Hi Guys
Recently we have joined forced with our main NAS supplier to offer a comprehensive range of pre-filled NAS units from QNAP and Synology, the market leaders in home and enterprise grade storage.
View the expanding range here
A NAS is an ideal replacement for a server especially in a small business scenario where low power consumption, reliability, redundancy and a small unit footprint are important.
In simple terms, these units come pre-filled with drives, ready to use with full technical support from our supplier. When an order is placed, the unit is shipped to you as soon as possible, pre configured and ready for you to set up at your home or business.
We also offer extended warranties for our NAS solutions that are provided directly with the supplier, if a drive dies, it is easily replaced. The main NAS unit is also covered under comprehensive warranty for peace of mind.
Choosing a NAS has never been so easy. At the moment, we have a small range on offer which focusses on quite high end units, throughout the week you will see additions to the range with the more affordable units that are aimed at home users.
All of our populated NAS solutions are shipped with Hitachi Deskstar drives, the brand of drives may be subject to change due to availability but the specification would remain the same high standard.
Today, I will be reviewing a business orientated solution, the QNAP TS-439 Pro II+ 4TB Solution. This unit has been with us on loan for a few days to see exactly what it can do, and it certainly doesn't disappoint.
check out the spec sheet of the NAS for a full run-down of its capabilities.
[remember that nearly all QNAP and Synology units we sell offer a lot of these features too]
The TS-439 Pro II+ is a brilliant all rounder, for business it gives excellent performance thanks to its impressive Intel Atom CPU which uses hyper threading to boost performance alongside a generous amount of memory.
The TS-439 Pro II+ comes in a large box which tells you all about the features it has, as you would expect, the box is quite boring.
Inside the box you find a full setup sheet designed specifically for this product. The sheet is written by the supplier rather than the manufacturer and includes the following:
All of this information is especially useful, especially for the first time setup. However, the setup is a doddle anyway.
Here are some snaps of the product:
After around an hour of drooling over the quality of the unit, we decided to get it plugged into the OcUK network and set up.
Setting up this unit could not be simpler, the installation sheet accompanying the NAS is very detailed and really holds your hand through each stage. The chances of getting it wrong are slim.
In a nutshell, all that we had to do was plug the unit in and run a network cable from the back of the NAS to the switch that runs Gibbo, Nath, and my computers. it was that easy.
As soon as the NAS was switched on, it booted up and was ready for initial setup.
Now, you can locate the NAS over the network by searching for it in windows then accessing the IP via a browser, but I like the QNAP Finder software. This dedicated application allows you to find the NAS, easily map network drives as well as assign passwords and IP addresses and perform FW updates.
After launching QNAP finder, the NAS shows up straight away with all of its details. Clicking on the NAS details brings up your default browser with the NAS control panel.
You start by setting the NAS up to meet your specific requirements:
after entering basic details, you get to enable the features that really make the NAS useful:
The next step is setting the RAID array:
The setup tells you how each RAID option works and explains the benefits to you.
you get to check all your options before you press install, install takes around 20 seconds
The RAID array builds itself in the background whilst you continue to explore the NAS control panel which is really neat. You can then assign users, map network drives, configuration of the server is intuitive and easy.
with the NAS on the network, the whole office logged into the unit to get a feel for it and check out the interface. There were a lot of impressed faces
One of the features I use at home on my older QNAP NAS is the Download Station which allows you to use the NAS to perform unattended downloads without the need for a PC. the download station software is easy to use and supports multiple download clients.
In addition to the already feature rich software, the QNAP allows you to download and install applications that expand its usefulness called QPKGs
To check the transfer performance, I decided to do a backup of some games and throw them onto the NAS.
To say that this was quick would be a massive understatement.
In summary, I am very impressed with the unit. It provides server level file storage performance for a fraction of the cost. as a basic server, it excels. The unit is quiet and looks brilliant. The built in screen gives you all the info you need at the touch of a button as well.
I could go on about each feature that these units have individually but it would take me an age.
put simply, if you have a small business or want epic amounts of fast, secure network storage, this is the first place you need to be looking.
