QNAP TS-431P SOHO NAS Reviewed

[thiggins]

QNAP's TS-431P is an entry-level RAID 5 NAS that should satisfy cost-focused buyers.

Read on SmallNetBuilder

 

[PeterM17]

Hi,
I'm replacing an HP510x that just failed. I have a number of NTFS drives with lots of data on them.
I'm interested in the QNAP TS-431P and I was wondering if:
1. I can run it WITHOUT raid,
2. If it will natively read my NTFS drives.
3. If Not - then what do you recommend?

 

[thiggins]

NAS drives generally can't be moved between systems.

If you are trying to recover data, attach a SATA USB dock to a Windows system and hope that the HP didn't store the data in some wonky format.

 

[sfx2000]

Hi,
I'm replacing an HP510x that just failed. I have a number of NTFS drives with lots of data on them.

I certainly hope you had a backup plan - if not, perhaps now... there's an old saying - "There are people who back up, and there are people that have never lost a hard disk"

Applies even more with RAID on a NAS, as there is a N/1 factor for data loss considering the number of drives in a clustered solution.

I'm interested in the QNAP TS-431P and I was wondering if:
1. I can run it WITHOUT raid,
2. If it will natively read my NTFS drives.
3. If Not - then what do you recommend?

1) Yes
2) Maybe
3) Back up your data stored on any NAS

NAS are especially important to have a backup plan for - and the vendors generally have a solution for that...

 

[PeterM17]

Thanks for the replies!
All my data off the broken HP has survived unscathed and I do have backups
I have 3x3GB HDs that are currently partitioned into 2GB each because of the limitations of the HP 510X hardware. I can restore the full capacity of each drive at any time.

Rephrasing my original question: What happens if I put an NTFS drive with data into a QNAP?
Will it want to format it?
Will it alter the MBR/Partition tables somehow so it can't be used in any other machine?
Does it need a system drive/partition for it to set itself up? How big does this need to be?

Thanks

 

[sfx2000]

Rephrasing my original question: What happens if I put an NTFS drive with data into a QNAP?
Will it want to format it?
Will it alter the MBR/Partition tables somehow so it can't be used in any other machine?
Does it need a system drive/partition for it to set itself up? How big does this need to be?

1) typically it will be partitioned and formatted - standalone or member of an mdadm raidset
2) see above - and if RAID, there will be likely an mdadm superblock
3) depends on the NAS - QNAP has a DOM so the OS is there, so the HD's are what they are... in any event, once disks are inserted, and the pools are established...

Basically - insert disks into a NAS, expect them to be nuked and rebuilt.

Once established, moving a disk set from one NAS to another in the same vendor - generally safe, but check with them first...

 

[RMerlin]

The NAS will nuke any disk you insert, so you can't just directly plug them. However those NTFS disk could be plugged to the NAS over USB if needed.

 

[Kiwitotoro]

Hello, I am new to this sort of thing so I was wondering if I could get some advice on this NAS.
I am thinking of getting the above with 4 ST4000DM004 4TB SEAGATE drives

1. I was thinking in raid 10 but is there a better option? (I see this was called a raid 5 NAS above, would there be a benifit to using that option?)
2. I was originally thinking this would be the backup for my other computers but from the above comments I see this wasnt the right idea, if I back my computers onto this, would you recomend another backup? If I plug in another HDD to back this one up, how often would you recommend doing that? Just when there is enough new data to be concerned about?
3. Finnaly, if I make this publicly available how secure is it? Can I partition it so only some parts are accessable from the net? I am thinking of using it to mainly store photos so it would be nice if I could share some items with other people but keep the bulk private...
4. Also if you think this is the wrong solution for this problem please let me know what you suggest.

Sorry for the long winded questions, and thanks for you advice.

 

[Rohan]

If youre main aim for the NAS is to back up your home computers then no need for high speed of Raid 10. Raid 1 should be fine if using decent backup software. The total backup strategy should follow the 3:2:1 guide. Back up to the NAS and then back up the NAS to an offsite storage. I use Macrium to back up computers to the NAS with a monthly full and daily incremental backup. I then daily back up the NAS file changes to offsite cloud storage using the QNAP hybrid back up app. Totally automatic and files held in three places, with 2 different media types / back up software from the original and 1 offsite.

 

[sfx2000]

NAS drives generally can't be moved between systems.

With exceptions - migrating from one NAS to another within the same Vendor is possible, but still risky...

@RMerlin has done a couple of them, and I've been involved in that conversation - migration even within a vendor is a conversation with tech support, and it's always a good thing to back up the filesystem before starting...