The QNAP TS-262 NAS Drive Review
The NAS market at the start of 2023 has really been shaking things up, with moves by all the top tier brands attacking the home and prosumer tier of private server buyers with very different wares on offer! Whilst Synology have been shifting the home/business point of a number of their popular diskstation devices, QNAP has been doubling down on their hardware choices at that same tier and either upgrading what works or swapping out what doesn’t The QNAP TS-262 NAS is designed to be a more affordable Intel-powered alternative to the prosumer ad fully featured TS-264, that still keeps the elements of prosumer hardware that continue to draw the eye of PC-builders and more tech versed buyers, who nonetheless still find the appeal of a turnkey pre-built solution convenient. Arriving in a 2-Bay and 4-Bay version, the QNAP TS-x62 series hopes to be a more confident entry point for first-time NAS buyers and SMB’s looking to move away from 3rd party cloud, but is this a notable improvement over the now 3 years old TS-251D that it serves to replace? It’s price tag of $439 / £399 / €439 (tax and shipping where you are will likely reflect this price in your region) is possibly going to place it outside of the scope of Value/ARM NAS buyers, but here are the Highlights of the QNAP TS-262 NAS
- Intel N4505 Dual-Core Celeron, 2022 Q1 Released Processor
- 4GB DDR4 Memory (Cannot be Upgraded)
- 2.5GbE Network Ready (1x Ports)
- USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gb/s) Equipped
- SATA HDD/SSD Bays and RAID Support
- m.2 NVMe SSD Bays
- PCIe Upgrade Slot for Network/Storage Upgrades
- HDMI 2.1 Output
- 2-Year Warranty (extendable to 5yr)
So, I want to review the new TS-262 2-Bay NAS, analyse the brand’s updated approach to hardware design and work out if this new compact, 2-Bay NAS solution deserves your data in 2023. Let’s dive in!
QNAP TS-262 NAS Review – Quick Conclusion
The QNAP TS-262 NAS is a substantial update on the QNAP TS-251D (even worth considering for those who opted for the TS-251D or TS-251B previously) that features a more modern CPU that allows increased internal performance. This translates in hardware to M.2 NVMe SSD support, a larger bandwidth PCIe Upgrade slot, USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gb/s connectivity and 2.5GbE by default. Some areas of the device are less compelling, such as that fixed 4GB of memory meaning that the price needs to reflect the extra RAM on day 1, but you also cannot scale that extra memory further as your processes grow years from now. The limiting of those M.2 NVMe SSD bays to PCIe Gen 3×1 makes alot of sense, giving the range of this PCIe3 Celeron CPU makes sense, but is nonetheless going to annoy some users. lastly, the hardware gains in the system featuring much, MUCH more powerful and visually appealing HDMI 2.1 is a fraction let down by the HD Station software getting fewer and fewer feature-rich updates (outside of stability and performance fixes). As far as running the QNAP QTS EXT4 software platform on the TS-262, you will have little to no complaints, as it can run the bulk of the 1st/3rd party applications available to the software, just remember that you are running a dual-core and two thread processor – so the glass ceiling in terms of hardware resources is going to be a pinch lower than some of their Pentium, Intel Core or Xeon systems of course. After a bumpy start to 2022, with the brand needing to win alot of users back after being targetted by ransomware groups and missteps in communication, fast forward to the start of 2023 and you have a much more secure, closed and layered QNAP NAS platform here.
Choosing the QNAP TS-262 NAS over the increasing range of 2-Bay’s in the brand’s portfolio is a little less straightforward, with the TS-262 nestled somewhere between the TS-253E, TS-264, HS-264 and TS-364 (with several more 2-Bay options in the TS-x51+, TS-31P3 AND TS-31K still listed on their official site). I also think the TS-262 would do better to have been released alongside the TS-264 (and the rest of the x64 range), when the portfolio was a little less clustered and its status as an affordable alternative to the TS-262 made alot more sense! The QNAP TS-262 is designed for users looking to spend a little less on base hardware, whilst still buying a device that can be scaled in storage, network bandwidth and more down the line. QTS still continues to be fully featured and has a great many new security and access defaults/settings introduced to limit novice users leaving doors open, but still has a fractionally steeper learning curve than many of its competitors, often trying to do too many things at once (or at least not stopping an end user doing too much at times), which can lead to occasionally bumps in the road when using their platform on a more modest system as this. The QNAP TS-262 is a great 2-Bay NAS and a solid refresh/update on the TS-251D, but if you can stretch your budget a fraction more, I recommend opting for the TS-462 or TS-264 ($100-200 more) as much like this device doubles down on it’s predecessor hardware, so do those two NAS ram things up further for your money. A good NAS indeed, that lives a tad in the shadow of it’s own brothers and sisters!
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QNAP TS-262 NAS Review – PACKAGING & ACCESSORIES
The QNAP TS-262 NAS comes in a brown box with a QNAP product label, typical of most NAS systems. As these types of products are primarily purchased online, the packaging is geared towards practicality rather than aesthetics. However, it’s worth noting that the box is slightly smaller than the TS-251D retail box, thanks to the use of more compact material for internal packaging.
When it comes to packaging, the protection of a system during transit is of utmost importance, especially for systems that are often shipped from Taiwan to other parts of the world. The potential for motion and shock during transport can cause silent damage to controller boards and onboard components. That’s why I always appreciate when a system under $1000 arrives well-protected. As a tech reviewer, I’ve seen far too many systems that have arrived in flimsy cardboard packaging, indicating a rough journey during freight. It may seem like a small detail, but it’s crucial to ensure the integrity of the system upon arrival.
The accessories included with the TS-262 NAS are fairly standard, with one exception that left me slightly underwhelmed. The package includes a setup manual, information about the 2-year hardware warranty and the option to extend it to 5 years, screws for 2.5/3.5″ drives, a Cat 5e ethernet cable, and an external PSU. All of these items are well packaged and typical for this type of device. The only downside was the inclusion of a Cat 5e ethernet cable, as this model does not have 10GbE connectivity.
It will likely come as little surprise that the TS-262 arrives with an external PSU (65W). An external PSU is easy to replace, as it’s covered by the warranty and supported by many third-party options. Additionally, an internal PSU would generate a pinch more heat and have to be factored into the chassis design and ventilation when in 24×7 operation. Additionally, having a spare on hand is an added convenience. According to QNAP, power usage is 8.1W in standby mode and 12.4W in active use when the system is fully populated.
The lack of adhesive M.2 heatsink panels, as present in larger QNAP NAS models such as the TS-473A and TVS-h674, is a drawback of the TS-262. The TS-262 features 2 M.2 NVMe SSD slots, which are faster than traditional SATA SSDs and may produce high temperatures during sustained use. Given the expandability and scalability of the TS-262 and the decreasing cost of NVMe SSDs, the absence of these heatsink modules is a disappointment. Although it may be considered a minor issue, it is a notable omission in the overall design of the system.
Overall the accessories that the QNAP TS-262 NAS includes are all fairly standard and certainly enough to get the system up and running (not including your HDD/SSD media of course). Let’s discuss the design of this NAS and what changes have been made on the TS-262 vs the TS-251D from 2.5yrs before.
QNAP TS-262 NAS Review – Design
The QNAP TS-262 NAS features a chassis that is similar to that of the TS-251D and TS-264, with a plastic material that covers an internal aluminum metal framework. The arrangement of ports on the device is largely unchanged, however, the quality and number of ports have been increased. The system uses a removable tray design and also features a lockable and slidable front panel which provides added security. One aspect of the design that I particularly appreciate is the choice of a copper/rose-gold and black colour scheme, which I believe is a significant improvement over the metallic blue of its predecessor. The chassis is compact and appears smaller than other 2-bay NAS on the market, however, this is because the TS-262 uses a longer and deeper chassis, relying more on horizontal airflow, resulting in a more oblong shape. This design choice allows for improved thermal management and better cooling performance, making it a more effective option for those who are looking for a compact yet powerful NAS solution. Additionally, the compact design makes it easier to integrate the NAS into a variety of different environments and setups, whether it be a home or a small business setting.
