QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS
Jun 23rd, 2009 | By Simon
QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS
Date
: 06/23/09 – 03:10:47 AM
Author
:
Category
: Storage
Page 1 : Introduction
Manufacturer
: QNAP System Inc.
Quality Network Appliance Provider defines QNAP's mission statement and they've lived up to those standards by offering what they believe to be the best Network Attached Storage (NAS) and Network Video Recorder (NVR) devices. They have well over fifty products in these two categories; some companies aren't even able to claim they have a total of fifty products let alone in two categories. What's more surprising is that QNAP has only been around since 2004, making it probably one of the fastest growing and most respected network appliance providers.
Hard drive capacity has ballooned these past few years and today we have 1.5TB drives, a size most of us probably thought was unrealistic a few years ago. It's easy to fill a hard drive and need a bigger one. I myself have over 5TB of space at home and it only cost a few hundred bucks. It's not uncommon to see someone with four or five hard drives, but what do you do when you run out of SATA drives on your machine or need access to those files from any computer on the network? The answer is QNAP's TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS. The TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS is a modified computer optimized for storage and storage oriented function. They may double as printer servers but primarily serve as data transfer devices from an internal collection of drives to any user with permission on the network.
Page 2 : QNAP TS-809 Package
QNAP has a simple model when it comes to packaging: protect and educate. The QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS comes in an oversized box but not to waste any space the surface area is used to educate the buyer. The front of the box has a very large picture of what the TS-809 Pro. It also lists many of the features available. The bulk of the information is actually printed on the backside. Here we have a very thorough description of the performance and network features including the various RAID modes and redundancy.
On the side of the box we have a breakdown of hardware and software specifications. This is the first time we learn that the engine behind the TS-809 Pro is none other than a Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz processor, most likely an E6600. There's 2GB of memory and a 1280MB flash.
The cover has a convenient handle to carry the TS-809 Pro around. Flipping the lid we get the quick installation guide on how to set the QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS up in about 5 minutes, excluding the time for the drives to configure.
Page 3 : QNAP TS-809 Pro Features & Specifications
The QNAP TS-809 Pro is designed for the corporate world – ensuring reliability and security is at the forefront of the system. Taken from the QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS website:
Hardware Specifications
Software Specifications
Features
Modern business requires a reliable and secure storage solution to back up, protect, and manage data effectively. The TS-809 Pro is the powerful 8-bay high-volume member of QNAP's award-winning Turbo NAS family designed for business users. It is a NAS of class-leading performance, supports advanced RAID configurations for data protection, built-in iSCSI target service, AES 256-bit volume-based encryption, lots of enterprise-grade server features, and delivers high reliability for multiple concurrent applications.
High performance and advanced RAID redundancy
The TS-809 Pro is featured with Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz CPU and 2GB DDRII memory. It supports RAID 0/ 1/ 5/ 6/ 5+Spare, JBOD, Online RAID Capacity Expansion, and Online RAID Level Migration.
The Most Affordable and Flexible iSCSI Solution
The TS-809 Pro can serve as a NAS and an iSCSI target server. The built-in iSCSI target feature provides an affordable IP-SAN (Storage Area Network) alternative for SMB. You can set up the NAS to expand the storage capacity for existing application servers, such as database server and mail server in an economic way. Moreover, the ‘Virtual Space Allocation’ (Thin Provisioning) feature is provided which allows you to flexibly allocate the capacity of iSCSI LUN (Logical Unit Number) at the beginning regardless of the physical volume capacity.
Versatile Applications for Business
The TS-809 Pro supports file sharing across Linux, UNIX, Mac, and Windows platforms. Versatile business are supported, e.g. file server, FTP server with encryption, and printer server, PHP/MySQL supported web server, and encrypted remote replication . Also, Windows AD (Active Directory) is supported to help create an easy-to-access environment and lower the maintenance cost. SSH login and web page SSL login enable you to transfer, store, and share data securely.
