At first we would like to thank QNAP for offering a sample of their TVS-882 High-Performance 8-bay 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.”

 

6th Generation Intel® processors, extraordinary performance

 

The TVS-882 is powered by high-performance 6th Generation Intel® multi-core processors with options including Core™ i3 and Core™ i5, increasing system performance by 20% - 30% compared with previous generations. It greatly enhances the efficiency of CPU-demanding applications such as virtualization, real-time 4K video playback, and serving large numbers of simultaneous connections.

 

Advanced hardware for greater efficiency

 

High-performance hardware, well-designed application functionalities and thoroughly-planned usage scenarios are three distinctive cornerstones for achieving optimum performance.

 

1. 2 x 2.5” SSD slots

 

Offers flexible configuration in tiered storage and enables cache acceleration.

 

2. Tool-less HDD tray and installation

 

2.5” SSD trays and 3.5” hard drive trays feature tool-less design for easy installation and replacement.

 

3. 2 x built-in M.2 SSD slots

 

Supports SATA M.2 SSDs with 2242, 2260, 2280, and 22110 form factors; allows the greatest flexibility in tiered storage configuration and enables cache acceleration.

 

4. DDR4 2133 MHz memory

 

Supports four DDR4 memory modules for a maximum of 32GB RAM.

 

5. 6th Generation Intel® Core™ Processor

 

Features the latest 14nm manufacturing technology with faster buses to support DDR4, PCIe Gen.3, and DMI 3.0 for incredible performance and extremely efficient data transmission.

 

6. 2 x PCIe Gen.3 expansion slots

 

PCIe Gen.3 provides 1GB/s bandwidth per lane; support for 10GbE/ 40GbE adapters, PCIe NVMe SSD, external graphics cards (AMD Radeon™ R7), and USB 3.1 expansion cards.

 

7. Compartmentalized smart cooling

 

Separately detects the CPU and hard drive temperatures to dynamically control fan speed and performs quieter fan operations.

 

8. 4 x Gigabit Ethernet ports

 

Allows optimized network traffic distribution for diverse applications. The Network & Virtual Switch app makes network management much easier.

 

9. 3 x HDMI outputs

 

One HDMI 2.0 port and two HDMI 1.4b ports; supports duplicated and extended desktop options. HDMI 2.0 increases bandwidth up to 18Gbps, and supports 4K 60 fps videos.

 

10. 3.5mm audio jack

 

Connect speakers or headphones for direct audio output from the NAS.

 

11. 2 x built-in speakers

 

Supports direct audio output and provides verbal system warnings.

 

M.2 SATA 6Gb/s SSD & 2.5” SSD cache

 

The TVS-882 provides 2 SSD slots dedicated for caching to increase IOPS performance, and provides higher transfer speeds and reliability with the compact, energy-efficient M.2 SSD. Using an SSD cache boosts overall system performance, and is perfect for improving overall workflow of random IOPS demanding applications such as virtualization. The TVS-882 combines M.2 SSD, 2.5” SSD and HDD in one box to effectively realize tiered storage for exceptional application performance and lower TCO of storage at the same time.

 

Perfect storage trio: tiered storage, application-based partitioning & network traffic distribution

 

The advanced hardware design of TVS-882 can facilitate optimized storage deployment based on different usage scenarios.

 

Tiered Storage

 

QNAP’s Qtier Technology empowers the TVS-882 with Auto Tiering that helps continuously optimize storage efficiency across PCIe NVMe SSD, M.2 SSD, SSD and SATA drives. With Auto Tiering, the TVS-882 can automatically move frequently-used "hot" data to high-performance storage tiers and less-accessed "cold" data to lower-cost, higher-capacity drives, making the TVS-882 an extremely efficient shared resource. Businesses will no longer have to invest heavily in expensive Flash technology, but can still enjoy exceptional application performance and cost efficiency from Auto Tiering with the TVS-882.

