Overall good value. Some features aren't good enough to pay for. I would say get a more storage centric NAS with good performance and dont worry about transcoding or HDMI out since an Nvidia shield will run much better than any onboard Qnap provided software and have more utility. This goes especially if you have a large amount of content. The qnap apps are slow and not optimized for displaying folders with huge amounts of files and folders. I have a music folder with thousands of artists subdivided into their own respective folders and the media apps just aren't good enough. I will say that the added processing power is probably good for boosting raid performance since it's a software raid controller.
The network capabilities, PCI expandability, and provided system tools are helpful and provide a lot of flexibility. Port trunking is great for splitting the load between the gigabit ports if your router supports it, however with the PCI slot, optional 10gbe or wireless network cards are good options for connecting to the nas though I haven't needed either yet for personal use. The onboard software and downloadable apps from qnap provide a great deal of functionality native to the qnap. The cool thing is that apart from accessing the NAS via multiplatform apps across the internet, you can easily setup FTP, web server, SSH, WebDAV, and manage several other features remotely. For someone who is somewhat technically inclined but not experienced with coding or managing servers, the interface and functionality is great. Setting up individual users with unique permissions and access is also very easy in case you want to share things on your NAS over the internet without providing full access or write permissions.
8GB of RAM is essential. I upgraded with $50 worth of RAM from crucial and noticed my NAS hovers around 2gb of RAM usage at all times. Either way, swap memory is bad and RAM is cheap, just dont buy the 8gb model since it's overpriced.
Aesthetics are nice if you plan to leave this thing out in the open next to your tv, but for me personally, I actually like the more secure and durable look of the key locked drive inserts. Additionally, the slotted face of those types of inserts provide better airflow for cooling whereas the tinted face cover looks cool but blocks all airflow from the front. I dont think it's a cause for concern since, but still not a great design for practicality. The plastic drive holders are easy to use but feel cheap and flimsy.
Overall I like it and my critiques dont affect my overall favorable view of the product.
| Standing screen display size | 2 |
|---|---|
| Processor | 3 GHz celeron |
| RAM | 4 GB DDR4 |
| Hard Drive | 3.5 Flash Memory Solid State |
| Chipset Brand | intel |
| Card Description | Dedicated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 2 |
