compare

GENERAL NAS FEATURE COMPARISON

NAS	Plex (local 4K)	Plex HD (remote)	Plex 4K (remote)	BACKUP (MS/GOOGLE OFFICE)	BACKUP (BAREBONE)	PHOTOS (OBJECT AI)	VIDEO EDITING (4K)	VIDEO EDITING (8K)	DOCKER	VIRTUAL MACHINES	PC MODE (QVM)	2.5GbE	10GbE	25GbE	Thunderbolt	NVMe	Pcie	Expansion	HDMI	Drive Mixing
TVS-h874T	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓	ⓘ	ⓘ	✓	✓	✓	✓	ⓘ	ⓘ	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
TS-264	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓	ⓘ		✓	✓	✓	✓	ⓘ			✓	✓	✓	✓
TVS-h474	✓	-	-	✓		✓	ⓘ	ⓘ	✓	✓	✓	✓	ⓘ	ⓘ		✓	✓	✓	✓
TS-673A	✓	-	-	✓		✓	ⓘ	ⓘ	✓	✓	ⓘ	✓	ⓘ	ⓘ		✓	✓	✓	ⓘ
TS-473A	✓	-	-	✓		✓	ⓘ	ⓘ	✓	✓	ⓘ	✓	ⓘ	ⓘ		✓	✓	✓	ⓘ
DS1522+	✓	-	-	✓	✓	✓	ⓘ	ⓘ	✓	✓			ⓘ			✓	✓	✓		✓

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BEST FOR Virtualisation

BEST FOR MULTIMEDIA

BEST FOR FILE STORAGE

BEST FOR BACKUP

BEST FOR VIDEO EDITING

BEST FOR SURVEILLANCE (CCTV)

BEST FOR SMART HOME/ AI

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AVAILABILITY / RELEASE DATE

Brand	Model	TW	USA	UK	Released
Qnap	TVS-h874T	•	•	•	2023-09
Qnap	TS-264	•	•	•	2022-09
Qnap	TVS-h474	•	•	•	2022-09
Qnap	TS-673A	•	•	•	2021-02
Qnap	TS-473A	•	•	•	2021-02
Synology	DS1522+	•	•	•	2022-06

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SOFTWARE - 10/10

HARDWARE - 8/10

PERFORMANCE - 8/10

PRICE - 8/10

VALUE - 8/10

8.4

PROS

👍🏻8GB of ECC Memory that can be scaled to 32GB – LOVELY STUFF
👍🏻Optional 10GbE Upgrade
👍🏻Continued Support of Synology Hybrid RAID on this scale
👍🏻4x LAN Ports by default
👍🏻Expandable with another 10 Drives down the line (2x DS517)
👍🏻NVMe SSD Bays for Caching will be very useful with this 5-Bay RAID Storage
👍🏻DSM 7.1 is hands down the best NAS software and services in the market right now
👍🏻3 years base warranty, with optional extra 2yrs
👍🏻Numerous storage service advantages inc. BTRFS, Fast RAID Rebuild and Auto-Repair
👍🏻First Party Hybrid Cloud services with Synology C2
👍🏻Exceptionally good surveillance software included

CONS

👎🏻That CPU is going to divide opinion
👎🏻HDD & SSD Compatibility list is a little thinner than I expected
👎🏻Optional 10GbE upgrade is via a heavily proprietary route

SOFTWARE - 8/10

HARDWARE - 9/10

PERFORMANCE - 9/10

PRICE - 8/10

VALUE - 8/10

8.4

PROS

👍🏻Very compact chassis design, despite large storage potential
👍🏻A BIG jump in hardware and scale from the TS-253Be and TS-253D
👍🏻Easily one of the most hardware-packed SMB/Mid-range 2-Bay on the market
👍🏻8GB Memory in the base model will certainly appeal to some users looking at pimping this system out fully in terms of hardware upgrades and storage
👍🏻m.2 NVMe SSD Bays AND a PCIe Upgrade Slot (no need to choose one upgrade path)
👍🏻8x Included Camera Licenses
👍🏻Includes Anti-virus, Firewall Tool, VPN client tools, Malware Remover, network manager and Security Councilor Tool
👍🏻3 Different Container/VM tools that also feature image download centers
👍🏻10Gb/s (1,000MB/s) USB Ports will be incredibly useful
👍🏻Large range of expansion options in the TR/TL series in 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 Bays
👍🏻HDMI 2.1 Support in the 2-Bay, whereas the 4/6-Bay still runs HDMI 2.0 (released in Spring \'22)

CONS

👎🏻The PCIe Slot is PCIe 3x2 and the M.2 SSD Bays are PCIe 3x1 (likely limitations of all this H/W on a Celeron+chipset
👎🏻Default 8GB of memory (again, down to global memory shortages) does increase the base price and is non-upgradable too
👎🏻The software can be a little inconsistent under excessive use and features a steeper learning curve than Synology

SOFTWARE - 9/10

HARDWARE - 10/10

PERFORMANCE - 10/10

PRICE - 7/10

VALUE - 8/10

8.8

PROS

👍🏻ZFS and EXT4 Support
👍🏻Pentium Gold Processor 4-Bay - NICE
👍🏻Graphics Card Support
👍🏻PCIe Gen 4 Lanes and a 4x16 Slot
👍🏻2.5GbE by default
👍🏻Massive Memory Support
👍🏻LCD Panel Always Useful
👍🏻USB 10G Ports
👍🏻m.2 NVMe SSD Slots for Caching OR Storage Pools
👍🏻Best Plex 4-Bay NAS in 2022/2023 by a good distance!

