QNAP TS-473A-8G 4-Bay AMD Ryzen Quad-Core NAS

I've owned QNAP before and given the software is not as good as Synology's I chose this for, the hardware spec and price point which for me represents good value.There are tow things to bear in mind when buying QNAP.The first thing I do when buying new hardware like this, is update the firmware to the latest stable version. This one came with 4.x which I upgraded to the new 5.x. I recommend you DON'T DO THIS until version 5.x is a few releases more into the cycle.I use this to host my Plex server on, now the older version of Plex that can be installed works fine. But recent versions of Plex have a nicer UI and Categories for Movies which I use a lot of. Later versions of Plex seem to run slow as and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I've run Plex on a Pi ... MoreI've owned QNAP before and given the software is not as good as Synology's I chose this for, the hardware spec and price point which for me represents good value.There are tow things to bear in mind when buying QNAP.The first thing I do when buying new hardware like this, is update the firmware to the latest stable version. This one came with 4.x which I upgraded to the new 5.x. I recommend you DON'T DO THIS until version 5.x is a few releases more into the cycle.I use this to host my Plex server on, now the older version of Plex that can be installed works fine. But recent versions of Plex have a nicer UI and Categories for Movies which I use a lot of. Later versions of Plex seem to run slow as and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I've run Plex on a Pi as a docker container and never had issues so wtf.The library scans are also ridiculously slow on the NAS, my music collection took over 24 hours which is just ridiculous.I abandoned the Plex idea and installed the Photo software that comes with the QNAP.As soon as I did, the NAS slowed down to a crawl. Looking at the system processes, I had heap of zombie processes(not good). Did some investigation and turns out there is some kind of malware that can be installed with some versions of the QNAP Photo software. Whether this has now being fixed I'm not sure, but its not what I would expect from a reputable company. Anyway, it was eating too many system resources. A reboot sorted the issue for an hour or so then it came back. That did it, I went back to my Asustor until QNAP fixes these bugs.QNAP needs to do better on the software side. They should follow Synologies lead and optimize the software better for its platform.QNAP has excellent hardware, but the software seems to have gone downhill since I last owned one.If you want a basic NAS for storage and maybe stream music and Video, Asustor have some good offerings, software ain't great but for the price you pay its not bad.

This is a decent entry level NAS. I was in need of some form of storage pool and was getting tired of constantly connecting and disconnecting USB drives. This Qnap NAS gives me the option of storing my data on the network. I can also backup my laptop to it. The USB drives I was using are now connected to the NAS and they are working as network storage too. On top of that we can now stream music and video to our mobile phones, without having to copy media onto phone storage.So it is definitely something worth having.

Had this device for a while and was reasonably happy with it... Not fancy but functional at a lowish price point... But when I finally upgraded my network to > 1GBps, I naïvely tried to connect this device with a good SPF connector... And in fact, it was fine until I rebooted to upgrade the firmware. Then the device didn't come up all the way, leaving me with a non-working device. It was in this sad state for a week before I managed to get someone from support on the line... and he asked me, "what SFP module are you using?" Apparently the BIOS just dies part way through when it finds an SFP module it doesn't like, rather than just disabling the interface. So he directed me to the list of supported SFP modules... And... well, none of them seem to actually let you ... MoreHad this device for a while and was reasonably happy with it... Not fancy but functional at a lowish price point... But when I finally upgraded my network to > 1GBps, I naïvely tried to connect this device with a good SPF connector... And in fact, it was fine until I rebooted to upgrade the firmware. Then the device didn't come up all the way, leaving me with a non-working device. It was in this sad state for a week before I managed to get someone from support on the line... and he asked me, "what SFP module are you using?" Apparently the BIOS just dies part way through when it finds an SFP module it doesn't like, rather than just disabling the interface. So he directed me to the list of supported SFP modules... And... well, none of them seem to actually let you plug in an RJ45 adapter. Fine I guess if you happen to have an open SFP port on a switch and can run fiber to it, but for something at the consumer end of the NAS world to not support RJ45 at 10GBps (when the big selling point is that 10GB interface) is pretty bad. Very sorry I purchased it, but unfortunately I waited too long to find out this exciting quirk, and it's too late to return it or I would.

Took a bit of work getting my head around all the software, does not work like windows. You can't just connect like an external drive waymore complicated. Do your research on Youtube before purchasing. However once you get use to it really easy to use. Upgrade the RAM to 8GB for $32, more than enough. Can watch my family video's on TV and phone from anywhere. Can share links across the world so family in Scotland can log in and watch on my NAS. Best thing I have purchased in years really happy with it.