Secure Data Protection by AES 256-bit Volume-based Encryption
The TS-809 Pro's dominant ‘volume-based encryption’ feature secures the server data by AES 256-bit encryption. Even if the hard drives were stolen, there is no need to fear that the confidential data would be leaked since the data can only be accessed by an authorized password.
Easy Setup and Low-cost Maintenance
The handy LCD display on the NAS provides a speedy and easy approach to initialize the NAS and set up the RAID configuration without using any computer. The system information and settings are also displayed for easy management. The schedule power on/off feature is available on the NAS for you to flexibly manage the NAS server's up time according to the working hours. Also, the smart Wake on LAN is supported for convenient remote wakeup of the NAS in the local network.
Dual Gigabit LAN Ports
Failover Supported for Network Reliability
The dual LAN ports can be configured as failover which allows the NAS server to sustain the failure of one network port to provide continuous services.
Better Performance with Load Balancing
The two LAN ports of the NAS can be configured as load balancing mode for bandwidth aggregation to boost the file transfer speed (works with managed Ethernet switch with 802.3ad configured).
Multi-IP Setting for Serving Two Different Subnets
The NAS can be deployed with two IP settings for sharing among different workgroups in two different subnets.
High Reliability, Disaster-proof NAS for Business
DOM Architecture with Embedded Fail-safe Dual OS
All the OS and applications are embedded on the DOM. The NAS allows system booting without accessing the physical disk sectors and that avoids unsuccessful system startup caused by bad block sectors or file errors on the hard drives. Two operating systems are built on the DOM for system booting alternatively upon every system startup. When one fails, the other one will be used to boot up instead, and the failed OS is recoverable from the other healthy OS.
Advanced RAID Management with Hot-Swap Design
The NAS offers advanced RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 5 + Spare, Single, and JBOD disk configurations. It also supports hot-swap design that a failed drive can be replaced by hot swapping without turning off the server. Besides, the best-in-class RAID on the NAS brings users a higher level of data security by allowing one more hard drive failure than other NAS of the same level.
Online RAID Capacity Expansion
The storage capacity of a RAID configuration can be expanded by replacing the hard drives with larger ones. All the data will be kept and seamlessly moved to the newly installed hard drives. There is no need to turn off the server during the process.
Online RAID Level Migration
You can upgrade the disk configuration to higher RAID level with the data retained. There is no need to turn off the server during the process.
Built-in iSCSI Target Service
The TS-809 Pro can act as a NAS and iSCSI target server at the same time. It provides a cost-efficient iSCSI solution to set up an IP-SAN. You can make use of the built-in iSCSI target service to add up to 8 iSCSI devices. Different iSCSI Target LUNs (Logical Unit Number) can be defined as storage expansion or backup destination of the existing application servers, such as database servers and mail servers.
Furthermore, the ‘Virtual Space Allocation’ (Thin Provisioning) feature is provided which allows you to flexibly allocate the capacity of iSCSI LUN (Logical Unit Number) at the beginning stage without the limitation of the volume space. When the physical storage capacity of the volume is going to be full, the server manager can easily expand the storage capacity by ‘Online RAID Capacity Expansion’, or adjust/ remove the current unused volume space according to the demands.
S.M.A.R.T. & Advanced HDD Health Scanning (HHS)
The NAS supports Hard Disk Drive S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) for monitoring the hard drive status. Moreover, the NAS is embedded with HHS Technology which supports disk checking and bad blocks scanning.
UPS Support
The NAS supports the majority of USB UPS devices (usbhid-ups supported) which enables the users to store the data in time and avoid critical data loss when power outage occurs during data transfer. It also supports advanced stand-by mode setting that users can set the time for the server to enter standby mode when an abnormal AC power supply is detected. When the power resumes, the server resumes to the operation status before the power outage.
High Manageability NAS for Business
Touch-N-Go PC-less Installation
You can use the handy LCD to finish the first time installation in 3 simple steps. The NAS will automatically complete the hard disk formatting and RAID building.
Sharing Files across Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX
The NAS is designed for users to share the files across Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX environment.
Support Windows AD
The Windows AD feature enables you to import the user accounts from AD domain to the NAS to reduce the time and effort for account setup, and the users can use the same set of login name and password.
