Looking for a NAS that is both server and storage media-center? Qnap offers in just one TS-269L with HDMI and remote control support MCE. To check if the promise is kept, we will pass on our test bench. Go!

Qnap has graciously lent his last born in the family of two-bay NAS HDD, TS-269L, as Intel Atom. On the exterior, one is faced with a Qnap which differs little from other references of the Dell Inspiron 1545 brand. We find the usual control panel on the left side panel of the NAS with a USB 2.0 port, a button duplication from disk to an external drive connected to one of the many ports of the TS-269L, a button ignition, an infrared port and four hidden status LEDs (network, eSATA, HDD2 HDD1 and).

In the middle, the two HDD racks that can accommodate Format hard drives 3.5 "or 2.5 classic" with the screw locations on the medium. Around, nothing special except stickers partner Intel and guidance on the disposal of hard drives. At the rear, there are other ports such as eSATA, two USB 2.0 but two USB 3.0, two RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet that can be aggregated and HDMI. In the center, a fan 7 cm which is capable of drawing all the calories therein, but also from Dell XPS M1330 hard CPU Intel Atom 1.86 GHz and other control chips.

Some minor interface

For the rest, Qnap slightly reworked interface for clarity and ease of handling for beginners. But all the functions are there, whether the management LAN settings for link aggregation, VLAN management or parameterization services like SMB share (CIFS) and Web servers and MySQL. For our test, we installed the latest firmware to date (3.8.1 20121205), which is proposed to start the NAS.

Navigating the maze of available settings on the Dell E4310 Battery Web Portal configuration, it was found that Qnap has not put a default cache write the brand name "EXT4 delayed allocation." Indeed, our RAID 0 is configured with the EXT4 file system to manipulate blocks of RAM writing for writing later. This helps improve performance, although, if a power outage occurs at this time, data can be lost as unsaved hard drives. To check if this feature is implemented correctly, we will do the test without and with the system delayed write either RAID 0 or RAID 1 in order to define the impact of this option. In RAID 1, the option is enabled by default, which also disables to see the impact of it.

On the other hand, QNAP offers on this model, but other models in the range also can add RAM is 1 GB default By removing our test model, it was also found that RAM is simply glued into place by two balls of the stopper either side of the strip. Nothing insurmountable, we can all just remove and replace  HP G42 Battery if necessary. Moreover, the issue of dismantling Qnap things easier and can be fully disassemble the NAS for repair or cleaning of any dust that may have occurred inside as shown in this photo.

The second RAM module is limited to 2 GB DDR3-1333 maximum, and it fits directly into the back of the HP G4 Battery motherboard. To achieve this, you must remove three screws from the cover, pull back and lift. Then the motherboard and RAM slot free are visible to add additional RAM module. We also test whether the impact of the increase in memory affects the performance either RAID 0 or RAID 1. It is estimated that this will affect especially the last option if delayed write many orders are sent simultaneously, a benefit that is certainly observed with the benchmark CrytalDiskMark.

It's time to send some packets to the NAS ...

After remounting rule in our test model, finally connected to the network, it is time to see what QNAP TS-269L and Intel Atom are in the stomach. Firstly RAID 1 with the timeout option of writing off by default, this NAS up to 110.4 MB / s sequential write, but only 58.5 MB / s read in CrystalDiskMark three HP G6 Battery test passes. Random access, it thickens a little more this time because writing is capped at 175 IOPS on 4K data against reading, it has a good 19,781 IOPS on the same data type. With the active option, things are moving in the right direction with almost 20K IOPS read and 1409 IOPS write is better!

RAID 0, note that this time the Qnap firmware activates the delayed write option by default. Whether active or not, the rates obtained by sequential reading and writing remain the same with 79 MB / s and 111 MB / s respectively. However, the option has an impact on the management of concurrency. Random read 4K block on disk, we get 17,420 IOPS with or without the option, but the writing goes from 4990 to 5238 IOPS IOPS. This is not the same net as RAID 1. Note that when HP G7 Battery testing with real files, the rates obtained are slightly different.

Indeed, it is with the Windows robocopy or a script that copies files from a real RAMdisk to and from the NAS, the results are superior. RAID 0, with the option enabled by default so, robocopy still barely pass the 80 MB / s on our files 5 MB

There is little doubt then that the option of delaying the writing must be directly related to the size of the memory available on our NAS testing. Indeed, by analyzing more closely the various tools available in the Latitude E5520 batteries management interface Qnap, we see that the memory occupied is important enough after a few benchmarks launched. We installed our RAM modules to verify this.

