to the Intel Celeron J1900 Quad-Core, we also have transcoding capabilities up to 4K and we would also like to remind the QvPC technology which permits using the TS-653 Pro as a regular PC.
At first we would like to thank QNAP for offering a sample of their TS-653 Pro 6-bay NAS for testing and reviewing.
“QNAP Systems, Inc., as its brand promise "Quality Network Appliance Provider", aims to deliver comprehensive offerings of cutting edge network attached storage (NAS) and network video recorder (NVR) solutions featured with ease-of-use, robust operation, large storage capacity, and trustworthy reliability. QNAP integrates technologies and designs to bring forth quality products that effectively improve business efficiency on file sharing, virtualization applications, storage management and surveillance in the business environments, as well as enrich entertainment life for home users with the offering of a fun multimedia center experience. Headquartered in Taipei, QNAP delivers its solutions to the global market with nonstop innovation and passion.”
High performance
Powered by a cutting-edge 22nm quad-core Intel® Celeron® 2.0GHz processor with 2GB/8GB energy-efficient DDR3L RAM (upgradable to 8GB), coupled with the support of SATA 6Gb/s, 4 Gigabit LAN ports and HDMI output, the TS-653 Pro is a powerful NAS that delivers up to 415MB/s read & write speeds. The TS-653 Pro can also automatically increase the processor's clock rate from 2.0GHz to 2.41GHz when needed for CPU-intensive tasks. The TS-653 Pro’s fast encryption and decryption performance provides transfer speeds of up to 70MB/s with AES-256 bit volume encryption, boosting system performance & security while ensuring the safety of sensitive business data stored in the TS-653 Pro. When installed with the latest dual-band 2.4GHz/5GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi network card, the TS-653 Pro can offer remarkably high speeds for transferring large amount of files and streaming bandwidth-consuming multimedia.
Thanks to the intuitive user interface of QTS, system operations of the TS-653 Pro are smooth and handy. Its intelligent desktop allows you to find desired functions quickly, create desktop shortcuts or group shortcuts, monitor important system information on a real-time basis, and open multiple application windows to run multiple tasks concurrently, bringing greater operating efficiency.
SSD cache acceleration
The TS-653 Pro supports SSD caching which can greatly boost IOPS performance of storage volumes. It is perfect for improving overall workflow of IOPS-demanding applications such as virtualization.
Use your TS-653 Pro as a PC with the exclusive QvPC Technology
QNAP’s exclusive QvPC Technology consolidates a number of high-end technologies including VM integration, multimedia transcoding, HDMI output, cloud integration and NAS connection technologies, allowing users to operate the TS-653 Pro as a PC when they plug in a keyboard, mouse and monitor. With QvPC Technology, the TS-653 Pro is transformed into a cost-effective device with PC functionalities for users to directly access stored data, run multiple applications using Windows/Linux/UNIX/Android-based VMs, surf the web on Google Chrome, enjoy Full HD videos with up to 7.1 channel audio with XBMC, monitor Surveillance Station in real time with local display, and much more.
Run additional operating systems on the TS-653 Pro
With the support for Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x), the TS-653 Pro can operate the Virtualization Station, transforming the TS-653 Pro into a 2-in-a-box NAS that can function as an all-in-one NAS and a virtualization platform that supports multiple operating systems, fast virtual machine (VM) creation, VM import/export, snapshot, and enables desktop operations on web browsers. With the easy-to-use interface, you can centrally manage all of the VMs created on the TS-653 Pro with minimal effort. You can also download VMs on demand from online VM markets and import them to the TS-653 Pro without any complex procedures.
Note: TS-653 Pro with 8GB RAM (TS-653 Pro-8G) is recommended.
Cross-platform file sharing, centralized data storage
The TS-653 Pro supports SMB/CIFS, NFS, and AFP protocols for file sharing across Windows, Mac, Linux/UNIX networks. Data, logs and ISO images of CDs and DVDs can be centrally stored on the TS-653 Pro and protected by an integrated antivirus solution. The Windows AD and LDAP services enable system administrators to configure user permissions by using an existing Windows AD server, LDAP server or built-in LDAP service. The TS-653 Pro supports SAMBA v4 and can act as a Windows domain controller to manage privilege settings.