In terms of cooling, the TS-262 has smaller vent spaces on the sides of the chassis than most other NAS, but it compensates for this by having more of them on the sides and base under each of the storage bays. These vents are designed to allow users to operate the system 24×7 with the front panel on, but still allow the larger rear fan to have enough active airflow through the passive vents. This design choice ensures that the system is able to stay cool even during extended usage. Despite its plastic chassis, the result is that the TS-262 is slightly noisier in operation than the Synology DS723+ 2-bay, despite the latter system having a larger fan that is built into the backplane more visibly, but much larger front and side ventilation by comparison. However, it should be noted that the TS-262 still manages to maintain a relatively low noise level and this is something that should be considered when comparing the cooling performance of different NAS systems. Additionally, It should be noted that the TS-262 is designed to operate in this way, allowing users to use the system in environments where noise levels are a concern. The system also has a built-in noise-reduction feature that helps to reduce the noise level even further.
The TS-262 has a more streamlined design on its front panel, lacking the LCD display found on larger business/enterprise NAS systems in the QNAP portfolio. Instead, it utilizes multiple LEDs to indicate system activity, network status, copy/backup activity, and individual LED indicators for the HDD storage media bays. The internal M.2 SSD bays also have their own LED indicators, however, they are only visible when the chassis is open. This design choice allows for a more minimalistic and streamlined front panel, while still providing users with the necessary information about the system’s status and activity.
The QNAP TS-262 NAS has a front-mounted USB and one-touch-copy button, allowing manual backups to/from a connected USB storage drive without logging into the GUI or relying on an automated schedule. The USB port is USB 3.2 Gen 2, which supports 10Gb/s, allowing for faster backup speeds of up to 1,000MB/s. This is useful for those who need to backup large amounts of data from the internal system RAID array or for photo/video editors with daily backups on new projects. However, to get the full 10Gb/s speed, it’s important to use USB 3.2 Gen 2 USB drives/enclosures. Affordable M.2 NVMe SSD USB drives from companies such as WD, Seagate, Gtech and LaCie that can hit 1,000MB/s easily are entering the market which makes the inclusion of this port a great benefit.
The TS-262 has a removable front panel that covers the storage bays and can be easily locked and unlocked. The panel is primarily intended to prevent accidental removal, but it would be nice if it had key lock for added security. Additionally, it would be nice if QNAP offered the panel in different colors since many users like to decorate it. When the front panel is removed, you will find two SATA storage bays. The device can be deployed with a single drive, but it’s recommended to use multiple drives in a RAID configuration for redundancy, performance and capacity. The device also features an internal flash storage module that stores the QTS 5 operating system, applications and services, but it is only used to facilitate the installation of QTS onto a primary partition of the main storage bays. Therefore, the better the base level storage on day 1, the better QNAP QTS will run.
The trays inside the TS-262 NAS are designed for easy, screwless installation while also providing screw holes and screws for 2.5″ media. These plastic trays have undergone significant improvements in recent years and are now more robust and able to handle heat, vibration, and pressure without cracking. They also help to reduce noise generated by spinning or accessing drives due to strategically placed rubber washers at the screw points. Additionally, they are also designed to provide an easy and secure way to install the drives and make it easy to swap the drives out if needed. The design of these trays is a significant improvement over older designs and demonstrates QNAP’s commitment to providing a high-quality and user-friendly NAS solution for their customers. The trays are also manufactured using high-quality materials that are designed to withstand the rigors of everyday use and provide a secure and stable platform for your hard drives.
The main SATA storage bays of the TS-262 are the expected dual power/data connectors, ensuring a clean and organized internal framework, with the HDD trays slotting in neatly. The internal framework is also heavily ventilated to provide maximum airflow during 24×7 operation. Inside the storage area, you can access the SODIMM memory fixed modules and M.2 NVMe SSD bays, which will be covered in more detail later. Despite the busy appearance of the interior, it is designed to allow for optimal airflow and cooling.
In general, the TS-262 has a similar design to its predecessor, the TS-251D, but it presents a well-crafted chassis. However, QNAP has made noticeable bandwidth upgrades in terms of ports, connections and internal hardware configuration, particularly with the inclusion of USB 3.2 Gen 2 on the front. These improvements set the TS-262 apart from its predecessor.
QNAP TS-262 NAS Review – Ports & Connections
Much like its predecessor, the TS-262 arrives with a single network port, but this time it is a 2.5GbE port. The implementation of 2.5GbE on client hardware is still not as common as 1GbE, but it has definitely scaled up in 2022/2023 hardware, and often at the same cost as 1GbE (including many ISP routers, docking stations and client hardware devices). The idea of a remote cloud over the internet having the potential to be accessed at greater than 100MB/s on an ISP router means that it would be almost criminal that your local router/switch-connected NAS should arrive with a 1GbE bottleneck in 2023. Additionally, the ports can be link aggregated or load balanced for queued bandwidth using USB-to-2.5G/5GbE adapters and/or PCIe network upgrades, meaning that your 250-270MB/s bandwidth has the potential to be scaled to 500MB/s, 1000MB/s and more. Just remember that you will need fast enough media installed in those SATA and/or M.2 NVMe bays to reach these speeds!
The TS-262 also boasts an HDMI output, which is an HDMI 2.1 port too, which allows you to connect a monitor or TV and access a parallel GUI, as well as a range of first-party and third-party applications through the QNAP HD Station application and QNAPClub.eu. Although the HD Station application is impressive, it has not seen as many updates and improvements as other areas of the QTS/QuTS platform, remaining largely unchanged for a few years. Despite this, it is still a powerful tool that enables you to enjoy multimedia from your couch, deploy graphic-based applications locally, set up a standalone surveillance system, deploy a virtual machine locally, and more. Additionally, the HDMI port also allows you to use the NAS as a media player, streaming content to your TV or monitor without the need for additional devices. The HDMI port also allows you to connect a keyboard and mouse to the NAS, making it easy to navigate and use the system. The HDMI port is also designed to be compatible with a wide range of monitors and TVs, making it easy to connect to your existing setup.
HDMI 2.0 and HDMI 2.1 are the latest versions of the HDMI standard, which is used to transmit audio and video signals between devices. The main difference between the two is the maximum resolution and refresh rate they support. HDMI 2.0 supports up to 4K resolution at 60Hz, while HDMI 2.1 supports up to 8-10K resolution at 120Hz (Theoretically! As there is not much need/use for this kind of bandwidth and at this hardware level, near impossible to play smoothly), making it better suited for high-resolution and high-refresh-rate displays. Additionally, HDMI 2.1 also supports Dynamic HDR, eARC and VRR. Another difference is the bandwidth they support, HDMI 2.0 has a bandwidth of 18 Gbps, while HDMI 2.1 has 48 Gbps, allowing for more data transmission at once. In summary, HDMI 2.1 offers higher resolution, refresh rates, and advanced features for a more immersive audio and visual experience, while HDMI 2.0 is still a great choice for most people and is compatible with most devices.
The applications and services over HDMI can be controlled in various ways, including an optional IR remote control, WiFi remote from your phone using the QNAP QRemote app, and even standard KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) over USB. Additionally, the device supports many other USB peripherals, including speakers, controllers and webcams, making HD Station and HDMI-supported software quite diverse on the TS-262. It would be great to see QNAP do more with this software/service in 2023. Sadly, QNAP is not really pushing forward as much as many would like on this service and this has led to increased ‘homebrew’ and ‘community backed’ support via 3rd party unofficially supported app repositories, such as QNAP Club.eu.
