QNAP TS-451D2-4G 4-bay NAS Review

The TS-451D2 is the latest incarnation of QNAP's popular 4-bay TS-451 NAS series.

The D2 brings a technology refresh to the product line with its Intel Celeron J4025 processor (14nm, 2.00GHz, 2.90GHz boost, 4MB cache) which brings support for up to 8MB of DDR4/LDDDR4 2400MHz memory rather than the DDR3L-1333MHz memory support of previous models.

The CPU also adds an AES-NI encryption engine to the mix. The TS-451D2 also has all USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports rather than a mix of USB 3.2 Gen 1 and USB 2.0 ports found in previous models while the HDMI port has been upgraded to 2.0 specification from the 1.4a version of previous models.

Any NAS is only as good as its operating software and QNAP’s QTS is a very good one. It’s a quick and easy to install OS thanks to the wizard that walks you through the install process. QTS has a graphically rich interface which is useful for first-time users to navigate around the software and get to grips with NAS. For more experienced users delving behind graphic interface reveals a whole host of features for the more advanced users to get to grips with. With over 170 apps in the App Center, there's plenty of software options available to tune the NAS to your specific needs.

If the current maximum 72TB of storage space (at the time of writing) supported by the TS-451D2 suddenly becomes a bit thin for your needs, fear not as it can be expanded via the USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports in the rear panel, as the NAS supports a number of QNAP expansion enclosures with five tower and two rackmount options. It can support up to two TR-002 (2-bay, RAID 0,1, JBOD, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C), TR-004 (4-bay, RAID 0,1,5,10, JBOD, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C) or TR-004U (rackmount, 4-bay, RAID 0,1,5,10, JBOD, USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-C) ) units.

It also supports single examples of the TL-D800C (8-bay, JBOD, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C), TL-R1200C-RP (rackmount, 12-bay, JBOD, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C), UX-500P (5-bay, RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 and 10, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-B) and the UX-800P (8-bay, RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 and 10, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-B) so there should be a solution to cover most needs.

We found the TS-451D2-G4 for £442.12 (inc VAT) on Ballicom.co.uk HERE.

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Pros

• Hardware encryption support.
• Storage expansion possibilities.
• Drive bay door locks.

Cons

• Lack of a PCIe slot.
• No bundled HDMI cable.

KitGuru says: The D2 edition brings DDR4 memory and encryption support to QNAP's popular 4-bay TS-451 series of NAS home/SOHO devices.

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