Well-rounded backup solutions to secure data
QNAP NetBak Replicator supports real-time and scheduled data backup on Windows including Outlook email archiving. Apple Time Machine is also supported to provide Mac OS X users with a solution to effortlessly back up data to the TS-653 Pro. The USB 3.0 port on the front panel of the TS-653 Pro features a one-touch-copy function for you to instantly back up data from external drives to the TS-653 Pro with just one click, or alternatively to back up data from the TS-653 Pro to external drives. A wide range of third-party backup software such as Acronis® True Image and Symantec® Backup Exec are also supported.
Disaster recovery solutions brings peace of mind
The TS-653 Pro offers various data recovery options. RTRR (Real-Time Remote Replication) supports real time or scheduled data backup to a remote Turbo NAS or FTP server and synchronizes files to a remote folder from a local folder with better backup efficiency and reduced backup time. The TS-653 Pro also supports rsync protocol to back up data to another remote server on scheduled basis. Data can also be backed up to and restored from a range of cloud storage services, including Amazon® S3, Amazon Glacier, Microsoft® Azure, ElephantDrive®, Dropbox® and Google® Drive.
Comprehensive security options
In open network environments, business data may be exposed in a potential hack. The TS-653 Pro provides numerous security options, such as encrypted access, IP blocking, and more. IT administrators can also control the access rights of each user to different folders, preventing unauthorized access to important files. The TS-653 Pro is validated with military-level FIPS 140-2 AES 256-bit encryption, preventing sensitive business data from unauthorized access and breach even if the hard drives or the entire system were stolen.
Storage for comprehensive virtualization applications
The TS-653 Pro supports VMware® and Citrix®, and is compatible with Microsoft® Hyper-V™ and Windows Server 2012, benefiting flexible deployment and management in the virtualization environments. The TS-653 Pro supports VMware VAAI and Microsoft ODX to increase performance by offloading server loading for ESXi server and Hyper-V respectively, and supports QNAP vSphere Client plug-in and QNAP SMI-S provider with enhanced operational efficiency and management in virtualization applications.
Real-time & offline HD video transcoding
The TS-653 Pro delivers superior real-time Full HD video transcoding to convert videos to formats that can be smoothly played on PCs, mobile devices and Smart TVs. It allows for up to 5 devices to simultaneously view different videos stored on the TS-653 Pro with on-the-fly hardware accelerated transcoding. The TS-653 Pro allows you to enjoy instant videos on multiple devices - even those that lack computing power or have limited file format support - without the need for complicated and time-consuming file conversion.
With the benefit of offline transcoding, if you can only connect to an Internet connection with limited/restricted bandwidth, you can still enjoy smooth videos by selecting a pre-rendered lower resolution to play the videos via File Station, Video Station, or the Qfile mobile app without affecting the TS-653 Pro’s system performance running other applications. This also allows more people to play videos via streaming. The TS-653 Pro also allows you to set a dedicated folder for automatic video transcoding.
Full HD videos local display with HD Station via HDMI
QNAP HD Station integrates the powerful XBMC v12 media player and web browser. With HDMI 1.4a connectivity, you can connect the TS-653 Pro to a HDTV to enjoy your multimedia on the big screen. The splendid user interface and support for 7.1-surround sound pass-through* brings smooth playback of Full HD 1080p videos**. You can even watch YouTube videos, surf the web and manage the Turbo NAS using Google Chrome web browser with the HD Station.
It’s convenient & easy to control the HD Station. Turn your mobile devices into remote controls by installing the Qremote app, or use the QNAP RM-IR002 remote control and MCE remote controls via the built-in IR receiver of the TS-653 Pro. The HD Station also supports YouTube Pairing, allowing you to select a YouTube video on your smartphone, tablet or computer and play it on HDTV via the TS-653 Pro.
