QNAP TS-473A NAS Server;Complete Guide

We present you a complete analysis of the QNAP TS-473A NAS server, a high-end model with a very powerful processor. This NAS server belongs to the TS-X73A family, therefore, we have two other models with the same characteristics, but a greater number of bays to house hard drives, the TS-673A incorporates 6 bays and the TS-873A incorporates a total of 8 bays to house hard drives. The rest of the hardware characteristics are exactly the same as in the TS-473A model. This new NAS server is aimed at a demanding user who needs to have the best possible performance, in addition, it is also aimed at small and medium-sized companies that need a powerful NAS server to perform different tasks.

Main features

This new NAS server belongs to the high-end of NAS servers, thanks to its powerful processor we can perform virtualization of Linux operating systems, although it also allows virtualization of Windows operating systems, it is very likely that we are somewhat short in power so that everything goes fluid enough. This model has all the features you need in a high-end NAS server, such as a large RAM capacity, SSD cache with M.2 NVMe, Multigigabit ports and PCIe 3.0 ports. Next, we are going to explain all the technical characteristics in detail.

QNAP TS-473A

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EUR

826.49

Processor, RAM and Flash memory

This equipment incorporates a powerful AMD Ryzen V1500B processor , has 4 cores and 8 processing threads, at a speed of 2.2GHz. This processor has a 64-bit x86 architecture, has AES-NI hardware encryption acceleration, so if we have encrypted disks or use protocols such as FTPES or SFTP, we will obtain the same performance as without using data encryption. Although this processor does not have an integrated GPU for hardware transcoding, we can install a graphics card that does this function in one of its PCIe 3.0 x4 ports that we have.

This NAS server comes with 8GB DDR4 ECC RAM memory in a single module, however, we will be able to expand the RAM capacity up to 64GB ECC (2 x 32GB DDR4 ECC configuration). Depending on your needs and how you use the NAS, it would be advisable to put 16GB of RAM or more. A very interesting aspect is that it incorporates a single 8GB module, therefore, expanding it to 16GB will be very cheap because we will only have to buy an additional 8GB DDR4 ECC module. This operating system supports QuTS hero with the ZFS file system, it is a necessary requirement that the NAS have 16GB of RAM if we want to activate deduplication, since this functionality consumes a large amount of memory.

HDD and SSD bays

This QNAP TS-473A server has 4 bays to accommodate 3.5 ”hard drives, although it is also compatible with 2.5” size hard drives or SSDs. If you buy the TS-673A or TS-873A models you will have 6 or 8 bays respectively for storage. The operating system allows the use of SSD drives as data storage or as an SSD cache to accelerate the performance of the hard drives that we have. Of course, the NAS allows hot disk extraction, so we can insert or remove them without turning off the server. This model has keys to block the disk bays, with the aim of not being able to unintentionally extract them and avoid data loss.

This NAS also incorporates 2 M.2 NVMe slots to install high-performance NVMe SSDs , in this way, we can configure this storage as a storage pool or directly as an SSD cache, we will have both possibilities in the operating system. In addition, in the contents of the box we will have some small heatsinks for these SSDs that tend to get quite hot and lower their performance to protect themselves.

Connectivity

The connectivity of this NAS server is very complete, we have two 2.5G Multigigabit ports , we can configure it as Link Aggregation and also as Balance-RR and others. Thanks to these ports, we can have a speed of up to 5Gbps in the local network, of course, we will need a Multigigabit network to squeeze its power to the fullest. It is a pity that QNAP has not incorporated 5G Multigigabit ports or 10G Multigigabit ports to this model, because we will have a bottleneck depending on the internal configuration we have on the hard drives and SSDs.

Other ports we have are:

• One 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port on the front of the server.
• Two 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports on the rear.
• One USB 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps Type-C port on the rear.

