Review: Qnap TS-451D2

by Parm Mann on 3 September 2021, 14:01

Tags: Qnap

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaeq24

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Conclusion

...another dependable offering from Qnap and a competent first Plex Media Server.

The TS-451D2 is a sensible addition to Qnap's vast portfolio of network-attached storage solutions. Designed to cater for small businesses and home users alike, the £430 four-bay unit marries the feature-packed QTS operating system to a dual-core Intel Celeron processor supporting hardware encryption and real-time transcoding.

Completing the mid-range proposition is HDMI 2.0, allowing for direct 4K60 output, USB 3.2 Gen 1 connectivity throughout, and faster DDR4 memory with a spare SO-DIMM slot allowing for easy upgrades.

Qnap's feature set covers the essentials at this price point, and there's more to come with the impending release of QTS 5.0, but age-old Gigabit Ethernet and the absence of PCIe expansion prevent the NAS from ticking all the boxes of a future-proof solution.

Bottom line: TS-451D2 is another dependable offering from Qnap and a competent first Plex Media Server.

The Good
  
The Bad
Feature-packed QTS operating system
Dependable performance
4K60 support over HDMI 2.0
Intel CPU and DDR4 memory
Competent first Plex Media Server
  
2.5GbE would have been nice
No PCIe expansion slot



Qnap TS-451D2

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The Qnap TS-451D2-4G NAS is available to order 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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HEXUS Forums :: 7 Comments

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Posted by kalniel - Fri 03 Sep 2021 14:21
What's the security like on these? I keep hearing horror stories about NAS attacks.
Posted by MadDogLDN - Fri 03 Sep 2021 14:49
When you register your device on QNAP's myQNAPcloud service the number of Admin Login attacks are Non-Stop mainly from Russia - I had to turn mine off it got so bad.
Posted by jnutt - Fri 03 Sep 2021 15:27
I'm on my second Qnap never had an issue
Posted by Spreadie - Fri 03 Sep 2021 16:01
I've had a few QNAP boxes (currently, a TS-453D) and have never experienced any problems but, after their recent fumbles, I might stop and think before buying another.
Posted by Saracen999 - Fri 03 Sep 2021 17:30
kalniel
What's the security like on these? I keep hearing horror stories about NAS attacks.
All major NAS brands have had their issues though QNAP were most recently hit, with QLocker ransomware. What's not entirely clear is how it got in, though current belief is via two bits of buit-in software.

What is security like? Umm, how long is a bit of string? Who administers a NAS? Have they kept firmware uo to date? Have they kept app's up to date? How do they have the security settings set, what is turned on and what is turned off? And so on.

There are a LOT of settings in these that can be and should be disabled, …. unless you are going to use those facilities. Some, but not all, are, right out of the box.

For instance, do you need to be able to administer the NAS from a non-local location? No? Turn the ability to do so off. Do you need UPnP-type services running? No? Turn it off so apps on your systems can't just request port so-and-so be opened, and have it happen.

And so on.

There are plenty of online guides are to locking the NAS down, and plenty of tutorial videos. There is also some online help built in to the NAs itself BUT …. the responsibility for doing some legwork rests with the owner.

So, if you're going to put all your data in one place, for gawd's sake put in a decent tiered backup system. These boxes come with a variety of tools designed to let you do just that, but you still have to think about your data and how important different types are, and what is necessary to protect those different types.

Overall security? Secure login set up? Not by default,so get or create self-certificates and enable it. Folder-level encryption turned on? Not by default, but it's there to use. Access locked down to MAC addresses defined by you? Not by default but you can. Two-factor authentication (key files, codes, Yubikey, etc) enabled? Not by default but the provision is there. Have you disabled the HTTP server? No? Do so unless you need it. FTP server? Make sure it's turned off unless you need it.

The tools are all there … if you understand them, and use them. If you buy one, plonk all your dataon it, don't lock it down and don't keep it up to date? Well, the risk factor goes rght up. All IMHO, of course.

Is anything entirely safe? Not if it has an internet connection at all. Can the risk be pretty small? Yes, if you look after security settings, on an on-going basis (not set and forget), AND do regular and carefully considered backups, yes.

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