Optimize IT assets management with the IT Management Station
The IT Management Station, powered by Mandriva® Pulse, provides a flexible service for managing multi-OS and multi-site IT assets for business of all sizes. By installing the IT Management Station on the TS-653 Pro, you can centrally manage multiple IT resources with numerous business applications including comprehensive inventory, centralized software deployment & updates, imaging, remote management & support, backup & restore, and more tasks with greater flexibility and productivity.
File synchronization across multiple devices
The Qsync utility turns your TS-653 Pro into a safe data center for file synchronization with a large storage capacity. Any file uploaded to the TS-653 Pro will be made available for all linked devices, such as computers, laptops or mobile devices. Qsync is especially useful for frequent travelers to manage files and always have the most updated files on different devices. Qsync provides multiple ways of file synchronization and group file sharing, greatly enhancing the flexibility of collaboration.
Comprehensive surveillance solution providing 24/7 security
Surveillance Station is professional network surveillance Video Management System (VMS) that offers a user-friendly management interface, over 2,700 compatible IP camera models, and expandable IP camera channel licenses. It supports real-time monitoring, video & audio recording and playback with a wide range of customizable settings. You can also install the VMobile mobile app on your iOS® or Android™ devices to manage the monitored channels anytime and anywhere to safeguard your office environment, or install the Vcam mobile app to turn your device into a network camera to instantly record to your TS-653 Pro. The TS-653 Pro offers 2 free IP camera channels and you can expand up to 24 channels by purchasing additional licenses.
Signage Station - Creatively present your animated content and ads
With the Signage Station, it is easy to create content for a wide range of materials such as menu boards, advertisements, posters, and business profiles. The Signage Station is a great tool to invigorate your advertisements or animated materials for promoting your services, and to update contents in a timely manner. The iArtist Lite application, with intuitive editing tools, helps you create these signs with simple drag & drop tools. Your creativity can now travel around the world with a few simple steps to instantly get published, revised, and shared.
Access, use, sync and enjoy with your tablets and smartphones
The TS-653 Pro is your private cloud storage that virtually enlarges the capacity of your mobile devices. Qfile allows you to access, upload, download, manage, and share stored files easily as if you are carrying tons of files in your pocket. If Qfile is installed on an iOS device, users can also browse videos & photos stored on the TS-653 Pro and play via Apple TV. Qmanager lets you monitor & manage the TS-653 Pro remotely and efficiently without turning on a PC, while Qmusic allows you to listen to your music on the TS-653 Pro anytime and anywhere, and download to enjoy offline.
Install-on-demand apps to extend NAS functionality
The TS-653 Pro has a built-in App Center that provides various install-on-demand apps developed by QNAP and third-party developers, including tools for backup/sync, business, content management, communications, download, entertainment, and much more. It is also a centralized location for managing & updating installed apps. In addition, QNAP’s development platform embraces the open-source spirit to enable developers to create their own apps, adding potentially limitless potential for the TS-653 Pro.
Economical storage expansion with scale-up solution
The TS-653 Pro offers a high performance yet affordable storage solution to fulfill the needs of business in archiving rapidly growing data & large files. The TS-653 Pro supports capacity expansion by connecting a QNAP expansion enclosure. With the QNAP scale-up solution, the raw storage capacity can be expanded on demand, making the TS-653 Pro an ideal file center with a large storage capacity for business data. When connecting the TS-653 Pro to a UX-series expansion enclosure you will have to create a separate volume, and the total usable storage capacity is the volume on the TS-653 Pro plus the volume on the UX-series expansion enclosure.
Energy-saving
The TS-653 Pro utilizes a 22nm CPU and DDR3L RAM which feature low voltage requirements and low power consumption whilst maintaining high performance in system operations. Other eco-friendly designs include S3 sleep mode, scheduled power on/off, hard disk standby mode, and Wake on LAN.
Additional SMB-ready features
The TS-653 Pro supports various business applications as an all-in-one Turbo NAS with cost-efficiency.
The Turbo NAS supports FTP server to share large files, with user-defined settings including bandwidth limitation, number of connections, and write-only permissions.
