QNAP TS-453A QTS-Ubuntu Combo NAS Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

At the time of writing, the TS-453A with 8GB RAM can be had at NewEgg for $749.99 and at Scan Computers for £495.84. The same model with 4GB RAM instead can be found at NewEgg for just $598.89 and at Overclockers UK for £399.98.

Overview

What a pleasure that was, to take QNAP’s TS-453A for a test drive. QNAP created an awesome and universally great NAS that will perform great in almost any scenario. Starting with the base, it comes with a powerful quad-core processor and 8GB RAM which is a powerful basis for anything. The CPU features a great hardware encryption engine and we saw performance results that barely were impacted by the encryption at all. The CPU also features a floating point unit that helps the overall performance but especially comes in useful for the media stations and thumbnail creation as well as transcoding.

Speaking of transcoding, the TS-453A isn’t just capable of 4K on-the-fly transcoding, it can also output that resolution to not one but two HDMI monitors at the same time. Whether you want to use the two outputs as extended or duplicate setup, this NAS can do it. Two monitor outputs are especially useful as this NAS also features a dual operating system with both QTS and Ubuntu Linux right out of the box. More virtual systems can be installed thanks to the great hardware and container technologies where even the four LAN ports can be virtually shared between VMs.

It doesn’t just stop there, the TS-453A also comes with the unique Karaoke function thanks to the two 6.3mm microphone jacks and the line-out connector. A media player, PC replacement, VM center, NAS, and entertainment – the TS-453A does it all. Business users will find just as much use in this NAS as it comes with all the bells and whistles you’ll want here too. From volume snapshots over a complete backup and personal cloud solution to security, virtualization, surveillance, and expandability – it’s all there. The price isn’t the lowest you’ll find, but when we consider what we get for that price, it’s a great deal in my opinion: Quadruple LAN, dual 4K HDMI, two microphone ports, and plenty of USB 3.0 ports. It even has a built-in status display.

Pros:

• Dual-OS with more options through VM
• Dual-HDMI 4K output
• AES-NI hardware encryption and 4K hardware decoding and transcoding abilities
• VMware, Citrix, Hyper-V, and more VM options
• Karaoke-function through OceanKTV app.
• Expandable

Cons:

• No eSATA

Neutral:

• Price, it’s fair but not cheap

“QNAP’s TS-453A is as powerful as it is unique. Whether you want to use it at home, office, or even a bar as karaoke center, it does the job and it does it great!”

Thank You QNAP for providing us with this review sample.