Decent Box - But Software Seems Terrible

I ended up purchasing this product because it had decent reviews online and based on some YouTube reviews of the QNAP product overall. Although this is my first NAS, I'm not new to IT. I've developed a ton of software, built my own computers, etc. I was hoping that thing would just kind of work for what I needed it for - as an extra storage unit for my home network because our media library has grown a bit enormous. Alas, this has been nothing but a headache since I purchased it last year. From the initial setup and configuration to the major security problems, to their cloud access solution, to their virtual switches, etc. Everything I try to use with this software seems to have bugs of some sort. This is the worst hardware/software purchase I've made in the past ... MoreI ended up purchasing this product because it had decent reviews online and based on some YouTube reviews of the QNAP product overall. Although this is my first NAS, I'm not new to IT. I've developed a ton of software, built my own computers, etc. I was hoping that thing would just kind of work for what I needed it for - as an extra storage unit for my home network because our media library has grown a bit enormous. Alas, this has been nothing but a headache since I purchased it last year. From the initial setup and configuration to the major security problems, to their cloud access solution, to their virtual switches, etc. Everything I try to use with this software seems to have bugs of some sort. This is the worst hardware/software purchase I've made in the past two decades and it's not close. I've contacted their technical support team twice. Once I was connected with a technical representative who had to do some research on the problem I was having for about a week before he informed me that what I was trying to do wasn't possible because they use a unique version of Linux for their OS. Another time I called and someone from India answered the technical support line to tell me he couldn't really help me with any technical problems. I can't really understate the security issues that have been going on either. This past year, it's one security notification after another including what appears to be a major security concern associated with the web access for their myQNAPCloud service. I feel like having that access configured is basically creating a big hole in my own home network inviting ransomware in. And the pace of 'security alerts' that they've been sending out lately doesn't make me feel any better. I mean - it's great that they are looking for, finding, and fixing security problems. But it does seem like I get one security alert a week from QNAP saying that found another vulnerability. I could go on and on about how much of a pain in the side this machine has been for me but I'll just wrap up by saying this if you want something that just works don't even consider QNAP - just go with the Synology.

Excellent Upgrade

I waited for this unit to become available and I'm very glad I did. This was an excellent upgrade from a dead TS-453mini. Much faster at doing everything. I put 16-GB of RAM from Team Group 2x8GB-3200 DDR4-SODimm in it and it flies. My 453mini died shortly after I had updated to 5.0.0 (1911). I simply moved over the drives from the dead unit (in the correct order), turned on this unit and it started right up, recognized everything and just worked. I simply had to do a file system check and then the firmware update and all is perfect. QNAP definitely hit a home run with this unit.

Fine product, fast delivery, easy set up, somewhat confusing terminology

The QNAP TS-451D2 NAS solves a long-standing problem of where to save backups in my home business network that comprises 3 Windows PCs (two of which are mobile) and 2 smartphones. I am also decommissioning an old Western Digital TV LIve Hub media server. The QNAP TS-451D2 NAS will hold all that media as well. I don't have it all working yet, but the NAS provides the storage foundation while letting me clear the desks of all the USB external hard drives. I installed a mix of drives, i.e. 3 x WD and 1 x Seagate, in a mix of capacities, i.e. 1 x 8 TB and 3 x 4 TB drives, and a mix of grades, i.e. 2 x Red (NAS quality), 2 x desktop quality, etc. The NAS accepted them all. Unfortunately, under QNAP's RAID-5 implementation, the total storage is determined by the smallest ... MoreThe QNAP TS-451D2 NAS solves a long-standing problem of where to save backups in my home business network that comprises 3 Windows PCs (two of which are mobile) and 2 smartphones. I am also decommissioning an old Western Digital TV LIve Hub media server. The QNAP TS-451D2 NAS will hold all that media as well. I don't have it all working yet, but the NAS provides the storage foundation while letting me clear the desks of all the USB external hard drives. I installed a mix of drives, i.e. 3 x WD and 1 x Seagate, in a mix of capacities, i.e. 1 x 8 TB and 3 x 4 TB drives, and a mix of grades, i.e. 2 x Red (NAS quality), 2 x desktop quality, etc. The NAS accepted them all. Unfortunately, under QNAP's RAID-5 implementation, the total storage is determined by the smallest drive in the group. Thus, even though I have a total of 20 TB installed, RAID-5 is only using 16 TB from which the RAiD-5 provides 12 TB of addressable user storage, which is 10.92 TB in binary units. The ability to upgrade capacity in place does works. My initial configuration was 8 TB+4 TB+4 TB+3 TB. I later freed-up another 4 TB drive and used to replace the 3 TB drive. The procedure is documented online. It is not difficult, but it also not drop-dead obvious, so read and follow carefully. Be prepared for the process to take *many* hours and as the capacity of drives increases, the timeframes get longer. Eventually, I will replace all the 4 TB drives with 6 TB or 8 TB. That process will take several days. The Plex Media Server is working beautifully on the QNAP TS-451D2 NAS. Streaming over Wi-Fi throughout the house is smooth using the Plex Windows App. I am disappointed in the QSync app for Android for two reasons: 1. It does not backup *everything* on the phone. So it is not the disaster recovery solution I had hoped for. It is a "sync" solution only and I already use Resilio Sync for that. 2. You need to configure individual subfolders one by one. It doesn't let you sync Android's main Internal storage folder, which would at least sync all user data with a single setting. So I am still looking for a high quality solution to backing up the smartphones. Despite a few minor nits, overall, I am very pleased with the QNAP TS-451D2 NAS. In the few weeks that I've been using it, is has been trouble-free and working completely as documented.