Web File Manager
The NAS provides Web File Manager for you to easily download, upload, and manage the files on the server by web browser.
Ease of User and Share Folder Management
The NAS supports batch creation of users and share folders to save the time and effort of the server manager in account and folder creation. For the security of Windows network environment, server managers can hide or show network share folders.
Power Management
Hard Disk Standby
You can configure the hard disks to enter standby mode if there is no disk access within the specified period.
Schedule Power on/ off
The flexible schedule power on/off feature is now provided on the NAS for you to manage the NAS server's up time according to the working hours. You can set the time for automatic system power on, power off, or restart on any days of the week.
Complete Backup Solution
QNAP Backup Software – NetBak Replicator
The backup software, NetBak Replicator, is provided for the NAS users to perform real-time synchronization or schedule backup from multiple PCs to the NAS.
3rd Party Backup Software Ready
The NAS works well with other backup software, e.g. Acronis True Image, CA BrightStor ARCserve Backup, EMC Retrospect, Symantec Backup Exec, and LaCie Silverkeeper.
Remote Replication
The data on the NAS can be backed up to or from another Turbo NAS or Rsync server over the network.
One Touch USB Auto Copy
The one touch button can be configured to trigger instant data backup from the external USB device to the NAS or the other way round (applies to the USB device connected to the front USB port of the NAS only).
Secure data storage, access, and sharing
* Comprehensive event logs: Detailed logs of file-level data access to the NAS via samba, FTP, AFP, HTTP, HTTPS, Telnet, and SSH, and networking services accessed by online users are all recorded.
* IP filter control: The server manager can allow or deny specified IP connections to the NAS.
* SSL security (HTTPS): The NAS can be accessed and configured by web browser securely.
* Remote login to the NAS by SSH (secure shell) or Telnet connection is supported.
* Secure FTP: The data can be transmitted with SSL/TLS (explicit) encryption. Passive FTP port range setup is also supported.
* Write-only access right on FTP server: The third party partners are allowed to upload data to the NAS but not able to read or edit the data on FTP server.
Policy-based Automatic IP Blocking
To prevent the NAS from malicious attacks, you can create an IP filter policy to allow, deny, or auto-block the IP address or network domain which attempts to connect to the NAS via SSH/ Telnet/ HTTP(S)/ FTP/ samba/ AFP.
Software Expansion and Website Management
QPKG Software Package Platform
The QPKG software package platform enables the users to maximize the usage of the NAS by installing additional software packages developed from the users and community worldwide. This can be done by simple ‘download & install’ clicking without going through any complicated process.
Web Server with Built-in phpMyAdmin
With the built-in phpMyAdmin, Joomla!, editable php.ini, MySQL and SQLite, you can easily set up your web server and other online applications such as online shops and forums.
MySQL Server
The NAS is the most affordable choice as a standalone database server for system integrators. It can be flexibly applied in various deployments such as a database server of another web server in remote site or as an additional backup database server.
Built-in DDNS support
The NAS supports dynamic DNS (DDNS). You can register a unique domain name from a DDNS service provider and assign it to your NAS. There is no more need to remember a lengthy IP address!
Surveillance Station
The Surveillance Station enables users to configure and connect 4 IP cameras simultaneously and remotely manage the functions, including real time monitoring, recording, and playback by IE browser over the Internet. Users can flexibly define the recording settings: continuous recording, motion-detection recording, and schedule recording according to their security plan. All the files are stored in AVI format with time stamp, users can easily search and play the files by Windows Media Player.
The most comprehensive support for numerous brands of IP cameras
The Surveillance Station of QNAP NAS supports the leading network camera brands such as AXIS, D-Link, IPUX, LevelOne, Linksys, Panasonic and Vivotek etc. By using particular models, users can use two-way video and audio monitoring and recording, and smart PTZ control to control the monitoring direction via the web interface.
Powerful System Management Tools
Wake on LAN
Enable this option to power on the NAS remotely by Wake on LAN. Wake on LAN helps you manage your NAS conveniently.
