When it comes to buying any NAS, chief among your questions will which NAS offers the best performance? It is all too easy to assume that the most expensive NAS server offers the best performance and the cheapest NAS will be the least powerful. But all too often that is not the case and it is when you hit the middle of the NAS market that things get interesting. The trade off between NAS CPU and NAS RAM are often when the Network Attached bargains can be had. If you look below you will see that right there in first place is the QNAP TS-253Be NAS. Offering the more efficient AES-NI encryption system, Dual HDMI, 4GB of DDR3 memory and that 4K enabled quad core x86 CPU – this si both the best overall NAS and the best Plex NAS. As we look further through the pack though, we see that the QNAP TS-231 and it’s superior brother, the QNAP TS-231+ NAS hold tight and give you an excellent scope for productivity and hardware, whilst still keeping the budget costs low.
Network Attached Storage is such a popular form of data storage these days that is it all too often the case that we overlook that you will occasionally wish to connect to the device DIRECTLY. QNAP NAS is well regarded as the best NAS manufacturer for those who want a great NAS server but also fantastic direct attached options – not to be confused with DAS. The units in this range of 2018 NAS units from QNAP all feature different connections ranging from HDMI, USB 3.0 and IR remote control all the way through to USB 2.0, eSATA and multiple LAN ports for link aggregation and failover support. However when it comes to overall connectivity, the best 2-bay QNAP NAS in 2018 so far is still the TS-253a-8G. Along-side those 4 USB 3.0 ports for external devices and peripherals, it also features 2 gigabit LAN ports and two HDMI ports for extended desktop and mirrored screening – excellent for surveillance needs and other business video monitoring!
Special mention should also go to the new QNAP TAS-268 as it features several USB 2.0 ports, a USB 3.0 port, SD Card reader to empty your camera with 1 touch back-up at the end of the day, IR remote control included and the option to run the Android operating system simultaneously with the QNAP NAS OS via the HDMI port and have access to all the advantages of the Android app store (Google Play). Definitely a great home NAS for those looking to expand in less traditional NAS tasks.
When it comes to QNAP NAS Expansions, it is key to remember that the most popular NAS expansion from QNAP, The UX500P 5-Bay expansion and the UX-800P 8 –Bay expansion connect via USB 3.0 – so in all likelihood you can connect them to any QNAP NAS that features USB 3.0. However always check with us first at SPAN.COM to make sure to avoid disappointment. With most of the high end NAS 2-bays in 2018 such as the TS-251+-8G and the TS-253A from QNAP, will let you spread a RAID across both the 2-bay NAS and the expansion, to create one super volume (with perhaps a RAID 5 or 6 setup – something we at SPAN.COM can provide free of charge in our build and test NAS service). Though in the mid range NAS 2-Bays of 2018, you will often find that you will only see the expansion chassis as an independent volume, eg the unit will be a separate storage volume.
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TS-253Be | TS-251+ | HS-251+ | TS-231P | TS-228A | TS-231P2 | TS-251A | ||
1 (UX-800P, UX-500P) | 1 (UX-800P, UX-500P) | 2X TR-004 | (UX-800P, UX-500P) | |||||
2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Stepping away from the concerns of Power and top NAS hardware, we can look at the two most popular deciding factors for small home users and small businesses looking to buy NAS. Namely, which Network Attached Storage 2-bays of 2018 use the least power and make the least noise. These units ill sometimes be on for days or weeks and many will ponder how much they will pay on their electricity bill for the privilege of having 24/7 data storage access! For sheers power efficiency (taking into account the hardware and value for money at all times) this has to be a tie between the TAS-228 and the TS-228. Both units feature excellent NAS features whilst at the same time consuming noticeably less power both in NAS access and in standby and hibernation. Either of these NAS 2-bays will give you a good level of NAS server access and ability whilst keeping your power bill low.