After extinction of the NAS and screws removed, lift the plastic cover on the back of the motherboard and slide the strip of RAM DDR3-1333. At startup, the fan blows at its maximum until validation of the new strip symbolized by a short beep from the system. In our case, we do not have that beep and the system simply does not agree to start. Removing that provided by Qnap and installing ours, the system starts to boot, strange. However, two bars turn out well at the same frequency as the two labels for each module. An incompatibility between the ADATA provided by Qnap and our Kingston? Probably.

Never mind, we then added a second bar 2 GB on the same slot available at the rear for mounting to 4 GB total. Note that Qnap only accepts up to 3 GB according to its technical documentation online, which could just drop our memory of 2 GB, and up to 1 GB, but it did not work. With our 4GB installed, do not worry, the Latitude E6320 system starts and the NAS is accessible again, quickly elsewhere. Then, in the tests we have done RAID 0 with delay option enabled, we could compare the synthetic tests CrystalDiskMark our scripts and copy actual files.

In CrystalDiskMark, the gain is triple random write as we move from 5200 to 15,064 IOPS IOPS. Over other testing scenario also shows a sizeable gain either read or write our multiple files. The biggest gain is reading our file 1.2GB on three passes with 95.8 MB / s at baseline and 117.3 MB / s with 4 GB of memory. A small boost in RAM which is good, then.

The NAS also media-center ...

More NAS have an HDMI which allows them to use both as a media-center and at the same time as the storage server. Is this a good idea? Some probably find it interesting, since it will then be necessary to make E6420 batteries transfers or set of protocols like DLNA sharing on various high-tech home to enjoy his files on its audio-video equipment . This can sometimes be tedious.

Via the HDMI output, Qnap offers a few more features than the models Asustor tested recently, such as viewing YouTube videos or even the opportunity to go on the Internet quickly without the need to turn on the computer, not to mention a access to all the audio / video entertainment and photos contained in the NAS. Obviously, all this is fine, but it is still necessary that the NAS is not too noisy so we can imagine the install near its HDMI TV and the amplifier. As such, the Qnap TS-269L is forgotten. Very quiet daily, the fan never fully rotated during our tests. We all just tried to see what was pushing manually to 100% of its capacity, and, yes, it makes a lot of noise (51.7 dB measured at 1 meter) in our room test. But a priori, in normal use, it will never be the way this regime, except perhaps fully applied in summer and enclosed in an airless corner ... Consumption side, we were able to verify the data provided by Latitude E6420 ATG , namely a consolidated 19W lit with two disks mounted inside, which rises to over 27W.

To enjoy this feature, it is necessary to connect the TV or HDMI-compatible display and start the NAS. Then, on the control panel in the menu "Service Management" must go to "HD Station". Here, we can then start the function and install different applications as necessary XBMC for playback of video / audio and music, or Google Chrome, YouTube and even shortcuts to the panel. However, our Latitude E6520 test TV in 720p HD, the NAS just does not want to display anything. By plugging another screen in 1080p this time, do not worry, the interface of the first configuration is displayed and you can begin testing its multimedia applications (and change the resolution to a smaller if necessary ...) .

The 1080p video playback works perfectly, support files subtitle SRT is also present. The XBMC interface offers some interesting additions like the cover of the film or contextual information. Parallel reading and writing data from two different computers are some slowdowns appear on the screen when playing this file in 1080p. Blame the lack of RAM probably because our model has 1 GB by default. Indeed, on this point, Qnap recommends the installation of 3 GB of RAM to take advantage of the NAS function and media center at the same time. With our 4GB memory, reading no longer suffers from slowdown and transfers Pavilion DV4 batteries enchainent normally. Good to know.

NAS competition?

On one hand, if one seeks only a two-bay NAS, Qnap offers other slightly cheaper models that do not have function media center. By cons, if one seeks versatility, this model is able to ensure both simultaneous as long as you add the starting price of the price of additional RAM sticks. However, if we compare its price to that of two bays Asustor we recently tested, the Latitude E6510 difference in price is only € 20 for the Qnap TS-269L. If one adds to this the price of the bar of RAM starting price for the full enjoyment of the two functions of the NAS, the invoice is a little higher. We may add that the reputation of the product is no longer Qnap to do, so that we do not yet have enough perspective on products Asustor. Which can tip the balance in favor of this model at the time of purchase ...

Tags: Dell Studio 1555, Pavilion DV7 , E5500 batteries