QNAP TS-653 PRO 6 BAY NAS – FIRST LOOKS
The QNAP TS-653 PRO 6 bay NAS is part of an entire x53 NAS range consisting of the QNAP TS-453 PRO 4 bay and the QNAP TS-853 PRO 8 bay desktop tower range. The x53 range will replace the entire x69 series that has successfully launched QNAP within the SMB and home sector.
QNAP TS-653 PRO 6 Bay NAS Setup
Opening the QNAP TS-653 Pro you are presented with a well packaged NAS unit with all the necessary accessories. QNAP has been thoughtful and provided four Ethernet cables for the four RJ-45 ports located at the back of the TS-653 Pro. Taking the unit out of its box and removing the protective plastic, you are ready to install your selected hard drives. In our instance we selected the HGST 6TB Deskstar NAS drives with its 7200rpm spindle and good performance. We needed to compare with the WD 6TB RED Hard drives with its lower power, and 5400rpm speed . (See our HGST Deskstar NAS review)
Installation of the unit is pretty straightforward. If you have a unit that has hard drives already installed then simply attach to main power and router/switch using the Ethernet cable provided and let it boot up. Alternatively, secure the Hard Drives in the trays provided and simply insert them into the NAS bays. Power up the NAS and once the NAS is fully booted you will be presented with RAID options on the LCD panel of the NAS. We selected RAID 5 as our protection of choice. After 7 hours, approximately, our NAS had created the RAID array and we were ready to roll. A point to note is even after the initialization for RAID the NAS will be slightly slower than expected as it continues to synchronize for the next 5 hours or so.
Once the logon process is completed we set about creating our share folders, users and permissions for our users. Next, we moved to setting up our MyQnapCloud access so that we had the option of remotely accessing and managing the NAS with the addition of utilizing QSync so we could replace Dropbox with this service. The cloud features work great. We have access to the admin panel of the NAS no matter where we are and of course access to all our files. The user permissions are imperative here as they control what a remote user sees and can even do on the NAS. This was carried out by us as general setup and case scenario for the NAS.
QNAP TS-653 PRO Media Options
Our next action was to install Plex Media server. An important point to remember is the Plex application that is found within the QNAP app center is out of date and no longer updated. Download directly from plex.tv and manually install it onto your NAS.
Plex is a great rich media server, which allows for auto scanning of chosen media folders so you do not have to manually refresh every time you transfer new media onto your NAS. Additionally, it auto downloads all Metadata for your movies, TV shows, pictures, and music.
In summary we get great performance ratio from our QNAP TS-653 Pro. With options to upgrade from 2GB to 8GB and upwards to 16GB the NAS performance can only be accentuated with media, video and heavy duty files that demand performance.
Just to recap the QNAP desktop range consist of the 4-Bay TS-453 PRO, 6-Bay TS-653 PRO and the 8-Bay TS853 PRO.
QNAP Ts-653 PRO 6 Bay Hardware Specs (courtesy QNAP)
| CPU | Intel® Celeron® 2.0GHz quad-core processor (burst up to 2.41GHz) |
| DRAM |
QNAP TS-653 Pro-8G: 8GB DDR3L RAM (4GB x 2) 1. When installing two memory modules, please ensure that they are the same size and ideally use the same type of RAM for both memory slots. |
| Flash Memory | 512MB DOM |
| Hard Disk Drive | 6 x 3.5”or 2.5”SATA 6Gb/s, SATA 3Gb/s hard drive or SSD NOTE: 1. The system is shipped without HDD. 2. For the HDD compatibility list, please visit http://www.qnap.com/compatibility |
| Hard Disk Tray | 6 x Hot-swappable tray |
| LAN Port | 4 x Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet port |
| LED Indicators | Status, LAN, USB, HDD 1-6 |
| USB | 3 x USB 3.0 port (Front: 1, Rear: 2)2 x USB 2.0 port (Rear: 2) Support USB printer, pen drive, and USB UPS etc. |
| HDMI | 1 |
| Buttons | Power/Status, USB One-Touch-Backup, reset |
| Alarm Buzzer | System warning |
| IR Receiver | MCE-compatible |
| Form Factor | Tower |
| Dimensions | 175(H) x 257(W) x 235(D) mm6.89(H) x 10.12(W) x 9.25(D) inch |
| Weight | Net: 5.2 kg (11.46lbs)Gross: 6.5 kg (14.33lbs) |
| Power Consumption (W) | HDD standby: 22.95W S3 sleep: 1.09W In operation: 41.65W (with 6 x 1TB HDD installed) |
| Temperature | 0-40˚C |
| Humidity | 5~95% RH non-condensing, wet bulb: 27˚C |
| Power Supply | ATX 250W, 100-240V |
| Secure Design | Kensington security slot for theft prevention |
| Fan | 2 x quiet cooling fan ( 9cm, 12V DC) |
QNAP TS-653 PRO Wrap Up
The QNAP TS-653 PRO seems to fit the NAS for all season’s category as an excellent fit for small business as well as home use. With features that will enable users flexibility with minimum or no support once installed and deployed. It’s a business users dream. Manage, share and backup business data with the real-time remote replication option, with support for advanced virtualization features, and enhanced data security with high performance AES 256-bit encryption, anti-virus and much more. Home users can stream and transcode full HD-Videos as well as watch movies and play audio on the fly. The X53 range from QNAP is a great capture, an affordable NAS for protecting your information and bringing real entertainment to your home.