Smart Fan
The fan rotation speed is automatically adjusted according to the server's temperature. You can also define the system temperatures to trigger high speed or low speed rotation of the fan. By manually setting the fan rotation speed, the fan will rotate at the defined speed continuously.
Instant SMS and Email Alert
You can configure the SMTP server and SMSC server settings on the NAS in order to receive instant system warning or error messages by email or SMS.
SSL Secure Certificate
You can upload a secure certificate and an RSA private key in X.509PEM format issued by a trusted provider in order to allow the users to access the NAS by secure SSL login.
Syslog Settings
All the system event logs and connection logs can be saved to a remote syslog server.
Network Recycle Bin
The files deleted from the network shares of the NAS will be moved to a particular recycle bin folder. You can restore your data anytime in case of unintended file deletion.
Comprehensive Event Log System
The logs of connections to the NAS via samba, FTP, AFP, HTTP, HTTPS, Telnet, and SSH, and networking services accessed by the online users are all recorded.
Detailed System Information
You can view the system status, e.g., CPU usage, total memory, free memory, packets received, packets sent, error packets, system up time, CPU temperature, system temperature, HDD temperature, and system fan speed.
Hardware Expandability
The TS-809 Pro supports five USB 2.0 ports. The users can connect the external storage devices to the NAS for server data backup or expanding the capacity of the server.
Software Expansion via QPKG Center
The QPKG software package platform enables the users to maximize the usage of Turbo NAS by installing additional software packages developed by the users and community worldwide. This can be done by simple ‘download & install’ clicking without going through any complicated process.
Available QPKG software packages
Page 4 : QNAP TS-809 Pro Package Content
We've covered the exterior of the package so let's take a quick look as to what you get with the TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS. The first thing you will find is a second cardboard box with the accessories: power cord, 32 screws to secure the hard drives to the removable cages, two CAT 5e cables, Quick Install Guides and a software/driver CD.
I mentioned earlier that the case is remarkably large for the NAS and it's because QNAP takes no chances when it comes with shipments. The unit is protected by a few inches of soft foam and is wrapped in its own plastic bag.
Page 5 : Exterior & Interior
The first look at the QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS, we see it shares many resemblances to its smaller siblings. The hot-swappable drive cages are common through the small business lineup. You'll notice that the power button is located at the bottom left above the USB copy port. The built-in control panel can be navigated with the two buttons. The screen is protected by a thin plastic film that can be removed for a more finished look. Rotating the Turbo NAS to its back we see two 12cm cooling fans as well as a 40mm power supply exhaust fan. There are two 1GB Ethernet ports as well as 4 USB ports for adding additional storage space or a for a network printer. The VGA and COM port are restricted for servicing purposes only.
Located with the mono-chrome LCD is a STATUS and LAN LED. Not as easily visible are the eight individual LEDs for each hard drive. Similarly, there is a reset button tucked away at the back if the server should need a hard rest and the NAS device can be locked down using a standard K-Slot lock.
The cover for the chassis is made from one piece of sheet metal painted in gunmetal. The only thing worth pointing out about the chassis cover is the sticker on the top indicating the HDD sequence. Each hot-swappable drive cage is labeled and this sticker will tell you where they go.
The Turbo NAS tower sits on 4 rubber feet. The sheer weight of the NAS, 16 lbs, will prevent the device from sliding around even on the smoothest surface.
Removing the chassis is fairly straight forward but immediately voids your warranty as the warranty sticker needs to be broken in order to pull the cover out. There's not much to check out but you can swap out the fans for your own if you want. There's plenty of space to remove the ADDA AD1212LB-A7BGL fans and put in 25mm thick ones.
I also noticed one free SATA port on the motherboard, perhaps we'll be seeing a 9 drive NAS by QNAP in the near future.
The rest of the motherboard was covered up by the drive cage so I'm not able to confirm the type of RAM installed and cooling for the processor.
Page 6 : Installation & Web Setup
Installing and setting up the TS-809 Pro is not difficult at all. Each drive cage is secured in to the Turbo NAS and can be retrieved by lifting the lever. Hard drives are secured to the bottom of the cage by four screws and then slid back into the Turbo NAS.
