Specifications

This is the first NAS to use a Bay Trail CPU. The latter is one of Intel's new multicore SoCs built on the Silvermont architecture. These are essentially the successors to Atom CPUs. They are manufactured on the 22nm process technology, feature extremely low TDPs, and some, like the one in the TS-451, integrate Intel's Quick Sync transcoder engine and VT-x capabilities. The J1800 supports up to 8 GB of RAM, and the NAS we had on hand was equipped with 1 GB; however, another version comes with 4 GB preinstalled.

The TS-451 can take up to four HDDs, so its capacity can reach 24 TB if you use 6 TB disks. That is plenty of space as 24 TB is most likely even enough for a small office environment or an enthusiast looking to store many blu-ray movies. All popular RAID levels are also supported, including RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10. Two Gigabit NICs equip the NAS, and they can be teamed through the Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), or you could use one of these as a fail-safe to increase network reliability. The other I/O ports include four USB ports, two of which are compatible with the USB 3.0 protocol, and an HDMI port. Note the USB port at the front with support for the faster 3.0 protocol. We were asking for such a port for quite some time, in many previous QNAP NAS reviews (and not only since many NAS servers come with a USB 2.0 port in the front).

This NAS is pretty compact since it doesn't use an internal PSU, but an external power brick. Speaking of the latter, it is quite strong for the needs of the TS-451 and can deliver up to 90 W. A 120 mm fan cools the TS-470 down, so we expect it to operate silently under normal conditions. The warranty period of two years is typical of most NAS servers and its price is significantly lower than the TS-470, a high-end version, although both have components with nearly the same capabilities; however, the latter features an LCD screen, a stronger PSU, and higher quality trays. Yet the TS-451 looks much better, which may be a decisive factor; its lower price tag is also sure to be a factor for many home users.