At first we would like to thank QNAP for offering a sample of their TS-453A 4-bay QTS-Ubuntu Combo NAS for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About QNAP:

 

“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.”

 

QTS-Linux dual systems, geared for the IoT era

 

The TS-453A’s QTS-Linux dual systems are based upon QNAP’s advanced virtualization technologies. The revolutionary architecture of the TS-453A enables users not only to download rich apps from QTS App Center but also to develop or utilize IoT packages for Linux® and display them using HDMI output. With the TS-453A, you can develop and install various IoT packages on demand and centrally store the data on the TS-453A, benefiting from a secure private storage and development solution. Simply plug in a keyboard, mouse and HDMI monitor to the TS-453A, and use the Linux Station as if you were using a PC. You can also operate the Linux Station as a remote desktop via web browser for instant management.

 

Intel® Celeron® N3150 quad-core CPU fulfills multi-tasking efficiency

 

Powered by the latest 14 nm Intel® Celeron® N3150 quad-core 1.6GHz processor, dual-channel 4/8GB DDR3L-1600 RAM (upgradable to 8GB), 4 Gigabit LAN ports and SATA 6Gb/s, the TS-453A delivers up to 414 MB/s read speed and runs tasks smoothly and quickly. The TS-453A can automatically increase the processor's clock speed from 1.6GHz to 2.08GHz when performing CPU-intensive tasks. The TS-453A features Intel® AES-NI hardware-accelerated encryption engine to drive transfer speeds of up to 412 MB/s with AES 256-bit encryption for both full NAS volume and shared folders, boosting system performance & security while ensuring the safety of sensitive business data stored in the TS-453A.

 

Dual HDMI outputs - Switch between HD Station and Linux desktop

 

The TS-453A comes with dual HDMI outputs for using two monitors in either a “duplicated” or “extended” desktop configuration. Duplicating will display the same content on both displays, and extended desktop mode allows users to display applications over two displays for improved multitasking convenience and productivity.

 

When displaying content using HDMI outputs, you can use the TS-453A as an amazing multimedia player by using HD Station to enjoy rich apps including Kodi™, HD Player, Plex Home Theater, YouTube™, Spotify®, JRiver, Google Chrome™, Mozilla Firefox®, and more. Alternatively, you can choose to output the Linux® operating system desktop to use the TS-453A as a PC.

 

Enjoy the best audiovisual experience on TV including a free remote control

 

QNAP HD Station integrates the powerful Kodi™ media player and web browser. With HDMI connectivity, you can connect the TS-453A to a HDTV or an A/V receiver to enjoy your rich multimedia content and 4K( H.264) videos with the best audiovisual experience. The splendid user interface of Kodi™, 7.1 channel audio passthrough*, and the TS-453A’s powerful real-time transcoding capability facilitate smooth and enhanced playback of 4K videos. You can even watch YouTube™ videos, surf the web and manage the TS-453A using a web browser with multilingual keyboard input. HD Station supports multi-tasking and user authentication so only authorized users can access the stored data.

 

The TS-453A includes a QNAP remote control for you to conveniently control HD Station through its built-in IR receiver. With the help of the new smart remote control learning function, you can pair up to three TV or stereo IR remote controls and program your frequently-used buttons and functions. From now on, you'll never again live in fear of losing or damaging your dedicated remote controls***. You can also turn your mobile devices into remote controls by installing the Qremote app.

 

Superior real-time and offline 4K video transcoding

 

Featuring advanced 8th-generation Intel® HD Graphics, the TS-453A supports 4K (H.264) hardware decoding and delivers superior real-time 4K (H.264) and 1080p video transcoding to convert videos to universal formats that can be smoothly played on PCs, mobile devices and Smart TVs. With offline transcoding, even when you can only connect using a low-speed Internet connection, you can still enjoy smooth video playback via File Station, Video Station, and the Qfile mobile app by selecting a pre-rendered lower resolution video. The TS-453A also allows you to set a dedicated folder for automatic video transcoding.

 

QTS 4.2 – Simple, convenient and efficient

 

Thanks to the intuitive user interface of QTS, your NAS experience is smarter, smoother and spectacular. Its modern flat design streamlines loading times, and the 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 working efficiency. QTS breaks the barriers of devices, platforms and geography to bring optimized cloud experiences to you, and incorporates more advanced features including volume/LUN snapshot, remote connection to public cloud services in File Station, multi-zone multimedia system, and more.