Once the drives have been pushed back into the device and the lever secured, you have the added option of locking the drive in place with a tubular pin tumbler lock.
Once the power cord and CAT 5e cable are plugged in, the TS809 Pro Turbo NAS is ready to be powered up and configured for your network.
It's perfectly acceptable to use the onscreen display to configure the NAS but to take full advantage I would recommend using the driver CD and configuring the NAS through the provided software and fine tuning your configurations through the web admin. Regardless, here are the menus available on the onscreen display for modification, details about my network and hard drives.
Once you pop the provided install CD into your CD or DVD Player, you'll be asked what you want to do: view the Quick Installation Guide, Install QNAP Finder, Install NetBak Replicator, Install QGet, view the User Manual and Application Notes, Browse the CD or visit the QNAP website and Registration Website. The QNAP Finder is software required to find the QNAP TS-809 Pro on your network and run the basic configuration.
After selecting your language and completing the installation, the software will begin, find the NAS device and ask if you wish the device to be configured. Select ‘YES’ and the six step process will begin.
The process includes a welcome screen, entering the name for the server, selecting a password, entering the date, time and time zone, entering the IP address, subnet mask and default gateway (DHCP is an available option), selecting the services you wish to be enabled, configuring your hard drive to the desired RAID setup and confirming your selections before everything begins.
Once the configuration is complete, you can access the web administration through your network and password.
The main page has not changed since the first QNAP Turbo NAS I've looked at. While it is very fast to load, it is not the easiest to navigate.
I don't want this page to scroll for miles with screen shots, so I've created links to the menus. If you want to see the configuration options available, click on the link for a screen shot.
System Settings
- Server Name
- Date & Time
- Filename Encoding Setting
- Configure SMTP Server
- Configure SMSC Server
- View System Settings
Network Settings
- TCP/IP Configuration
- Microsoft Networking
- Apple Networking
- NFS Service
- Web File Manager
- FTP Service
- Multimedia Station
- iTunes Service
- Download Station
- Web Server
- DDNS Service
- MySQL Service
- Surveillance Station
- System Port Management
- View Network Settings
Device Configuration
- SATA Disk
- RAID Management Tool
- Disk Volume Encryption Management
- iSCSI Target
- External Storage Device
- USB Printer
User Management
Network Share Management
System Tools
- Alert Notification
- Auto Power on/off Management
- Hardware Settings
- UPS
- Hard Disk SMART
- System Update
- USB one touch copy backup
- Change Logo
- Back up to external storage device
- Remote replication
- Backup/Restore/Reset Settings
- IP Filter
- Network Recycle Bin
- Remote Login
- QPKG
- Import SSL Secure Certificate
System Logs
Firmware 3.1.0
On June 12, 2009 QNAP released a new firmware for the TS-809 Pro, version 3.1.0. The biggest change was a revamp of the original graphical user interface. They've upgraded to AJAX complete with either a flow design or standard view. The new interface has a far more friendly apperance and quick to load despite the many graphics to aid the user.
Here's an overview:
Once again, I don't want to have pictures upon pictures in this page so I will create a list of all the available pages on nthe new firmware and link to screenshots.
Admin
- General Settings
- Network
- Hardware
- Security
- Notification
- Power Management
- Network Recycle Bin
- Backup System Settings
- System Logs
- Firmware Update
- System Reset
- Microsoft Networking
- Apple Networking
- NFS Service
- FTP Service
- Telnet/SSH
- SNMP Settings
- Web Server
- Network Service Discovery
- Web File Manager
- Multimedia Station
- Download Station
- Surveillance Station
- iTunes Service
- UPnP Media Server
- MySQL Server
- QPKG Plugins
The software features are extensive with QNAP. Every popular network application you could think of has probably been considered and added. For a small business or home office QNAP would be a one stop shop deal. You wouldn't need a separate server to host your internal websites. All your files and leisure songs to play would be accessible over the network and the web via FTP.