 

Application-based Partitioning

 

Every application requires different performance. For example, Surveillance Station requires higher-priority access to storage to ensure the integrity of recordings, while normal transmission speeds are sufficient for file sharing. However, when multiple applications are running on the same storage media, the required throughput level cannot be guaranteed as the storage media is busy handling I/O requests from all of them. The TVS-882 supports three different types of storage media: M.2, SSD and SATA hard drives, and they can be configured as independent partitions for different applications, ensuring a sufficient throughput level for every application.

 

Network Traffic Distribution

 

With four 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports, the TVS-882 allows applications to use dedicated interfaces to meet network traffic distribution requirements. Network interfaces can also be easily managed with the Network & Virtual Switch app, which enables optimized network resources for TVS-882, virtual machines and containerized apps. No matter if they are business organizations or individual users, they can effortlessly manage network connections by using the Network & Virtual Switch.

 

450W power supply fuels GPU pass-through

 

Graphics cards are optimized for graphical calculations and transformations, but require significantly more power compared to other hardware. The TVS-882 offers an option with a 450 watt power supply that is capable of powering an AMD Radeon™ R7 Series graphics card for smooth GPU pass-through to virtual machines.

 

Note: Only TVS-882 and TVS-1282 provides an option with 450W power supply.

 

HDMI 2.0 for playing 4K 60 fps videos

 

The TVS-882 features three HDMI ports, including one HDMI 2.0 port for smoothly playing Ultra HD 4K (4096 x 2304) videos. You can connect the TVS-882 to a TV or A/V receiver and use the powerful Kodi™ media player in HD Station with the QNAP remote control to enjoy rich media content and 4K 60 fps videos with the best audiovisual experience. Featuring Intel® HD Graphics, the TVS-882 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.

 

Three HDMI outputs - switch between HD Station and Linux desktop

 

The TVS-882 comes with three HDMI outputs for using three monitors in either “duplicated” or “extended” desktop configuration. Duplicating will display the same content on every display, and extended desktop mode allows users to display applications across the displays for improved multitasking convenience and productivity. When displaying content using HDMI, you can use the TVS-882 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 TVS-882 as a PC.

 

Seamless capacity expansion via SAS or USB interface

 

The TVS-882 supports online capacity expansion by connecting multiple high-performance SAS-enabled QNAP RAID expansion enclosures or economical USB 3.0 expansion units to meet the needs of growing business data. The total storage capacity of the TVS-882 can be gradually expanded and easily managed by the QTS Storage Manager, being useful for large data applications such as video surveillance, data archiving, and TV broadcast storage, and more.

 

Use NAS to expand NAS capacity with Virtual JBOD

 

Besides using physical storage expansion enclosures, there is an additional option to expand NAS storage capacity. QNAP VJBOD (Virtual JBOD) is network-based JBOD, allowing you to expand storage of your QNAP NAS with multiple QNAP NAS units. You can mount iSCSI LUNs from a QNAP NAS to the TVS-882 as local disks, and create virtual storage pools and volumes for operating NAS functionalities, such as creating and reverting snapshots, indexing multimedia files into the media library, and even further creating iSCSI LUNs. With VJBOD, you can centrally utilize the storage space from multiple QNAP NAS units* and manage it with the interface on the local NAS. VJBOD supports 10GbE/40GbE Ethernet connection interface and port trunking (link aggregation with multiple LAN ports) that increase the performance and reliability of your VJBOD storage.

 

QTS – simple and powerful

 

The intuitive QTS features a modern flat design to streamline loading times, and its intelligent desktop allows you to find desired functions quickly, monitor important system information on a real-time basis, and open multiple application windows to run multiple tasks concurrently, bringing greater operating efficiency.

 

QRM+: Centralized Remote Server Management Solution

 

QRM+ is QNAP’s Centralized Remote Server Management solution designed for IT teams. It provides a web-based solution - accessible from any web browser - to discover, map, monitor and manage all of the critical computing devices on the network such as servers, PCs, embedded PCs, and thin clients from a single-point. Supporting IPMI 1.5 and 2.0, QRM+ provides remote KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) for certain IPMI devices, and supports tracking every action using KVM recording and playback. With centralized management by QRM+, IT infrastructure and device security is enhanced and troubleshooting & network resource performance analysis is greatly simplified.