 

Disaster recovery solutions brings peace of mind

 

The TS-453A offers various data recovery options. RTRR (Real-Time Remote Replication) supports real time or scheduled data backup to a remote QNAP NAS or FTP server and synchronizes files to a remote folder from a local folder with better backup efficiency. You can enjoy backup versioning to preserve a certain amount of versions, with options of simple versioning to schedule how many versions should be retained and for how long, or smart versioning with a rotation scheme that automatically replaces earlier backup versions. The TS-453A also supports the rsync protocol to back up data to another remote server on a 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®, Google Drive™, Google Cloud Storage™, and more.

 

Restore files with Snapshot

 

QTS Storage Manager adds an easy-to-use web-based snapshot tool for you to easily backup and restore data on the TS-453A back to any point of time in case you lose any important data. You can take snapshots for both volumes and LUN (up to 256 snapshots per volume or LUN and maximum 1024 snapshots per NAS), efficiently replicate volume/LUN snapshots via Snapshot Replica to remote servers by copying only the changes made, and quickly clone a volume /LUN snapshot as a local volume without interrupting the current system operation. You can even set up the system to automatically take a snapshot of the volume before backup via RTRR/rsync, even when the file is opened.

 

Qsirch - a smarter, faster way to search

 

The TS-453A supports Qsirch, a proprietary near real-time search tool for quick file searching. In addition to thumbnail previews, Qsirch now allows you to find and preview Gmail emails that are backed up on the TS-453A. Qsirch even remembers your search history allowing you to quickly navigate to files you've previously searched for. Qsirch is a huge productivity boost that greatly reduces the time spent looking for files on the NAS, allowing you to focus on other tasks. The revamped Qsirch 2.1 adds a Google Chrome Extension that allows you to search for files on your NAS when you use Google Search.

 

Datastore for virtualized environments

 

The TS-453A is also an iSCSI/ IP-SAN storage that supports VMware® and Citrix®, and is compatible with Microsoft® Hyper-V® and Windows Server 2012, benefiting flexible deployment and management in virtualization environments. The TS-453A 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.

 

Born for server virtualization

 

Virtualization Station allows you to host virtual machines (VM) on the TS-453A, and access them via a web browser or VNC. Virtualization Station supports multiple operating systems, fast VM creation, VM backup & restoration, VM import/export, snapshot, and Device Management for centrally managing VM. Virtualization Station uses SDN (Software-defined Networks) and allows the TS-453A and VMs to share the same LAN port. No longer constrained by physical network performance, high-speed Virtual Switches greatly increases data transfer between VMs as well as between VMs and NAS through the internal interface. You can also download VMs on demand from online VM markets and import them to the TS-453A without any complex procedures.

 

The TS-453A also features the game-changing container technology for server virtualization. QNAP Container Station exclusively integrates LXC and Docker® lightweight virtualization technologies, allowing you to operate multiple isolated Linux® systems on the TS-453A as well as download apps from the built-in Docker Hub Registry®. Container Station also supports the Online Document app, which allows you to directly view, edit and store files of various types anytime on your NAS, including Office documents, images and text files.

 

Cross-platform file sharing, centralized data storage

 

The TS-453A 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-453A 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-453A 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-453A. The front-panel USB 3.0 port of the TS-453A features a one-touch-copy function for you to instantly back up data from external drives to the TS-453A with just one click, or alternatively to back up data from the TS-453A to external drives. A wide range of third-party backup software such as Acronis® True Image and Symantec® Backup Exec are also supported.

 

In open network environments, business data may be exposed in a potential hack. The TS-453A 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-453A supports AES 256-bit encryption, preventing sensitive business data from unauthorized access and breach even if the hard drives or the entire system were stolen.

 

Secure access with VPN & Proxy Server

 

The TS-453A can be used as a VPN server with L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN, and PPTP support, allowing you to securely access data shared within the private local network. The TS-453A can also be used as a VPN Client to connect to other VPN servers or virtual private network through for PPTP and OpenVPN for secure data transmission. VPN Client also allows your NAS to connect to multiple servers at the same time*. You can connect your devices to your NAS and the VPN server at home to access data on the LAN; moreover, via VPN Client on your NAS, you can connect to VPN servers in the United States for accessing regionally-restricted services such as Netflix and Hulu in HD Station. The TS-453A provides you with various VPN options and helps secure your data transmission. The TS-453A also supports setting up a proxy server. The Proxy Server Package can configure the cache size, supported transmission protocols, record web pages you browsed and set up a powerful content control system that limits the use of the Internet. Other features include a work log that remembers users’ habits and preferences and SquidClamav anti-virus for proxy servers to ensure connection safety.