Great lab disk enclosure

Works as advertised. Supports VAAI storage primitives iSCSI and NFS. Easy to configure and using QuTs Hero with ZFS. Excellent performance and flexibility, as well as dedupe and compression with external cloud storage providers as replication targets. Ordered U.2 - 2xNVMe trays and have 8TB of NVMe RAID0 across 4 PCIe lanes for massive cache performance. Easily maxxed out the system RAM to 64GB using non-ECC DIMMs works great even without using QNAP provided RAM. 10Gbe networking bonded with the 2x2.5Gbe ports for 15Gbe trunked to commodity switch is fantastic. Five 7200rpm x 18TB HDD, 4xNVMe 2TB and 2x4TB SSD for 11 total drives and 106TB raw storage even only using 9 bays. This thing is incredible for a home lab setup for vSphere.

I just wanted to post a quick review to assist others and hopefully reduce any future aggravation...

I just wanted to post a quick review to assist others and hopefully reduce any future aggravation. For those that are looking for a compatible 10Gbe SFP+ PCIe card (other than QNAP), I opted for the following and it works perfectly. ""'SoNNeT Solo 10GBASE-T Ethernet 1-Port PCIe Card SFP incl. [Thunderbolt Compatible]'. I have two PCI cards installed, the above and a QNAP Q2 NVMe 2280 SSD expansion card. The SoNNnetT 10Gbe network card was the installed on top and the QNAP below for reasons that will make sense if you have a similar configuration. I removed 1 star because you'll quickly notice that the wiring harness may require re-routing through the box (along the side). The wires are pinched by the Q2 card. It might be fine to leave it alone but I wasn't going to ... MoreI just wanted to post a quick review to assist others and hopefully reduce any future aggravation. For those that are looking for a compatible 10Gbe SFP+ PCIe card (other than QNAP), I opted for the following and it works perfectly. ""'SoNNeT Solo 10GBASE-T Ethernet 1-Port PCIe Card SFP incl. [Thunderbolt Compatible]'. I have two PCI cards installed, the above and a QNAP Q2 NVMe 2280 SSD expansion card. The SoNNnetT 10Gbe network card was the installed on top and the QNAP below for reasons that will make sense if you have a similar configuration. I removed 1 star because you'll quickly notice that the wiring harness may require re-routing through the box (along the side). The wires are pinched by the Q2 card. It might be fine to leave it alone but I wasn't going to take the risk. Be patient and watch out for the sharp sheet metal. This looks to be a great unit so far (too soon to tell).

QNAP is Horrible. Buying from BandH overall good tho!

Qnap customer service is a joke. Submit a claim and then they will tell you when they will call you, oh and it won't be anytime soon. They pushed me off once we connected and they acted like I was asking the biggest favor to get assistance! That's after waiting days for my appointment.It's been about a year since purchase of the TS-128A, multiple attempts and actual connection with the staff but still this server remains a paper weight! Yes, primary reason is user lack of knowledge. But I'm very tech savvy, yet there software and basic setup process is laughable. Even after I let Qnap connect remotely to my computer to set it up it still remains a brick. If QNAP themselves can't make it work in a practical matter, then fat chance you will. STAY AWAY! Regardless of ... MoreQnap customer service is a joke. Submit a claim and then they will tell you when they will call you, oh and it won't be anytime soon. They pushed me off once we connected and they acted like I was asking the biggest favor to get assistance! That's after waiting days for my appointment.It's been about a year since purchase of the TS-128A, multiple attempts and actual connection with the staff but still this server remains a paper weight! Yes, primary reason is user lack of knowledge. But I'm very tech savvy, yet there software and basic setup process is laughable. Even after I let Qnap connect remotely to my computer to set it up it still remains a brick. If QNAP themselves can't make it work in a practical matter, then fat chance you will. STAY AWAY! Regardless of the model you buy, it is the software/system. Way to confusing and not intuitive in the slightest. Watched many tutorials on Qnap's site itself and youtube. Over 72 accumulative hours messing with this junk. I'm writing this as I have been waiting over a hour for there support team to assist me, again.....for at LEAST a third time of remote connect help. How can BandH sell this junk and assure one that you don't have to hold a degree in computer science for it work. Spent thousands of dollars at bandh on various accounts over the years, first product I've been ripped off on. BandH is a great company and they do there best to assist you. Do the right thing stop selling this brand. Qnap is not a quality user friendly company. Maybe I'll win a gift card for this review so I can get my money back lol. Best of odds to all you out there :)