Recently we have joined forced with our main NAS supplier to offer a comprehensive range of pre-filled NAS units from QNAP and Synology, the market leaders in home and enterprise grade storage.
View the expanding range here
A NAS is an ideal replacement for a server especially in a small business scenario where low power consumption, reliability, redundancy and a small unit footprint are important.
In simple terms, these units come pre-filled with drives, ready to use with full technical support from our supplier. When an order is placed, the unit is shipped to you as soon as possible, pre configured and ready for you to set up at your home or business.
We also offer extended warranties for our NAS solutions that are provided directly with the supplier, if a drive dies, it is easily replaced. The main NAS unit is also covered under comprehensive warranty for peace of mind.
Choosing a NAS has never been so easy. At the moment, we have a small range on offer which focusses on quite high end units, throughout the week you will see additions to the range with the more affordable units that are aimed at home users.
All of our populated NAS solutions are shipped with Hitachi Deskstar drives, the brand of drives may be subject to change due to availability but the specification would remain the same high standard.
Today, I will be reviewing a business orientated solution, the QNAP TS-439 Pro II+ 4TB Solution. This unit has been with us on loan for a few days to see exactly what it can do, and it certainly doesn't disappoint.
check out the spec sheet of the NAS for a full run-down of its capabilities.
[remember that nearly all QNAP and Synology units we sell offer a lot of these features too]
The TS-439 Pro II+ is a brilliant all rounder, for business it gives excellent performance thanks to its impressive Intel Atom CPU which uses hyper threading to boost performance alongside a generous amount of memory.
The TS-439 Pro II+ comes in a large box which tells you all about the features it has, as you would expect, the box is quite boring.
Inside the box you find a full setup sheet designed specifically for this product. The sheet is written by the supplier rather than the manufacturer and includes the following:
- support contact details
- setup information
- troubleshooting tips
- model specific tips
- model specific information
All of this information is especially useful, especially for the first time setup. However, the setup is a doddle anyway.
Here are some snaps of the product:
After around an hour of drooling over the quality of the unit, we decided to get it plugged into the OcUK network and set up.
Setting up this unit could not be simpler, the installation sheet accompanying the NAS is very detailed and really holds your hand through each stage. The chances of getting it wrong are slim.
In a nutshell, all that we had to do was plug the unit in and run a network cable from the back of the NAS to the switch that runs Gibbo, Nath, and my computers. it was that easy.
As soon as the NAS was switched on, it booted up and was ready for initial setup.
Now, you can locate the NAS over the network by searching for it in windows then accessing the IP via a browser, but I like the QNAP Finder software. This dedicated application allows you to find the NAS, easily map network drives as well as assign passwords and IP addresses and perform FW updates.
After launching QNAP finder, the NAS shows up straight away with all of its details. Clicking on the NAS details brings up your default browser with the NAS control panel.
You start by setting the NAS up to meet your specific requirements:
after entering basic details, you get to enable the features that really make the NAS useful:
The next step is setting the RAID array:
The setup tells you how each RAID option works and explains the benefits to you.
you get to check all your options before you press install, install takes around 20 seconds
The RAID array builds itself in the background whilst you continue to explore the NAS control panel which is really neat. You can then assign users, map network drives, configuration of the server is intuitive and easy.
with the NAS on the network, the whole office logged into the unit to get a feel for it and check out the interface. There were a lot of impressed faces
One of the features I use at home on my older QNAP NAS is the Download Station which allows you to use the NAS to perform unattended downloads without the need for a PC. the download station software is easy to use and supports multiple download clients.
In addition to the already feature rich software, the QNAP allows you to download and install applications that expand its usefulness called QPKGs
To check the transfer performance, I decided to do a backup of some games and throw them onto the NAS.
To say that this was quick would be a massive understatement.
In summary, I am very impressed with the unit. It provides server level file storage performance for a fraction of the cost. as a basic server, it excels. The unit is quiet and looks brilliant. The built in screen gives you all the info you need at the touch of a button as well.
I could go on about each feature that these units have individually but it would take me an age.
put simply, if you have a small business or want epic amounts of fast, secure network storage, this is the first place you need to be looking.
