Test setup

The QNAP TS-409 Pro Turbo NAS is connected directly to an Intel GilGal Gigabit NIC. The host is Windows 2003 standard server. Network settings have not been changed with the exception of enabling jumbo frames on both the host and the TS-409.
Due to performance being limited to below that of a single disk, tests have not been redone for each RAID level. Performance is close to the same and would only make things look complexer than they are.

Performance

As we can see in ATTO performance is not bad at all. It is a noticeable improvement over the TS-209 and when compared to the competition we have nothing to complain. It is clear however that maximum performance can only be obtained with large files. Transferring a large directory of MP3s for instance didn't get close to the 30MB/s shown by ATTO. Unfortunately writing is a lot slower than reading, however considering you're more often reading than writing this should not be a huge issue.


When compared to the previous models the TS-409 is really a lot faster. I suspect that when network settings are further tweaked some more could be gained (with all three devices). Either way, most users won't be network experts, so looking at out-of-the-box performance the QNAP TS-409 Pro Turbo NAS reigns over its predecessors. And since many people judge mostly by these performance numbers, there is an obvious reason to get a 409 over a 209 or 109.

Performance under load

With features like online migration, auto rebuilding arrays and the likes I can't help but wonder how much one would notice from a failing disk. From experience I know that high end adapters can still perform quite well when a disk fails. The QNAP TS409 doesn't have a dedicated processor for such tasks though.

Migrating or rebuilding an array can take several hours. Of course you won't be doing this often, if at all, so this isn't a big issue. Besides, high end controllers can take hours as well for these tasks. I did two simple and similar tests. First I installed a two disk RAID 1 array which I migrated to a four disk RAID 5 array. This took nearly 5 hours with little data on the disks. During the process the data was accessible, so a performance test was interesting. After this I "accidentally" removed a drive, again copying some data. Rebuilding again took several hours during which I copied some files again.

The result was near the same in all cases, performance drops to dramatic levels, streaming movies becomes impossible. However MP3 playback worked fine. I can only conclude that during large operations caused by failure or upgrades the unit will only be partially operational. Small files (MP3's, office documents, etc) will still be available, large data like movies or programs will have to wait.

Power consumption

In the specstable on the first page power consumption is mentioned. However this is the information given by QNAP. Using a simple watt meter in the power outlet I measured the actual power usage with four drives, both during load and while idle. To my surprise power consumption hardly fluctuated and remained just under 50W. The listed usage is therefore quite accurate.

Unfortunately the power outlet is located at an awkward placing and after taking many pictures I got annoyed with it and settled for the above picture :)