QNAP TS-109 Pro NAS

Rob Williams · 03-27-2008, 03:05 AM

Network storage if growing more popular each day, and thanks to that, there are countless NAS boxes to choose from. We take our first look at a QNAP offering, that proves you do get what you pay for. This single-bay NAS offers pure silence, a great feature-set and simple setup.

You can read Greg's full read here and discuss it here.

03-28-2008, 07:58 PM

Did you use the exact same drive in the other nas box, or was it just the same model or a similar model?

Since the hardware is so close, I am curious as to the performance differences. I have been very tempted to build my own freenas server, but one of these would be much cheaper and way more power efficient.

Greg King · 04-01-2008, 09:19 AM

Great question and sorry for the delay in an answer. I used the same exact drive in testing of both of the NAS boxes used in the review. I also contacted Synology to reassure that my assumptions were correct that the DS207+ is exactly the same on a hardware level as the DS107+. We did not have the DS107+ in house at the time so instead used the 207+ with one drive installed.

Let me attempt to inject a little personal opinion now. The QNAP TS-109 Pro is a great example of what a good NAS should be. Performance wise, it couldn't exactly stand up to the Synology but for a majority of all users, this won't be hindrance. I am currently testing the 207+ and hope to have a review up shortly on it's performance. The hidden gem though in Synology's products is undoubtedly their software. Offering most everything that the QNAP's user interface offers (with the exception of the potentially life saving network recycle bin), the Synology UI is far more polished and user friendly. This might not effect someone like yourself who sounds like they know more than the average user considering your idea of using freenas but I like the new AJAX interface.

If you build something, post it here, I would love to hear about your experiences with whatever path you choose to go down.

Merlin · 04-05-2008, 06:31 PM

Looks like something I was looking at.
The:
QNAP TS-201 2-Bay, RAID 1 Hot Swappable All-in-One NAS SoC 266MHz Processor

Maybe a little more but hot swappable
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822107002

Merlin

Greg King · 04-05-2008, 06:54 PM

Are you looking for RAID? If so, thats a decent NAS but the CPU clock is a bit slow. The 109 Pro that we looked at had double the clock speed of the one you linked to.

For the money, I would honestly look at the 207 or the 207+ from Synology if your wanting RAIDable NAS. Look for our review of the 207+ here soon as well as an article covering the new software for the entire line of Synology products. It's amazing.

Merlin · 04-05-2008, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkSynergy

Are you looking for RAID? If so, thats a decent NAS but the CPU clock is a bit slow. The 109 Pro that we looked at had double the clock speed of the one you linked to.

For the money, I would honestly look at the 207 or the 207+ from Synology if your wanting RAIDable NAS. Look for our review of the 207+ here soon as well as an article covering the new software for the entire line of Synology products. It's amazing.

Ahhhhhh
I didnt notice the speed.
And not really for raid.....
I was thinking for home security image storage.

Merlin

Greg King · 04-05-2008, 09:22 PM

Do yourself a favor and get a Synology NAS. Their latest software (which we will be releasing an article on in a week) includes what they call "Surveillance Station." This allows you to connect a IP based camera to your network and monitor it with the NAS. No need for a PC to be on all the time as you can store all the data on the NAS. If you dont want, or care for RAID, get the 107+. It's a spectacular single drive NAS and is the same as the 207+ that we have on the bench now minus room for one more drive.

The one caveat to Synology at the moment is that their setup only supports motion jpeg currently but in their next release mid 2008, they will add mpeg4 support as well (which most IP cams work on anyway).

You wont be sorry with a Synology. I have a couple of IP cams here, one provided for testing from Synology and a pair from TRENDnet. It's a great setup.

Merlin · 04-05-2008, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkSynergy

Do yourself a favor and get a Synology NAS. Their latest software (which we will be releasing an article on in a week) includes what they call "Surveillance Station." a couple of IP cams here, one provided for testing from Synology and a pair from TRENDnet. It's a great setup.

Kewl,
I'll wait for the review

Merlin

pythagoras · 05-05-2008, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkSynergy

...with the exception of the potentially life saving network recycle bin...

The Network Recycle Bin, according to Synology should be available in a an update scheduled for late Spring/Summer.

Merlin · 05-17-2008, 12:00 AM

Great Review....
I noticed one thing
The 109 Pro is great for most users.
What I was seeing is that it Does have media sharing, but only in the local network
The Synology NAS has this.
The Surveillance Station provides the IP camera option....that's what I was looking for.

Merlin

Merlin · 05-17-2008, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkSynergy

Do yourself a favor and get a Synology NAS. Their latest software (which we will be releasing an article on in a week) includes what they call "Surveillance Station." This allows you to connect a IP based camera to your network and monitor it with the NAS. No need for a PC to be on all the time as you can store all the data on the NAS. If you dont want, or care for RAID, get the 107+. It's a spectacular single drive NAS and is the same as the 207+ that we have on the bench now minus room for one more drive.