What can my NAS do? This is an often asked question as these days Network Attached Storage isn’t just a case of putting all your files in a folder to access when on holiday, on lunch or on the commute. NAS has evolved into an ever growing technology where we can share, edit, distribute and migrate data into a host of new apps and features. This coupled with technological advancements in NAS devices like iPhones, Smartphones, Smart TV’s and iPads mean that you can do so much with your data if you buy the right NAS. All the QNAP 2-BAY NAS devices in our 2018 range all feature access to the QNAP NAS OS, multiple apps across iTunes and Google Play, access and syncing with 3rd party Cloud services like Dropbox, ElephantDrive, iCloud and Google Drive, as well as being able to work within your Chrome browser window. However for full NAS feature access, you should go for the QNAP TS-253 A as not only will it give you full speed access to the features mentions, but will act as a Plex Media Server NAS If required, multiple user VM (Virtual Machine) NAS support with Windows WSS and Linux and even give you direct media access via HDMI via a host of apps like Kodi and Emby through HD Station – Definitely the NAS we recommend this 2018.
If your data is important – you need RAID. Not to be confused with Backing up, RAID gives you the ability to save your data in the rare and unfortunate event of one of your hard drives failing. All of the 2-bay NAS devices in the QNAP 2018 NAS range offer JBOD, RAID 0 and RAID 1 options, but once the RAID is set up, it can affect your transmission (rad and write) speeds accordingly based on the units hardware. For an excellent balance of RAID setup against Read and Write speeds, we at SPAN.COM recommend the QNAP TS251+ and the QNAP TS253A as both have superior NAS CPU’s as well as quicker RAID Build and Re-Build speeds.
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Upload 225(MB/s) | Upload 225(MB/s) | Upload 677(MB/s) | Upload 176 (MB/s) | Upload 101(MB/s) | Upload 157(MB/s) | Upload 225(MB/s) | ||
Download 225(MB/s) | Download 223(MB/s) | Download 648(MB/s) | Download 224(MB/s) | Download 112(MB/s) | Download 209(MB/s) | Download 225(MB/s) | ||
RAID Recovery | RAID Recovery | RAID Recovery | RAID Recovery | RAID Recovery | RAID Recovery | |||
Storage Pool | Storage Pool | Storage Pool | Storage Pool | |||||
SSD Caching | SSD Caching | SSD Caching | SSD Caching | |||||
PCIe 1 x Gen 2 (x2) | ||||||||
4 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 2 |
Whether you want to buy a Plex NAS or you want to buy a NAS that can comfortably and quickly transcode your media to your Network Attached devices, buying a transcoding NAS can be expensive. However the QNAP 2018 2-Bay range makes things easier when buying a NAS. For transcoding we recommend the QNAP TS-253A as it can transcode 4K natively and for a Plex Media Server NAS it can transcode 720p and 1080p to your iPad, iPhone, Android smartphone and tablets well indeed. However if you do not care about 4K NAS and want to buy a transcode NAS that is better suited to just 720p and 1080p transcoding, you should consider the QNAP TS251+ as it has the quad core intel 2.0GHz (which can boost upto 2.4GHz when needed) and transcode 3 HD media files at a time (offline too for later) on the fly. So once again, for a Plex Media Server that requires transcoding to your devices as well as native transcoding to the QNAP mobile apps, go for the QNAP TS-251+-2G or the QNAP TS-253A-4G for NAS transcoding.
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Offline | Offline | Offline | Offline | Offline | Offline | |||
real-time | real-time | real-time | real-time | |||||
hardware accleration | hardware accleration | hardware accleration | hardware accleration | |||||
transcodes 4K | Transcode Full HD | Transcode 4K | transcodes 4K | |||||
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2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3 | ||
The best Plex NAS for a Plex Media Server comes down to a few factors but more than any it comes down to the CPU. If you want to view and transcode Plex library movies in HD quality (720p and 1080p Plex Media) then you will have to choose between the QNAP TS-251+-8G and the TS-253A-8G as both of these devices have the best x86 NAS CPU’s inside their hardware. Of the two, if you intend to transcode more HD than anything else, go for the QNAP 251+ as it’s 64bit CPU architecture is better suited to this. If you want to view 4K media with the option for native transcoding as well as the odd HD Plex Media transcoding, buy the QNAP TS-253A NAS – which has 4K NAS support.