 

File synchronization across multiple devices and clouds

 

Qsync utility turns your TS-453A into a safe, large-capacity data center for file synchronization. Any file uploaded to the TS-453A 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 up-to-date files on different devices. Qsync now provides more new features— it allows you to synchronize shared folders and create group-shared folders exclusive for your project team; it provides centralized management configuration, helping saving IT administers’ time; it also supports centralized configuration and allows you to remotely erase the Qsync folder on a lost device to avoid data breaches, and even restore it after you have retrieved the device. You can also install the Cloud Drive Sync app from QTS App Center to easily sync files with Google Drive™ and Dropbox® cloud storage.

 

Enjoy your exclusive karaoke system with OceanKTV

 

QNAP OceanKTV is the first NAS-based karaoke application on the market allowing you to create a quality karaoke experience at home. The TS-453A offers high-capacity storage for accommodating up to thousands of 1080p karaoke songs . Simply attach your big-screen TV to the TS-453A via HDMI and start singing with OceanKTV. Four UI themes are provided to create the best atmosphere, and with the OceanKTV mobile app you can control the entire experience on your phone or tablet. More than a NAS, the TS-453A is a karaoke machine for singing entertainment. Enjoy alone or with your friends!

 

High-quality audio effect with dual microphones outputs and Line Out function

 

The TS-453A has two 6.3mm dynamic microphone jacks for connecting up to two dynamic microphones. Compared with the average reception quality of USB microphones, the TS-453A offers a clearer reception quality as it is equipped with a 20-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC). On top of that, the TS-453A has a 24-bit digital to analog converter (DAC) that can send audio signals via the Line Out jack to your amplifier and deliver clearer stereo sound. By offering excellent audio output/input functionalities together with various apps, the TS-453A brings you a fantastic audiovisual experience.

 

Comprehensive surveillance solution providing 24/7 security

 

Surveillance Station is a professional network surveillance Video Management System (VMS) that offers a user-friendly management interface, over 3,000 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 app on your iOS® or Android™ devices to manage 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-453A. The TS-453A includes 4 free IP camera channels and you can expand up to 40 channels by purchasing additional licenses .

 

Install-on-demand apps to extend NAS functionality

 

The built-in App Center 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, allowing you to directly update applications once newer versions are released.

 

Easily expand storage capacity

 

The TS-453A supports online capacity expansion for archiving rapidly-growing data by connecting a QNAP expansion enclosure. With the QNAP scale-up solution, the raw storage capacity can be expanded on demand*, making the TS-453A an ideal file center with large storage capacity for storage-intensive business applications such as video surveillance, data archiving, TV broadcast storage, and more.

 

With the support of QJBOD Express (JBOD enclosures roaming), you can just connect a large capacity QNAP expansion enclosure to the TS-453A, and migrate data to another NAS through the JBOD enclosure without network connectivity.

 

Additional SMB-ready features

 

The TS-453A supports various business applications as an all-in-one Turbo NAS with cost-efficiency.

 

The Turbo NAS supports Web server which allows numerous websites built on the same server conveniently. Administrators can manage up to 32 websites on the single one Turbo NAS with reduced IT cost.

 

The Turbo NAS supports Surveillance Station to connect and manage multiple IP cameras remotely, including real-time monitoring, video recording, playback, and event notifications.

 

 

The latest 4-bay QTS-Ubuntu Combo NAS from QNAP is adding some new features to the mix, both hardware and software related; the new software features are available beginning with QTS version 4.2.1 and the most interesting of all are Linux Station and Karaoke capabilities. The product is shipped inside a similar cardboard enclosure as we have seen with the previously tested TS-563 AMD-based server:

 

 

 

On the frontal area of the packaging we will get to see a sticker which presents us with the main product features but also some hardware characteristics:

 

 

 

Here is a closer shot describing those details:

 

 

 

Further on, QNAP also displays some icons in order to illustrate the main NAS functions:

 

 

 

After removing the top cover, we will be welcomed by a message which gives access to some web resources:

 

 

 

The product along with its bundle is well protected with lots of foam material:

 

 

 

 

While the power lead is offered separately inside a transparent plastic bag, the main bundle components are available inside another, smaller plain cardboard enclosure:

 

 

 

 

We will get one free IR remote, the power brick, necessary screws for mounting drives and two LAN cables:

 

 

 

Documentation is also provided in the form of a Quick Installation Guide leaflet:

 

 

 

 

The power brick is rated on the output as 12V, 8A:

 

 

 

The remote can be successfully used with the media center applications while being connected to the HDMI interface:

 

 

 

The remote is powered by a single CR2032 3V battery:

 

 

 

The unit is also wrapped inside a transparent plastic bag for additional protection:

 

 

 

TS-453A is built on the same chassis model we have seen with many other units before from QNAP but since it has a very good construction and airflow, QNAP has preserved it as-is; a large sticker gives us the details for using the myQNAPcloud feature and also nearby we will get a small sticker with the HDD init sequence:

 

 

 

The frontal area of the NAS is made of plastic and the four bays are clearly visible to the user:

 

 

 

In the top left corner, we have a chromed QNAP logo:

 

 

 

Further down, the manufacturer has included a sticker explaining the extra features of this hybrid NAS:

 

 

 

As we have seen with many other NAS models, near the Power button we do also have an USB 3.0 port along with a Copy button:

 

 

 

In the upper side of the first two drive bays we will get to see LEDs representing system Status, USB storage connection status, but also LAN activity:

 

 

 

The top area does also feature a LCD display and on its right QNAP has placed the IR blaster along with the Enter/Select buttons for navigating through the different menus:

 

 

 

Since this NAS was mostly designed with multimedia features in mind and home use, locks have not been provided along with the trays:

 

 

 

On the left side of the unit we do have a ventilation grill which will help with cooling of the motherboard:

 

 

 

A look on the back reveals a large 120mm fan which does help with ventilation of all four bays:

 

 

 

This NAS does also have Karaoke features enabled with a special application so QNAP has included two microphone jacks along with one Audio-Out jack on a separate PCB:

 

 

 

On the right we will get one Reset button hole, one Console port and no less than two HDMI ports:

 

 

 

Moving down on the same side we will get to see three extra USB 3.0 ports:

 

 

 

This is not all! TS-453A is also equipped with four Gigabit LAN ports and also here we will be able to spot the DC-IN 12V port:

 

 

 

On the bottom area of the unit we will get to see four large rubber feet along with some additional stickers:

 

 

 

The metallic trays are sporting the same design as we have seen with previous models from QNAP; 2.5’’ drives get fixed in only three screws:

 

 

 

 

In the frontal area of the trays we do have some extra ventilation holes:

 

 

 

Removing the top metallic cover will reveal the internals of the unit:

 

 

 

As we have mentioned before, the Karaoke module is supplied on a different PSB and on a closer look we will be able to spot the Realtek ALC262 CODEC:

 

 

 

The frontal LCD display along with its buttons are linked to the motherboard with a 4-wire cable:

 

 

 

The back side of the motherboard is covered by a protective transparent plastic layer and here we will be also able to see the SODIMM memory modules:

 

 

 

For this platform, QNAP has used two DDR3L modules at 1600MHz manufactured by Transcend for a total of 4GB:

 

 

 

On the other side we will be able to spot the HDD cage, the daughterboard which holds the SATA Data/Power connectors but also a respectable space between the cage and the back fan for easy cleaning/maintenance:

 

 

 

After installing our trusty SSDs for testing inside the bays, we powered up the unit. The initial setup procedure can be performed either from the LCD screen, our PC but also via the HDMI interface:

 

 

 

We have chosen to go with the initialization stage when connected to a PC on the network, so in order to make the process even easier, we did download the QNAP QFinder Pro utility, which has found the server right away:

 

 

 

One of the first configuration steps will ask the usage environment of the TS-453A:

 

 

 

A server name, but also an admin password can be defined in the wizard setup procedure:

 

 

 

Next, we will adjust date/time settings:

 

 

 

Afterwards, we will configure the network settings of the server:

 

 

 

Certain services and applications can be installed during the setup procedure:

 

 

 

The disk configuration setup is next:

 

 

 

A summary of the actions which will be applied is displayed for us to check again:

 

 

 

 

