QNAP TS-473 upgrade to 10GbE and SSD cache +4K graphics card

I’m planning to use it as a central data repository for domestic and SOHO business purposes, plus as a media store and potentially streaming device. I’ve installed Roon on it and it seems to be performing very well, despite having just 4GB RAM. I am wondering about a couple of things, however. Firstly, I’m thinking of adding a PCIE video card to it, but am unsure what the best option is. I would plan to be able to stream 4K video in the fullness of time, and I’m not a gamer. Secondly, I’m interested to understand whether I should add a cache via M2 SSD or go the route of the add on card with NVMe modules. I understand that SATA SSD has bandwidth limitations, though these may not be particularly material to my situation, as I’m hardly going to be asking the NAS to handle huge amounts of data. Thirdly, I’m looking to upgrade my current Netgear GS108v4 8 port switch to increase capacity and potentially use port trunking with the NAS – I’ve seen a Netgear Click Managed switch (GSS116E) which I thought would fit the bill, but then saw it wouldn’t support LACP. Which set me thinking about going the whole hog and using a QM2 card with 10GBe, together with a suitable 10Gb switch. Any thoughts as to which? The new QNAP switch seems an option, though none of my other devices support 10Gbe, so may be over the top? Perhaps a device with mostly 1Gbe posts but a couple of 10Gbe? Many thanks in anticipation.

If this is going to be Multimedia NAS you need to get a video card. This NAS does not feature HDMI port either video transcoding function. I have prepared a list of compatible graphics cards below. But all gforce card x900 and up will cope with 4K media.

A decision about getting a M.2 cache card should be based on applications this NAS is running as well as how many users are accessing similar data. If you plan to run a web server or database server or simply having same files shared with dozens of people this makes sense. NVME will me 5 times faster than regular SSD card so it is worth spending a little more and get NVME card.

The upgrade to 10GbE is a logical step. The 1G network has become too slow for new generation file sizes and applications. You can enable link aggregation but then you need to get dual or 4 port network card also on your PC. But there will be similar cot just getting 10GbE connection an switch. Dual port switch cost around 152GBP (smart one for trunking around 190GBP). This is all you need if other devices are 1GbE.

Cheapest 10GbE switches

Cheapest 10gbe switches

TS-473 SSD and NVME SSD +10GbE cards

Qnap M.2 SSD PCI-Express Card QM2-2P10G1T PCIe gen2 x4 Card, 2x NVMe M.2 SSD slots + 1x 10GbE RJ45

Qnap M.2 SSD PCI-Express Card QM2-2S10G1T PCIe gen2 x4 Card, 2x SATA M.2 SSD slots + 1x 10GbE RJ45

TS-473 Supported Graphics cards 4K

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