QNAP TS-109 Pro II NAS Review

QNAP has a pretty good reputation worldwide as a manufacturer of high quality NAS's. The test can find a model with room for one 3.5 "SATA drive, with a really impressive list of options. This device is faster in the market, with an interface that works very quickly and is a good example of practical and intuitive user interface.

QNAP (short for "Quality Network Appliance Provider") is a company based in Taiwan which is one of the leaders in the world according to NAS (Network Attached Storage) and NVP (Network Video Recorder) solutions. Recently, QNAP can be found in our country and we will do our best to get acquainted with the whole range of products of this company. Numerous prizes and positive reviews all over the world are the best indicator that the QNAP extra attention. We offer a large number of NAS's various uses, from home models (which among others include the model of the test, the TS-109 Pro II) serious Rack mount server solutions that meet the strictest criteria and business users. NAS devices are distinguished by a few criteria: the number of supported hard drives, hardware configuration, supported interfaces, devices and software specifications Finally, measured performance as it varies by manufacturer and specific model. Although the model of the test is one of the entry-level NAS's, however, is a list of supported options in the software impressive, so rare that the model of other manufacturers in this category can be compared.


Key Features 

• Excellent quality, totally passive cooling 
• LAN, eSATA and USB interface 
• Extremely fast data transfer 
• The software features an impressive 

Specification 

Processor: Marvell 5182 500MHz
Memory: 256 MB DDR2 (8MB Flash memory)
Hard disk: 3.5 "SATA II (the device comes without a hard disk, compatible discs)
LAN: 1x 10/100/1000 port
USB: 3x USB 2.0 (printer, hub, UPS, disk, digital camera)
eSATA: 1x eSATA
Dimensions: 210x60x182 mm
Weight: 1.2kg
Power consumption: 14.4W (6.6W idle)
Noise Level: 33dBA (26dBA Standby)
Software: File, FTP, Backup, Printer, Web, MySQL, UPnP media, iTunes Server, Multimedia Station, Download Station,
File System: EXT3 (internal, external), FAT, NTFS (External)
Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux
Backup: NetBak Replicator
QNAP TS-109 Pro II NAS

The U.S. package with a device that resembles the look and size to the average external 3.5 "hard drive rack, with an external power adapter (to say immediately that here can not afford to buy a spare adapter if necessary), USB and power cables as and holders that serve as a podium to make us stand erect. The device is quite simple, the front is a USB connector, two buttons (Power and Copy) and status LEDs (Status, HDD, eSATA, LAN, Power). the rear placed power connector, recessed reset button, two USB, LAN and an eSATA port. U.S. opens very easily, by unscrewing two screws lengthy, when the outer shell is removed, and we see that the structure is also very simple inside, a metal rack for a hard disk, printed circuit board with processor and memory, connectors and status LEDs on the front. Installation disk is literally half a minute. The whole body is made of aluminum, which means a lot when it comes to cooling after the U.S. completely passively cooled. mention and that is quite quietly, in fact the only thing you can hear the hard drive, but the encapsulated frames are free to say it works very quietly.


QNAP TS-109 Pro II NAS detail 
The configuration of the device is quite good (for us in this category), and is installed Marvel 500MHz processor, 256MB of DDR2 memory and 8MB of flash memory (firmware flash memory will next take up little space on the hard disk). Following a lot of good user, you must first install the drive, find the device over the network and then load the firmware (of course we recommend that the most recent version downloaded from the manufacturer's website). Since this is essentially the compact body packed a small Linux machine, you need to wait a little to boot when you first join, after which it can be accessed through a Web interface settings. What we say is that the entire Web interface built using Ajax, that is extremely fast and well organized, so it can not happen to be an option long sought. On the home screen shortcuts are available the following: Web File Manager, Web Server, Multimedia Station, Download Station, Surveillance Station. Administration has a special link, and there are stored all the options for advanced setup of the device (Quick Configuration, System Settings, Network Settings, Device Configuration, User Management, Network Share Management, System Tools, System Logs).

We will describe some interesting features that make this very interesting. There is a Download Station, which offers download files from the Internet or through direct removal of built-in Bit Torrent client (no need to turn on the computer). Then there is the Web server that supports PHP4 and MySQL (installed phpMyAdmin, Joomla!), File and FTP server, backup server (with Encrypted Remote Replication). The device can be connected to a printer (via USB, up to a maximum of three pieces) and is implemented as print server, and for those of us used for multimedia, there is a UPnP Media Server (specifically, TwonkyMedia Server is installed), which means streaming video and music directly from the disk, where for example supported the popular DivX format. Finally, we will mention the Surveillance Station, which allows you to configure and connect two IP cameras and video recording and reviewing material from a remote location.

Summary 

The strongest argument of this device is definitely a data transfer, and the QNAP TS-109 Pro II is one of the faster devices of its class, except that over the LAN interface is better than most other NAS devices we've tested. USB and SATA performance are among the better. At the very least, the QNAP device really deserves praise for the performance and feature set that will impress demanding customers. This is why, following the biggest recommendation.