Back in early 2020, we made a guide on HD Station on what it can do on the QNAP NAS platform. We will be revisiting this subject later in 2023, but the general features, services and abilities of HDStation in QTS 5 remain largely the same at the time of writing. To find out more about it and what you can/cannot do with the HDMI port on the TS-262, watch the video below:
In addition to the front-mounted USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, the QNAP TS-262 features additional ports on the rear, including another 10Gb/s USB and two USB 2.0 ports. Usually, having USB 2.0 ports in 2023 would be a disappointment, but in the case of the TS-262, it makes sense given the inclusion of the two 10Gb/s USBs and the HDMI. These USB 2.0 ports can be used for the KVM setup, which is a logical choice. However, it’s worth noting that some users may have preferred more USB 3.2 ports overall, especially given that the TS-262 NAS can be expanded by 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 drives using the QNAP TR and TL series of NAS expansions. Additionally, the inclusion of two USB 2.0 ports makes it possible to connect additional peripherals such as printers, scanners and external hard drives to the NAS, expanding its functionality even further. The USB ports are also designed to be compatible with a wide range of devices and peripherals, making it easy to connect to your existing setup.
The TS-262 also includes a PCIe upgrade slot that allows you to add a variety of upgrades throughout its lifespan, including network bandwidth, SSD storage space, wireless connectivity and more. The TS-251D before this model also featured a PCIe slot, but it was a PCIe Gen 2×2 slot which translated to 1,000MB/s internally. This was a limitation, especially with multi-port network cards, SSD storage cards, and combo cards. The TS-262, on the other hand, with its newer generation Celeron CPU, is able to stretch itself further in some key areas and one of those is the PCIe slot being PCIe 3×2, which translates to 2,000MB/s bandwidth. It still may bottleneck modern-generation NVMe SSD storage and combo cards, but it’s still twice the possible communication between the system and an upgrade card in the TS-262 than there was in the TS-251D. QNAP is still the only brand at this price point for a 2-bay NAS to provide a PCIe upgrade slot and those considering upgrading to 10Gbe over one or two ports will appreciate this feature.
Overall, the ports and connections available on the QNAP TS-262 NAS are quite impressive, particularly when considering that the price has remained relatively unchanged between this model and the TS-251D that was released 3 years prior, and the TS-251B that was released almost 5 years ago. Despite the price remaining in a similar tier, QNAP has effectively doubled down on the connectivity, expandability, and upgradability in this 2-Bay NAS in most areas, making it a very compelling option. The internal hardware of the TS-262 is quite noteworthy as well, and it’s worth discussing how it has changed and evolved in comparison to its predecessors to see if it offers any improvements or drawbacks.
QNAP TS-262 NAS Review – Internal Hardware
Updates to NAS hardware is often motivated by changes in the wider tech industry, with advancements in technology, changes in consumer demands, and improvements in manufacturing techniques often driving these updates. In the case of the TS-262, QNAP typically refreshes this series every 2-3 years, often coinciding with updates to the Celeron series of processors. The TS-262 features the Intel N4505 processor, which is a significant upgrade from the Intel J4025 used in the TS-251D. To access the inside of the TS-262, one must remove the three rear screws and slide off the side panel. Inside, we find the larger SATA HDD storage bay cage and the key components of the TS-262. The Intel N4505 processor is located under a large, black heatsink and does not require an active cooling fan, as is common in desktop NAS systems of this scale. The CPU heatsink is in line with the rear active cooling fan.
The N4505 processor is more powerful in terms of clock speed and features improvements in the embedded graphics power (which is crucial for multimedia encoding/decoding) when compared to the J4025/J4005 processor, but they are otherwise nearly identical in physical architecture. This dual-core, has a 2.0GHz clock speed per core that can be boosted up to 2.9GHz, with those embedded graphics that are comfortably capable of handling/transcoding 4K and 1080p media, and has an onboard 256-bit encryption engine.
CPU benchmarks rate this processor at 2378, which is a significant increase from the J4025 rated at 1708 in the TS-251D. It is a solid choice for this system in terms of managing storage, network ports, and memory over many of the TS-262’s predecessors from QNAP.
The TS-262 features 4GB of DDR4 2666Mhz memory (non-ECC). This is twice the maximum RAM that the TS-251D and TS-251+ arrived with, but the TS-262 memory cannot be upgraded beyond this. If you are going to manage hundreds of file shares at once, a surveillance user looking to use the TS-262 as your primary CCTV and NVR center, or maybe you are a VM/Container user looking to create multiple systems, this fixed quantity of 4GB RAM might be something of a dealbreaker for you. Likewise, if you cannot see yourself using this amount of memory (as this is still a dual-core processor and your needs might well be more modest, e.g. Plex Media Server doesn’t need more than 2GB really), then paying a fraction extra for the 4GB default amount might be a nit annoying. Overall, I would say that it is beneficial to have it and the system will only run smoother for it!
That N4505 CPU inside the TS-262 has also allowed QNAP sufficient available PCIe bandwidth to also include two M.2 NVMe SSD slots on the NAS too. This is something that QNAP has only tended to provide on their rackmount systems and much higher-end desktop solutions, despite their biggest rival Synology providing this for almost 5 years now at the same hardware tier. Now as good as this sounds (i.e to have a PCIe upgrade slot AND the m.2 NVMe SSD slots) there is good and bad news. The good news is that unlike Synology and its inclusion of M.2 NVMe SSD slots, the 2280 slots inside the QNAP can be used for more than just read/write caching. The use of SSD caching to provide performance benefits to a slower, but larger and more affordable Hard Drive RAID away are quite well established in the NAS industry, using the SSD space to either write files to the system faster (acting as the primary write area, before moving the data) or increase the speed of accessing commonly requested files on the NAS (making copies of those files onto the SSDs, though largely tiny files are optimized and do not really affect larger block/sequential data). However, though the QNAP TS-262 supports SSD caching on these bays, it also supports their use in QTier. This is similar to caching but in QTier the available HDD and SSDs are combined into a single storage area and it intelligently moves files periodically to the appropriate storage media as it analyzes their access and requests. Finally, if you wish, you can use the NVMe SSD bays for just a fast accessing and performing storage pool and volumes of it’s own. These two bays, plus the 2 HDD bays, plus adding a PCIe SSD storage card in the available bay mean that the TS-262 has enormous storage potential. These m.2 bays can also be used for system upgrades, but these are still quite few in reality and it is only the google TPU m.2 upgrade that increases AI system processes that is recommended in 2023 so far.
However, as good as all that sounds about the NVMe SSD bays, it is worth also factoring that (much like the PCIe Upgrade slot) in order to provide these bays and still provide the rest of the system hardware from a relatively simple Intel Celeron processor, QNAP has had to narrow down the architecture of these bays for reasons of physical profile and available PCI lanes+chipset. The result is that the m.2 Bays are PCIe 3×1 in architecture, or 1,000MB/s in bandwidth each between the installed m.2 and the system. That means that if you are buying PCIe 3×4 SSDs for your NAS, such as the Seagate Ironwolf 510 or WD Red SN700, they will be somewhat bottlenecked to 1GB throughout each (though they can be RAID’d). It is still better to have these bays in this somewhat streamlined fashion than to not have them at all, but it is worth keeping this in mind when considering the future upgradability of the QNAP TS-262 NAS.
The internal hardware of the TS-262 is by FAR one of the best example of a prosumer/SMB 2-Bay NAS in this price tier from both QNAP and any other brand. Yes, they have had to make a balancing choice between providing a multitude of upgrade and scaling paths in the hardware architecture vs the CPU available, but overall I really cannot challenge them on the range of ports, connections and internal hardware that is available here. I am a little surprised by how much hardware is inside the TS-262 and so close together (leading me to imagine that this system with a fully populated 2-bay storage RAID, 2x NVMe SSD, on-board 4GB memory and a PCIe card would get really hot, i.e. fans going NUTS!) but you cannot really argue with the wide range of options available to the end useR in terms of the day 1 level of hardware on offer, as well as the many ways and means you can change this system in it’s lifespan to best suit your storage and network requirements. Let’s discuss the software included with your TS-262 NAS.
