Review: Qnap TS-453D

by Parm Mann on 28 September 2020, 14:01

Tags: Qnap

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Conclusion

...whether you're looking to upgrade an older unit or take your first steps into network-attached storage, the Qnap serves as an attractive destination.

Qnap's four-bay TS-453D ticks a lot of the right boxes for small businesses and prosumers getting accustomed to working from home.

Priced at £520, the NAS combines an Intel Celeron processor and 4GB of DDR4 memory in a compact and unobtrusive box. The core ingredients are familiar, yet at this price point it's always nice to see a manufacturer go the extra yard, and Qnap does exactly that by including HDMI 2.0 for direct 4K60 output, a PCIe expansion slot and dual 2.5GbE network ports as standard.

Such features help the TS-453D stand out alongside its immediate competitors, and whether you're looking to upgrade an older unit or take your first steps into network-attached storage, the Qnap serves as an attractive destination. There are still limitations to be aware of - the expansion slot is capped to PCIe Gen 2 x2 and the software experience isn't quite as polished as a Synology - but as far as turnkey NAS solutions go, few four-bay units are as accomplished as the TS-453D.

Bottom line: we've now had the opportunity to test both the DS920+ and TS-453D, and as much as we appreciate Synology's software, if we had to pick just one it would be the Qnap. The performance uplift of 2.5GbE is just too good to pass up.

The Good
  
The Bad
Dual 2.5GbE network ports
QTS getting better with each release
4K60 support over HDMI 2.0
Intel CPU and DDR4 memory
Transcoding with third-party apps (Plex)
  
Not quite as polished as the rival Synology
Expansion slot only PCIe Gen 2 x2



Qnap TS-453D

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The Qnap TS-453D NAS is available to purchase from Scan Computers.

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At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.



*UK-based HEXUS community members are eligible for free delivery and priority customer service through the SCAN.care@HEXUS forum.


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Posted by rs4847 - Wed 30 Sep 2020 00:16
I might be in the market for another 4 bay NAS, I usually go with Synology but their x20 series is just dated I/O wise, they are turning into the Intel of the NAS world.

I will give this Qnap unit a closer look.
Posted by matts-uk - Wed 30 Sep 2020 11:33
Shock, horror! A 2.5Gbe interface can be twice as fast as a 1Gbe interface.

rs4847
…they are turning into the Intel of the NAS world.
I think they are continuing to be Synology; who have always had a conservative approach to adopting new hardware technologies.

If 2.5Gbe gains traction outside of enthusiasts messing in their bedrooms Synology are very likely to adopt it but for the moment it is bleeding edge and that is not where Synology live (or want to live). In the interim Synology provide multiple Gbe interfaces and suggest using Link Aggregation to fill the gap between their 1Gbe and 10Gbe devices.

Sadly the review failed to explore where the limits of the two devices lie. Can the Synology keep up and how much faster can the QNap go using Link Aggregation? It may be the case the Synology can go as fast and the QNap cannot go much faster, which would put them in the same class.

I will give this Qnap unit a closer look.
I would advise anyone buying a NAS to decide where their priorities lie. If you are planning to use a NAS as a fancy external drive, QNap are likely to beat Synology but there are much better value propositions than either of them - A cheap Pentium PC running Windows even.

To my mind prioritising throughput completely misses the point of these devices. What makes a NAS really useful are the software packages that can be installed on it. Installing the packages implies concurrent access and a hit on throughput. My NAS buying priorities are the choice of available packages, ease of use and overall reliability of the packages and the hardware. I'm still preferring Synology.