Pros

10GbE SFP+
USB 3.1 support
Multiple PCIe slots

Cons

8GB RAM is not enough for this beast if you want to push VMs
Rack mounting rails are not included

Amazon (US Only)

At the end of last year, QNAP started to release models from the new TS-x83XU enterprise Network Attached Storage (NAS) series. Available in a range of configurations, these high powered storage devices suit most IT environments. Thanks to our friends at QNAP, we were able to get hands-on with the QNAP TS-883XU-RP-E2124-8G-US.

Powered by Intel’s Xeon E2124 processor and 8GB ECC memory, the TS-883XU is an 8-disk NAS built for high performance and reliability. The RP in the model name indicates that our review unit includes a redundant power supply. If 8GB isn’t enough RAM for you, the TS-883XU supports up to 64GB ECC configurations. If you are going to upgrade the RAM, check QNAP’s website first for compatibility.

Specifications on the QNAP TS-883XU-RP include:

Operating System	QTS 4.3.5 (embedded Linux)
CPU	Intel® Xeon® E-2124 quad-core 3.3 GHz processor (burst up to 4.3 GHz)
CPU Architecture	64-bit x86
Floating Point Unit	Yes
Encryption Engine	AES-NI
System Memory	8 GB UDIMM DDR4 ECC (2 x 4GB)
Maximum Memory	64 GB (4 x 16 GB)
Memory Slot	4 x DDR4 long DIMM
Flash Memory	4GB (Dual boot OS protection)
Drive Bay	8 x 3.5-inch
Drive Compatibility	3.5-inch bays: 3.5-inch SATA hard disk drives 2.5-inch SATA hard disk drives 2.5-inch SATA solid state drives
Hot-swappable	Yes
SSD Cache Acceleration Support	Yes
Gigabit Ethernet Port (RJ45)	4
10 Gigabit Ethernet Port	2 x 10GbE SFP+ SmartNIC port
Jumbo Frame	Yes
PCIe Slot	4 Slot 1: PCIe Gen2 x4 (PCH) Slot 2: PCIe Gen3 x8 (CPU) Slot 3: PCIe Gen3 x4 (CPU) Slot 4: PCIe Gen3 x4 (CPU) Slot 4 is preinstalled with a 10GbE network adapter
USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Port	2 x Type-C USB 3.1 Gen2 5V/3A 10Gbps 4 x Type-A USB 3.1 Gen2 5V/1A 10Gbps
Form Factor	2U Rackmount
LED Indicators	HDD 1-8, Status, LAN, storage expansion port status
Buttons	Power, Reset
Supported Client Operating Systems	Apple Mac OS 10.7 or later Linux and UNIX Microsoft Windows 7, 8, and 10 Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 2008 R2, 2012, 2012 R2 and 2016
Supported Browsers	Apple Safari 7 or later Google Chrome Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 or later Mozilla Firefox
Dimensions (HxWxD)	88.3 × 482 × 562 mm
Weight (Net)	10.99 kg
Operating temperature	0 - 40 °C (32°F - 104°F)
Relative Humidity	5-95% RH non-condensing, wet bulb: 27˚C (80.6˚F)
Power Supply Unit	300W(x2), 100-240V
Power Consumption: Operating Mode, Typical	89.99 W With drives fully populated
Fan	System: 2 x 6.0cm fan (12V DC)
Sound Level	42 db(A)

Design

One thing you won’t be lacking with the TS-883XU-RP is ports. The NAS comes with:

2 x Type-C USB 3.1 (Gen2, 10Gbps)
4 x Type-A USB 3.1 (Gen2, 10Gbps)
2 x 10GbE SFP+ SmartNIC port
4 x 1GbE Ethernet Port (RJ45)

If that isn’t enough for you, the TS-883XU also supports expansion through the four PCIe slots. Well, three really as the fourth is for the 10GbE SFP+ card. The slots are also perfect for high powered graphics cards for GPU intensive virtual machines.

PCIe slots for additional cards such as GPU

Likewise, the PCIe expansion slots will support QNAP’s upcoming 25GbE NIC (QXG-25G2SF-CX4). Combine that with QNAP Hybrid Backup Sync and you have an accelerated file sharing and intensive data transfer solution for high-speed remote backups.

The TS-883XU comes in a 2U high chassis. Combined with the extra large finned CPU heatsink and internal fans, QNAP has done a great job keeping the NAS relatively quiet and cool. That said, that’s relative to other datacentre storage devices. It’s still not something you would want under your bed.

Near the CPU heatsink are the four DIMM slots. In our 8GB test model, two were occupied with 4GB modules leaving the other two free for expansion. Or if you like, you could simply install four new modules. As we run virtual machines, we replaced the stock RAM with a 32GB Ballistix Sport kit.

We replaced these stock modules with the Ballistix

This NAS is designed to be rack mounted, but for whatever reason, the mounting rails are not a standard inclusion. Hopefully, this changes in the future.

Software

The QNAP TS-883XU runs the latest QTS 4.3.5 operating system. We have been using flavours of QTS for many years now, and the features and supported applications continue to impress. Virtualisation continues to feature with support for all the big players including VMware, Citrix, Microsoft Hyper-V and Windows Server 2016.

As well as provisioning storage for virtualisation platforms, you can run your virtual machines and containers directly from the NAS with QNAPs Virtualisation Station.

The application catalog is filled with business productivity applications from QNAP and 3^rd party developers.

Performance

A quick CPU check via SSH confirms the inclusion of the Intel processor as described in the specs:

[~] # head -5 /proc/cpuinfo ; echo ; uname -a ; echo
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 158
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) E-2124 CPU @ 3.30GHz

Linux KANDOR 4.2.8 #1 SMP Thu Apr 25 08:09:14 CST 2019 x86_64 GNU/Linux

A quick test over 10GbE by transferring files to and from another QNAP NAS. We came close to hitting the limitations with the write speeds of the Crucial BX500 SSDs we tested with. Read performance was a lot better though easily hitting speeds over 280MB/s:

Finally, we benchmarked the performance using an Apple iMac as a desktop client accessing a share via SMB:

Final Thoughts

QNAP never ceases to disappoint. The TS-883XU coupled with QTS 4.3.5 is a hard combination to beat for a non-Windows NAS. It’s both feature packed and a strong performer that provides a wealth of storage management options.

If you are needing virtualisation and have storage performance demands, the TS-883XU is definitely something that you should consider. The only negative feedback we had was that the rack mounting rails are not included as standard.

Note: Photos for the review were taken using the Huawei P30 Pro.

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