 

QmailAgent: a mailroom center for your private cloud

 

QmailAgent is an online email client that helps you manage multiple email accounts, allowing you to access all of your emails and to easily switch between different accounts. It provides complete functionality for composing, reading and organizing emails. You can even attach files, photos and documents from the TVS-882 when composing emails. Qmail also allows iOS® and Android™ users to quickly check multiple email accounts with mobile devices, and to browse & send emails using the QmailAgent on their TVS-882.

 

Storage for hosting virtual machines and containerized applications

 

Virtualization Station allows you to host virtual machines (VM) on the TVS-882 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 allows the TVS-882 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. An AMD Radeon™ R7 Series graphics card can also be installed into the TVS-882's PCIe slot for GPU pass-through to virtual machines, greatly boosting the computational and rendering power of virtualized applications.

 

The TVS-882 also features Container Station, which integrates LXC and Docker® lightweight virtualization technologies. You can operate multiple isolated Linux® systems on the TVS-882 as well as download apps from the built-in Docker Hub Registry®.

 

Storage for comprehensive virtualization applications

 

As an iSCSI/IP-SAN storage solution, the TVS-882 supports VMware® and Citrix®, and is compatible with Microsoft® Hyper-V® and Windows Server® 2012 R2, benefiting flexible deployment and management in virtualization environments. The TVS-882 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 efficiency of operations and management in virtualization applications.

 

Use your TVS-882 as a PC

 

QNAP’s exclusive QvPC Technology allows you to operate the TVS-882 as a PC by plugging in a keyboard, mouse and HDMI display. You can directly access stored data, run multiple applications using Windows®, Linux®, UNIX®, Android™ based VMs with the Virtualization Station, surf the web, enjoy 4K or 1080p videos with up to 7.1 channel audio with Kodi™, monitor surveillance live feeds with local display, and much more.

 

Comprehensive security

 

QNAP’s full NAS encryption by volume-based technology effectively ensures data security by encrypting all of the files stored in the default shared folders on the TVS-882. Besides AES 256-bit encryption for both volumes and shared folders, the TVS-882 also provides numerous security options, such as encrypted access, IP blocking, 2-step verification, and more.

 

Well-rounded backup & disaster recovery solutions

 

The TVS-882 offers flexible backup solutions for Windows® and Mac® users, Volume/LUN snapshots (up to 256 snapshots per volume or LUN, and maximum 1,024 snapshots per NAS), Snapshot Replica and Clone, and disaster recovery solutions including RTRR, rsync and cloud storage backup (Amazon® S3, Amazon® Glacier, Microsoft® Azure, ElephantDrive®, Dropbox® and Google Cloud Storage™) are also included.

 

Cross-device file synchronization

 

Qsync provides multiple ways of file synchronization and group file sharing, greatly enhancing the flexibility of collaboration. Any file uploaded to the TVS-882 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.

 

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 TVS-882. The TVS-882 includes 8 free IP camera channels and you can expand up to 80 channels by purchasing additional licenses.

 

Install-on-demand apps to extend NAS functionality

 

The TVS-882 has a built-in App Center that provides over 100 apps, including tools for backup/sync, business, content management, communications, downloading, entertainment, and much more. You can freely install apps as needed to expand your TVS-882’s functionality.

 

Additional SMB-ready features

 

The TVS-882 supports various business applications as an all-in-one Turbo NAS with cost-efficiency.

The Turbo NAS supports a Web server which allows numerous websites built on the same server conveniently. Administrators can manage up to 32 websites on a single 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.

