The QNAP HS-251+ versus the QNAP TS-251+ Quiet Home NAS Comparison

Rob Andrews

8 years ago

Contents hide

1 Is the Silent NAS worth the extra money compared to the TS-251+?

2 The QNAP TS-251+ NAS Advantages and Disadvantages

3 How to the QNAP TS-251+ and QNAP HS-251+ NAS Compare?

4 Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Is the Silent NAS worth the extra money compared to the TS-251+?

VALUE

A good solid NAS that lives up to everything it promises. Low Power consumption and one of the quietest NAS units I have ever used – and this along with high end performance and features.

FEATURES

Has all the features you would expect from a High end QNAP NAS, as well as including all cables and even a remote control for those looking for a high end NAS entertainment system or Plex Media NAS.

PERFORMANCE

Once again, the unit provides excellent read and write transmission speeds with its quad core intel CPU and DDR3 memory. For it’s target audience that demand high end NAS performance, but with little or no noise and low power consumption, this NAS wins the race!

DESIGN

Very sleek NAS design and it does live up to the name it is a VERY silent NAS! Ples the large metal exterior acts as an excellent heat sink. The unit will slide comfortably into most small office and home entertainment setups very subtly.

VALUE

Lack of space for a RAM upgrade and unconventional drive installation may put some people off.

FEATURES

The unit does get hot when in heavy use – at least 4-5 active users on the device and cpu use up in the high 80’s can may the top panel seem quick warm to the touch. This does not seem to hamper performance but worth noting.

PERFORMANCE

Because of the lack of operational fans and scale, the performance and max limits on many of the apps are lower than the traditional desktop version of this device, the QNAP TS-251+-2G. a notable example is that this device can only run a single VM (virtual Machine) from the NAS software as appose to the several you can run on the TS-251+-8G or the QNAP TS-253A-4G.

DESIGN

If noise isn’t as big a deal to you as Hardware and you plan on being at least 2 metres away from your NAS at all times (or it is in a cabinet etc), then you should perhaps skip this NAS and buy the TS-251+ or buy the TS-253A today

The QNAP TS-251+ NAS Advantages and Disadvantages

VALUE

Good price for those looking for a Solid Start to Network Attached Storage with an option to expand later
FEATURES

Good mix of enterprise and Home user functionality.
PERFORMANCE

With the exception of 4K transcoding and AES-NI level encryption, this NAS can do everything! Of course if you want things done to an enterprise level, then you should go for some bigger units, but you will be hard pushed to find a better 2 bay NAS for Plex Media Server NAS use, Virtual Machines and All things NAS – particularly at just over £200 to buy this NAS

DESIGN

Second only to the QNAP TS-253A, the QNAP TS-251+ is one of the best 2-bay NAS units from QNAP in the market this 2016. The design is the result of years of chassis design in previous unit and is very easy on the eye. A good combination of plastic and metal throughout where it counts.

VALUE

Suited to all operating systems but those in the Mac community might want to cast a glance at the Synology DS716+ first.

FEATURES

Just the lack of AES-NI encryption to speed up encrypted data transmissions is missing.

PERFORMANCE

The only remark I can make about performance is that it is only slightly (and I really mean slightly…like teeny tiny) less user-friendly than the Synology DS716+

DESIGN

Only available in Black/Grey – So you Mac fans of everything in brushed silver or white will be disappointed

How to the QNAP TS-251+ and QNAP HS-251+ NAS Compare?

