QNAP TBS-h574TX NASbook assessment: Quick workgroup storage

Value When Reviewed

$1,449 with out SSDs

Greatest Costs As we speak: QNAP TBS-h574TX Thunderbolt SSD NAS

$1449

QNAP’s combo NAS/DAS (Community/Direct) hooked up TBS-h574TX storage field offers you one of the best of each worlds. It permits any variety of customers to connect with it over the native community at 10Gbps (or 2.5Gbps) and leverage it as shared storage or make use of the myriad NAS/server apps and capabilities. However you may also connect it to your Mac’s Thunderbolt port for twice-as-fast 20Gbps (community bridge) native entry to the information on board. Candy.

The TBS-h574TX is a considerably retro-looking, squat rectangle of a NAS (network-attached storage)/direct-attached field measuring 2.36 inches thick, 8.46 inches broad, by 7.83 inches deep. It’s a most substantial piece of metal-based equipment, weighing in at only a hair below 5 kilos. With the no-slip toes, there’s little likelihood of knocking this pet off the desk. Simply the identical, ensure all cables are secured sooner or later earlier than they attain the field. I’ve seen extra cases of tripping on wires, pulling {hardware} off its perch, than precise displacement of the gear itself.

There are 5 bays with easy-access drive trays on board that settle for state-of-the-art E.1S (see the reason under) or M.2 (4.5mm heatsinks or thinner) NVMe SSDs. You possibly can entry the bays/tray from the entrance of the TBS-h574TX after eradicating the locking, pop-off, high half of the entrance cowl.

The SSD slots are PCIe 3.0, although it’s possible you’ll use PCIe 4.0 or 5.0 SSDs, that are, after all, backwards appropriate. I like to recommend PCIe 4.0 as PCIe 3.0 SSDs have gotten dear and laborious to come back by, and PCIe 5.0 is dear overkill.

Together with the handy Sort-C Thunderbolt port on the face are one other 10Gbps Sort-A port, fast copy and energy buttons, in addition to energy and exercise indicator lamps.

The Thunderbolt port on the again is PC/Mac connect-only, so you possibly can’t use exterior units or peripherals with it. Additionally on the again are 2.5Gbe and 10Gbe ports, a 10Gbps Sort-A USB and 5Gbps Sort-A port, in addition to HDMI output. Then after all, there’s the coax energy port.

Notice that you do not want to close down the TBS-h574TX simply to swap out a nasty drive. Should you use an acceptable RAID mode (1, 1+0, 5, and so on.) the array will stay obtainable and rebuild within the background. Keep in mind that whenever you configure the storage in any RAID-capable machine.

As a totally practical NAS field/server, the TBS-h574TX we examined sported a 4.5Ghz, Core i5-1340PE (12 cores, 16 threads) and 16GB of DRAM, plus 5GB of NAND for fundamental performance prior to installing the total working system. Notice that this differed from the a 4.4GHz Core i5-1235U CPU listed on the product web page.

Should you’re not conversant in NAS and marvel “Why a CPU?”… The TBS-h574TX’s capabilities go far past easy storage. QNAP’s full-on QuTS hero OS, née (QTS NAS OS) and apps let it function a multimedia server, multimedia playback unit (through HDMI), a backup engine, digital machine and docker host, surveillance station, and much more.

I’ve used QNAP NAS containers for years, and the backup capabilities (each native and cloud) are excellent. Notice that surveillance requires buying extra licenses when you’ve got multiple IP cam.

What are EDSFF and E.1S?

EDSFF stands for Enterprise and Knowledge heart SSD Type Issue and covers a number of sizes of thermally enhanced designs. E.1S is the smallest, meant for SMB and end-user units. E.1S is 33.5mm broad, 118.75mm lengthy, and from 9mm to 25mm thick. The connector is similar M.2 you’ll discover on shopper NVMe SSDs, therefore the interchangeability.

Higher heat-shedding is the principle thrust of EDSFF. That’s to deal with the heavier masses that many enterprise storage units expertise, heading off any thermal throttling which may happen with much less sturdy thermal designs.

How a lot does the QNAP TBS-h574TX value?

The unpopulated (no SSDs) Core i5 model of the field that I examined runs a fairly hefty $1,500 (£3,299 within the U.Okay.). There’s a Core i3 model obtainable for $1,200. These costs are significantly larger than the common shopper NAS field. QNAP itself markets 2-bay fashions for lower than $200, and 5-bay (3.5-inch) fashions for lower than $700 that provide the identical OS and software program, if not {hardware} options.

Nonetheless, given 5 E.1S-compatible SSD bays, Thunderbolt connectivity, and really highly effective CPUs, we’re not sweating the TBS-h574TX’s value. It’s price it when you’ve got the necessity.

Simply keep in mind that you’ll have to populate the field. With regular M.2 SSDs, that might be effectively below $1,000. E.1S may get very costly–a number of thousand {dollars} costly. The truth is, the one 7.6TB Kioxia XD7P mannequin we discovered at CDW was over $7000. CDW is a high-quality service, not a cut price basement outfit, however yowser!

How briskly is the QNAP TBS-h574TX?

The TBS-h574TX is quick in each modes: roughly 10 gigabits/1GBps throughout the community (given 10Gbe) and 20 gigabits/2GBps utilizing the Thunderbolt bridge. Assume Gen 2 USB and Gen 2×2 USB.

I examined utilizing a single 8TB WD 8100, but it surely’s simply able to saturating the PCIe 3.0 bus in addition to the Thunderbolt bridge and 10Gbe.

Instantly under are the benchmark outcomes utilizing 10Gbe ethernet. BlackMagicDesign’s Disk Velocity Check reveals about what you’d anticipate from a 10Gbps protocol with networking overhead.

ATTO confirmed even higher 10Gbe numbers. Extra in step with what you’d see from direct related USB Gen 2 10Gbps. Good.

I’m unsure why AmorphousDiskMark is so pessimistic concerning the TBS-h574TX’s write velocity over ethernet. The opposite benchmarks and our real-life expertise say it’s sooner.

Whereas not the quickest 20Gbps numbers we’ve seen, these proven under definitely show that the TBS-h574TX direct-attached utilizing a Thunderbolt Ethernet bridge is quite a bit sooner then over 10Gbe.

ATTO charges the TBS-h574TX even sooner than Disk Velocity Check with bigger transfers. Effectively over 2GBps.

Once more, for some motive AmorphousDiskMark delivers far slower write numbers utilizing ethernet protocols than the opposite benchmarks.

The TBS-h574TX doesn’t generate a variety of warmth the best way many Thunderbolt storage units do. The case has a variety of floor space for shedding heat, and the dual followers additionally (very quietly) take away a variety of it as effectively.

So far as the efficiency of the HTML interface and the varied capabilities akin to backup, Docker, streaming and so on. The comparatively sturdy Intel CPU and 16GB of reminiscence deal with them fairly properly. I discovered all capabilities fairly a bit sprightlier than with my older 253 sequence containers. Not amazingly, however noticeably so.

Must you purchase the QNAP TBS-h574TX?

The connective versatility of the TBS-h574TX makes it a wonderful selection for inventive workgroups and creators. Share recordsdata over the community, use it instantly hooked up for higher efficiency, and leverage its quite a few NAS/server options as wanted. It’s business-grade gear in a extra prosumer-friendly kind issue.

That mentioned, in case you’re flying solo and don’t have to share content material, straight Thunderbolt or USB4 storage shall be each cheaper (not really low-cost…) and sooner. You possibly can then add NAS options with a less expensive field if wants be.