QNAP TS-262 NAS Review – Software & Services
Alongside the hardware of the TS-262 NAS, you also receive the complete software and services package of QNAP QTS (currently in version 5.0). This is a complete operating system. similar in design and presentation to Android OS, it runs hundreds of applications, services and functions, as well as arriving with many mobile and desktop client applications that allow you to interact with the data on your NAS in a much more tailored way. Alongside this, the QNAP QTS software on the TS-262 also includes a few extra SSD tools for anti-wearing on SSDs, better SSD profiling and even options to separate the media into storage, caching or tiered storage where appropriate. The performance and services of QTS have been covered many times on this channel, so reviewing it’s individual performance on the TS-262 NAS is a difficult task, as we have to look at two key things. Is QTS a good software platform and is it safe
On the first score, I can comfortably say that QNAP NAS software and services have truly come into their own and the balancing act of supplying the end-user with the flexibility to use the system ‘their way’, whilst still keeping it user-friendly is the best it has ever been. Is it perfect, no. In its efforts to make itself customizable in every way possible, QTS develops an inadvertent learning curve that may catch some novice users unaware. Likewise, although QTS 5 has done a lot of work on its presentation of information and notifications, there is still the odd moment of ‘TMI’ when switching between services on the fly. QNAP’s NAS software is still easily one of the most adaptable in the market right now and allows users to have a truly unique storage environment if they choose and although not quite as user-friendly as Synology DSM, it counters this by being fantastically flexibly by comparison (from file/folder structure to 3rd party services support and connectivity). That said, 2020-2021 were a bumpy road for the brand and a series of ransomware attacks were targetted at the brand that was caused by a combination of vulnerabilities in Linux (which practically all NAS and Android software is built upon) but also in how applications in the QNAP platform were allowed to have external access. In previous revisions of QTS, customization and guidance for changing settings on the system was made very easy and open but lacked a lot of the gravitas and significance that these changes add to the system being highlighted to less experienced users (such as allowing the QNAP to adapt remote ports on your router over UPnP and how the HBS3 program allowed remote access. These omissions, vulnerabilities and communication issues in QTS have seemingly been resolved and QTS 5 seems to be a much tighter system on the whole (as much as anything can be once you open it to the internet). But many users still feel that the brand needs to do more and therefore until QNAP can remove the lingering stories of ransomware and malware over time, this si always going to be an existing sensitive issue for buyers. In order to see the extent of the latest version of QNAP TS 5.0 use the links below to the written review and video below released in late 2021:
| FULL Written QNAP QTS 5 Review | FULL Video Review of QNAP QTS 5 |
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Although the full review of QNAP QTS is available in the article and video linked above, let’s discuss the highlights of the platform. First off there are the software and services for managing files and folders on the fly. QTS includes several tools for managing files in your web browser (with full copy, paste, archive, extract, sharing, etc options built-in), as well as smart system/file search functionality.
Then security when using your TS-262 NAS (again, a continued area of contention and criticism for QNAP in the past) in customization and alerts have been noticeably improved and upgraded in both their deployment and presentation in QTS. These range from a multi-layered security advisor to control anti-malware scans, anti-virus schedules, firewall monitoring and more. There is also a range of access and security credential tools that are quite far-reaching all built-in. With QNAP having to prove their platform is safe more than most, there is a bit shift positively in this direction in the latest versions of QTS.
Overall storage management, access, mounting and how this factors into backups have also been massively diversified in QTS and along with numerous means to create a very unique storage system (factoring RAID, multi-stage 1-2-3 backups, connecting with cloud drive/objects and how this is presented to the end-users are incredibly deep. It can lead to a situation in which the end-user is a pinch overwhelmed, but you cannot say that QNAP is not providing the tools – they are just almost TOO numerous in their presentation.
The same goes for multimedia handling on the QNAP TS-262, with a wide range of tools for handing photos, music and video in a tailored GUI to each media type. This is made considerably easier with QNAP’s multimedia console tool that provides a single GUI that can be used to handle all the backend setup of all your individual media apps. QNAP also provides AI photo recognition to allow decades of photos to be searched intelligently for people and subjects to quite an impressively deep degree (not needing internet access to do so, with the AI onboard the system). Then you have support for a wide range of 3rd party multimedia tools such as Plex media server, Emby, Twinky and Kodi (unofficially).
Then you have business tools (small, medium or even enterprise) included that can range from the deployment of multiple virtual machines across many platforms and a dedicated 1st party container deployment tool. One very unique feature of QNAP QTS compared with other NAS brands in their deployment of VMs is that they include 2-3 click download options in their respective applications that allow you to download ready to use VM in Windows 7,8 and 10, as well as a VM market place for more enterprise virtual clients and even a Ubuntu 18/19/20 VM deployment tool that allows you to quickly set up a VM and then access remotely OR use the HDMI+KVM set up locally. The container station tool also has its own pre-built tool repository too.
Finally, for surveillance use, the TS-262 arrives with QVR Pro which allows you to have a business class surveillance platform hosted on your NAS. This platform has its very own GUI that supports thousands of IP Camera brands, as well as the software arriving with 8 camera licenses with the TS-262, a multi-camera feed display, intelligent alerts, AI services (hardware appropriate), multiple client tools for mobile/desktop clients, integration of 3rd party system management tools and you can even attach USB cameras to your QNAP NAS and have local cameras fed into the NAS too.
So, software on the QNAP TS-262 is pretty diverse and although the brand has seen its fair share of security complaints in the past, I think that it would be hard for me to ignore the range of NAS hardware configuration, services and tools that are included. Tests of the QNAP TS-262 on how it performs as a Plex Media Server, host for Virtual Machines and more will be conducted shortly over on NASCompares YouTube channel. I recommend visiting there to learn more. Below is the video review for the QNAP TS-262 NAS
QNAP TS-262 NAS Review – Conclusion & Verdict
The QNAP TS-262 NAS is a substantial update on the QNAP TS-251D (even worth considering for those who opted for the TS-251D or TS-251B previously) that features a more modern CPU that allows increased internal performance. This translates in hardware to M.2 NVMe SSD support, a larger bandwidth PCIe Upgrade slot, USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gb/s connectivity and 2.5GbE by default. Some areas of the device are less compelling, such as that fixed 4GB of memory meaning that the price needs to reflect the extra RAM on day 1, but you also cannot scale that extra memory further as your processes grow years from now. The limiting of those M.2 NVMe SSD bays to PCIe Gen 3×1 makes alot of sense, giving the range of this PCIe3 Celeron CPU makes sense, but is nonetheless going to annoy some users. lastly, the hardware gains in the system featuring much, MUCH more powerful and visually appealing HDMI 2.1 is a fraction let down by the HD Station software getting fewer and fewer feature-rich updates (outside of stability and performance fixes). As far as running the QNAP QTS EXT4 software platform on the TS-262, you will have little to no complaints, as it can run the bulk of the 1st/3rd party applications available to the software, just remember that you are running a dual-core and two thread processor – so the glass ceiling in terms of hardware resources is going to be a pinch lower than some of their Pentium, Intel Core or Xeon systems of course. After a bumpy start to 2022, with the brand needing to win alot of users back after being targetted by ransomware groups and missteps in communication, fast forward to the start of 2023 and you have a much more secure, closed and layered QNAP NAS platform here. Choosing the QNAP TS-262 NAS over the increasing range of 2-Bay’s in the brand’s portfolio is a little less straightforward, with the TS-262 nestled somewhere between the TS-253E, TS-264, HS-264 and TS-364 (with several more 2-Bay options in the TS-x51+, TS-31P3 AND TS-31K still listed on their official site). I also think the TS-262 would do better to have been released alongside the TS-264 (and the rest of the x64 range), when the portfolio was a little less clustered and its status as an affordable alternative to the TS-262 made alot more sense! The QNAP TS-262 is designed for users looking to spend a little less on base hardware, whilst still buying a device that can be scaled in storage, network bandwidth and more down the line. QTS still continues to be fully featured and has a great many new security and access defaults/settings introduced to limit novice users leaving doors open, but still has a fractionally steeper learning curve than many of its competitors, often trying to do too many things at once (or at least not stopping an end user doing too much at times), which can lead to occasionally bumps in the road when using their platform on a more modest system as this. The QNAP TS-262 is a great 2-Bay NAS and a solid refresh/update on the TS-251D, but if you can stretch your budget a fraction more, I recommend opting for the TS-462 or TS-264 ($100-200 more) as much like this device doubles down on it’s predecessor hardware, so do those two NAS ram things up further for your money. A good NAS indeed, that lives a tad in the shadow of it’s own brothers and sisters!
