QNAP TVS-872XT-i5-16G 8-bay NAS Review

The TVS-*72XT family of SMB-focused NAS units are some of QNAP's latest and the flagship model of the range is the 8-bay TVS-872XT-i5-16G.

At the heart of the TVS-872XT-i5-16G is an Intel Core i5 8400T 1.7GHz (boosts up to 3.3GHz) processor backed by 16GB of DDR4-2666 memory. If you should feel the need to add more, then the motherboard supports up to 32GB of memory via a pair of SODIMM slots.

There's a good degree of future proofing built into the TVS-872XT with its integrated 10GbE networking, Thunderbolt 3 connectivity (via an add-in card in the x16 PCIe slot), PCIe x4 slot and a pair of NVMe M.2 slots supporting 2280 format SSDs for data caching. It also sports the widest range of USB ports we have seen on a NAS; USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type A and USB 3.0 Type-A.

Any NAS is only as good as its operating software and the TVS-872XT uses one of the best ones around, QNAP’s QTS. It’s a quick and easy to install OS with a graphically rich interface which is useful for first time users to navigate around the software – but for the more advanced users, delving beneath the surface reveals a whole host of features – including a couple of important ones for data heavy environments; network traffic distribution and tiered storage.

The Network & Virtual Switch app, which can be downloaded from the QTS App Center can be used to set up and manage network connections as dedicated NICs to help alleviate any network traffic distribution problems for particular applications.

QNAP’s powerful Qtier technology is also used to set up SSD caching and auto-tiering, so storage can be optimised according to how it’s being stored and used. Qtier 2.0 analyses I/O read and writes of any storage pools to determine the best course of action; the most active “hot” data is moved to faster performing drives, while the less active “cold” data is migrated to slower but higher capacity drives. As QNAP provides two M.2 slots (supporting NVMe drives) onboard to support SSD caching you can set this up without sacrificing any of the main storage.

Should you need more capacity than the 112TB (currently 8 x 14TB) the main storage bays provide, then no problem as the VS-872XT is supported by a number of QNAP expansion enclosures with varying interfaces. The NAS can support up to six Thunderbolt 2 interfaced TX-500P (5-bay) or TX-800P (8-bay) units. If you want to go down the USB 3.0 Type-C route then you have the 4-bay TR-004 and finally there are two USB 3.0 Type B enclosures; the 5-bay UX-500P and the UX-800P with 8-bays. As with the NAS main bays, all these expansion units currently (at the time of writing) support drives up to 14TB in capacity, thus enabling some huge amounts of storage space.

We found the TVS-872XT-i5-16G on Span.com for £1,948.80 (inc VAT)  HERE

Pros

• Integrated 10GbE.
• Thunderbolt 3 support.
• PCIe slots.
• NVMe M.2 SSD support.
• Multiple types of USB ports.
• Competitive pricing.

Cons

• Only free PCIe slot is x4 speed.

KitGuru says: Another excellent feature rich QNAP NAS, the TVS-872XT provides a brilliant mix of multiple types of networking, USB connectivity, storage space and future proofed technologies. Surprisingly, the price tag isn't too eye watering either considering the hardware it comes with.

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