If the drives are not empty, we will be reminded that all content will be erased:

 

 

 

The NAS will then reconfigure itself and display a progress bar:

 

 

After the setup has been completed, we will be instructed to go to the NAS web interface:

 

 

The server login screen will ask for the admin user/password in order to be able to access the QTS desktop:

 

 

Right after we have succeeded our first login, we were prompted that a newer system software update was available, so we have gone ahead and updated the system:

 

 

After the system has been rebooted, it is time to see if the RAID0 volume has been created successfully inside the Storage Manager section:

 

 

QTS also creates some default shared folders implicitly, so we will use the Public folder to conduct our performance tests:

 

 

Let’s get more in-depth with the QTS 4.2.0 presentation which we have installed on our TS-453A sample; right after logging in to the web GUI, we are welcomed by a Quick Start wizard which teaches us the basics:

 

 

 

The interface does also feature widgets which are easy accessible by pressing the respective top right corner button:

 

 

 

 

While the applications can be easily launched from the large desktop icons split on multiple pages, we do also get a drop-down menu on the left as an additional method of access.

 

 

 

On the top bar we do also have a Search function available, one icon which lets us know of the current tasks in progress, another icon showing the connected devices, but also a pictogram which shows system messages. By pressing on the profile icon, we can perform different actions:

 

 

 

The Control Panel section will allow us to customize system settings via plenty of options:

 

 

 

Let’s go first with System Settings:

 

 

 

Here we’ve got General Settings which supplies general options regarding the web GUI, including time/date settings, DST, Codepage, Password Strength or Login Screen options:

 

 

 

From the Storage Manager area, we can create new Storage Pools, Volumes, work with Cache Acceleration, check health status of the drives and many more:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Network menu will allow us to perform advanced configuration including Port Trunking, but also provides us separate tabs for Wi-Fi in case we have a compatible dongle connected to our NAS, IPv6 configuration, Service Binding to run NAS services on all available network interfaces by default, adjust Proxy options or DDNS services:

 

 

 

The Security menu allows us to enforce connection policies to the NAS:

 

 

 

The Hardware menu comes with miscellaneous options like the adjustment of HDD standby timer, out-of-space signal alerts, write cache, LED options, Buzzer options and Smart Fan profiles:

 

 

 

The Power menu is in charge of EuP, WOL, Power Recovery or Power Schedule:

 

 

 

Notifications can be sent out via E-mail, SMS or Push Service:

 

 

 

Firmware Update is the place to go to when performing manual or automatic updates:

 

 

We can also perform a backup of the current system configuration/restore settings from a file or restore to factory defaults:

 

 

External devices like USB Storage devices, USB Printers or UPS will be listed in the next menu:

 

 

 

System Status section opens up in a different window to give us an overall look on the System Information, Network Status, currently running System Services, Hardware Information or a Resource Monitor:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

System Logs is built the same way so we get different tabs for System Event Logs, System Connection Logs, Online Users and Syslog Client Management:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we do have Privilege Settings menu:

 

 

 

Here we can define new users, user groups:

 

 

 

 

The Shared Folders area is next, which also takes care of permissions:

 

 

 

A disk Quota can be also established:

 

 

 

We can integrate the server inside a corporate network if needed and we can also set it as a Domain Controller:

 

 

 

 

The Network Services menu is next:

 

 

 

The Win/MAC/NFS menu takes care of different file services:

 

 

 

We do also have separate menus for FTP/Telnet/SSH and so on:

 

 

 

 

Network Recycle Bin service options can be also customized:

 

 

 

Qsync Central Station is a service for syncing files between multiple devices:

 

 

 

Finally, we do have the Applications menu:

 

 

 

Station Manager menu will allow us to specify which of the “Station” services should be enabled:

 

 

 

HybridDesk Station is the application portal available via HDMI interface which allows using the NAS without a computer:

 

 

 

iTunes Server and DLNA Media Server have their own menus available:

 

 

 

 

From the Multimedia Management area, we can specify which folders contain which type of multimedia content so they will be indexed for usage in the respective applications:

 

 

 

 

The NAS can also take care of transcoding tasks:

 

 

 

Photo Station 5 will display our photos after they have been indexed and it has quite a bit of functions available to us like slideshows, share functions to different social media applications, projection on local media players, define new albums and more:

 

 

 

 

 

Our music can be played back via the QNAP-made Music Station:

 

 

 

TuneIn Online Radio services are also integrated:

 

 

 

We can also download torrents directly with the Download Station application, which does also support drag-and-drop functionality:

 

 

 

File Station is pretty self-explanatory:

 

 

 

Here are some of the file actions we can perform with it:

 

 

 

Backup Station is in charge of various backup tasks, including to cloud services:

 

 

 

The myQNAPcloud Service makes connecting to our Turbo NAS much easier from outside our network:

 

 

 

The App Center menu is the place to go for installing extra modules, made by QNAP or 3rd parties:

 

 

 

 

 

Image2PDF is one of the 3rd party modules we can download and converts any photo to a PDF document in a snap:

 

 

 

We can also specify custom settings:

 

 

 

The PrestaShop platform for hosting an online shop website can be also installed quite easily:

 

 

 

Container Station is the application which works hand-in-hand with Linux Station; this module is integrating LXC and Docker lightweight virtualization technologies, allowing us to operate multiple isolated Linux systems on a QNAP NAS:

 

 

 

Gmail Backup module is quite handy for having an extra backup for our mailboxes:

 

 

 

Notes Station allows us to create digital notebooks on our private cloud:

 

 

 

 

Qsirch is a module which indexes all content on our drives for easy searching:

 

 

 

 

Virtualization Station is a module we have gone through many times before; it allows running virtual machines inside our NAS and allows remote control, output on HDMI (if necessary) and more:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Virtualization Station also shows a dashboard representing system resources and from the left menu we can create and configure new setups:

 

 

 

Depending on the available system resources, we can choose to work with one of the pre-defined profiles or create custom virtual machine:

 

 

 

As soon as we complete the wizard, the next step would be to assign a CD image or connect and USB device for the machine to boot from:

 

 

 

If we select QVM option, the screen output will be seen throughout HD Station too; if we choose to see the desktop remotely, on our PC, we can specify the connection quality:

 

 

 

With the machine running, we can always check the consumption of the resources live:

 

 

 

We had no issue installing and running Windows 10 with the newly created VM, but the lack of proper video drivers the movement of the mouse is not very fluent:

 

 

 

 

If we have installed HD Station, we will have access to it on HDMI right after the NAS boots up; we will need to authenticate first though in order to use the interface:

 

 

 

 

The main desktop area will show the currently installed applications:

 

 

 

We do also have a Settings section that we can customize:

 

 

 

 

Here we do also have the option to set the screen resolution:

 

 

 

 

HD Station Settings menu also allows changing the interface language along with the audio output:

 

 

 

Music Station is similar to the one we do find inside the web interface, and prior to using it we will need to enter up the username/password combination again:

 

 

 

 

 

Google Chrome browser can be used for navigating on our favorite websites:

 

 

 

If Mozilla Firefox is our main preference, QNAP has included it too:

 

 

 

Next we could remind of the Clementine music player:

 

 

 

DeaDBeeF is also available for installation:

 

 

 

Facebook is practically a shortcut to its website address, which will run inside the browser:

 

 

 

File Station has also made its way outside of QTS:

 

 

 

KODI is one of the well-known media center applications and upon its first run some of the add-ons will be updated, while incompatible ones will be prompted for deactivation:

 

 

 

The Summary Information menu will give us more information regarding the underlying operating system of the HD Station:

 

 

 

The usage of the program is pretty straight-forward to start watching multimedia content:

 

 

 

LibreOffice suite is now also available to be used right from HD Station:

 

 

 

 

Like the previously presented KODI was not enough, we do also get the jRiver Media Center application:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also have the option to access QTS by simply clicking the respective icon:

 

 

 

Games are also available on the HD Station interface; one of them is OpenTTD, a Simcity clone:

 

 

 

Photo Station works right from the HD Station too:

 

 

 

Skype is another application module we can install:

 

 

 

Same thing we can say about Spotify:

 

 

 

TuneIn Radio comes with a special module for HD Station so we can enjoy our favorite tunes via online radio:

 

 

 

 

Like anyone could have doubted it, Video Station is also available here:

 

 

 

The Battle for Wesnoth is another free game for us to enjoy:

 

 

 

Besides KODI, we also have HD Player available:

 

 

 

 

This one is practically another KODI release with a custom skin:

 

 

 

 

YouTube platform can be also accessed right away:

 

 

 

