Qnap TS-983XU-E2124-8G review

Qnap’s TS-983XU has more features – this 1U rack NAS has an amazing hardware package. This is the first device to feature Intel’s latest Xeon E (entry-level) CPU, with server-grade ECC DDR4 memory and up to 9 drives.

Overview

When the cover is broken, its storage credentials become clear: a row of five SFF trays lurking over the four hot-swappable LFF bays. These are designed to accept SATA SSDs that can be used for general storage tasks as a performance-enhanced cache or as part of a layer that receives hot data from Qnap’s Qtier 2 function.

The port selection is excellent. The TS-983XU features dual Gigabit and 10GbE SFP+ fiber ports and two Gen2 and four Gen1 USB 3.1 ports. The device also features a PCI-e slot for insertion of additional 10GbE copper or fiber cards or Qnap SAS3 storage. Expansion Card.

Xeon E generates more heat than low-power atoms, but Qnap uses an 8-inch long aluminum CPU heatsink to address this issue. The noise level of the SPLnFFT iOS app on our iPad is very low, reporting a silence of 38.2dB from the front one meter.

Qnap’s QFinder discovery application simplifies deployment and testing. We installed four 10TB Seagate IronWolf NAS drives and created a RAID5 storage pool using the Quick Start Wizard. Volumes, NAS shares, and iSCSI LUNs can be easily created from the Storage&Snapshots application, which is another trick because it supports snapshots of the standard EXT4 file system and does not require formatting them as Btrfs volumes.

Snapshots can be run on demand, scheduled every five minutes, and quickly rolled back to a specific point in time. You can also use the File Station 5 app to browse NAS snapshots and restore individual files or folders.

When Qtier 2 upgrades an existing storage pool as needed, you can create tiered storage as you wish. The plan determines when a data migration between the two tiers occurs, but note that once created, the SSD storage tier cannot be deleted in the future.

Its relatively high CPU core count and large memory capacity make the TS-983XU ideal for virtualization, and Qnap provides a rich set of applications. Container Station supports LXC and Docker applications in lightweight containers, Linux Station runs Ubuntu with QTS, and Virtualization Station 3 can host any operating system you want.

The appliance is no slouch for performance with a NAS share accessed over 10GbE returning Iometer sequential read and write rates both of 9.2Gbits/sec. We upped the pressure using a second Xeon Scalable server with a dedicated share and saw high cumulative Iometer read and write rates of 18.3Gbits/sec and 15.4Gbits/sec.

Real-world performance is also great. The average read and write rates for drag-and-drop copies of 25GB test files are 5.3Gbits/sec and 4.9Gbits/sec. It insists on backup duties, has 22.4GB of folders and 10,500 small files, fixed at a shared location at 2.6Gbps.

QTS offers a rich set of cloud applications for remote file synchronization, workstation backup or sharing, while security consultants scan your device to keep you safe, highlight potential security holes and provide sage advice to turn them off. The Notification Center takes this to the next level by providing a central platform for managing all system logs as well as email, SMS, IM, and mobile push status alerts.

Conclusion

The TS-983XU is a bit expensive for 1U rack NAS, but SMBs will find it harder to find more powerful alternatives elsewhere. The Xeon E CPU delivers outstanding performance out of the box, supporting 10GbE, and a clever internal design that provides flexible storage options.

Product specifications

  • 1U rack chassis
  • 3.3GHz quad-core Xeon E-2124
  • 8GB DDR4 ECC (maximum 64GB)
  • 4 x LFF hot swap, 5 x built-in SFF SATA drive bay
  • supports RAID0, 1 , 5, 6, 10, 50 , 60, JBOD
  • 2 x Gigabit
  • 2 x 10GbE SFP+ 
  • 6 x USB 3.1
  • 1 x PCI-e
  • 250W internal PSU
  • 3 year RTB warranty

Original Article Source from https://www.itpro.co.uk/network-attached-storage-nas/33474/qnap-ts-983xu-e2124-8g-review-a-true-storage-all-star