CONS

👎🏻Expensive!
👎🏻Still waiting for an I3 option
👎🏻Power Hungry and a pinch noisy in operation

SOFTWARE - 9/10

HARDWARE - 10/10

PERFORMANCE - 10/10

PRICE - 7/10

VALUE - 7/10

8.6

PROS

👍🏻Only brand rolling out i9 Turnkey NAS
👍🏻Only NAS Rolling out Thundebrolt4 NAS (for now!)
👍🏻Upto 20 Cores, 24 Threads and High End Integrated Graphics
👍🏻PCIe Gen 4 x16 Upgrade Slot for 10/25/100GbE Cards and 2x PCIe Gen 4 x4 M.2 NVMe Slots for 7GB SSDs
👍🏻No Obstinant 3rd Party Hardware Limitations on Support or Compatibility
👍🏻Much larger support of 3rd Party Software Services than most other NAS Brands
👍🏻10Gb/s USB Connectivity, in Type A and Type C
👍🏻Upto 64GB of Memory
👍🏻ZFS or EXT 4 File System Choice
👍🏻M.2 NVMe SSD Bays can be used for Storage or Caching
👍🏻Volume Encryption, SED SSD Support and WORM
👍🏻Enhanced AI Surveillance Services, with opt to upgrade with $30 Google TPU
👍🏻AI Photo Management Tool (QuMagie) Includes Thing Recognition and works offline
👍🏻ALL the ZFS Benefits, whilst also the GUI and App benefits of a Linux Software Platform in one

CONS

👎🏻No Smaller 4-Bay Version
👎🏻QVR Elite (not QVR Pro) only has 2 Cam Licences
👎🏻Lack of ECC Memory will annoy some users
👎🏻10Gbe is Missing (so no TB-TO-10GbE Pass-through)
👎🏻Too Many licenses on Enterprise Tools (Drive Analyzer, Face Tiger, etc) with too few free licenses

In terms of these two brands, there is been a long-running theme all the way through that Synology has focused on FIRST-PARTY (i.e. Synology-brand) software and hardware priority, then supporting THIRD-PARTY services/hardware when they haven’t got a viable alternative in-house – to mixed degrees of popularity. Whereas QNAP has been a much more level playing field where they have released their own innovative hardware/software (occasionally a little too quickly) and singing its praises, but also tried to keep customization and flexibility for 3rd parties as open as possible and shouting loud-and-proud about that too – which can be a tad overwhelming for the less tech-savvy. Both brands have done an incredible job evolve their platforms as much as they have to date, especially when Microsoft, Google and Amazon are pouring BILLIONS into the SaaS (and PaaS and IaaS – Platform and Infrastructure as a Service) in order to create entirely streamable ecosystems for businesses, with NAS brands like Synology and QNAP not only integrating with them but also thriving alongside them as a local/bare-metal failsafe. These are all very lofty ideas and ones that most home or small business users will likely have little time for right now (aside from where NAS fits in with their Google/Office 365 office tools like documents, email and spreadsheets at a pinch) and for those users, who the NAS stands on its own two feet is what is going to matter most. Synology is earning its position in the market as the complete 1st party software and hardware package, with a genuinely groundbreaking range of available services, but still managing to make NAS accessible for all in DSM 6.2/7.0/7.1. That said, the trends we are seeing in those sub-enterprise services that are slowly receding in support of popular 3rd party hardware, software and services, making using a Synology NAS alongside your own existing setup in a frictionless way cannot be ignored and leading some to think Synology is shifting their industry position towards something higher.

QNAP NAS on the other hand, although maybe trying to cover too many bases at once, is still trying to cover as much as it can to appear to their audience. Their support of considerably more 3rd party platforms/software/services, even when they have their own software available, is certainly admirable and aside from rather aggressive pricing on their QVR Pro surveillance platform, are still the better choice for those who want a much more adaptable and customizable platform. Its a pretty understandable fact that most people who buy a NAS will be arriving with an existing collection of software in their daily workflow (Office 365 for docs, Gmail for their email, Plex for their media, Chromebook for their commute, Skype/Whatsapp for their communication, TB3 for their editing, etc) and it has to be said that QNAP keeps a more open platform to adapt a NAS into this mix than Synology – occasionally less intuitively and not without a little setup-friction, but certainly to more customizable results. Unsurprisingly, I am going to tell you that both Synology and QNAP NAS are good NAS brands and have earned their place at the top of the industry (whilst both making their own respective moves to integrate into the next tier – ie SaaS providers, Hyperscale environments and Boundless cloud storage), but there is no denying that no one brand has managed to do EVERYTHING to perfection. So, if in double, below is how I would recommend QNAP and Synology NAS to you, for each user case scenario and I hope this guide and my recommendations help you with your next big data storage purchase.

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