 

 

In this article we will concentrate our attention upon another NAS from QNAP, which can easily beat any other product from the same category we have tested so far, since it also comes with very powerful hardware inside. It does house an Intel Core i3 6100 Skylake 3.7GHz dual-core processor with 8GB of DDR4 pre-installed (supports maximum 32GB), a combination of M/2, 2.5’’ and 3.5’’ drive slots, no less than three HDMI ports, speakers for voice alerts and more. Since we are dealing with an 8-bay unit, the product comes in a pretty large cardboard enclosure:

 

 

 

On the packaging we will also spot a sticker representing the main product highlights, the hardware specifications but also package contents:

 

 

 

Some of the product functions can be seen represented with icons:

 

 

 

After lifting the top cover, we will get to see a welcome message from the manufacturer along with links to additional resources:

 

 

 

The NAS located held in the middle portion of the box and protected on the sides with thick foam material. On the top, QNAP has placed the product bundle:

 

 

 

Speaking about the bundle, we will receive it in two separate transparent plastic bags:

 

 

 

We do get screws for mounting the 2.5’’ drives onto the 3.5’’ trays, M2 screws and heatsinks, four LAN cables but also an IR remote:

 

 

 

 

 

The remote is powered by a single CR2032 battery, which is easy to find everywhere:

 

 

A Quick Installation Guide is available for setting us up right away:

 

 

 

For the TVS-882 NAS we are seeing a completely redesigned chassis versus the older models which have passed through our labs; the top metallic cover does now feature an all-black appearance instead of gunmetal grey, while two stickers show the details for the myQNAPcloud feature along with disk tray unlock instructions:

 

 

 

 

The updated design of the TVS-882 chassis really stands out! In the front we have got the status display with the control button, two 2.5’’ trays while the 6 3.5’’ trays are lined up further down:

 

 

 

Each drive bay also comes with its own activity LED nearby, while the tray order number is visible on the dark plastic layer:

 

 

 

If M.2 SSDs are installed, the activity LEDs will light up right under the status display:

 

 

 

In the right bottom corner, we do have the Power button but also an USB Copy button which is accompanied by an USB 3.0 port:

 

 

 

The top right corner though comes with a chromed QNAP logo along with a small sticker highlighting the main product features:

 

 

 

 

The left and right sides of the server do not feature additional ports or ventilation grills:

 

 

 

The back area of the NAS is pretty crowded and we can clearly see that it is split into multiple compartments; an element of uniqueness is the presence of two small speakers through which we will hear voice alerts during the NAS operation:

 

 

 

In the top left area, we do have the I/O for the expansion cards:

 

 

 

The server does also have multimedia/karaoke features built in so we get to see two microphone ports, but also one speaker jack port. To the right we do have four USB 3.0 ports but also four Gigabit LAN ports:

 

 

 

 

This NAS model does come with no less than three HDMI outputs, first two being 1.4 version and the last one 2.0, for having 60fps @ 4K resolution:

 

 

 

 

The drive bays are cooled by two 8cm fans:

 

 

 

We can see the power supply fan along with the power connector and Power switch in the bottom right corner:

 

 

 

The bottom area of the unit comes with some additional fan grills and four large rubber feet:

 

 

 

The locking mechanism of the bays is pretty simple to work with; for the 3.5’’ bays we do only have to press the blue component downwards and it will unlock:

 

 

 

 

A similar system can be found with the 2.5’’ bays:

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a look inside the 2.5’’ and 3.5’’ drive cages after all trays have been removed:

 

 

The dedicated 2.5’’ drive bays have a special design and do not require screws for installation purposes; the drives must be installed as instructed in the manual so we won’t break the small lateral mounting feet:

 

 

 

 

 

The 3.5’’ bays have a similar design to the ones we have seen before; these too employ a screwless design and the included rubber grommets on the sides have anti-vibration capabilities. If we need to install 2.5’’ drives on them, holes are pre-drilled for us:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The drive installation on the 2.5’’ trays can be done in just a snap:

 

 

 

Inside the chassis we can clearly see the delimitation between the two compartments; let’s take a closer look!