The Turbo NAS supports Surveillance Station to connect and manage multiple IP cameras remotely, including real-time monitoring, video recording, playback, and event notifications.
For the next article QNAP has offered us on of their latest 6-bay NASes, the TS-653 Pro which features Intels’ Bay Trail-D processor – Celeron J1900 Quad-Core at 2.0GHz and is paired with 8GB of DDR3L RAM for running VMs. The product is shipped inside a medium-sized box which shows a photo of the product in operation on the frontal side, along with a product description:
On the laterals, QNAP lists some of the NAS functionalities in different languages, along with a description of the main NAS interfaces:
On the back we have a more detailed product description available:
After the removal of the top cover, we will end up checking out the list of package contents:
The TS-653 Pro NAS is carefully surrounded with lots of foam material, while the bundle is located in the middle, packaged separate transparent plastic bags:
Besides the power lead, we will get a small bag with necessary screws and HDD tray lock keys, two LAN cables but also a Quick Installation Guide:
Additionally, QNAP has wrapped the NAS inside a transparent plastic bag in order to make sure that no scratch happens before the unboxing:
On a first look, at least externally, the TS-653 Pro looks identical to the TS-670 we have reviewed quite some time ago and has resulted to be quite high-performance and solid product:
The Cloud Key for myQNAPcloud service is present on the sticker which resides on the top of the chassis:
Nearby we will be able to see another sticker with the HDD boot sequence:
In the front we have the six bays with locks along with the top display and also some additional interfaces:
The top left corner has the Power LED which also blinks during firmware updates/shutdown procedures, along with the QNAP logo:
Some extra status LEDs are available on top of the first two HDD bays:
We can navigate through the display menu via the Enter and Select buttons:
Underside the Power button we have the USB Copy button along with an USB 3.0 port:
The HDD trays are provided with ventilation holes which act as intake for the fans which are located in the back:
On the left side of the chassis we also have an additional ventilation grill which helps with the motherboard cooling:
The unit cools with two quiet 90mm fans while on the side we can see some additional ports, but let’s go in a little more detail:
In the top left corner we have the integrated power supply along with its little cooling fan and the 3-pin power plug:
Moving to the right we will find some serial numbers along with the MACs of the LAN interfaces and the NAS power rating:
Nearby we will find the Reset port hole along with the HDMI interface:
The lower right corner is much more populated with two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, 4 LAN ports but also one Kensington lock port:
On the bottom layer we will get to see four circular rubber feet:
The HDD trays are quite easy to remove if they are not locked:
Inside each tray, QNAP has placed a layer of transparent plastic in order to avoid short-circuits with the HDD main components:
We also have pre-drilled holes for fitting 2.5’’ drives:
The internal power supply is linked to the daughter-board but also to the NAS mainboard:
QNAP has included a Delta Electronics PSU which can provide a maximum power on the output of 240W:
The CPU does not need a highly elaborated heatsink as in the case of the TS-670 so QNAP has chosen to include only a tiny heatsink:
On the back side of the motherboard we have two SODIMM slots which are populated in this case with a total of 8GB of DDR3 RAM:
QNAP has also placed here a warranty sticker:
On the opposite side we will be able to see the HDD cage along with the included 90mm fans:
With the screws provided by the manufacturer, we were able to install the two SSDs in RAID 0 for testing purposes:
The backlighted LCD display is easy to read and navigate after the device fully boots up:
Right after powering up the NAS and connecting it to our network, we will be able to find it easily with the QNAP Finder application; the wizard will inform us that the server is not initialized at first:
We will have then a possibility to proceed with a Quick Setup or Manual Setup procedure:
The utility will show us the current server IP and detected drives along with their names and total storage spaces:
From the next screen, we can adjust the server name, default administrator password, but also choose a preset disk configuration:
Afterwards, we will be able to modify the network configuration:
The next screen shows the summary:
The wizard will then display the current setup progress:
Afterwards, we will be able to log in to the web interface:
The Quick Start Guide will let us know the main steps for operating the interface and can be discarded if we are already familiar with QNAP devices:
Since we have prompted from the wizard that we would like a RAID 0 setup, the utility has already created the volumes for us and we can confirm from the Storage Manager window:
Unlike Synology, we have some pre-defined shared folders, which can be seen in the Control Panel -> Shared Folders section:
The log in screen will display an assortment of our gallery photos and on the top right side we have the button for authentication; the applications rendered as “public” can be also accessed from the same screen:
The QTS presents itself with an easy to use interface and the icons placement resembles a mobile operating system. The new applications we install will have icons created on the main desktop and multiple pages can be accessed by clicking on the left and right arrows at the edges of the GUI; the widgets are also accessible by clicking on the small meter which is located in the lower right corner:
The full list of applications is also available from the drop-down menu which is located in the top left corner:
Control Panel is the section from where we can perform most of the system-wide modifications; the menus are split in areas like System Settings, Privilege Settings, Network Services or Applications:
System Settings
Privilege Settings
Network Services
Applications
The Storage Manager application allows us to view the current storage configuration and work with the current available disks, volumes, Cache Acceleration feature, iSCSI storage, LUN backup or remote disks:
Next we have the Network menu for configuring the four interfaces, but also WiFi if we have a suitable adapter connected, IPv6, Service Binding and so on:
The Hardware menu contains options regarding the HDD functionality, Buzzer or Smart Fan settings:
The Power menu takes care of EuP Mode, WoL, Power Recovery and Power Schedule:
We can perform live updates from the next section or specify the file manually for upload:
The next menu allows us to save and restore settings to a file, or restore the NAS settings to Factory Default:
The System Status menu is the place to go to in order to find out information about System, Network, System Services, Hardware or access the Resource Monitor:
System Logs opens up in a separate window:
We can add new users to the system and from the same window we can select the user group, shared folder permissions and application privileges:
The predefined user groups can be viewed from the next menu:
Next, we will be able to work with the Shared Folders, Advanced Permissions and Folder Aggregation:
We can also establish disk quota for all users or for each specific user:
The Privilege Settings menu ends up with the Domain Security and Domain Controller sections:
The Network Services menu starts with the Win/Mac/NFS area:
We also have separate options for FTP, Telnet/SSH, SNMP or Service Discovery:
Network Recycle Bin can be enabled on request along with file retention schedule:
Qsync allows file syncing on different computers or mobile devices:
Station Manager allows enabling or disabling stock QNAP applications like Photo Station, Music Station, Multimedia Station, File Station, Download Station or Surveillance Station:
HibriDesk Station takes care of the HDMI interface when we have the NAS directly connected to our HDTV, for accessing applications like Chrome, Spotify, Youtube and so on:
After the multimedia content has been indexed, we will be able to access our photo collection from Photo Station, run slideshows and so on:
We will be also able to perform different actions on the photos or even edit them with the help of the online Pixlr website:
The same way Music Station works with our audio file collection:
Additionally, we will be able to access online radio stations with the help of Tunein Radio:
The Video Station application will create thumbnails and from here we will be able to playback our video content directly:
Several options are available when working with video files:
The videos will be played back via the VLC plugin:
Download Station supports drag-and-drop functionality and we can download files directly to our NAS on different protocols:
File Station allows working with the entire file structure:
Here are the operations we can perform on files:
Backup Station permits us to perform various extra copies via Rsync, RTRR Server, Time Machine, enable Remote Replication but also perform cloud backups, save data on external support:
myQNAPcloud feature permits the user to access the NAS remotely, without the need of extra configurations to the router:
We can also enable the internal antivirus scanner if needed as extra assurance:
The App Center will show us the currently installed applications and we can always choose more from the “recommended” section or 3rd party apps which are sorted by type:
Notes Station is a revamped WordPad-type application which allows us to write different types of text files and save them directly onto the NAS:
Other interesting applications we could remind of would be QNAP Dropbox Sync or Gmail Backup:
Thanks to the extra RAM memory, we will be able to try out the new QNAP Virtualization Station, where we can run multiple virtual machines with Linux or Windows images:
We must first specify a folder for VM and ISO files:
Next, we can select the default network interface; the VM will use a separate network link, so we will need to use a separate LAN cable:
After all has been set, we will end up with a “Congratulations” screen:
The Virtualization Station application GUI will show us the live CPU utilization and memory consumption; we can configure the rest of the settings from the left menu:
When defining a new virtual machine, we will be able to choose from an available template, which specifies the number of CPU cores which should be reserved by the current VM, allocated memory and reserved disk space:
For our test, we have chosen the “medium” template, which implies usage of two CPU cores, 2GB of RAM and also 80GB of HDD space and have chosen our ISO for the initial boot-up:
Next, we will be able to start up the virtual machine and see what happens inside a separate browser tab:
We were able to install and run Windows 8.1 Pro without any issues at all via remote; separate controls are available on the left side of the screen:
We can install extra drivers by mounting the VM Driver ISO manually:
From VM Marketplace we will be able to choose a variety of applications and packages in order to use directly with QNAP Virtual Station:
If HybridDesk Station has been installed successfully on our server, after connecting the HDMI interface to our NAS we will be shown a language selection screen:
Depending on how many modules we have installed, these will show up in the next selection menu:
The Chrome browser helps us navigate on the web without the need of powering up our PC or using the smartphone and we also have the benefit of using the large TV screen:
The QTS interface is also available right on our TV:
Spotify is also a service we can use but we need an user and password in order to log in:
TuneIn Radio has an easy to use interface and with it we can browse through thousands of radio stations which broadcast free online:
Of course, the fully-fledged XBMC application is integrated and with it we can browse our multimedia content with ease:
The System Information screens will give us more details regarding the internal hardware:
YouTube service has quite a similar interface to the one we have seen with current Smart TVs:
The HybridDesk Station app also comes with a Settings screen where we can adjust miscellaneous options, including display resolution:
CPU : Intel I7 3750K Retail @ 4.7GHz
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard : ASRock Z77 OC
RAM : GeIL EVO CORSA 16GB 2400MHz C11
(2GB Exceleram DDR1333 for NASPT compatibility)
Video : Sparkle GeForce GTX 560 Calibre
Power Supply : Cooler Master 850W
HDD : OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD
Case: Cooler Master ATCS840
To test the NAS performances, the TS-653 Pro was populated with one OCZ Vertex 4 SSD along with one KingFast SLC E-Drive in RAID 0, formatted with a single volume and the NAS was connected directly to the computer, to avoid any limitations by implying additional hardware like a router. The first simple test was performed by loading the test file onto a RAM drive and then it was copied to the NAS, on its shared folder. The speed was recorded with Total Commander:
The second test was to copy the same file back to the computer; for eliminating any HDD speed limitations, the file was copied back to the RAM drive:
For performing a more advanced test, the Intel NAS Performance Toolkit was used, for performing 5 different test runs. Here are the results:
As extras, we have also included ATTO Disk Benchmark and Anvil:
We have performed the same benchmarks but this time with an encrypted volume:
The TS-653 Pro NAS from QNAP is built on a solid Intel platform and while using the chassis from last year, the power consumption is noticeably less, while keeping a high level of performance. Thanks to the Intel Celeron J1900 Quad-Core, we also have transcoding capabilities up to 4K and we would also like to remind the QvPC technology which permits using the TS-653 Pro as a regular PC. Considering that this is a 6-bay unit, we can have quite a bit of storage space available for instant backups and four LAN ports for link aggregation, failover or for using with the Virtualization Station. The 8GB-equipped model is ideal for this while with the TS-251 we weren’t able to perform the same task because of much less available memory.
Of course, the hardware is paired with the QTS OS which evolves as time passes and we can always install additional modules for enhancing the functionality of the NAS like Mail Server, Photo Station, Video Station and so on.
Price-wise, this unit is not very accessible for home users since it can be found for about 1049 Euros (8GB model) or about 900 Euros (2GB model), but for SMB there should not be any issue to cover the costs considering the advantages such a device can bring.
We would like to thank QNAP for making this review possible!