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Might be a silly question.
If I were to install a hard disk which was previously in my ASUStor AS4002T is there any chance the data would be readable? My ASUStor NAS has died. The HDD may also be dead, IDK.
I am reluctant to buy another ASUStor but if I did it is more likely that the old HD can be read again? The AS4002T is obselete, but I note that the AS5202T can be found on Amazon for £239. I know it’s an old product and I would prefer something newer.
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RAM is no longer soldered in on these TS-262 units. I just bought one and swapped the 4GB out for 2 x 8gb sticks and now have 16GB of RAM.
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I know it’s a bit late but… just to let you know I just bought this NAS and it has 2 memory slot (DDR4) and it’s fully upgradable to 32 Gbyte.. (despite what QNAP says). I’m currently use this NAS with 2x Hitachi 10 TB in RAID 1 with 2x M2 1TB as read and write cache disk and memory expanded to 32 GB. It works like a dream… I think it’s currently one of the best choice on the market (paid £279 on amazon).
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Você acredita que foi a pessoa que melhor explicou? ???????????? Obrigado!!!
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Very detailed Video. Thanks for so much passion for the Topic. So the Video-Functions are only Local? I cant use the NAS to watch my Video at my Parents home or a Hotel via Internet?!
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I’ve just got a 262 and the RAM seems to be socketed with a vacant socket, so perhaps some of there production is actually upgradable.
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The new TS-262 version comes with 2 RAM Slots, it includes 1x4Gb stick and it has a second slot to update the RAM, I just added 4Gb more. Interesting thing, I couldn’t find information about that new version or RAM compatibility. Neither on QNAPs website.
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I just bought and set up TS-464. HD station is extremely slow. I can barely use chrome. Takes forever to open and load. Even writing something on search bar of chrome is laggy. Any suggestion on performance improvement would be greatly appreciated.
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Qnap licensing are going to be their killer. They should at least make it free for home use.
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HDMI 2.1 or HDMI 2.0?
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can’t upgrade ram ? from 4 gb? i think is not enough.
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why don’t you include read/write speed tests with the most common NAS commercial disks like RED’s or Ironwolfs? Just to see what the equipment/OS is capable of handling? Having a comparison of filesystems supported by the NAS be it ZFS or EXT4 etc etc comes down to write speeds / (parity) hardware bottlenecks. All in it’s own grandure should be included in reviews no?
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Thanks you for your video review.
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as usual, PERFECT review – explanation of each part and things of the nas, too bad the ram is solded, and basically they force you to have that only, with my 251-d i run 32 gb full of virtual machines, containers, and applications such as jellyfin and more
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You should do a video comparing QNAP and Synology customer support/tech support/add warranty. Just went through QNAP tech support and warranty and it was a nightmare compared to Synology just wondering if you had the same experience.
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Some of us ‘home user’ NAS aficionados are basically content hoarders, for whom ‘too many Terabytes’ is a foreign concept. For such as we, what NAS solution do you recommend?
My current workhorse (a QNAP TS-669 Pro running 6x 4Tb in RAID-6, giving 16Tb usable storage) is groaning under the weight of many large files, including 4K video. I have almost zero need of anything a modern NAS offers except the basics: (a) centralised bulk storage which is (b) accessible by all local devices and which (c) can be relied upon to NOT fail for years on end. There is only ever a single user, and my NAS’ typical workload consists of either (1) utter idleness or (2) up to 4K video streaming from a local Twonky client. That’s about it. I did toy with remote media access, but really only need the ability to initiate remote shut-downs of the unit when electrical storms approach our area (semi-regular events in certain seasons).
For my ‘version next’, I’ve been considering a 6-bay (or even 8-bay) in RAID-6 again, but this time populated with ~22Tb HDDs, yielding [(6-2)x22=] 88+Tb of usable storage. BUT, any current QNAP (preferred as I’m familiar with the OS) units with 6 or more bays are quite expensive, given I will use almost none of the fancier facilities QNAPs all come with. I do need continuing hassle-free, almost-never-fail, convenient bulk media storage, but little else besides. M.2 cache sticks? Nah. Hypervisors? Forget it. So… where should I aim now? Should I go for fewer bays but larger drives? More than 1 actual NAS? Abandon RAIDs altogether and go JBOD? Try a different brand? The options boggle… so long as I have fallback positions to guard against mass data loss**, I’m open to suggestions!
(**and yes, I’m conscious NAS <> Backup. My old NAS was a TS-569 in RAID-6 with 2Tb HDDs, so the (new) TS-669 viewed it as ‘backup’, but the 16Tb array filling up killed that illusion. Oh, to afford TWIN 8-bay, RAID-6, 22Tb drives =132Tb-each NAS units, one as backup for the other. All that would cost me at least 3 months’ pay. I’m sure 130+Tb would last me a few more years…!)
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TS-262 is a clear winner against DS723+ vanilla. Dedicated GPU, more ram, pci-e slot, more LAN speed, HDMI with no limit on component brand. Shame on you, Synology!
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What a coincidence! Just yesterday I set an alert when this exact NAS becomes available at my retailer. I did lots of comparisons and in the end it was this or Synology DVA1622. I would use it a lot for security camera purposes. Qnap seemed more file server orientated and it also had enough camera licenses. Price was couple of hundred less too. EDIT: TS-264 is the one, not 262.
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I know Qnap has had ransomware issues in the past. Is there a way to safely remotely access music stored on your NAS by way of something like Music Station or Emby (because Plex charges). Essentially, i’d like to use a qnap as my version of Spotify as i have a large local music library and i’d like to access it from work or in the car but I don’t want to expose myself to ransomware attacks. Is it a matter of just changing default passwords, two step verification and/or making sure certain remote access on a qnap are disabled or is it a case where if you want to remotely access your music you are necessarily vulnerable?
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Nice review an analysis.
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Question. As a newbie to NAS, I’m looking for a “quiet” home use NAS for primarily just storage and streaming videos from. Would the QNAP ts-262 (with two 14TB wd red plus drives) be a good setup for what I’m looking for and for a newbie? I’ve also heard others talk about the Synology DS223+. Would it be better to wait for that one to come out since Synology has better software and from what I’ve heard easier to navigate for beginners?
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Great video but where is the performance testing?? I want to know if it can saturate a 10Gbe link on read and writes plz
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There’s a kickstarter for Storaxa. Looks interesting too. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/storaxa/fully-customizable-home-cloud-storage-with-remote-access-nas?ref=97wyfw&utm_source=jellop&ja=z2aimakj&utm_term=001.ja&utm_content=Storaxa-CL01&utm_medium=facebook&utm_id=fb&fbclid=IwAR3inpNBigqd17OCc19KzydY9uR4soLEWuFinMhn-MhfLUpgm2fBJGtoPyY&utm_campaign=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Great Videos. Been watching a lot lately as need to upgrade my very old ReadyNas Duo. Can still access the mapped drives but not the box so pretty urgent. (now unsupported TTL or something). You seem to always slant towards Synology but for some reason I’m really drawn to QNAP. Slight problem the Synology looks better and more like a NAS whereas this one looks like my Daughters makeup box. A NAS should look like a NAS.
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Great review, thank you very much. Love that transition too.