 

 

 

The motherboard of the TVS-882 NAS has a custom design and on the main CPU we do see a pretty large aluminum heatsink; this heatsink is cooled by a blower-type fan which removes the hot air from the aluminum fins:

 

 

 

The blower fan assembly is easy to remove for maintenance but also for removing or installing new RAM/M.2 SSDs:

 

 

 

On the board we will get to see one LCMXO640C FPGA from Lattice:

 

 

 

 

In the vicinity there is one ITE IT8528E Power IC Chip:

 

 

 

The OS is being loaded from an Apacer DOM, frequently used in this type of devices:

 

 

The two M.2 SSD slots are available nearby:

 

 

In the vicinity of the frontal panel we get to see the CMOS battery:

 

 

The PCH is covered by a tiny aluminum heatsink:

 

 

Two extra PWM fan headers are available on the motherboard:

 

 

For expansion purposes, we do have a PCI-E slot available:

 

 

A PCI-Express packet switch is available right next to the slot:

 

 

 

The microphone ports along with the speaker jack are located on a separate daughter-board which is in fact a sound card:

 

 

 

Two DDR4 memory modules are preinstalled and they are rated 2133MHz:

 

 

 

 

A small speaker is also available on the motherboard:

 

 

 

The CPU cooling system is easy to remove for cleaning purposes:

 

 

 

The blower fan is rated 12V at 0.48A:

 

 

 

In the second NAS compartment, where the 2.5’’ and 3.5’’ drive cages reside we can also spot the connectors in the back side of the motherboard:

 

 

 

While this NAS variant comes with a 250W power supply, the high-end SKUs do also have a 450W power supply which allows installation of a R7 200/300 series video card from AMD< in order to help boost the virtual environments graphics:

 

 

 

Here is the second PCI-Express port; in our case it can still be used for installing extra storage:

 

 

 

When the NAS is powered up, the backlighted LCD display will start operating, along with a blue LED line on the right which creates a nice effect:

 

 

 

 

Despite the fact that we are dealing with a powerhouse of the NAS, QNAP is still using the easy-to-operate tools in order to initialize the NAS; QNAP Qfinder Pro is there for us so we can find the server on the local network:

 

 

The rest of the configuration is done within a browser window; first we will be asked of the NAS environment it will be used in:

 

 

 

Afterwards it will be the time to choose a NAS name and password for the administrator account:

 

 

 

 

The date/time setup is next:

 

 

 

QNAP allows us to configure the network settings as we please:

 

 

 

The services and pre-installed applications can be customized in the next step of the wizard:

 

 

 

The next step is allowing us to select the drive configuration:

 

 

 

 

Before applying the actual settings, we are able to see a summary list:

 

 

 

The system will warn us that all data residing on the drives will be deleted:

 

 

 

A progress bar will show us the setup procedure:

 

 

 

We can finally log in to the GUI after the wizard finishes setting up:

 

 

 

 

A quick check-up is in order to see if the volume and shared folders were created properly:

 

 

 

 

The NAS login screen presents us with a series of sample photos and its friendly look can be customized further if needed:

 

 

 

Right after we do authenticate, a wizard will guide us through in order to utilize the server efficiently:

 

 

 

Besides the usual options on the top bar, we do also have the possibility to set the volume levels of the Line Out/Speakers:

 

 

 

The widget section will inform us quickly on the system status:

 

 

 

First we will take a look at the Control Panel, which allows us to work with the system options:

 

 

 

The General Settings menu allows us to modify the login settings, server time, choose codepage, adjust the password strength or customize the login screen:

 

 

 

Storage Manager opens up in a separate window and from here we will be able to create storage pools and also volumes on our liking; we can also enable cache acceleration with a SSD, work with ISCSI Storage and LUN Backup and more. This new model also has the option to create VJBOD:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Network menu is now split into two parts because of the multitude of options:

 

 

 

Network & Virtual Switch area opens up in a new window and comes with the following options:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Security menu allows the user to set a security mode, by allowing or denying certain IP addresses or network domains, adjust the Network Access Protection or system Certificates:

 

 

 

The Hardware menu is available for us in order to adjust some miscellaneous system settings, change the Buzzer behavior or adjust the Smart Fan profiles:

 

 

 

Power menu comes with the EuP option, WoL, Power Recovery and Power Schedule sub-sections:

 

 

 

System notifications can be enabled from the next menu via E-mail, SMS or Push services:

 

 

 

The Firmware update can be performed automatically (QTS will automatically search for it), but when an automatic update is not available and on the website there is already a new QTS file available, we will have to go the manual route:

 

 

 

Backup & Restore menu allows the user to save current server settings for later restore, but also from the same menu we can reset the system to factory defaults:

 

 

 

External devices can be also configured from the next menu:

 

 

 

System Status does have its separate window available, which opens up to show the current System Information, Network Status, running System Services, Hardware Information but also a live Resource Monitor:

 

 

 

 

System Logs menu does sport a similar behavior, with its own sub-sections: System Event Logs, System Connection Logs, Online Users and Syslog Client Management:

 

 

 

The Privilege Settings main menu is next, with its Users sub-section, which allows the administrators to define new users which will operate the server resources:

 

 

 

User Groups with different privileges can be created too:

 

 

 

Various shared folders are created by default, but the user can always create new ones, with different permissions for each user:

 

 

 

Disk quotas can be enabled next:

 

 

 

Domain security menu allows logging to an AD service as a domain member, LDAP authentication, but the server can also function as a domain controller:

 

 

 

 

The Network Services main menu is next, with its services available for different platforms:

 

 

 

 

 

Here also resides the Network Recycle Bin feature, which is very useful if files are deleted accidentally:

 

 

 

Several installed applications have some miscellaneous options available in the “Applications” main menu:

 

 

 

HybridDesk Station is the portal accessible on HDMI to which we can install multiple modules like browsers, games, multimedia applications, and so on, which can be used without the need of a PC:

 

 

 

iTunes and DLNA servers can be configured from the next menus:

 

 

 

 

Multimedia Management menu will “instruct” the default multimedia applications where to look for indexing media files:

 

 

 

Transcoding options are also available in the next section:

 

 

 

Web Server is often enabled by default, because a lot of application modules are using it:

 

 

 

An Antivirus module is also available for us to use right away:

 

 

 

Photo Station 5 one of the QNAP applications and it allows us to view our photo collection, manage albums, share on other devices the available content, do slideshows and many more:

 

 

 

 

Music Station is another well-known application which allows us to playback audio content, organize playlists and it does also incorporate online radio services:

 

 

 

 

Torrents can be easily downloaded and searched via the dedicated application:

 

 

 

File Station application offers us an easy way to navigate through the NAS files:

 

 

 

Different actions are available when right-clicking on a file:

 

 

 

Next we could remind of the Backup Station, which allows NAS backup on different other servers or devices, but also in the cloud:

 

 

 

myQNAPcloud facilitates our connection to the NAS from the Internet:

 

 

 

App Center is the place to go in order to install application modules of our choice or perform updates of the previously installed ones; its interface has been fully revamped in the last QTS versions:

 

 

 

Helpdesk is a new application from QNAP which allows us to get assistance from the support team easier, but also gives us access to other resources:

 

 

 

QNAP Container Station exclusively integrates LXC and Docker® lightweight virtualization technologies, allowing us to operate multiple isolated Linux® systems on a QNAP NAS as well as download apps from the built-in Docker® Hub Registry:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plex Media Server is a very easy to use media center application, which can be configured right away:

 

 

 

 

 

Qsirch indexes the whole NAS contents in order to provide easy search for needed contents:

 

 

 

Another module we could use is the Prestashop which allows setting up an online store right on our NAS:

 

 

 

QNAP does have an application for viewing and organizing video content of its own, Video Station:

 

 

 

 

Virtualization Station was covered by us many times before and allows us to create virtual machines and run any other operating systems with ease:

 

 

 

 