Internally, this NAS supports expansion with QNAP expansion cards, by incorporating two PCIe 3.0 x4 ports inside. To be able to puncture a card we will have to remove the casing and also the power supply, then we will puncture the card and the NAS server will automatically recognize it. QNAP currently has several types of expansion cards, such as the following:

• Multigigabit network cards, we can install a card with 10G Multigigabit ports.
• QM2 cards with NVMe or SATA3 for SSD cache acceleration.
• QM2 cards with a combination of NVMe and 10G port.
• USB 3.2 Gen 2 cards to expand USB ports.
• WiFi 6 network card to mount a WiFi access point.

At the hardware level, this NAS server is really complete, the only thing we can miss is 10G connectivity by default, without having to buy an expansion card and plug it into the PCIe 3.0 port

Operating system

The operating system built into this NAS server is QTS and QuTS hero, to be chosen by the user. Our recommendation is that you select QuTS hero to have the ZFS file system, one of the most advanced currently available. Thanks to the incorporation of a processor that supports ECC RAM, and that incorporates ECC RAM, we can ensure the integrity of the data and take advantage of all its characteristics:

• RAIDZ of different types, RAIDZ-1, RAIDZ-2 and RAIDZ-3 in addition to the typical “mirror” with several disks. QuTS hero keeps naming them RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5.
• Native deduplication (consumes a lot of RAM, QuTS hero requires a minimum of 16GB of RAM).
• Real-time compression
• Other features: almost unlimited snapshots, possibility to use SSD cache to speed up system performance etc.

In QuTS hero we will also have the possibility to install all the usual applications through the App Center, such as Virtualization Station or Container Station, HBS3 for backups and much more, all with the aim of squeezing the NAS hardware to the fullest.

Once we know the main features of the new QNAP TS-473A, let’s take a closer look at its box and all the built-in accessories.

External analysis

The NAS server comes in a large box, we must bear in mind that it is a four-bay server to house hard drives. On the front we will find the main features of this NAS server, such as the incorporation of a Ryzen V1500B processor, the 8GB of DDR4 RAM with the possibility of having them in two modules, the two M.2 NVMe slots for cache acceleration, the two ports 2.5G Multigigabit, the two PCIe 3.0 x4 expansion ports, the possibility of choosing between QTS and QuTS hero, and also that we have protection with snapshots. In this frontal zone we will also find that it supports Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware and even Citrix.

On the back of the box we can see that we have the warranty extension up to 5 years, the serial number and also the two MAC addresses (one MAC for each network interface). The MAC is very important because by default the password for “admin” will be the MAC address of NIC 1 in all caps, as it appears on the sticker.

Inside the box we can see the power cable of the NAS server, and also the perfectly protected NAS. The contents of the box consist of the following:

• QNAP TS-473A NAS Server
• Server power cord
• 2 keys to lock the trays
• 2 internal NVMe SSD heatsinks
• Hardware for 3.5 “and 2.5” discs, to fix them to the trays.
• One Cat5e Ethernet network cable
• Quick install guide
• Extended Warranty Documentation

In the following gallery you can see the NAS and all the accessories in detail:

This NAS server looks the same as others from the QNAP manufacturer. On the front we will find the four bays to house disks and also the status LEDs. This model does not have an LED display like high-end NAS servers. On the right side we have a sticker with the model of the equipment and the main technical characteristics of the NAS that we have already explained to you previously.

In the lower right we have the power button of the NAS server, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps type A port, and the quick copy button inside the NAS server. Thanks to this port, we can make backups easily and quickly.

Finally, we can see the four bays for hard drives extracted from the server, here we can install both HDD and SSD, either 3.5 “or 2.5”, it supports both formats thanks to the fact that we can fix them to the bays with screws . In the event that you put 3.5 ”discs, we will have a fixing system without the need for screws.

On the right side of the NAS server we will find a small ventilation grill, and on the left side we will also have this same ventilation grill. This will help the NAS to receive cold air from the outside and expel the hot air to the outside thanks to the fans that we have in the back.