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Love the section transitions
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I already bought a NAS. I have 2. But I watch everyone of these now
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Thks &;
Yeaps, Synology’s latest NASes seem to be handing their fun/home/family/etc NAS market-share over to its competitors (ex: QNAP). However the DS220+ @$300 is still pretty competitive & there’s still a glimmer of hope for a DS223+ (don’t laugh, it could still happen ;).
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Thank you. I had no idea HD Station was it’s own separate platform/entity.
I was trying for the longest to get filebot, jdownloader and SyncThing working across all the platforms and had no idea why it wasn’t working. So far I’ve only got 1.5 out of 3 running
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I remember the same attack done at Synology, ransomware attack demanding 1.2 bitcoin, unfortunately I paid them and they gave the key and I unlocked all of my 10 years worth of files .
since then I unplugged my NAS from internet and don’t use its feature.
what synology did? they sent me $30 headphone… imagine that, I paid 1.2 bitcoin for cheap headphone.
I was considering Qnap until I find this video
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No.
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I have secured my QNAP and it has been safe until Saturday when I got hit by Deadbolt, but my most recent snapshot come to the rescue……the thing is that my QNAP was secured as far as I was aware…..????????????????????????????
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I am IT consultant for 20 years and i loved to had the opportunity to watch this video. To me the thing that QnAP does not have any guilt in their product its at least a bit biased. I know people want to sell NAS and make a good chunk of commissions, its how things works i got that.
But lets face it with a great example, if you have a Tesla, are driving and the car crushes because the system does not allow you to stop, then even if there is a bug there, the brand is responsible, not the end-user for sure.
When we translate the NAS issues, well sure , the end-user needs to have a specific skill set to be able to know how to work with the technologies, but the brand does not say its it can be challenging for some people, who does not understands, a,b,c… etc…. Instead they tell you that you can have everything setup by clicking a simple button, and the more features it has the more people will activate.
I never saw a disclaimer from QNAP or any other NAS brands about what can happen if the users does not have that skillset, and even worst, they market it as a product that is top notch in technology, like having access to the nas content from everywhere. That´s where they have responsibility, i am quite sure some lawsuits will occur sooner then later.
Because they have the responsibility to explain clearly what a basic user should do and should not do…
They also should explain that someone before buying a NAS should have at least a 3-2-1 backup solution , because the NAS is not the backup solution.
I know that for many people, the NAS itself its quite expensive to buy and so many users cant afford to buy external drives for Local backups and also a cloud backup system, that is the bare minimum for whom thinks about having a NAS as home or in a SOHO
And here again i never seen QNAP explaining in a very clear way in their sale pages about their NAS products, when i am talking about QNAP, its not only QNAP , other brands do the same, but are they responsible brands by doing so? in my honest opinion nope.
Probably many small business went out business, some because ethically they don’t want to pay to criminals and others because they cant afford to pay due to the crisis that have impacted so many people worldwide.
Here i believe that QNAP should paid the ransom to solve this issue for their customers, are they obliged to? of course not, but in the other hand they would not have their image burned out and their online reputation is not good to say the least.
I have a QNAP nas devices and i am quite sure that i will never ever buy another from this brand again.
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I think every brand should add a choice at setup that asks, what is your data classification: very private, private, public. And what is your update tier: beta, innovative, stable and secure. From that the system can make the appropriate choices.
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Worker with a reliable hacker is what I think is all over the world and I recommend a hacker parfait who works with good heart and sincerity Dee_hack11 is in Seoul☝️☝️☝️.
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After trying for some time, I had to contact *SCOTTS_HACK* to help me get the deadbolt off my Nas. I’m free now.
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After trying for some time, I had to contact *SCOTTS_HACK* to help me get the deadbolt off my Nas. I’m free now.
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*I was hit, so unplugged, shutdown, external USB backs fine. Plex user, was watching at the time no issues, went to update saver denied, then found the splash screen, no on reboot, water gapped on an independent switch no WiFi etc, it instantly goes to initialization. So save to assume the service themselves have been affected. Did safe shutdown. After some time I turn on everything then I found out I’ve been truly hit by deadbolt. I did as many research as I could and I found out that scott can actually decrypt the encrypted files So I paid some money not upto what deadbolt team are asking, then he decrypted my files*
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Good day all, for DEADBOLT RANSOMWARE REMOVAL, consult *SCOTTS_HACK* Thank you.
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Good day all, for DEADBOLT RANSOMWARE REMOVAL, consult *SCOTTS_HACK* Thank you.
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Let Eddie say something…
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I wouldn’t touch QNap with a barge pole until they drastically change their approaches to the user base, contempt for the user base isn’t a great strategy.
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You’re ???? such a genius, I really appreciate your services, fast and safe recovery process..
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You’re ???? such a genius, I really appreciate your services, fast and safe recovery process..
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My QNAP NAS used UPnP to open all of the ports needed for bad actors to try brute forcing their way in. I was getting over 1200 login attempts per hour.
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I think forced updates should be a requirement for utilizing certain features. So, if I enable remote access through a firewall of any sort, forced updates should be enabled. IT enabled organizations wouldn’t be making use if these features anyway and in can absorb the risk of automatic/manual updating.
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I think they get attacked because they move into Face/Facial/Eye/Mask screening. People don’t like that. This is a threat to privacy. I think that is the root cause of it. I don’t know if Synology is in the same as such.
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I regret I have missed this video 2 weeks ago. #asustor #deadbolt
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I’m sorry I purchased a NAS as a means to have a BACKUP of what is/was on my laptop or pc. And it’s even sold as a backup. It started with ‘consumers’ being told to connect an external hard drive to backup their data. They would even supply at times backup software. So you backed up to this external drive. Then they started to sell NAS which was a way to still Backup and be able to access those backed up files from any connected computer.
So I disagree that you cannot thing of the NAS as a Backup.
Evidence: Why do they supply NetBak. Which can backup or copy your PC to the NAS.
So if you say the NAS is not a Backup tell these companies to stop supplying backup software that works to copy to these systems.
When I was told I needed a Backup I bit the bullet and purchased a second NAS which is used only to receive a Backup Data from the Main NAS! Its stupid but I understand it.
Especially since this last issue I had to erase my partitions to fix my issue. Great!
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Wow I liked how you pointed out tech support being abrupt.
I reported a problem months and months ago and it was just impossible to arrange for remote support.
Then there was an update which fixed the problem we were trying to work on. So I basically wasted tons of time trying to recreate the problem and pin pointing the actual issue.
So why was I spinning my wheels for months when they knew about the issue.
Just tell me and ask me to be patient while they fix the bug. Why make me waste my important time for this sh*t.
I also had a problem of the NAS running so slow I could not even log in via the web. Thankfully I have a unit that has a hdmi port and was able access it via direct. But still could not use the system.
That was months and months. I was planning on dumping the whole thing. But it meant dumping two QNAP units. The cheaper of the two worked perfectly. I was angry.
Then I read something in a forum and decided to try it. I had to stop running Q’Center. Once I turned it off and removed it my system ran normally.
The same thing happens when you run McAfee. Of all things to slow down your unit so its unusable what is the purpose of having anti-virus. And whomever says its not needed needs their hand examined. You do!
The built-in anti-virus finds things that McAfee does not? And yes they could be false flags but it works.
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Great video! I just saw lex friedman video and he talks about his devastating qnap ransom attack.
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your videos could be a bit shorter and more concise. Lots of filler that doesn’t give a lot of information.
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Not an IT expert but I bought an entry level Qnap NAS, which is now not connected to the internet and I’ve manually updated. What I’d really like to see is a guide to setting the NAS up safely so that the NAS is available to the home users, but protected from the internet outside. Backing up to two USB drives BTW!
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Great discussion, can an OpenVPN / windows vpn on QNAP do it? and not juse myQNAPcloud? can it not be a good option? between one’s server and user outside of one’s network.
