Manufacturer Bio

QNAP is a provider of Network Attached Storage (NAS) and Network Video Recorder (NVR) solutions, based out of its headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan. QNAP maintains a powerful global network of professional resellers of whom a few provide system integration for their product range. QNAP continues to maintain a product range that complements current technology trends and also timely updates to ensure all QNAP products remain cutting edge.

QNAP has quickly replaced dated manufacturers who have not evolved from a technology sense and forged ahead rapidly grabbing market share and in turn had impressive growth over the last few years.

QNAP US Office

166 University Parkway, Pomona CA 91768
TEL: 909-595-2819
FAX: 909-595-2816
Service Hours: 08:00–17:00 (GMT–08:00 Pacific Time, Mon–Fri)

Tech support: HTTP://QNAP.COM/ONLINESUPPORT.ASPX

Support e-mail: SUPPORT@QNAP.COM

Product Overview

Upon opening the QNAP TS-453 Pro for the first time you are presented with a well packaged NAS unit with all the necessary accessories. QNAP has been generous and provided four Ethernet cables for the four RJ-45 ports located at the back of the TS-453 Pro. Taking the unit out of its box and removing the protective plastic, you can commence installing your selected hard drives. In our case we selected the WD 6TB RED Hard drives for home use and for its lower power, not that makes a huge difference, we just wanted a 6TB drive, performance ratio is average with 5400rpm, look for other NAS drives like the HGST if you want 7200rpm and performance as well.

Installation of the unit is pretty straightforward. Secure your Hard Drives within the trays provided and simply insert them into the NAS bays. Power up the NAS (note you do not have to have the Ethernet cable connected at this point but we hooked up all four anyway), once the NAS has booted you will be presented with RAID options on the LCD panel on the NAS. We installed three HDD so we chose RAID 5 as our protection of choice. After around 6-7 hours our NAS had created the RAID array and we were ready to use the NAS. An important point to note is even after 6-7 hours, the NAS is slightly slower than expected as it continues to synchronize for the next 5 hours or so.

We set up our share folders, users and permissions for our users. After that we setup our MyQnapCloud access so that we had the option of remotely accessing and managing the NAS with the addition of utilizing QSync so we could replace Dropbox with this service. The cloud features work great, we have access to the admin panel of the NAS no matter where we are and of course access to all our files. The user permissions are imperative here as they control what a remote user sees and can even do on the NAS, this was carried out by us as general setup and case scenario for the NAS.

Our next action was to install Plex Media server, an important point to remember is the Plex application that is found within the QNAP app center is out of date and no longer updated. Download directly from plex.tv and manually install it onto your NAS. Plex is a great rich media server, which allows for auto scanning of chosen media folders so you do not have to manually refresh every time you transfer new media onto your NAS, additionally it auto downloads all Metadata for your movies, TV shows, pictures, and music.

In summary we get great performance ratio from our QNAP TS-453 Pro, in the future we may upgrade the RAM to 8GB as this will help with the live transcoding of media and speed up the Web UI for remote access as that does lag ever so slightly.

Product Specs

Features

QTS 4.0 - Simple and efficient

Thanks to the intuitive user interface of QTS, system operations of the TS-453 Pro are smooth and handy. Its 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 operating efficiency..

SSD cache acceleration

The TS-453 Pro supports SSD caching which can greatly boost IOPS performance of storage volumes. It is perfect for improving overall workflow of IOPS-demanding applications such as virtualization.

Use your TS-453 Pro as a PC with the exclusive QvPC Technology

QNAP’s exclusive QvPC Technology consolidates a number of high-end technologies including VM integration, multimedia transcoding, HDMI output, cloud integration and NAS connection technologies, allowing users to operate the TS-453 Pro as a PC when they plug in a keyboard, mouse and monitor. With QvPC Technology, the TS-453 Pro is transformed into a cost-effective device with PC functionalities for users to directly access stored data, run multiple applications using Windows/Linux/UNIX/Android-based VMs, surf the web on Google Chrome, enjoy Full HD videos with up to 7.1 channel audio with XBMC, monitor Surveillance Station in real time with local display, and much more.

