Test Configuration
| System Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Asus P5E3 Deluxe, Rev.1.03G; Intel X38, BIOS: 0810 (02/11/2007) |
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (65 nm Conroe core) @ 2.26 GHz |
| RAM | 2 x 1,024MB Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600 |
| eSATA Controller | JMicron JMB363 |
| System Hard Drive | Seagate Barracuda 7200.9, 160GB 7,200 RPM, SATA 3 Gb/s, 8MB Cache |
| Test Hard Drives | 4 x 3.5" Samsung Spinpoint HD321KJ 320GB, 7,200 RPM, SATA/300, 16MB Cache |
| DVD-ROM | Samsung SH-D163A , SATA150 |
| Video Card | Gigabyte Radeon HD 3850 GV-RX385512H GPU: 670 MHz; Memory: 512MB DDR3 (830 MHz, 256-bit) |
| Network Card | Marvell Yukon 88E8056 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Controller |
| Sound Card | Integrated |
| Power Supply | Cooler Master RS-850-EMBA, ATX 12V V2.2, 850 Watt |
| System Software | |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Enterprise SP1 |
| DirectX 10 | DirectX 10 (Vista-Standard) |
| DirectX 9 | Version: April 2007 |
| Graphic Drivers | ATI Radeon Version 7.12 |
| Network Drivers | 9.0.32.3 (Vista Standard) |
| Intel Chipset Drivers | Version 6.9.1.1001 (20/02/2008) |
| JMicron Chipset Drivers | Version 1.17.15.0 (24/03/2007) |
Intel NAS Performance Toolkit
We tested the NAS devices using the Intel NAS Performance Toolkit. For a more detailed description of the benchmarks, see the article Benchmarking With Intel's NAS Toolkit.
The Thecus N4200 used the firmware version 3.00.12 in our tests, while the QNAP TS-459 Pro used the firmware version 323 (0209T).
Power and Noise (Subjective)
Both NAS devices consume about the same amount of power, which should come as no surprise considering their almost identical hardware. The noise of both units was subjectively measured, and while they seem rather equal, the QNAP TS-459 Pro didn't do quite as good a job at dampening hard drive vibrations. This resulted in a slight but annoying humming sound. Gently pressing on the hard drive housing made the humming go away permanently. The plastic rails used in the Thecus N4200 drive bays are the better solution. Both NAS units are quiet enough to keep next to you while you work without being a bother.
| Thecus N4200 | QNAP TS-459 Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Off | 1.7W | 0.7W |
| Peak | 105.6W | 110.5W |
| Sleep | 23.7W | 24.4W |
| Idle | 45.7W | 45.1W |
| Rebuild | 56.5W | 52.2W |
not sure what the advantage of the 4200 is over that except for the battery and that is what a UPS is for.
I just built me a data/media server with exponentially more power for only $533 tax/title/license and no freaking rebates.
My build may consume more power than these but it is much more versitle than these NAS boxes and at least a few hundred bucks cheaper. Plus I it will be suited to use as an HTPC or workstation if ever needed.
FTR the build is: LiteOn dvd burner, MicroATX tower case (6 3.5 bays), 2 Samsung EcoGreen 2tb hd (will be raid 1), AMD athlon x2 250 (65w), Gigabyte ga-ma785gm (5 sata2, 6 usb, 1 esata, radeon 4250 integrated graphics, dvi-hdmi-dsub out), Antec EarthWatts Green 380w power supply, 4gb RAM.
I build my ''NAS'' with a low end PC and 2 SATA controllers. I have 8x 1.5 TB HDDs in 2 RAID-5 config.
Seriously a 4 bay NAS cost like 900$ w/o HDDs...
These are foolish and expensive.
Keep in mind to all the home-NAS and custom guys out there, these units are PROFESSIONAL, not SoHo class units. The qNap 410 and 419 are small business/home units, and even those still include native AD integration, and more, and not only operate as NAS systems, but backup systems, media servers, and more (dozens of features). These still are not even in the "personal" NAS class most home users can build on their own for about the same money.
These are professional class systems, with iSCSI, Native AD support, IP multipathing, load balancing, VMWare certification, and more. These are not cheap "file share" NAS systems like you might want for a media server in your house, or simple storage and backup. Simply features like online data migration to larger disks, archive by file age automatically, IP camera support, iTunes servers, TimeMachine support, and more make these very different from what you can do with a mini-NAS or FreeNAS setup on old PC hardware (not to mention the savings in electricity). qNap does sell "home" system that are less capable, but still FAR more than most people need. If all you want is a bid gisk and media server, get a WHS or a home-built solution. if you;re hooking servers or VMs up to it, using it in a high bandwidth or office environment, and care about the NAS ability to protect itself, back itself up, and migrate data to larger drives later, that's what the $300 price difference covers.
Also, cats don't normally chew on wires. Dogs are much more likely too. A cat might knock it off the desk, or spill a glass of water near it, but chew wires? That's what dogs do, not to mention eat homework.
We purchased the Qnap TS-239 Pro for the location. I was able to install BIND on it as well to handle DNS. I was quite impressed with just how flexible the units are.
And so which of those features are unavailable from the open source FreeNAS operating system, and thus validate the $300 hike?
If I had to put a few of these in place I'd probably do it just to have my IT guy (or me) put them all out in a day and be done with it.
It's just the nature that these types of articles on Tom's Hardware are read by us types that like to do it ourselves. No, most likely these would not find a place in our homes or small businesses that we intimately manage. But I don't think that's their target group.
It is a really bad idea to run a RAID box off USB 2 or 3. One bus reset and you stand to have some corrupted data. Stick with Ethernet and iSCSI if you care about your data.