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QNAP has significant blame in this latest attack. First, it was their operating system that was hacked (no one had to download a corrupt file). Second, they have all their users emails and all they needed to do is send out notifications to us users alerting us to all the attacks this past year not to mention warning us all to “unplug” immediately when this last attack started. Instead, they remain silent by email even to this day. The only reason I figured out I was hacked is after a month of not logging onto my NAS I found all my files encrypted when I went to grab some photos for my wife. I had to figure out for myself (with the help of bleepingcomputer forum) what was going on, how to get the ransom message back because they had quarantined it. No I didnt have a backup and I guess that is my fault for not understanding the hardware and risks better but I bought the NAS because it was supposed to “simple, safe and secure”. I only use my NAS on my LAN and I’ve never downloaded outside files to it but am not savvy enough to not have it connected to the internet thru my router. If Im lucky enough to get my data back after taking out a loan on my credit card and figuring out this whole Bitcoin thing this weekend, Im done with QNAP and their crappy equipment, buggy software and business approach. QNAP’s silence, irresponsibility and incompetence in dealing with these attacks this past year is the real story here that you all should be talking about as well.
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What is the most concerning for me as a customer, not that hackers exists, they always did. But that Qnap has backdoor account to my own NAS…… they can remotely access to HBS, force update or whatever….. the clear answer to me to your question is : QNAP is not safe at all, period !
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I don’t understand why so many “intelligent” people finger-point the victims. Do those guys blame their kids who’s got bullied in school? What a pathetic! NOBODY, NOBODY opened the port to the internet! QNAP got the port opened OUT OF THE BOX! I’m not using mycloud, I didn’t open any port. I didn’t enable auto-update because last year I ever lost files after migrating to the latest build!
This is not the first time they messed up everything. As always, QNAP is trying to escape from their own responsibilities. They pretends nothing happened. Custom service is non-existent. Users forum is full of everything but anything helps fix the issue.
Stay away from QNAP like a plague!
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Infected last month, huge damages to us, and i guess it’s their ex-engneers who made ransom, and i am sure this company will fall.
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I use my QNAP for Plex, and I share my Plex with two other friends. This is my second ransomware attack (thank goodness I had backups), so should I stop sharing? Can I make my QNAP secure and still share?
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Thank you for making this enlightening video! I have now checked and switched off UPnP at my router. I was also watching your Plex setup video where you talk about setting remote access for Plex on a Synology NAS (with DSM 7) . How risky is setting up remote access for Plex to access my media remotely and are there ways to mitigate the risk?
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I have found QNAP TVS-951X about 350£ (450$) used with 30 days free return + 6TB WD RED drives + 32GB RAM, should I buy it ?? it does look in a fair condition I want to use it for 4k streaming + 1080 and some backup + two or three members of my family watching 1080 content with me also to back up my stuff on it, should I buy it ??
thank you
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Robbie and Eddie, Thank you for this in depth discussion, and guidance. I’m new to this, bought my nas at the end of November, and have been following a steep learning curve since then. I especially liked the advise to NOT TOUCH your network or nas settings if you do not understand the actions and results. I have to remind myself of that each time I mess with the settings, and have to reconstitute my nas.
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I bought a single, large (16TB) HDD in recent weeks, plugged that into a free bay in my NAS, created a new storage pool & volume, and copied all my existing NAS Data onto it, and when complete, I pulled that Harddrive out. This is my ‘emergency’ back up, should the worst happen.
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The Bank & Bank card analogy is a good one.
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I don’t have remote access to either my QNAP or my Synology directly or through their respective relay systems. Instead, I use OneDrive (OD) as a relay point. My NAS is setup to sync with my OD account. When I’m on the road, my laptop syncs files with OD. So, when I edit a file on my laptop, it then syncs to OD which in turn syncs to my NAS. This won’t work for everyone but it can be a very effective way to effectively gain access to your NAS while working remotely. I don’t do this with the entire NAS, just the folders / files that I may need remotely.
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Just bought a qnap nas yesterday. Really useful conversation. I have to admit i’m a little more concerned after watching this video than i was before.
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Probably a recommended setting for beginners users from QNAP might works.
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We are preparing a new video about how to secure your NAS and your local network.
You can send your external IP address to us via NAScompares.com contact form and we will run free vulnerability tests for you.
This will allow you to identify your network vulnerabilities and open ports etc.
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Thanks again, last year after qlocker Eddie was adamant that myQnapCloud was safe and I believe the issue was upnp allowing access a hard coded back door.
Do you both still feel myQnapCloud is safe ?
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Really enjoyed this especially since they got me too. Thank you. Small piece of feedback – it’d be great if you gave Edward a bit more of a chance to speak at times. There are sections where it seems he’s just on the receiving end of a long lecture, as opposed to part of the conversation.
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Rip out the DOM n install unraid on it 😀
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Thanks Robert. Thanks Edward.
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Could you do a video on how to secure your nas? Things like what port to put things on. Stuff like that?
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im using a tricky way to remotely access my NAS files, by hiding them behind a nextcloud single user on a Pi thats not visible. not infallible, but takes breaking that, just to see files, not alter them or upgrade. if i have to upload, i have to remote into a computer and use other methods. rarely do i need to access files , but it can be done if i have to.
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After using QNAP NAS devices for years – we’ve lost all confidence in the brand and it’s no longer on our supplier list.
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TL:DW; version – its a security/ease of use trade-off. If you lock things down users find it too hard to use the features the vendor offers and berates them for it. If you open things up you give users the chance to shoot themselves in the foot, and some will.
Case in point being IoT “plug and play” devices. I was struggling to identify a device on my network today and discovered it had a password-protected web server – I guessed the password on the third attempt. You’d have thought vendors would have learned by now but clearly not.
Another interesting point given the mention of TrueNAS – Unraid ships with all security turned off by default. I think they’ve now realised they erred in doing that, but don’t seem to be in any hurry to fix it. I’ll be keeping any NAS behind a VPN. Wish I could do the same thing with Plex but it seems to need an opening to work properly, so I’ll have to isolate it on a VLAN.
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One of the mistakes that QNAP made on this was that they actually identified and problem and issued a fix before the attack. But they didn’t make the update mandatory (they can override the user desire on when to take an upgrade). Users that had manually done the upgrade like myself or ones that didn’t have their NAS exposed to the Internet were fine. But other users were hijacked.
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I did enjoy the video. I got a month ago a TVS-H1288X. We wouldn’t be talking about this if everyone had updated their NAS. QNAP needs to have a shout mode that you can’t miss if the patch fixes a vulnerability. The lack of organized information as not only to what to do but why? Example Port 443. It is recommended to change it but what range and why change it. I assume port scanners don’t deviate from assigned ports and look for low honing fruit. So by changing to 478 it is put out of the scanner range? If we do a router port forwarding to use QBelt on the NAS is that a direct open door to get into the NAS? I am guessing no otherwise why do assigned ports exist. At moment because of questions I have port forwarding off therefore I can’t use QBelt VPN which we are told it safe. My point is there needs to be a source that explains all of this that we can read. I am an engineer and programmer. First thing I did was set up QBelt to my android phone. UPnP was off from beginning. I have turned off myQnapCloud as I am unsure of where it stands safety wise. Has it been broken before? I even bought a certificate from Qnap and installed it. I think you should step in detail on each part of these security setting. What to change? Why you do it. And where to get more if on it. Love your videos
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Data (physical or electronic) is arguably the most important thing you own the protection of it it more important than money.
If I loose a $50 note it can be replaced with any other $50 note the thing that makes it unique, the little string of numbers in the corner or any stains or creases are not what gives this value to you.
Conversely if you loose 50mb of data it can’t be replaced with any old 50mb of data as it’s uniqueness IS where the value was held. It is by definition irreplaceable/ priceless.
When average joe numpty buys an external HDD, NAS OR starts doing some form of online cloud storage or backup they have stumbled into the realisation that data holds value.
Often it’s a result of learning the hard way and loosing something.