Thanks to the power of the i3 6100 and 8GB of RAM preinstalled (up to 32GB), we can run more virtual machines at once:

 

 

 

Here is an example when we have succeeded to install the latest stable build of Windows 10:

 

 

 

 

 

OceanKTV is the application to use when we need to do karaoke:

 

 

 

 

Linux Station can replace HybridDesk station for the HDMI interface, so we can run a fully-fledged Linux distribution on our TV:

 

 

 

 

 

Besides the HDMI interface, we can also access the Linux GUI via a new browser tab:

 

 

 

HybridDesk Station loads right up and is visible if a HDMI connector is connected to a monitor/TV:

 

 

 

Its interface is a lighter version of QTS and the application modules we have previously installed will be shown on its desktop:

 

 

 

HybridDesk Station does also have a Settings menu from where we can configure different options, including output resolution:

 

 

 

 

 

 

First we do have the Chrome browser, which is very speedy:

 

 

 

Clementine will help us organize and playback our audio files:

 

 

 

Same thing can be said with DeaDBeeF:

 

 

 

Facebook module just loads the website into Chrome:

 

 

 

File Station can be open as an individual application:

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

The fully-fledged KODI is available to be used:

 

 

 

 

If we need to work on documents, presentations and so on, the free LibreOffice suite is available for us:

 

 

 

 

jRiver Media Center is another XBMC-like application for us to use;

 

 

 

 

Music Station can also operate as an individual application:

 

 

 

As we have seen with other manufacturers, the GUI interface of the NAS can be also accessed via HDMI, this time it opens with Chrome:

 

 

 

Skype is another standalone application:

 

 

 

Next we do have Spotify:

 

 

 

SuperTux is a game QNAP likes to include:

 

 

 

TuneIn Radio can be also used as standalone, if Music Station has not pleased us:

 

 

 

Video Station is another standalone application from QNAP, but we have seen that with it the quality of the videos which we can playback is not stellar (something which does not happen when using the same application in the browser window):

 

 

 

 

Battle for Wesnoth is another game QNAP includes:

 

 

 

We have a skinned XBMC version by QNAP to our disposal too:

 

 

 

YouTube application sports the same interface as we have seen with Smart TVs:

 

 

 

Lastly, we have Linux Station, which works as a replacement for HybridDesk Station and allows us to run fully-fledged Linux distributions:

 

 

 

 

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 TVS-882 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 folder:

 

Total Commander Copy Performance

 

 

Total Commander Read Performance

 

 

Intel NAS Performance Toolkit

 

ATTO Disk Benchmark

 

Anvil Utilities

 

The TVS-882 High-Performance 8-bay NAS from QNAP delivers very good performances all across the board, beginning with transfer speeds throughout the network and ending with virtual machines which can be run in much better conditions than what we have seen with previous offerings. The Intel Core i3-6100 CPU seems to help a lot the overall build and the fact that we can install up to 32GB of DDR4 memory allows the user to run many more processes at once. The NAS administrator is able to install a mix of M.2, 2.5’’ and 3.5’’ drives and it really does not stop here because in the remaining expansion slots we can install devices to support 10GbE cards, PCIe NVMe SSDs, USB 3.1 adapter expansions and more.

 

If you have the cash, the TVS-882 model also works very well when installed as a media server at home, being able to run everything we throw at it; the more expensive variants which also feature the 450W power supply do even support installation of a Radeon R7 video card in order to have even more 3D performance with it.

 

The product does come with not two but three HDMI output ports, the third being version 2.0 in order to be able to display 4K resolutions at 60FPS, a huge improvement especially if you aim at using the NAS as a regular computer too, via HD Station or Linux Station.

 

The elements of novelty also include the two built-in speakers which replaces the regular status beeps with voice and the audio jacks can transform the server into a karaoke machine.

 

The TVS-882-i3-8G NAS model, as-tested is available online for about 1657 Euros.

QNAP TVS-882 High-Performance 8-bay NAS is Recommended For:

 

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