amazon QNAP TS-228 reviews
QNAP TS-228 is a network hard drive that supports two hard drive trays, priced at less than $300, which is quite suitable for home or office users, with frequent back up and data protection needs. In addition, QTS supports a wide range of entertainment and server features.
The size of the TS-228 is quite compact compared to a 2-slot drive. This network drive is eye-catching with a glossy white shell, in the middle is a black line containing the power button and the connection port. Ổ is also designed to open and replace the hard drive without tools, but a bit complicated: you need to open the screws at the bottom, lift the plastic cover to mount the hard drive. Replacement drives will be more complex than front-loading products such as the Synology DS218 + or the WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra, but the TS-228 does not support hot swapping so design is not overly complicated.
On the front of the drive is a USB 3.0 port and SD card slot, power button and data copy button fast. Above is the network status LED and the two internal drives. On the back, the drive has an additional USB 2.0 port, Gigabit Ethernet port and power outlet. The front-mounted copy button is convenient for copying data from an external drive to the NAS, but if QNAP integrates the copy function from the SD card, it’s far more convenient.
Installation of TS-228 only takes a few minutes. After choosing the basic settings like drive mode, RAID, encryption … you can use the drive right away. Setting up RAID 1 takes longer: With the 10TB Seagate IronWolf drive we use, the drive takes about 9 hours to complete the RAID setup. However, this is an underground process that does not affect the use.
This product uses the QTS 4.3 operating system, as it does on more expensive models. The interface of QTS is very intuitive. In the main screen, you will see a list of all installed applications, as well as quick setup items. Runs on the browser so no matter which computer you use the interface, the same function.
In terms of features, QTS fully supports functions through the application, meet all the needs of users. Some of the main features are:
File manager: File Station, scan and sort, media viewer application (Music, Video and Photo Station), download files via torrent or download directly (Download Station)
– Automatic backup and synchronization: Automatic copy from USB, backup to cloud service (Connect to Cloud Drive) …
– Servers for the service: Mail, chat, CMS, server service …
With plenty of applications, the QTS operating system can meet all your needs from storage, entertainment to work. Applications are categorized easily and easily found in the App Center.
For the purpose of home and small office use, we focus on a number of features on the operating system. The first is the copy feature, which allows you to copy data quickly to your hard drive. Due to the nature of the work, writers often have to copy the recording data, take pictures with large capacity, so automatic copying feature will be very convenient.
On the TS-228, the fast copy button only works with external storage through the front USB port. In the settings section of the operating system, you can choose to back up data from external drives, including mode (copy or sync), backup folders, etc. These options help users manage data. Make more effective copy.
After pressing the copy button, the drive will sound to indicate start and end processes. This is a very convenient and worthwhile feature for those who regularly back up data from hard drive, external memory card.
The second feature I’m interested in is sharing movies, music. QTS has a Video Station application, which automatically scans movie directories and finds movie information, but does not have the ability to sort movies.
The TS-228 has a minus point that does not support direct code conversion on the NAS. So, with movies in DTS audio format if you want to see from the equipment like TV will encounter many difficulties, because the TV does not decode this audio format. When copying data from a computer, one solution is to use the Media Upload feature in the Qfinder Pro application to use pre-compiled computer hardware, then copy the data to the NAS, but that is too complicated.
Unfortunately, this network hard drive does not support Plex installation, platform management, music is very popular. Thus, some platforms like Tizen on Samsung TVs will not have the application to view all kinds of movies stored on the hard drive.
For Android or iOS devices is a bit simpler. The original Qvideo platform on these two platforms supports movie playback but not decoders well, leaving users able to install additional external applications (VLC on iOS or MXPlayer on Android) to decode audio formats. Overall, Qnap’s approach is not as easy and complete as Synology’s Video Station on the NAS.
Similar to movies, with music you also have Music Station to manage and play music, and also can install iTunes Server to better support iOS, Mac. Music Station supports a wide range of music formats, from popular MP3 format to lossless, high quality formats like FLAC / APE, ALAC / AAC, OGG, AIFF.
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Qnap 2-Bay Personal Cloud NAS with DLNA, Mobile Apps & AirPlay Support (TS-228-US): Buy it now
It is also important to store and view photos with me, as I often have to use, access work and family photos. The Photo Station application helps me to view photos fast, accessing photos from mobile devices is simple.
In the short experience, we have not tested the Qnap TS-228 data read / write speed. When mounting two Seagate IronWolf Pro 10TB drives, the TS-228 and a wired computer, the data replication rate typically reaches 100 MB / s for large files, and about 80 MB / s for mixed data.
A minus point with an office user object is that the drive only has one Ethernet port. Therefore, when multiple users access or copy data at the same time, the speed will not be guaranteed. For home users, this is not a problem.
For the IronWolf Pro drive alone, QTS will soon have an update to support the IronWolf Health Management feature to better monitor drive health, and may alert you if there are any environmental or state anomalies. the drive’s operation, help users actively protect the data.
Overall, the Qnap TS-228 is a versatile network storage solution that integrates many features and applications to meet the diverse needs of users. However, for important needs such as sharing movies, music, the drive does not really provide a complete solution as it does not support hardware decoding, no Plex.