Page 7 : IOZone Testing
For testing, we will be using IOzone which runs a set of read and write benchmarks within a set parameter, then outputs a file with the results. The QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS will be outfitted with eight 500GB Seagate ST3500320AS drives and attached to a D-Link DGS 1008D Gigabit Ethernet Switch connected to my D-Link WRT DIR-655 Gigabit Ethernet router, jumbo frames disabled.
Here's a blurb about IOzone:
IOzone is a file system benchmark tool. The benchmark generates and measures a variety of file operations. IOzone has been ported to many machines and runs under many operating systems. IOzone is useful for performing a broad file system analysis of a vendor's computer platform. While computers are typically purchased with an application in mind it is also likely that over time the application mix will change. Many vendors have enhanced their operating systems to perform well for some frequently used applications. Although this accelerates the I/O for those few applications it is also likely that the system may not perform well for other applications that were not targeted by the operating system. An example of this type of enhancement is: Database. Many operating systems vendors have tested and tuned the file system so it works well with databases. While the database users are happy, the other users may not be as happy as the entire system may be giving all of the system resources to the database users at the expense of all other users. As time rolls on the system administrator may decide that a few more office automation tasks could be shifted to this machine. The load may now shift from a random reader application (database) to a sequential reader. The users may discover that the machine is very slow when running this new application and become dissatisfied with the decision to purchase this platform. By using IOzone to get a broad file system performance coverage the buyer is much more likely to see any hot or cold spots and pick a platform and operating system that is more well balanced.
IOzone is a command line operated testing utility; we will be using the following command.
'-i 0 -i 1'
Write/ Re-Write, Read/ Re-Read tests
Read: Performance measured by reading an existing file
Re-Read: Reading a file which has already been read, tests the utilization of cache
Write: Performance of writing a file to the disk
Re-Write: Re-Writes a file that already exists on the disk
'-q 64k'
Maximum record size of 64Kb, 4Kb, 8Kb, 16Kb, 32Kb, 64Kb
'-n 32M -g 5G'
Minimum file size of 32MB and maximum file size of 1GB
'[file name].xls'
Location where to write test results
'[test location]'
Target of tests
Page 8 : IOZone JBOD Testing
JBOD, at the logical level combines physical disk drives into one larger drive. This comes in handy when dealing with an assortment of drives. Where RAID configuration combines drives at the limit of the smallest disk, JBOD does not.
Starting with the Reader tests, IOZone places a file on the system measures the performance of reading that file.
Next, the Re-Reader test measures the system's caching ability. While it is typical that Re-Reader results are significantly higher than those reported in the Reader test as the test measures reading performance of a file that was previously read, the effects are insignificant with larger file sizes. If we attempted this with files in the few hundred KB mark, we would see a larger jump.
The peak read speed with JBOD hits the low 50's. The average considering all file sizes and record sizes is 31MB/s.
The Writer test measures performance of writing a new file to the system.
The throughput of writing is 32MB/s, a touch faster than reading which is fairly remarkable. With Re-Writer the cache significantly increases the performance to an average of 70MB/s. We peak as high as 217MB/s with Re-Writer and only 93MB/s with Writer.
When writing a previously written file, the overhead required to process where data will be stored on a specific storage media is already determined; the system in a sense is required to do less, thus accounting for the vast improvement in performance.
Page 9 : IOZone RAID 0 Testing
Anyone itching for a sense of speed has probably created a RAID 0 system. RAID 0 splits data across multiple disks (2 is the minimum). With each disk attached in RAID 0 the likelihood of data failure increases but so does speed.
We average 34MB/s read considering all file sizes and record sizes. Much like JBOD, there is no performance increase with Re-Reader.
The throughput is similar on writing a file is similar to JBOD but we see a 20MB/s increase with on averages with the Re-Writer.
Page 10 : IOZone RAID 5 Testing
Those that are concerned with data integrity have likely heard of RAID 1, mirroring. It's generally slower as the data needs to be written onto both disks. With RAID5 you get the advantage of speed and redundancy. Total storage is the combined total number of all disks minus one as redundancy where parity is distributed over all disks in the array. RAID 5 is perhaps the cheapest way to boost hard disk performance while keeping data safe.