Run additional operating systems on the TS-453 Pro

With the support for Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x), the TS-453 Pro can operate the Virtualization Station, transforming the TS-453 Pro into a 2-in-a-box NAS that can function as an all-in-one NAS and a virtualization platform that supports multiple operating systems, fast virtual machine (VM) creation, VM import/export, snapshot, and enables desktop operations on web browsers. With the easy-to-use interface, you can centrally manage all of the VMs created on the TS-453 Pro with minimal effort. You can also download VMs on demand from online VM markets and import them to the TS-453 Pro without any complex procedures.
Note: TS-453 Pro with 8GB RAM (TS-453 Pro-8G) is recommended.

Cross-platform file sharing, centralized data storage

The TS-453 Pro 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-453 Pro 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 built-in LDAP service. The TS-453 Pro supports SAMBA v4 and can act as a Windows domain controller to manage privilege settings.

Well-rounded backup solutions to secure data

QNAP NetBak Replicator supports real-time and scheduled data backup on Windows including Outlook email archiving. Apple Time Machine is also supported to provide Mac OS X users with a solution to effortlessly back up data to the TS-453 Pro. The USB 3.0 port on the front panel of the TS-453 Pro features a one-touch-copy function for you to instantly back up data from external drives to the TS-453 Pro with just one click, or alternatively to back up data from the TS-453 Pro to external drives. A wide range of third-party backup software such as Acronis® True Image and Symantec® Backup Exec are also supported.

Disaster recovery solutions brings peace of mind

The TS-453 Pro offers various data recovery options. RTRR (Real-Time Remote Replication) supports real time or scheduled data backup to a remote Turbo NAS or FTP server and synchronizes files to a remote folder from a local folder with better backup efficiency and reduced backup time. The TS-453 Pro also supports rsync protocol to back up data to another remote server on scheduled basis. Data can also be backed up to and restored from a range of cloud storage services, including Amazon® S3, Amazon Glacier, Microsoft® Azure, ElephantDrive®, Dropbox® and Google® Drive.

Optimize IT assets management with the IT Management Station

The IT Management Station, powered by Mandriva® Pulse, provides a flexible service for managing multi-OS and multi-site IT assets for business of all sizes. By installing the IT Management Station on the TS-453 Pro, you can centrally manage multiple IT resources with numerous business applications including comprehensive inventory, centralized software deployment & updates, imaging, remote management & support, backup & restore, and more tasks with greater flexibility and productivity.

Access, use, sync and enjoy with your tablets and smartphones

The TS-453 Pro is your private cloud storage that virtually enlarges the capacity of your mobile devices. Qfile allows you to access, upload, download, manage, and share stored files easily as if you are carrying tons of files in your pocket. If Qfile is installed on an iOS device, users can also browse videos & photos stored on the TS-453 Pro and play via Apple TV. Qmanager lets you monitor & manage the TS-453 Pro remotely and efficiently without turning on a PC, while Qmusic allows you to listen to your music on the TS-453 Pro anytime and anywhere, and download to enjoy offline.

Install-on-demand apps to extend NAS functionality

The TS-453 Pro has a built-in App Center that provides various install-on-demand apps developed by QNAP and third-party developers, including tools for backup/sync, business, content management, communications, download, entertainment, and much more. It is also a centralized location for managing & updating installed apps. In addition, QNAP’s development platform embraces the open-source spirit to enable developers to create their own apps, adding potentially limitless potential for the TS-453 Pro.

Performance

Powered by a cutting-edge 22nm quad-core Intel® Celeron® 2.0GHz processor with 2GB/8GB energy-efficient DDR3L RAM (upgradable to 8GB), coupled with the support of SATA 6Gb/s, 4 Gigabit LAN ports and HDMI output, the TS-453 Pro is a powerful NAS that delivers up to 415MB/s read & write speeds. The TS-453 Pro can also automatically increase the processor's clock rate from 2.0GHz to 2.41GHz when needed for CPU-intensive tasks. The TS-453 Pro’s fast encryption and decryption performance provides transfer speeds of up to 70MB/s with AES-256 bit volume encryption, boosting system performance & security while ensuring the safety of sensitive business data stored in the TS-453 Pro. When installed with the latest dual-band 2.4GHz/5GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi network card, the TS-453 Pro can offer remarkably high speeds for transferring large amount of files and streaming bandwidth-consuming multimedia.

*Tested in QNAP lab. Figures could vary by environments.