At first we would like to thank QNAP for offering a sample of their TS-451A 4-bay Dual-core NAS with QuickAccess 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.”

 

14nm Intel® Celeron® N3060 dual-core CPU and hardware-accelerated encryption engine

 

The TS-451A is powered by an advanced 14nm Intel® Celeron® dual-core 1.6GHz processor that features low TDP (only 6 watts) and can automatically burst up to 2.48GHz. Coupled with dual-channel 2/4GB DDR3L-1600 dual-channel RAM (upgradable to 8GB), dual Gigabit LAN ports, and SATA 6Gb/s, the TS-451A can deliver up to 213.4 MB/s throughput for optimizing mission-critical tasks while still being energy efficient. The TS-451A also features Intel® AES-NI hardware-accelerated encryption to deliver up to 205.14 MB/s throughput with AES 256-bit throughput with AES-NI encryption for both full NAS volume and shared folders, boosting system performance & security while ensuring the safety of sensitive business data stored in the NAS.

 

Direct access to files with the USB QuickAccess port

 

The TS-451A features an innovative USB QuickAccess port that allows you to complete the first-time installation and setup of your TS-451A without requiring network connectivity. The files and data stored on the TS-451A can also be directly accessed by using Qfinder Pro and a USB 3.0 A-Male to Micro B-Male cable or a USB 2.0 Micro B cable. Furthermore, you can assign access rights to users for different folders to prevent unauthorized access to important files.

 

USB QuickAccess/NAS/iSCSI SAN triple solution

 

The TS-451A innovatively re-defines what NAS can do by providing a USB QuickAccess/NAS/iSCSI SAN triple solution. It discards the restriction of conventional DAS that only allows connecting to one device, and breaks the cost barrier for a high-speed Ethernet solution. The TS-451A’s three data transmission modes not only work independently, but they also can simultaneously run with no bandwidth interference, allowing you to multi-task with utmost productivity.

 

USB QuickAccess Mode

 

You can instantly access files and data stored on the TS-451A by connecting a PC/Mac to its USB QuickAccess port and by using the Qfinder Pro application. To balance security and convenience needs, this method provides three access authentication modes. These settings can be easily configured in

 

Network and Virtual Switch in the QTS management interface:

 

“All NAS Users” (default): A NAS username and password are required to use QuickAccess to access data stored on the NAS.

“Everyone”: Allows everyone to access data stored on the NAS using QuickAccess with no username or password required.

“Selected Users and Groups”: Only authorized users/groups can use QuickAccess to access data stored on the NAS (a username or password is also required).

 

The TS-451A’s USB mode is helpful for users that handle large volumes of media files on a daily basis. It provides an extremely convenient and fast solution for users to store and backup data on their computers or to access data on their NAS. With the USB mode the TS-451A is plug and use without compromising convenience or safety.

 

Ethernet NAS mode

 

The TS-451A features Ethernet networking for flexible and simultaneous file sharing across multiple devices, using SMB/CIFS, NFS and AFP protocols for sharing across Windows, Mac and Linux/UNIX networks. Use Qfinder Pro to find the TS-451A's Ethernet IP address to connect to it.

 

iSCSI SAN block-based mode

 

The TS-451A supports iSCSI SAN. After creating an iSCSI target on the TS-451A, you can access the iSCSI with your computer* using the NAS IP.

 

Featuring advanced 8th-generation Intel® HD Graphics, the TS-451A supports 4K H.264 hardware decoding and delivers superior real-time 4K 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-451A also allows you to set a dedicated folder for automatic video transcoding.

 

Enjoy media freely with multi-zone multimedia controls

 

Use a TS-451A as a multi-zone multimedia system to fill every corner of your house with your choice of media. You can centrally manage and stream photos, music and videos stored on the TS-451A to HDMI, DLNA®, Apple TV®, Chromecast™ , Roku®, Amazon® Fire TV or to the devices connected to the TS-451A (music streaming only) through Bluetooth® & USB. With Plex Media Server, the TS-451A is transformed into a powerful streaming machine.

 

Enjoy an exclusive karaoke experience with OceanKTV

 

OceanKTV is the first NAS-based karaoke application and allows you to create a quality karaoke experience at home or in the office. The TS-451A offers high-capacity storage for accommodating up to thousands of 1080p karaoke songs. The TS-451A comes with a 3.5 mm microphone jack and can transmit audio to your amplifier using HDMI or the 3.5 mm Line out port. Simply attach an HDMI display to the TS-451A and start singing with OceanKTV. The experience can be managed using the OceanKTV app in QTS or by using the OceanKTV mobile app on your phone or tablet. More than a NAS, the TS-451A is a karaoke machine for singing entertainment. Enjoy alone or with your friends!

