The new QNAP TVS-872XT is an 8-disk (+2) NAS model with 10GbE port and Thunderbolt 3 connection, essentially capable of not only serving a small business but also offering as a small corporate server, considering the large suite of services that come with it.
We tested it to understand the variety of possible configurations and the many services that such a powerful machine is able to offer.
QNAP TVS-872XT, the review
QNAP Elegance
Out of the box the QNAP TVS-872XT is presented in all its elegance, not easy considering the size of a device that houses eight 3.5 “disks: the front part houses the slots for the disks (each with its own small Operation LED) plus, at the top, a blue monochrome display for the main information (such as name and IP, but they can be changed on the fly using the convenient buttons.
Below the power button and a USB socket for direct data copying.
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In the back, hidden from view, there are a lot of interesting things, a boon for those who work in the IT department but basically comfortable for everyone.
In addition to the two generously sized fans, useful for containing power and cooling in the event of work peaks, there are two expansion cards, also useful for inserting a video card (to increase computing power), two Gigabit Ethernet sockets, an additional 10GbE Ethernet socket, two Thunderbolt ports , two USB-A and one HDMI for direct playback on display, with 4K transcoding.
The back of the TVS-872XT, the most interesting because it houses almost all the available ports
A full service system, we can say, basically we have not noticed the lack of anything in particular, also because if we want the system can also host two fast M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD drives to be used as disks cache or storage pool, allowing lightning-fast access to data for part of the archive.
This is obviously not a living room model, but it is also not meant to be “buried” in a server room, as if the office does not provide for it, the QNAP TVS-872XT is comfortable and comfortable even in the meeting room. since with not excessive workloads, it is very quiet.
In detail, the Thunderbolt 3 ports and the optional Wi-Fi module
Installation
To test the NAS we filled it with a series of 6 and 12 TB Seagate IronWolf disks, which clip onto the sleds without the use of screws, thanks to the clips present in more and more models.
QTS, the QNAP operating system , proved to be elegant, flexible and as always very efficient, so much so that it left us free to choose between different types of RAID: we tried RAID 0 and 1 but even 5 and 10 in complete tranquility. The intimate nature of the QNAP TVS-872XT, designed for archiving, has emerged clearly with wide margins of operation, so much so that you don't need to be a technician of another profile to operate correctly with the system , as long as you pay attention and do not be hasty: on this we suggest an in-depth analysis on the choice of the RAID level, because now there are many but not all with the ideal characteristics company by company.
Not the best on the market, but 12 TB in one drive is a lot
The defect, if we want to call it that, of QNAP is that it is often too redundant in the questions to the user and to offer an interface that is sometimes complex even for the simplest operations, something that perhaps is appreciated by those who have the skills (and time) less to those who ask for simpler operations (and do not know all the details).
In the configuration suggested by QNAP, the space dedicated to the system and parity is quite generous: in our case, with four disks plus one hot spare, the available space was less than 50%. We are sure that, by operating in a conscious way and in compliance with specific needs (which were not here, since it was a test) we would have gained a lot more, but withstanding a series of sometimes excessive warnings.
QSW-308-1C
The QNAP TVS-872XT is fast, this can be understood after a few minutes. If properly configured using the 10GbE network, the speeds are very high: in our case we used the QSW-308-1C router, also from QNAP, which provides both fixed 1 Gbit ports and other variable speed ports up to 10GbE.
The speed peak we reached with two 12 TB Seagate IronWolf disks in RAID 0 connected with Cat6 cables in SMB, via the QSW-308-1C, to a Macmini 2018 (macOS 10.14), basically one of the three models currently available in the Apple pricelist to mount this type of port (the others are the iMac Pro and the Mac Pro).
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The QSW-308-1C router is very interesting: although it is not a high-end product, it is well suited to even intensive use in an office and can be seen well even in a non-high-tech area, thanks to the white look. and silent operation.
A gem is the teal colored part, where the power cable is connected, which can be rotated to better position the cable: a subtlety that we invite other switch or router manufacturers to consider, because these products are often designed only to be hidden, when more and more today they are forcibly in sight.
Do not forget the two Thunderbolt 3 ports, which allow you to use the NAS as an external hard drive connected to the Mac, or to take advantage of an external high-speed solution (such as the QNAP TR-002, reviewed a few months ago) .
Services
It goes without saying that the services supplied with the QNAP TVS-872XT are many and all very good: we start from the QNAP suite for the office, all the multimedia apps (among which the renowned Plex stands out, which has recently added a new service, so far wrongly snubbed by the business environment), up to those for development, backup also in the cloud and support for mobile apps.
But the definition of NAS for this QNAP TVS-872XT starts to fit tightly when you start experimenting with potentials like Containers, features usually found on servers. The possibility of using Containers becomes very interesting for all those realities that develop solutions in the Enterprise environment, or for stores for mobile, in a structure where the developer, administrator and end user collaborate in an intelligent way without service interruptions, even during tests and updates.
Finally, the affinity to hyperconvergence is also very good, given the possibility of virtualizing various aspects, from Linux or Windows virtual machines to network cards, optimizing workloads that even in a small reality create unequivocal advantages.
Considerations
Let's echo what was said at the beginning: the QNAP TVS-872XT is a machine that really lacks nothing and indeed, offers a truly remarkable elasticity both for its abundant power and for the variety of hardware and software solutions.
An elasticity that in all honesty put us in difficulty because a real test needed to operate with many more variables, something practically impossible if not putting NAS into production: however we are sure that several of the ideas proposed here have made people think. is curious about it, to which we suggest a serious economic evaluation, which also takes into account a price that seems perfectly in line with the potential.
The QNAP page also lists several product expansion and costomization solutions: we tested it with Seagate IronWolf 6 TB and 12 TB disks, we suggest using only NAS disks, with the RAID level that best suits your needs.
Pro:
• Impressive power and elasticity • The possibility of using Containers is interesting • The Thunderbolt 3 port is a guarantee for the future
Cons:
• QTS is a bit redundant in some steps • Parity fee is a bit high in the suggested configuration
Price:
• 2,657.08 Euros (Turbo NAS TVS-872XT-i5-16G) • 212.12 Euros (QSW-308-1C Network Switch) • 391.28 Euros (Seagate Ironwolf 12 TB Hard Disk)
For the purchase of the QNAP TVS-872XT we report the list of official QNAP resellers, remembering that the product is also available on Amazon.