	QNAP TS-251+ NAS	QNAP HS-251+ NAS

OS	Embedded Linux	Embedded Linux
CPU	Quad-Core Intel® Celeron® 2.0GHz (up to 2.42GHz)	Quad-core Intel® Celeron® 2.0GHz (Up to 2.42GHz)
Memory (RAM)	2GB / 8GB SO-DIMM DDR3L	2GB DDR3L
Flash	512MB (DOM)	512MB (DOM)
Number of RAM Slots	2 (Max 8 GB)	–
Max. number of HDDs/SSDs	2x 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA 6Gb/s, 3Gb/s	2x 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA 3Gb/s
Hot-Swappable HDD Tray
Expansion Enclosure Support	1 (UX-800P, UX-500P)	1 (UX-800P, UX-500P)
Gigabit LAN Ports	2	2
Jumbo Frame (GbE)
USB 2.0	2	2
USB 3.0	2	2
IR Sensor (Infrared Receiver)	Yes (RM-IR002 & MCE)	Yes (RM-IR002 & MCE)
Free Remote Control	(RM-IR002)	(RM-IR002)
HDMI	1 (1080p)	1 (1080p)
LED Indicators	Power/Status, LAN, USB, HDD1-2	Status, LAN
Buttons	Power, Reset, USB Auto Copy	Power, Reset
Form Factor	Tower	Set-Top design
Dimensions (HxWxD) mm	169 x 102 x 219 mm 6.65 x 4.02 x 8.62 inch	41.3 x 302 x 220
Weight (Net/ Gross)	1.28 kg (2.82 lbs) / 2.32 kg (5.11 lbs)	1.56kg/ 2.62kg
Temperature	0 – 40 °C	0 – 40 °C
Humidity	5 – 95% R.H	5 – 95% R.H
Power Supply Specification	External Power Adapter, 60W, 100-240V	External Power Adapter, 60W, 100-240V
Power Consumption: HDD Sleep Mode (W)	10.56	7.1
Power Consumption: Operating Mode, Typical (W)	18.09	15.8
Power Consumption: System Sleep	0.574	0.6
Noise Level dB(A)	15.4	6.5
Seq. Write, 64KB (MB/s)	225 (2 x GbE)	224
Seq. Read, 64KB (MB/s)	223 (2 x GbE)	224
Seq. Write with AES 256-bit Volume Encryption (MB/s)	178 (2 x GbE)	184
Seq. Read with AES 256-bit Volume Encryption (MB/s)	205 (2 x GbE)	191
File System: Internal Hard Drive	EXT4	EXT4
File System: External Hard Drive	EXT3, EXT4, NTFS, FAT32, HFS+	EXT3, EXT4, NTFS, FAT32, HFS+
Port Trunking / Link Aggregation
Network Service Discovery (UPnP & Bonjour)
Virtual LAN (VLAN)
Wireless LAN via USB Wi-Fi Adapter	802.11ac/a/n	802.11ac/a/n
Surveillance Station
Max Number of Cameras	Default: 2, Max.: 40 (optional license purchase)	Default: 2, Max.: 40 (optional license purchase)
Mobile Surveillance App for iOS & Android	Vmobile	Vmobile
Surveillance Local Display
Max USB Webcam for liveview or snapshot (QUSBCam App)	2 (up to 1280×960, 5FPS)	2 (up to 1280×960, 5FPS)
Virtualization Station	Yes (RAM of NAS >= 2 GB)
Container Station
Qsirch (RAM of NAS >= 2GB)
Linux Station (RAM of NAS >= 4GB)		–
Syslog Server & Client
Antivirus	Yes (Optional McAfee Antivirus available)	Yes (Optional McAfee Antivirus available)
Mail Server	Xmail, Xeams (QPKG)	Xmail (QPKG)
VPN Server (PPTP + OpenVPN + L2TP)	Yes (Max clients: 15 + 15 + 15)	Yes (Max clients: 15 + 15 + 15)
myQNAPcloud Remote Access and File Sharing
3rd Party Cloud Storage	Amazon S3/Glacier, ElephantDrive, Google Drive, Microsoft Azure	Amazon S3/Glacier, ElephantDrive, Google Drive, Microsoft Azure
Mobile Apps for iOS & Android	Qfile, Qmanager, Qphoto, Qmusic, Qnotes, VMobile, Vcam, Qremote	Qfile, Qmanager, Qphoto, Qmusic, Qnotes, VMobile, Vcam, Qremote
Max. Number of Users	4096	4096
Max. Number of User Groups	512	512
Max. Number of Share Folders	512	512
Max. Number of Concurrent Connections	800	700
Language	English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Czech, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Turkish, Hungarian, Romanian, Thai, Portuguese/Brazil, Greek	English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Czech, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Turkish, Hungarian, Romanian, Thai, Portuguese/Brazil, Greek

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