Experience with QNAP TS-251+ ?

[NorEaster]

Hi there -

I'm looking to get this for my home use. We're an all-Apple household (MBP's, iPhones) and I'm looking for a NAS that is:

1) Fast... I'd like the fastest read/write speeds possible for a budget under $450 without disks
2) Supports AFS and Time Machine
3) Has an option for external access (aka private cloud access)
4) Supports DLNA so I can stream media from it to my XBOX
5) Has the option for RAID 1

Note that I expect to only have a max of 3 simultaneous users streaming media or accessing files from it at any point in time. And having 3 concurrent users would be rare. Norm would be 1 to 2 concurrent users.

We definitely will use it for backup of personal files, photos, videos. We want the ability to browse photos on it too without slow performance (e.g. opening a folder that contains 1000 photos shouldn't take more than 5 seconds).

Based on some research I've already done, Synology seems to be too pricey, Western Digital seems to be too "dumbed down", and NetGear seems to have poor quality.

So... if anyone is already using a QNAP TS-251+ (or any QNAP NAS) and would like to share their experiences, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[Floris]

I got one of those and had to return it. The router didn't play nice. It kept putting 1 drive in sleep mode and then it delayed everything by minutes. While a cheap 50$ nas didn't give me those issues. But I don't use it for 3 ppl streaming at the same time, just me. So I have no performance issues with the drives in raid1.

 

[Ifti]

I have a QNAP and think its great.
I have the 8 bay version, currently with 6 bays populated and have had no issues whatsoever.
The QNAP will easy do all of the above functions you've listed, and a ton more.
Here's my system:

If you take a look on my main channel page, and scroll to the bottom, you'll see a range of videos on setting up, adding apps, and generally using the QNAP.

 

[NorEaster]

I got one of those and had to return it. The router didn't play nice. It kept putting 1 drive in sleep mode and then it delayed everything by minutes. While a cheap 50$ nas didn't give me those issues. But I don't use it for 3 ppl streaming at the same time, just me. So I have no performance issues with the drives in raid1.

Thanks for the info. Can you elaborate on your router putting the drive in sleep mode please? Are you saying that your wifi/access point router was causing the QNAP NAS to go into a sleep mode? Is that a setting on your router? Did you try seeing if the NAS itself has some kind of sleep mode that was getting activated after some period of idle?
[doublepost=1473020813][/doublepost]

I have a QNAP and think its great.
I have the 8 bay version, currently with 6 bays populated and have had no issues whatsoever.
The QNAP will easy do all of the above functions you've listed, and a ton more.
Here's my system:

If you take a look on my main channel page, and scroll to the bottom, you'll see a range of videos on setting up, adding apps, and generally using the QNAP.

Thank you very much for pointing me to your channel. If I end up purchasing the QNAP, I'll be sure to check out your videos.

Question for you though: Have you tried using your QNAP as a NAS (instead of DAS) via wifi and been successful at reliably using Time Machine with it? Some folks swear you should never use Time Machine over wifi with a NAS and I'm wondering what your experience has been?

 

[Floris]

I do not know if it was the router specifically, or just miscommunication with the OS, etc. The router was the r7000 from Netgear. It 'felt' like it would stop getting communications, and the drives or the nas itself thinking it can go to sleep mode. But I could clearly hear the other drives inside of it continue to spin.

 

[SpinalTap]

There's a sister product that's recently been launched by QNAP: the TS-251A, which is dual-core compared to the quad-core 251+

Also, here in the UK, the TS-253A is often cheaper on Amazon than the TS-251+.

 

[Cindori]

Very disappointed with my QNAP HS-210. It was advertised as a media streaming device, yet the hardware couldn't even handle 480p files streaming to my Apple TV. Now HS-210 is a lower end, discontinued product, but I got the feeling that QNAP products are slower than expected overall. The HS-251 is advertised as 1080p streaming, but I'm not sure I would trust that. I'm guessing it would still struggle with a larger (4-5GB) video file.

The software suite was impressive though.

 

[maflynn]

I have an older Qnap (219+ I think). I found it slow in interacting with it, I don't stream but just for basic needs, I found it to be a pain. I've stopped using it completely, and found other solutions

 

[dacalo]

We have one and it works well. We use it for streaming music/movies/TV shows as well as for time machine for our Macs. I have also used it when I am out of town to watch movies and listen to music as well. It is pretty easy setup but you have to know how to navigate through the OS somewhat.

 

[Ifti]

Thank you very much for pointing me to your channel. If I end up purchasing the QNAP, I'll be sure to check out your videos.

Question for you though: Have you tried using your QNAP as a NAS (instead of DAS) via wifi and been successful at reliably using Time Machine with it? Some folks swear you should never use Time Machine over wifi with a NAS and I'm wondering what your experience has been?

Yes I use it mainly as a NAS - all of the systems in the house connect with it via wifi. So the NAS is connected to my ATC via ethernet, and all clients connect via wifi.
Ive had no issues connecting or maintaining connection. Ive use Time Machine on it fine, albeit backups are obviously not as fast as being cabled, but its reliable and works fine. Ive also been using TM with my Apple Time Capsule, and have found the QNAP to be just the same, no real difference in performance.
Otherwise at the moment its used for saving documents from all connected systems, as well as sharing photos and video. Most video sharing is done via Plex (theres a Plex app available) and Ive had no problems streaming 1080p video to iPads/iPhones/MacBooks. No glitches whatsoever, even with multiple simultaneous streams.
So far, its handled everything Ive thrown at it TBH!
I haven't tried the Cloud setup on it yet though - have no need for it at the moment and like to keep things as secure as possible, but will be looking to explore it in the near future, as well as adding a couple of CCTV cameras at some point