We don't see much of a hit relative to the performance of JBOD and RAID 0 when it comes to the reader results. The average remains at 34.4MB/s which is only 0.1MB/s slower than the RAID 0. The same applies with the re-reader results:
Amazingly the average writer result increased by 2MB/s but we do see a 5MB/s drop in performance of the Re-Writer compared to RAID 0. The exact averages are 35MB/s on writer and 90.6MB/s on Re-writer. I'm almost led to believe the dedicated processor and data management system is so powerful that the results are hardly affected. If you're looking for any sense of security without compromising data integrity the RAID 5 solution is definitely one of your best bets with the TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS.
Page 11 : IOZone RAID 6 Testing
RAID 6 is an extension of RAID 5 but far less common. It can recover from the loss of two disks and as a result there is an even larger drop in performance. However, seeing as we saw little difference in performance between RAID 0 and RAID 5, I'm already thinking that the performance drop will be minimal and RAID 6 should become an excellent option for those keen on speed but also data integrity.
The results are essentially identical, 34.4MB/s just like with RAID 5.
The same story can be told with the Re-Reader, we're averaging 34.4MB/s.
The Writer and Re-Writer results don't take much of a hit. We're seeing 35MB/s on the writer and 89MB/s on the Re-Writer. This is an increase of 1MB/s over the RAID 5 with Writer and a decrease of 1MB/s on the Re-Writer.
Page 12 : IOZone 64Kb Record Size Comparison
Typically, with modern day software, a record size of 64kb is used with larger files. With the sheer amount of data conveyed throughout the last few tests, it was hard to accurately gauge the QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS performance, and even harder to do so across different RAID configurations. In the next section, we will be comparing the data compiled through the tests we ran earlier to gauge performance over the various RAID configurations.
The results are fairly consistent between all 4 storage schemes until we reach record sizes of 1+ MB. Only at that point do we see JBOD drop off to 30MB/s while RAID 0, 5 and 6 float at the 50MB/s mark.
The Writer results fit in a small bandwidth with RAID 0 being the most consistent and JBOD showing the largest drop with increasing record size. With no surprise, RAID 0 is the fastest with Re-Writer followed by RAID 5, RAID 6 and JBOD taking up last place. I'm not surprised at this because as redundancy increases your total throughput rates decreases. The exception becomes JBOD and it is last because everything is written on one disk at a time and no overhead can be shared between the various drives.
I think this one chart really summarizes everything nicely. We can really see how the performance levels are incredibly close together between the different storage schemes. For the most part you can expect RAID 0 to have a slight edge over the rest but this only concludes the results from IOzone. We still have a few more programs to run through so let's not delay.
Page 13 : Intel NAS Performance Test
Intel's Intel's Network Attached Storage Performance Toolkit, or NASPT if you would prefer will conclude our look at performance.
The Intel NAS Performance Toolkit (NASPT) is a file system exerciser and analysis tool designed to enable direct comparison of network attached storage (NAS) performance. NASPT seeks to discern differences in user level performance when a given client PC uses different remote storage solutions. To that end, NASPT uses a set of real world workload traces gathered from typical digital home applications: HD video playback and record, office productivity applications, video rendering/content creation and more. NASPT reproduces the file system traffic observed in these traces onto whatever storage solution the user provides, records the system response, and reports a rich variety of performance information. While NASPT runs on a Windows XP* client, the target NAS device may run any operating system.
Intel's NASPT offers a number of strengths. First and foremost: consistency. With INASPT's built in traces, performance numbers resulting in various tests are easily emulated across various systems and gives insight into how a NAS system would perform under real world conditions. Unlike with localized storage, we are not interested in separating software environmental factors as by definition and function, NAS storage units are heavily dependent on system software, operating systems, network settings and so on. Of course, if we were to simply test the bare hard drive performance at the system level our resulting numbers would be significantly higher.
With the trace files, we can simulate specified hard drive activity down to the distribution of random and sequential reads/ writes, the spread of data over individual platters, or locality, and a number of access characteristics.