 

QTS – Simple and powerful

 

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 and incorporates advanced features including volume/LUN snapshots, remote connections to public cloud services in File Station, multi-zone multimedia system, and more.

 

File synchronization across devices and clouds

 

Qsync turns your TS-451A into a safe, large-capacity data center for file synchronization. Any file uploaded to the TS-451A 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 provides multiple ways of file synchronization and group file sharing, greatly enhancing the flexibility of team projects and collaboration. 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.

 

Cross-platform file sharing, centralized data storage

 

The TS-451A 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-451A 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 the built-in LDAP service.

 

Centralize backup, restoration and synchronization with Hybrid Backup Sync

 

Hybrid Backup Sync consolidates backup, restoration and synchronization functions into a single QTS application for you to easily transfer your data to local or remote QNAP NAS, to remote servers and to cloud storage spaces as a comprehensive data storage and disaster recovery plan. You can synchronize files between the TS-451A and cloud storage in real time - including Amazon® Drive, Google Drive™, Dropbox®, Microsoft OneDrive®, Yandex® Disk, and Box®, and back up files to Amazon® S3, Amazon® Glacier, Microsoft® Azure™, Google Cloud Storage™, OpenStack Swift and WebDAV cloud services. Hybrid Backup Sync can detect sparse files to avoid backing up unnecessary data, and supports file compression to save storage space. There are flexible settings for concurrent file processing and multi-threaded data transfer by splitting large files into smaller parts, greatly increasing the file transfer rate for greater work efficiency.

 

Restore files with Snapshot for Volume & LUN

 

QTS Storage Manager features an easy-to-use web-based snapshot tool to easily backup and restore data on the TS-451A back to any point of time in the event of data loss. You can take snapshots for volumes and LUN (up to 64 snapshots per volume/LUN and maximum 256 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 current system operations. You can even set up the system to automatically take a snapshot of the volume before backup via RTRR/rsync, even if files are opened.

 

Note: Snapshot function requires a minimum 4GB RAM.

 

Qsirch - a smarter, faster way to search

 

The TS-451A supports Qsirch, a proprietary search engine for quick file searching. In addition to previewing thumbnails, content abstract and keyword hints, Qsirch allows you to search through all of the .eml files stored on the TS-451A and use customized search criteria such as date, size, sender and recipient. Qsirch even remembers your search history allowing you to quickly navigate to files you've previously searched for. You can also use the Google Chrome™ extension - Qsirch Helper - to search for files on your NAS when using Google Search™. 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.

 

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 TS-451A when composing emails. QmailAgent 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 TS-451A. You can also use QmailAgent together with Qsirch, which supports powerful email search functions to search through all of the .eml files stored on the TS-451A to make managing and searching through massive quantities of emails much easier.

 

QTS-Linux dual systems for IoT applications

 

The TS-451A’s QTS-Linux dual systems are based on QNAP’s advanced virtualization technologies. The revolutionary architecture of the TS-451A enables users to not only to enjoy the extraordinary QTS operating system and download rich apps from QTS App Center but also to develop or utilize IoT packages for Linux®. The TS-451A supports Ubuntu and allows users to develop and install various IoT packages on demand and centrally store the data on the TS-451A, providing a secure private storage and IoT development solution. Simply plug in a keyboard, mouse and HDMI monitor to the TS-451A, and use the Linux Station as if you were using a PC. You can also operate Ubuntu in Linux Station as a remote desktop via web browser for instant management.

 

Storage for hosting virtual machines and containerized applications

 

Virtualization Station allows you to host virtual machines (VM) on the TS-451A 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 TS-451A 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-451A without any complex procedures.

 

The TS-451A also features the game-changing container technology for server virtualization with Container Station. It exclusively integrates LXC and Docker® lightweight virtualization technologies, allowing you to operate multiple isolated Linux® systems on the TS-451A as well as download apps from the built-in Docker Hub Registry®. Container Station now also provides the QIoT Containers platform to help you quickly structure your IoT environment and deployment in your private cloud.

 

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-451A. The TS-451A includes 2 free IP camera channels and you can expand up to 32 channels by purchasing additional licenses.