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Plex Server | Plex Server | Plex Server | Plex Server | NO | Plex Server | Plex Server | ||
Audio | Audio | Audio | Audio | NO | Audio | Audio | ||
SD (480p/576p) | SD (480p/576p) | SD (480p/576p) | SD (480p/576p) | |||||
HD (720P) | HD (720P) | HD (720P) | HD (720P) | |||||
HD (1080P) | HD (1080P) * | HD (1080P) | HD (1080P) | |||||
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2 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 3 |
If you intend to share and distribute your NAS files to multiple users across your home and business network as well as sending over the internet, then you will need a superior NAS to handle more users. Below you can see the maximum user numbers you can distribute too for each 2-bay 2018 QNAP, as well as shared folder numbers and max connections. Straight away you can see that the £200+ and above NAS servers provide much wider support in terms of quantities and users. So, if you are a small business or an expanding business, you should will need to buy a £200-50 pound NAS at at least to ensure you are well covered for user access to your network attached storage device.
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512 folders | 512 | 512 | 512 | 256 | 512 | 512 | 512 | |
800 connections | 800 | 700 | 400 | 128 | 800 | 1500 | 700 | |
MAX users 4096 | MAX users 4096 | MAX users 4096 | MAX users 4096 | MAX users 600 | 4096 | 4096 | MAX users 4096 | |
Default, Max. (optional license purchase) |
Surveillance NAS is fast becoming the best Surveillance solution. Will almost all NAS devices from QNAP this 2018 giving you multi camera support as well as real-time CCTV IP Camera access via your web browser, phone or tablet device over the internet – it is fast becoming standard for people to buy NVR solutions from SPAN.COM via the big NAS names like QNAP and Synology. All the QNAP NAS servers below arrive with camera licences to access your IP Cameras via QNAP’s popular Surveillance Station NAS software. Multiple camera feeds can be viewed at one, along with motion tracking, sms and email alerts as well as integration with existing popular security CCTV setups. The best NAS to buy for surveillance for those looking for the best Network Video Recording NAS solution will be the TS-253A-4G from QNAP as the unit arrives with a quad core CPU to handle heavy write operations from 24/7 CCTV recordings and keeping surveillance logs, as well as arriving with 4 camera licences at no additional cost. Definitely the best Surveillance NAS solution for small businesses or those looking to improve their home security. If you have any queries or request about surveillance NAS, why not contact us directly on 0208288855 or directly via the website and we can arrange the best NVR service solution for you.
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Default: 4, Max. 40 | Default: 2, Max.: 40 | Default: 4, Max.: 40 | Default: 2, Max.: 25 | Default: 4, Max.: 16 | Default: 2, Max.: 25 | Default: 2, Max.: 32 | ||
Surveillance App | Surveillance App | Surveillance App | Surveillance App | Surveillance App | Surveillance App | Surveillance App | ||
2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 |
The Plex Application for your NAS, Mac, PC, Android device is free and available in the NAS App store, iTunes and Google Playstore at no additional cost. Though the free apps, serving as an excellent introduction, will soon feel limited and we advise that if you upgrade to the Plex Pass subscription service for vastly improved options and add-ons. To begin setting up your Plex Media Server, you will need to head over to Plex and set up your account (use the below link) so you can have all your movie, TV show, music, and photo collections at your fingertips. Anywhere you go, on the devices you love.
If however you wish to skip straight to the good stuff and set up your Plex Pass Membership immediately so you can get your Plex Media Server at 100%, use the link below to take walk you through setting up your Plex Pass today!
Now when you have chosen you NAS box, it is time to get right drives for the purpose.