GeekLingo

QNAP TS-431X

8.1666666666667

Build

9/10

Performance

8/10

Features

8/10

Pros

• 10GbE SFP+
• QTS Software

Cons

• No easy access to RAM
• Integrated 10GbE card

QNAP continue their roll-out of new products aimed at the entry level SMB market with the release of the TS-431X. The QNAP TS-431X is a 4 disk NAS and supports up to 10GbE network speeds with the included 10GbE SFP+ port. Like its older sibling, the TS-531X, QNAP have continued to utilise processor technology from Annapurna Labs, an Amazon company. The TS-431X has the slightly lower core count AL-212 Dual core 1.7GHz rather than the AL-314 Quad-core 1.4GHz we saw on the TS-531X.

We confirm the processor information in the test unit via a quick SSH session to the NAS:

[~] # head -5 /proc/cpuinfo ; echo ; uname -a ; echo info

processor : 0
model name : ARMv7 Processor rev 4 (v7l)
Speed : 1.7GHz
Features : swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpv4 idiva idivt 
CPU implementer : 0x41
Linux QNAPTEST 3.10.20-al-2.5.3_sa #2 SMP Fri Feb 17 05:13:21 CST 2017 armv7l unknown
info

[~] # 

TS-431X Design & Build

QNAP are nothing but consistent with the design and build quality of the entry level NAS storage devices. I won’t repeat myself here but please feel free to read through our previous QNAP reviews for anything specific. In short, QNAP generally get top marks in this space.

In the meantime, enjoy our TS-431X picture gallery:

QNAP TS-431X

The TS-431X uses the same style of plastic drive caddy found in the QNAP entry level units

On the rear are the dual gigabit, 10GbE and USB 3.0 ports

A peek inside the HDD enclosure

Accessing the memory slots require the removal of the HDD enclosure

The 10GbE SFP+ LAN port is integrated with the system board

Software

Until recently, we’ve been running QTS 4.2 on our test machines and dabbled a little with the early 4.3 beta releases. With the TS-431X, we re-baselined the environment to the newer QTS 4.3.3. QTS 4.3.3 brings a breath of fresh air to the QNAP software environment. It’s a much-welcomed facelift with some great productivity improvements.

Some of the key features:

• New look and feel control panel makes it much easier to find what you need quickly
• Notifications and alerts have been overhauled and now support browser notifications, SMS and voice alerts for supported platforms
• Improved certificate security, upload your own or self-generate
• 64-bit architecture

You can read more about QTS 4.3.3 here.

Performance

The QNAP TS-431X was configured as follows:

• RAM – 2GB
• HDD #1 – Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD
• HDD #2 – Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD

Hdparm was used to see how the unit performed with buffered and cached disk read speeds under RAID1:

[~] # hdparm -Tt /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
 Timing cached reads:   8248 MB in  2.00 seconds = 4129.87 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:  1418 MB in  3.00 seconds = 472.36 MB/sec

The second test was a NAS to NAS file copy using a QNAP TS-563 and the SFP+ interface on both units. You can see the limitations of 7200RPM platter based HDDs when using the TS-563 as the source drive. That said, the 10GbE performance was still a little slower than what we’ve experienced with previous models.

The final test was with a HDD benchmark app on Mac OS X:

No problems saturating the gigabit link on the Apple iMac.

Final Thoughts

The QNAP TS-431X is a great entry level NAS. Whilst it doesn’t have the performance the higher end models have, it is still quite suitable for most small businesses. The in-built 10GbE port and dual gigabit links allow businesses to scale up/down with their infrastructure quickly and easily.

If you run a small business and don’t need all the bells and whistles of a higher spec’d (and priced) NAS, the QNAP TS-431X is one to consider. It offers great value for money and is built on a solid software platform.

See larger image Qnap TS-431X-8G-US ARM-based NAS with Hardware Encryption, Duad Core 1.7GHz, 8GB RAM, 1 x 10GbE(SFP+) ,2 x 1GbE The TS-431X supports 4 hard drives and comes with a built-in 10GbE SFP+ port for rigorous data processing, providing a cost-effective storage solution for demanding everyday business tasks. Powered by the QTS operating system, the TS-431X provides versatile all-in-one server functionalities and unique features including Container Station, which facilitates Internet of Things (IoT) development, and VJBOD (Virtual JBOD), which allows for expanding NAS capacity with another NAS. The TS-431X is an ideal entry-level NAS for businesses looking for backup, restoration, private cloud, storage for virtualization, and to future-proof their IT infrastructure for 10GbE networks. New From: $552.24 USD In Stock