The one caveat to Synology at the moment is that their setup only supports motion jpeg currently but in their next release mid 2008, they will add mpeg4 support as well (which most IP cams work on anyway).

You wont be sorry with a Synology. I have a couple of IP cams here, one provided for testing from Synology and a pair from TRENDnet. It's a great setup.

Having a brain fart here...... that's the same one.
Yes, it does look like what I was researching

Merlin

06-28-2008, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkSynergy

Do yourself a favor and get a Synology NAS. Their latest software (which we will be releasing an article on in a week)

Am I being blind or what but I can't see the article posted online? It's almost July.

03-27-2008, 03:05 AM	#1
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	QNAP TS-109 Pro NAS Network storage if growing more popular each day, and thanks to that, there are countless NAS boxes to choose from. We take our first look at a QNAP offering, that proves you do get what you pay for. This single-bay NAS offers pure silence, a great feature-set and simple setup. You can read Greg's full read here and discuss it here. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

03-28-2008, 07:58 PM	#2
Unregistered Guest Poster Posts: n/a	question regarding test Did you use the exact same drive in the other nas box, or was it just the same model or a similar model? Since the hardware is so close, I am curious as to the performance differences. I have been very tempted to build my own freenas server, but one of these would be much cheaper and way more power efficient.

04-01-2008, 09:19 AM	#3
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	Great question and sorry for the delay in an answer. I used the same exact drive in testing of both of the NAS boxes used in the review. I also contacted Synology to reassure that my assumptions were correct that the DS207+ is exactly the same on a hardware level as the DS107+. We did not have the DS107+ in house at the time so instead used the 207+ with one drive installed. Let me attempt to inject a little personal opinion now. The QNAP TS-109 Pro is a great example of what a good NAS should be. Performance wise, it couldn't exactly stand up to the Synology but for a majority of all users, this won't be hindrance. I am currently testing the 207+ and hope to have a review up shortly on it's performance. The hidden gem though in Synology's products is undoubtedly their software. Offering most everything that the QNAP's user interface offers (with the exception of the potentially life saving network recycle bin), the Synology UI is far more polished and user friendly. This might not effect someone like yourself who sounds like they know more than the average user considering your idea of using freenas but I like the new AJAX interface. If you build something, post it here, I would love to hear about your experiences with whatever path you choose to go down. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

04-05-2008, 06:31 PM	#4
Merlin The Tech Wizard Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Lakeland, Fl Posts: 1,855	Looks like something I was looking at. The: QNAP TS-201 2-Bay, RAID 1 Hot Swappable All-in-One NAS SoC 266MHz Processor Maybe a little more but hot swappable http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822107002 Merlin __________________ Win7 64 bit Intel i7 920 watercooled Asus P6X580 Premium mobo, GTX280 GPU watercooled Synology NAS 207 Network Server with 2 Hitachi Terabite drives LG NAS N2R1 with 2 ea 2 tb drives LINKSYS PLK300 Powerline Network Kit

04-05-2008, 06:54 PM	#5
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	Are you looking for RAID? If so, thats a decent NAS but the CPU clock is a bit slow. The 109 Pro that we looked at had double the clock speed of the one you linked to. For the money, I would honestly look at the 207 or the 207+ from Synology if your wanting RAIDable NAS. Look for our review of the 207+ here soon as well as an article covering the new software for the entire line of Synology products. It's amazing. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

04-05-2008, 09:22 PM	#7
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	Do yourself a favor and get a Synology NAS. Their latest software (which we will be releasing an article on in a week) includes what they call "Surveillance Station." This allows you to connect a IP based camera to your network and monitor it with the NAS. No need for a PC to be on all the time as you can store all the data on the NAS. If you dont want, or care for RAID, get the 107+. It's a spectacular single drive NAS and is the same as the 207+ that we have on the bench now minus room for one more drive. The one caveat to Synology at the moment is that their setup only supports motion jpeg currently but in their next release mid 2008, they will add mpeg4 support as well (which most IP cams work on anyway). You wont be sorry with a Synology. I have a couple of IP cams here, one provided for testing from Synology and a pair from TRENDnet. It's a great setup. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

05-17-2008, 12:00 AM	#10
Merlin The Tech Wizard Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Lakeland, Fl Posts: 1,855	Great Review.... I noticed one thing The 109 Pro is great for most users. What I was seeing is that it Does have media sharing, but only in the local network The Synology NAS has this. The Surveillance Station provides the IP camera option....that's what I was looking for. Merlin __________________ Win7 64 bit Intel i7 920 watercooled Asus P6X580 Premium mobo, GTX280 GPU watercooled Synology NAS 207 Network Server with 2 Hitachi Terabite drives LG NAS N2R1 with 2 ea 2 tb drives LINKSYS PLK300 Powerline Network Kit Last edited by Merlin; 05-17-2008 at 09:00 AM.