Is NAS (Network Area Storage) Ready for mass Market?
2. Materials and Methods
We will test two models based on two SATA HDs, the Thecus Yes Box 2100 and the QNAP TS-201. For the single HD NAS model we chose the popular QNAP TS-101.
the following table summarizes most specifications and functions of all models.
Format DD /HD format |
3.5" SATA |
3.5" SATA |
3.5" SATA |
| Nombre disque / number of drives | 2 |
1 |
2 |
| Ethernet (nombre de port / port number) | 10/100/1000 base T (2)
|
10/100/1000 base T |
10/100/1000 base T |
| Processeur / Processor | Intel IOP 80219 |
SoC 266 MHz |
SoC 266 MHz |
| Refroidissement / cooling system | Ventilateur / fan
|
passive |
Ventilateur / fan |
| Mémoire intégrée / Embedded memory | 512 MB |
64 MB DRAM, 16 MB Flash |
128 MB DRAM, 16 MB Flash |
| Port USB | 3
|
3
|
3
|
| Port eSATA | -
|
1 |
- |
| RAID | 0,1,JBOD |
- |
0,1,JBOD |
| Taille / Size (mm) (L/D x l/W x H/H) | 200x160x85 |
214x175x115 |
210x60x182 |
| Systèmes de fichiers du DD / HD File system | · EXT3 (support des noms longs et des divers caractères) · FAT (uniquement pour les disques externes USB) |
· EXT3 (support des noms longs et des divers caractères) · FAT (uniquement pour les disques externes USB ou eSATA) |
· EXT3 (support des noms longs et des divers caractères) · FAT (uniquement pour les disques externes USB) |
| Nombre de comptes utilisateurs max / user account management | 512 |
512 |
512 |
| Nombre de groupes max / user group management | 1024 |
1024 |
1024 |
| Nombre de dossiers partagés max / maximal shared fodlers | 1023 |
1023 |
1023 |
| Connexions simultanées max / maximal simultaneous connexions | 64 (FTP) |
64 (FTP) |
64 (FTP) |
| Gestion du réseau / Network Management | Fixed IP Address, Dynamic IP Address |
Fixed IP address, dynamic IP address |
Fixed IP address, dynamic IP address |
| Protocoles de transport réseau / Network Transport Protocols | TCP/IP |
TCP/IP, Apple Talk |
TCP/IP, Apple Talk |
| Protocoles fichiers réseau / Network File Protocols | Microsoft® networks (CIFS/Samba), Internet (HTTP/HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP) |
Microsoft® networks (CIFS/Samba), Apple® (AFP) , Internet (HTTP/HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP) |
Microsoft® networks (CIFS/Samba), Apple® (AFP) , Internet (HTTP/HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP) |
| Sécurité | HTTP/HTTPS, FTP |
HTTP/HTTPS, FTP |
HTTP/HTTPS, FTP |
| File System Management | Partage fichiers entre Macet PC, system de journalisaton, support Unicode, etc. |
Partage fichiers entre Macet PC, system de journalisaton, support Unicode, etc. Mac PC file sharing, Journaling File System, Unicode Support, etc. |
Partage fichiers entre Macet PC, system de journalisaton, support Unicode, etc. Mac PC file sharing, Journaling File System, Unicode Support, etc. |
| File server | Oui/Yes |
Oui/Yes |
Oui/Yes |
| Print server | Uniquement pour Windows Support Windows platform only |
Uniquement pour Windows Support Windows platform only |
Uniquement pour Windows Support Windows platform only |
| Web Server | Oui (supporte PHP) Yes (support PHP) |
Oui (supporte PHP et SQLite) Yes (support PHP and SQLite) |
Oui (supporte PHP et SQLite) Yes (support PHP and SQLite) |
| FTP server | Oui/Yes |
Oui/Yes |
Oui/Yes |
We tested the performance level of all NAS models in writing and reading modes from 3 different Macs: iBook (Ethernet 100Mbps) and two Gigabit Ethernet-based units: a PowerBook G4 and an iMac C2D. As both QNAP models support AFP and SMB protocoles, we tested their impact on performance levels.
To perform this test, we have been using two SATA HDs: Western Digital Pro Caviar 320MB, 16MB cache, 7200rpm (SATA-II WD3200YS). The data transfer speed was assessed and recorded in triplicate with several applications: QuickBench (part of SpeedTools Suite), the excellent command line tool DiskTester 2.0 developed by Lloyd L Chambers as well as the integrated Mac OS X Activity monitor.