NAS brands really should be held to account for some things but like you say not all.
From a consumer protection point of view, is it fit for purpose? Does it do everything it was advertised to do? Was it free of defects?
I buy a NAS, follow their instructions for setup while using the drives they recommend.
My expectations are:
– My data will be stored there without risk
– My data will be available using ALL advertised methods without putting it at risk
– I will be prevented from accidentally impacting the above two things.
During the setup process there should be a “most users” option that walks you through a VERY simple wizard (most users are not as smart as they think they are… see Dunning-Kruger effect).
Lock out or at least require a certain level of knowledge to unlock the most advanced features. Maybe a big warning when you select advanced option a big simple warning saying “by clicking this we no longer warrant the safety and security of your data” The stuff a car owner should touch is yellow under the bonnet of most cars now. Oil, wiper fluid, etc…
Also as joe numpty does not understand the difference between redundancy, backup etc etc. prompting them to locally encrypt and purchase a offsite data storage plan, backup to another offsite NAS or set up automatic email reminders for periodic backups.
Updates should always come with a have 3 options:
1. Update instantly on release. Early adopters on the bleeding edge (called that for a reason) “the is an update available and will be installed in x hours unless you hit cancel”
2. Delayed update (default most users). There is a new update available it’s currently being installed on some systems. This update will be automatically installed on this hardware after 30 consecutive days of bug free operation globally”. In this mode critical exploit patches are able to be forced if it impacts the last auto update.
3. Auto update off. Notifications on.
I think it’s absolutely NUTS that people give any nas company any form of slack for not treating your data at least as valuable as a bank treats your money. DONT share your pin, unusual behaviour lockdowns of accounts, etc.
Hard to type all this crap on a mobile phone.
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Great Discussion! Driver’s license…????????????
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Absolutely, I bought it for the hardware. Not always as inexpensive as I’d like — TS-873A vs 873-AU come to mind.
Is QNAP safe? Well, when it’s a NAS not an iNAS … mostly. I mean, there’s an IOT vector, but this is an IOT issue — does QNAP need to make its NAS safe against a determined in-network hacker? The IOT threat is just a whole nother topic….
The problem is that they market their internet-connectivity, and they need to stop doing that until they get their house in order, because they don’t have their house in order. Their responsiveness to CVEs has been lackluster at best, bordering on dangerously irresponsible. Security concerns are not as front-and-center as they should be. And magic, hard-coded backdoors in software is so gigantically awful — that stuff never should have been checked in to anything that ships to a customer. Astonishingly terrible.
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Good discussion! But their privacy policy is what drove me away!
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Great discussion. I like how you alluded to the “everyday man.” The reason I gravitated from Synology to QNAP was #1) Hardware comparison but most importantly #2) Capability to do more thanks to the software’s ability to have a lot less guardrails allowing me to do more.
I am by no means an IT expert, but I want the most hardware for my money and the software capabilities to do it. I also learned early on YOU HAVE to absolutely!!! know what you are getting yourself into before opening up your network with any NAS.
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There is only one important rule. Never expose your NAS to the internet…until you know exactly what you are doing! Anyway, and always remember, a NAS is NO backup (RAID is not enough backup, either)!
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Probably time for everyone to realize that these boxes are not good enough for external access. I have 3 qnap boxes and would never expose them to the outside. You want to go outside, go with the big boys like Azure. Qnap is not up for the job. It is fine for your LAN and leave it there.
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As regarding the backup, one of the reason’s I am looking at buying a NAS is to allow me to put one in my home and one in my parents home, and allow us to both sync our data to have an off site backup.
But this means both need to be exposed on the internet to allow the sync. In this case it I think it makes sense to have both of these to be using the same platform as this includes software to sync.
However if I chose QNAP it is the process of wanting to get the backup capabilities that is exposing me to the data risk.
I am a software developer, (i.e. the worst person in this case since I know enough to be dangerous), but am no ‘Locksmith’, so would really welcome better hand holding and explanation of what the various features are actually doing behing the scenes and what the risks are.
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QNAP need to open and honest about what vulnerabilities in what software exist on all of their models. If you fix the vulnerabilities sooner via auto-update (and not all vulnerabilities need reboots) then they wouldn’t be in this situation.
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How about a step by step guide to secure your qnap nas?
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No, absolutely, NO
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Safe to save garbage files I guess.
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no youtube???
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What about stability between the two?
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Thanks for all your great videos – I am looking to upgrade my NAS and have settled on a Qnap TS-673A it will be my “home” NAS should I use QTS Hero ZFS or QTS 5 as my OP? Which is best? One of the main things I want to use is MyCloudLink (which I presume I can use on both OP)
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As a new user you really make what was looking like a dive into the matrix, into something that I can actually folow. Thank you
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Dose qnap have some sort of hybrid raid ? That back up and save space.
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Latest QTS 5 firmware update lost every user’s “home” folder when connecting via AFP in a finder window, only shared folders are shown. Even disabling and enabling home folders in users don’t take any effect. Only In browser UI the home folder is working properly.
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I have TS253be and update to QTS 5.0 but NAS force me to initialize NAS (Reset NAS set up)
My raid was gone (Raid 1) while I Initialized NAS to start 5.0 and I try to back up my data to external hdd
but my 2nd disk was gone while back up I can recovery data 70% (Lost forever 30%) T.T
Do you have problem to upgrade like me?
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Do you have an ETA for full release QuTS Hero 5.0?
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I had to roll back.
5.0.0. gave me two weird issues.
1. The fans went to 100% and stuck there, regardless of any setting or actual system temp.
2. (And this one is really weird) IR remote button pushes would be registered twice, but only around 25-33% of the time.
I rolled back AND forward three times to check and double check these issues. I’m staying with 4.5.x until I know 5.x.x has the bugs ironed out.
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i have found the file permission are better but….. in my case the everyone group has no rights assigned to it when checking on qnap.not denied not ro or rw. when you create a user via qnap and assign rights via windows. somewhere along the line everyone has now changed to denied access…..simply just remove anyone from the resource…but not the right way?
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FULL Written Review of QNAP QTS 5 – https://nascompares.com/2021/10/08/qnap-qts-5-0-nas-software-review-worth-your-data/
01:50 – Disclaimers & Review Considerations
05:25 – Start – QTS Change of Focus
07:00 – QTS 5 vs QTS 4.5 GUI, Design, The Good, the Bad & the Awkward
10:13 – Responsiveness
10:44 – Things That Have Not Changed
11:30 – Security, Notifications & Control
14:25 – Control Panel
15:39 – Storage Manager
17:25 – Remote Mounting & Cloud Gateways
18:40 – File Management
20:30 – Multimedia Control & Sharing
27:00 – Storage Continued – Health & Checks
29:00 – Synchronization & Backup Tools
36:35 – Virtual Machines, Containers & Ubuntu VMs
41:05 – VMware, Hyper-V and SaaS Backups
43:14 – HDMI Services & HD Station
45:00 – Surveillance Tools & Services
49:00 – Licenses, Good & Bad
51:00 – QSirch, QFile, Teamviewer, Hybrid Mount and the Conclusion
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Add chapters to this video
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I have a TVS 873e when i seach for the upgrade to QTS 5 on the QNAP site it is not showing it for me. the highest firmware is 4,5,4 1800 am i not able to run V5?
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Why the full release of QTS 5.0 is not arrived yet on TS-X53D series ?
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awesome, perfect video as always; you’re the best source for nas – especially on qnap, i would say. Possessor of the – NOWADAYS pretty old – ts231+P and i still use it as my daily driver; with the new qts 5 now, seems even more faster
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That robot reminds me of the old MS office “clippy”… Luckily he doesn’t ask “it appears you are trying to…” ????
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That robot in the corner…. Reminds me of clippy… kill it with fire!
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How did you get this installed on a TVS-872X? I am trying to get it on my TVS-872XT and this model is not officially supported on this initial 5.0 release.
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First! Always love the content!
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