When we have initially tested the TS-453A NAS, the Linux Station and OceanKTV modules were not available at all, meaning that we could not use the hybrid functionality of the NAS or the Karaoke functions of the product. Recently, a beta version of the QTS 4.2.1 was released, which does also feature the missing modules from the store:

 

 

 

Linux Station is dependent on Container Station, but its installation is pretty straight-forward; Linux Station will allow us to use Ubuntu Linux via the HDMI interface as on a regular PC, with our keyboard and mouse, but when we do enable this function, HD Station will be deactivated because we cannot run these two at the same time. In QTS, Linux Station gets a console where we can specify the output resolution, audio output and we can also enable Remote Desktop:

 

 

 

 

 

OceanKTV has a console of its own and will help us with the Karaoke function. The wizard tells us that we should import songs to the OceanKTV folder and start using the application:

 

 

 

Here is a quick look at the OceanKTV interface inside QTS:

 

 

 

One issue we had with this application was that the Folder Source function does not seem to work, at least at the moment, but this is understandable considering that we are talking about a beta software version:

 

 

 

Despite the fact that Linux Station is a beta software too, it seems to function bug-free; it will take quite some time though for the system to boot up and access it on our TV/monitor:

 

 

 

After Ubuntu boots up we will be asked for our user/password credentials and afterwards we will be presented with its desktop:

 

 

 

We can always access the file system of the NAS in order to browse the content:

 

 

 

YouTube application will open up in the local browser (Chrome) window:

 

 

 

We can also access QTS interface from here:

 

 

 

KODI V15 is preinstalled on this Ubuntu distribution:

 

 

 

If Chrome is not our cup of tea, we can always go with Mozilla Firefox:

 

 

 

LibreOffice suite is also preinstalled:

 

 

 

We can easily adjust the system settings from the respective menus:

 

 

 

Test Setup

 

CPU : Intel I5 4690K Retail

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard : BIOSTAR GAMING Z97X

RAM : GeIL EVO CORSA 16GB 2400MHz C11

(2GB Exceleram DDR1333 for NASPT compatibility)

Video : HIS 280X

Power Supply : Cooler Master 850W

SSD : OCZ Vertex 4 256GB

Case: Cooler Master ATCS840

 

To test the NAS performances, the TS-453A NAS 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:

 

ATTO Disk Benchmark

 

 

Anvil

We have performed the same benchmarks but this time with an encrypted volume:

 

Total Commander Copy Performance

 

 

Total Commander Read Performance

 

 

Intel NAS Performance Toolkit

 

ATTO Disk Benchmark

 

Anvil Utilities

 

TS-453A is one of the newest NASes from QNAP and has quite a bit of functions like a complex QTS web interface, dual HDMI for output on HDTVs or 4K displays, HD Station HDMI GUI with more applications than before, Linux Station which allows us to run Ubuntu and control it with keyboard/mouse and without the need of a PC, plenty of media center applications (Plex, KODI and so on), 4x Gigabit LAN interfaces with Port Trunking support, separate hardware interfaces for Karaoke and more. The server is built inside a proven solid chassis which we have seen with other models and has at its heard the Celeron N3150 quad-core 1.6GHz processor which is accompanied by dual-channel 4GB DDR3 memory.

 

We did really enjoy the fact that the server can boot Ubuntu instead of HD Station because with it being a fully-fledged operating system, we have no limitations regarding which applications we can install and during this time the NAS functionality is still enabled on the network. 4K output is not an issue with this model, but only at 30 frames per second. The application in charge of Karaoke has just entered Beta stage and while we have managed to navigate through its interface, we were not able to select the folder where the media files were available.

 

Other functions we really enjoyed with this NAS are Qsirch which permits a wide-NAS content search after all files have been indexed and also Virtualization Station (recommended to be used when the NAS does have at least 4GB of memory installed) which allows us to create and run virtual machines of our choice. It is recommended to have our files backup in different locations so QNAP has put to our disposal Backup Station which is able to make a copy of our files on other media, on other NAS or even on cloud storage.

 

The TS-453A does also support storage expansion via compatible RAID Expansion enclosures from QNAP.

 

TS-453A, as tested with 4GB of pre-installed RAM can be found online for about 530 Euros.

 

QNAP TS-453A 4-bay QTS-Ubuntu Combo NAS is Recommended For:

 

We would like to thank again to QNAP for making this review possible!