For our tests, we will be looking at four tests: HD Video Playback, Content Creation, Office Productivity, Copy To NAS and Copy From NAS.
Let's examine the results, starting with the HD Video trace. This test consists of reading a single file approximately 4800 MB in size and for the most part consists of sequential reading, meaning that all the pieces of the file are located physically near one another on the platters of the hard drive resulting in little arm movement to retrieve data.
Content creation is exactly what the name suggestions. This test simulates the creation of a video. A total of 99 files are used the test is primarily write driven (95% write operations) with up to 64kb block sizes and 39.1% sequential operations.
With office productivity, we are a wide array of file sizes and generally random access. While in comparison with sequential throughout, random access as shown by the Office Productivity test does look rather grim, however is quite typical of NAS units.
Finally, the Copy To NAS and Copy From NAS is simply the recorded throughput rate of either copy to or from the TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS, as suggested. This test includes a blend of random and sequentially written data and best represents day to day performance.
Fore the most part RAID 0 takes the lead followed by RAID 5, RAID 6 and then JBOD. The one exception is with File Copy to NAS where RAID 0 is a few MB/s behind. Not by much and nothing that would significantly impact the overall performance.
Page 14 : IOMeter Testing
IOMeter is a new addition to the NAS results. It is a I/O subsystem measurement and characteristic tool for single and clustered systems initially designed by Intel.
Iometer is both a workload generator (that is, it performs I/O operations in order to stress the system) and a measurement tool (that is, it examines and records the performance of its I/O operations and their impact on the system). It can be configured to emulate the disk or network I/O load of any program or benchmark, or can be used to generate entirely synthetic I/O loads. It can generate and measure loads on single or multiple (networked) systems.
I configured IOMeter to create a 1GB file on the target device, TS-809 Pro, and it will pull the performance of 5 minutes and report back the average transfer rate for various block size recordings. The results are 100% sequential; in the future this will be expanded to include random results.
Much like the results from IOzone, we have a very similar trend. At low record sizes the results are similar but as we increase the block size the rates diverge. Much to my surprise JBOD held out the at the top followed by RAID 0, RAID 5 and with RAID 6 taking up the rear. In any other case I would have expected JBOD to take up the rear and have RAID 0 be the pace setter.
Page 15 : Crystal Disk Mark, ATTO Disk Benchmark & Power Consumption
Crystal Disk Mark and ATTO Disk Benchmark are more conventional benchmarking applications. They do the exact same as IOZone and IOMeter but in a far more simplified manner. The only take a minute or two to completed versus the several hours it takes to finish one run with IOZone.
I'm always curious to know how much power my newest toy consumes. Toronto has just introduced time of use billing where peak hours are charged at significantly higher rates than low usage rates. The TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS doesn't do too bad. There is a phantom load of 4W when the device is sleeping. When idle there is a consumption rate of 68W and active transferring eats up 90. The heaviest usage comes when the drives are being compiled to a particular RAID configuration. This is because the processor is in full use. We max out at 100W in this case.
Page 16 : Conclusion
We have looked over a massive amount of data, somewhere in the range of several thousand datapoints isn't exactly out of the question. The TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS is certainly the largest NAS we have reviewed to date with a capacity of no less than 8 hard drives. With 1.5TB drives this one NAS could hold 12TB of storage!
The TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS has great overall performance; for the most part, we see little differentiation between RAID 0 and RAID 5 or 6. That's a good thing for those looking for redundancy but not wanting to compromise on speed.
The TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS isn't only good on performance; QNAP has provided the full package with many built-in features. This includes print server, webserver, dataserver, multimedia server and download manager to name a very small list.
While the TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS commands a premium price, you get a premium product. The only shortcoming is the 1 year warranty but for any digitally inclined household or business, the TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS is seriously worth considering.
Advantages
- Extensive data storage capacity
- Flexible RAID configuration, quick setup
- New firmware is a huge improvement in design
- Many sever applications and software features available
Disadvantages
- Firmware provided on install CD needs to be replaced with version 3.1.0!
- 1 year warranty
Thank you QNAP for making this review possible.