 

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 that allows you to expand the storage of a QNAP NAS by using unused storage from other QNAP NAS units. You can mount this storage space to the TS-451A as virtual disks and create virtual storage pools and volumes for NAS functions such as creating and reverting snapshots, indexing multimedia files into the media library, and even creating iSCSI LUNs. VJBOD supports 10GbE/40GbE connections and port trunking (link aggregation with multiple LAN ports) that increase the performance and reliability of your VJBOD storage.

 

Connect a QNAP expansion enclosure to expand storage capacity easily

 

The TS-451A 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-451A an ideal file center with large storage capacity, especially useful for data-intensive applications.

 

With the support of QJBOD Express (JBOD enclosures roaming)*, you can just connect a large capacity QNAP expansion enclosure to the TS-451A, and migrate data to another NAS through the JBOD enclosure without needing a network connection.

 

Helpdesk: Submit technical support request and get help quickly

 

If you encounter technical problems or have suggestions for improving our products you can directly contact our support staff using the Helpdesk app. This app allows you to directly send feedback, questions, and technical support requests to our support team. Helpdesk features remote support, allowing our support team to help you quickly resolve issues by remotely connecting to your NAS over a secure 256-bit SSL encrypted connection. Helpdesk also provides a range of online resources, including online tutorials, frequently-asked questions, compatibility lists and the QNAP Helpdesk Knowledgebase. Whether you are a new or experienced NAS user, you can quickly find answers to your questions by browsing through these resources.

 

Note: Response times may vary depending on your location, time zones, and local holidays.

 

Additional features

 

The TS-451A supports various applications for home offices as an all-in-one Turbo NAS with cost-efficiency.

 

The Turbo NAS supports FTP server to share large size files, coming with user-defined settings including bandwidth limitation, number of connections, and write-only permission.

QTS also supports VPN Client for PPTP and OpenVPN to protect your privacy during data transmission.

 

 

We will continue our review journey with a new QNAP NAS, a 4-bay model which is based on an Intel SoC solution (the Celeron N3060 dual-core), which does also feature connectivity options when the local area network has failed. This new feature is named by the manufacturer as USB QuickAccess and as the name says, we can link to our server via USB in order to access its contents as it would have been connected to a LAN. Thanks to the SoC hardware support, the product does also come with 4K hardware decoding and it is able to transcode 4K H.264 videos on-the-fly or offline. The TS-451A NAS is available in two flavors, one with 4GB (2x2GB) and one with 2GB (2x1GB).

 

The product is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard enclosure which does have some stickers attached with the serial numbers and MAC addresses for each LAN interface:

 

 

 

The attached sticker does list the main product features and here we will also learn of the free IR Remote Control which QNAP offers the user for an easier access while operating the server via HDMI. The hardware list of specifications is also available here:

 

 

 

QNAP does also like to list some of the product functionalities nearby:

 

 

 

After lifting the top cover, we will get to see a welcome message, along with some addresses to additional resources:

 

 

 

The manufacturer ensures safe delivery by using quite a bit of foam material inside:

 

 

 

Besides the power lead, the rest of the bundle is offered in a separate plain cardboard box:

 

 

 

 

We will receive one power brick, two LAN cables, mounting screws for 2.5’’ but also 3.5’’ drives, and the previously advertised IR Remote:

 

 

 

The power supply was manufactured by FSP Group and is rated on the output as 12V, 8A:

 

 

 

The supplied IR remote sports the same design as we have seen with the previous models:

 

 

 

It is powered by a single CR2032 3V battery, which is quite easy to find in local stores everywhere:

 

 

 

The Installation Guide gives us the necessary instructions in order to perform the initial setup steps:

 

 

 

Besides the foam, QNAP has also wrapped the NAS in a transparent plastic bag:

 

 

 

The TS-451A model does sport a similar build as we have seen with the previous TS-251 model, but the color scheme is changed a bit:

 

 

 

If we do look at the frontal area of the product, we will spot a teal layer on the left side, where most of the status LEDs reside, along with the additional interfaces; the right area is all-white and here we will get to see the four plastic trays:

 

 

 

A closer look does reveal the SD Card Reader, but also separate LEDs for System Status, LAN interface, USB interface, a LED for each HDD/SSD bay, but also one for the SD Card activity:

 

 

 

Further down we have the Power button, one One-Touch-Backup button, an USB 3.0 port but also a handy USB QuickAccess port:

 

 

 

On the top area of the server, we do also get to see a sticker which represents the boot sequence:

 

 

 

On the right side, we have the myQNAPcloud sticker, which does feature the unique Cloud Key:

 

 

 

On the left side of the unit we will be able to spot a ventilation grill:

 

 

 

The bottom layer does have some additional ventilation holes and in each corner we do have a small square-shaped rubber foot:

 

 

 

The drive bays along with the NAS motherboard are cooled by a single silent 120mm fan; on the right area we can also spot quite a bit of interfaces:

 

 

 

In the top right corner, we’ve got a Reset button hole, a Service port, and further down we’ve got a Microphone and Headphone jack, along with one HDMI port:

 

 

 

Moving on, we can spot two USB 3.0 ports, two LAN ports but also one DC-IN 12V port:

 

 

 

A Kensington lock port is also available in the lower left corner:

 

 

 

This model does not feature locks for each tray as we have seen with business-oriented models:

 

 

 

The drive trays are entirely made of high-quality plastic and permit mounting of both 2.5’’ and 3.5’’ drives:

 

 

 

 

After removing the plastic trays, we will be able to take a closer look at the daughter-board, which features the SATA Data/Power connectors:

 

 

 

The preinstalled SO-DIMM DDR3 modules can be seen through the metallic layer of the drive cage:

 

 

 

By removing the top plastic cover of the NAS, we are able to easily clean up the insides:

 

 

 

 

After powering up the NAS, the status LEDs will light up accordingly:

 

 

 

Right after powering on the NAS, we have downloaded the QNAP Qfinder Pro application assistant, which does really help finding the server on the network; some additional information regarding the NAS will be also shown here:

 

 

 

The rest of the configuration will continue in a browser window; first we will be asked how this server will be used from now on (Home Use or Business Use), so specific applications will be automatically installed to it:

 

 

 

Next, we will reach the step where we do have to enter up a name for the server, but also define an administrator password:

 

 

 

 

Date/Time settings can be modified in the next screen:

 

 

 

Network settings can be set automatically via DHCP or manually (static):

 

 

 

Depending on the used platforms, we can enable or disable certain services; here is also the menu where we can choose which applications will be pre-installed:

 

 

 

Depending on how many disks we have, we can choose different setup modes:

 

 

 

 

Lastly, we will be shown a screen which is basically the summary:

 

 

 

Before starting the actual process, the setup wizard will need our confirmation:

 

 

 

During the setup procedure, we will be shown each step the NAS takes until completion:

 

 

 

The server did reboot and after we did login to the interface we were told that a newer software version is available; we did proceed with the update:

 

 

 

Afterwards, we checked if the default folders were created, so we could work with them during testing:

 

 

 

The initial QTS login screen can be further customized by the end-user and is pretty self-explanatory:

 

 

 

 

We are all familiar now with the QTS desktop interface, which resembles a regular desktop, with multiple pages where installed applications will show up; a wizard will be displayed in order for the beginners to get familiarized with the software:

 

 

 

Applications which have not been installed from the ones shown, do have an extra special icon on their pictogram:

 

 

 

If we press the top left button, a list will show up with all installed applications, for a faster access, along with some system options:

 

 

 

The currently logged user can perform different actions by pressing the dedicated button on the top bar:

 

 

 

QTS desktop is also equipped with widgets, which do show System Health status, Hardware Information, the Resource Monitor, currently logged in users and more:

 

 

 

In order to work with the system options, we will have to navigate to the Control Panel area:

 

 

 

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:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USB QuickAccess options can be also configured here (we can turn it off entirely when needed for security reasons):

 

 

 

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 restoration, 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 from the next menu:

 

 

 

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:

 

 

 

We do also have to our disposal options to enable and configure FTP, Telnet/SSH, SNMP services:

 

 

 

 

 

UPnP Discovery Services and Bonjour have a different section allocated:

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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 guide the default multimedia applications where to look for indexing media files:

 

 

 

Transcoding options are also available in the next section:

 

 

 

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 user 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:

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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:

 

 

 

 

 

Video Station allows immediate playback of indexed video content and relies on the installed codec pack; unfortunately, the latest codec pack removes support for MKV files so we would have to re-encode our content:

 

 

 

Video content will play back well though if we choose to output via VLC plugin:

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

If we do own the 2GB version of the TS-451A, we will be welcomed by the following message when launching the Virtualization Station application, so a memory upgrade is clearly in order; one other suggestion would be to go straight for the 4GB model:

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

If we would like to operate the NAS without the PC as a middle-man, one of the solutions would be to install HybridDesk Station (or HD Station), which puts at our disposal a suite of applications for us to work with:

 

 

 

 

For security reasons, when we do have our NAS connected to a TV via the HDMI interface, we will be first asked for the user/password combination:

 

 

 

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 works as intended:

 

 

 

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 opened as an individual application:

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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:

 

 

 

OpenTTD is a SimCity-based game which can be launched from HybridStation:

 

 

 

As File Station and Music Station, Photo Station can be also operated as a standalone application:

 

 

 

Skype is another module we can install and operate easily:

 

 

 

SuperTux is a game QNAP likes to include with their software:

 

 

 

TuneIn Radio can be also used as standalone, if Music Station is not enough:

 

 

 

Video Station can be also launched from here, but it features the same limitations as we have previously mentioned, because it is backed by the codec pack module:

 

 

 

 

Battle from Wesnoth is another game which can be played straight away:

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Many people will ask at this time where is KODI, jRiver Media Center or the skinned XBMC media center to play back all kinds of video files; well, QNAP has removed these with the latest software versions which is quite a pity. There is a workaround though, proposed by QNAP themselves, which involves installation of Linux Station which has KODI there waiting for us. Read on ->

 

Linux Station module is based on Container Station and permits us to run a fully-fledged Ubuntu operating system on the HDMI interface (with the possibility to access the interface via VNC too). The application needs at least 4GB of RAM installed, so the 2GB version of the TS-451A is a no-go. Linux Station provides us with three separate Ubuntu Linux distributions: 14.04 LTS, 16.04 LTS and a version for China users, the 16.04 LTS Kylin version.

 

 

 

 

With the distribution, we do also have LibreOffice preinstalled for regular office tasks, Mozilla Firefox and Chrome browsers, but also the very useful KODI:

 

 

 

 

KODI is quite easy to work with and after all the content has been indexed from the indicated folders, we will also get different info for every TV show episode or movie from the online services:

 

 

 

The content we have thrown at KODI worked without issues, since we are not dependent anymore of the QTS codec pack:

 

 

 

 

By having a full Linux GUI accessible to us, we can easily install other applications, browse the web, access the QTS interface and so on:

 

 

 

 

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-451A 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

 

With the TS-451A NAS connected to a spare USB 3.0 port and the USB QuickAccess Driver installed, the server was detected as if it was operating on the local network. For an easier access we can also make use of the QNAP Qfinder Pro application. We have tested again the NAS in this mode in order to spot the performance differences.

 

 

Total Commander Copy Performance

 

 

Total Commander Read Performance

 

 

Intel NAS Performance Toolkit

 

ATTO Disk Benchmark

 

Anvil Utilities

 

The TS-451A Dual-Core NAS with QuickAccess packs enough performance for home users and is also able to perform in SOHO environments; the product is available in two flavors, 2GB and 4GB and while the 2GB version works well for most tasks except Virtualization Station & Container Station (Linux Station), which do require a minimum of 4GB RAM installed. The product also introduces the QuickAccess USB port novelty, which allows us to operate the server as it would have been connected on the local network of the current PC, but physically connected via a regular USB 3.0 cable; this type of connection does also require a set of drivers to be installed from the QNAP website but it works flawlessly in the end.

 

QTS does come with a lot of installable modules, including applications in beta stage; if we do use QTS on the PC via the local network, we do have options of playback video content like Video Station or Plex; in the last iterations and updates of CodexPack suite, the MKV playback features have been removed, making the Video Station application a bit restricted. Same thing goes when we do use HybridStation, where all other XMBC-related applications have been removed and only Video Station is available to do the job. We surely hope they will be reintroduced soon, but in the meantime QNAP does have a workaround for this (works by installing Linux Station) and brings basically back KODI, which works really well when using the NAS is utilized via the HDMI interface.

 

The product also does feature hardware microphone/headphone jacks which can be used with several multimedia applications as OceanKTV, Skype and any other related app which we can install on Linux Station.

 

The 2GB RAM version of the server can be purchased online for about 413 Euros, while the 4GB RAM model can be had for about 453 Euros.

QNAP TS-451A 4-bay Dual-core NAS with QuickAccess is Recommended for:

 

 

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