Computing on Demand PC News & Reviews
It is so easy for us at C.O.D. to get carried away with storage solutions that are a bit over the top. Although there are a few of you out there that get excited about 6 bay and 8 bay NAS, most of the people I know are more likely to look for a 2 bay or 4 bay solution for their home or small business. In an effort to fill the gap, QNAP has decided that we should take a look at their latest 2 bay NAS, the QNAP TS-269 PRO.
The TS-269 PRO is more than just your entry-level 2 bay NAS. QNAP classifies this 2 bay solution as an SMB NAS. For home users, there is a less powerful version that lacks some of the features the TS-269 PRO brings to the table. First, the QNAP TS-269 PRO brings an Intel Atom Processor running at 2.13GHz, 1GB RAM (upgradeable to 3GB), a 512MB DOM, Dual Gigabit Ethernet Ports, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 2 USB 3.0 Ports, an eSATA port, and the coveted HDMI port. The NAS weighs in at 1.74kg, has a 90W external power brick, and measures 150 x 102 x 216 mm. If you are looking for a direct comparison to their “home” 2 bay NAS, the TS-219P II:
QNAP devices, like this one, share a unified firmware that offers:
- FTP Server
- File Server
- Backup Center
- Web Server
- Radius Server
- Syslog Server
- Printer Server
- Surveillance Station
- VPN Server
- LDAP Server
- Proxy Server
- Music Station
- Photo Station
- Video Station
- DJ Station
- Cloud Access via MyCloudNAS
- Mobile Applications
- Much More with QNAP QPKGs
The list is virtually endless.
QNAP packs FIPS 140-2 certified AES 256-bit volume based data encryption for those concerned about storing sensitive or confidential data. This type of encryption requires that a password or key is provided in order to access any of the data stored. Obtaining this level of encryption is no easy or cheap task for QNAP to accomplish. The testing and validation required to be certified is a necessary measure in order to have storage products sold to the Federal Government. Along with the security that encryption brings you, there still remains the ability to limit accessibility to the NAS based on IP filtering and user/group level access rights as well as policy based automatic IP blocking.
The TS-269 PRO includes iSCSI support. With iSCSI you can redistribute free space on your NAS volume to iSCSI for server virtualization or virtual disk drives on other Servers in your environment. QNAP’s implementation does not require that you destroy and rebuild your RAID array to migrate, change, delete, or reallocate your iSCSI preferences in the same ways that some other NAS manufacturers do.
To keep you abreast of all things NAS, the firmware can notify you should anything go awry with your array. The QNAP TS-269 PRO can notify you via SMS, Windows Live Messenger, or email that something is wrong. The system can be monitored via SNMP, it supports S.M.A.R.T. and advanced hard drive health scanning, it features extensive logging (including banning IP addresses after failed login attempts) and more.