In the back of this NAS server is where we have all the wired connections of the equipment. In the upper left we will have the RESET button to restore the NAS to factory settings, it is enough to press for 3 seconds to reset the network configuration and the password of the administrator user. In this area we also have the two slots for the PCIe 3.0 x4 cards that we can optionally install. In the right area is where we will have the power supply, with the three-pin power connector and the fan to extract the hot air from inside this power supply.

In the central area we will find two additional fans to adequately cool the main processor area and the NVMe, as well as a large fan to adequately cool the four hard drive bays that we have in this NAS model.

In the lower left we will have the two 2.5G Multigigabit ports, the two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports at 10Gbps speed type A, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port at 5Gbpps speed type C and also the Kensington to prevent theft of the NAS server.

Finally, in the lower part we will have the four non-slip pads of the server, we must bear in mind that it is a tower type, so it is most normal to have it on a table, or inside a rack on top of a fixed or sliding tray .

Once we have seen how this NAS server is externally, we are going to disassemble it and see all its internal components, we are also going to show you where to connect the M.2 NVMe SSDs that we have available.

Internal analisis

Disassembling this QNAP TS-473A NAS server is very simple, it is simply necessary to remove the three screws that we have on the back of the equipment, and lift the case up to remove it. Once we have removed it, we can directly access the main processor area of ​​this server, we can also see the two ECC RAM memory modules, however, in our NAS model only one module is occupied by 8GB RAM capacity.

Just below the motherboard stack we can see the first of the two M.2 NVMe SSD slots that we have on this NAS. This is where we will have to puncture the SSD unit and fix it correctly to the board making use of this purple adapter, we will not need to use any type of screw to fix it, as happens in most equipment of this style. We have the other M.2 NVMe module at the top, the way to fix it is exactly the same as at the bottom. Thanks to these two M.2 NVMe modules we can configure them in RAID 1 and use it as an SSD cache or as a storage pool, ideal to perfectly adapt to the needs of users.

In the other area of ​​the NAS server we can find the bays for the hard drives, and in the upper part is where we will have the two PCIe 3.0 x4 ports available. To access these ports and puncture the cards, it is absolutely necessary to remove the power supply, removing the corresponding screws. This process is quite simple because we will only have to remove about four screws, once we remove the power supply we will be able to puncture the cards in these PCIe 3.0 x4 ports.

Once we have seen the NAS server with all the internal components, we are going to go to the test laboratory to check the real performance of this NAS server in different disk configurations, encryption, with SSD cache etc.

Test laboratory

In performance tests with the QNAP TS-473A, we have used our NAS server benchmark in its entirety. Having 2.5GbE ports, we needed a Multigigabit switch compatible with these speeds, for this, we have used the QNAP QSW-M408-4C switch, the rest of the hardware we have used is that of our main PC, including the ASUS XG network card -C100C at 10Gbps and also another secondary PC based on Intel i5 of 8th generation and with the same ASUS XG-C100C card. Of course, all cabling has been Cat7 to avoid network problems.

The configuration at the network level has been the following:

• PC 1 and PC2 connected to a 10G Multigigabit port of the switch, synchronization at 10Gbps each link.
• NAS with card 1 and card 2 connected to two 10G Multigigabit ports of the switch, synchronization at 2.5Gbps each link.
• Link Aggregation only supports the ip-mac-src algorithm, therefore, when we are reading (transfer from NAS to PCs) we will have a bottleneck in the network. We have configured the NAS as Balance-RR to balance the transfer equally between both network interfaces.

The storage-level configuration in all tests has been as follows:

• ZFS file system configured with 128K at the block level.
• Compression enabled on all shared folders (dataset).
• Deduplication disabled on all shared folders (dataset).
• Cache SSD enabled with internal M.2 NVMe, in RAID 1 mode for read and write cache.

2.5 SSD Performance Test »

We have installed two 2.5 »SSD Kingston SEDC500M of 960GB capacity, we have configured it in RAID 1 (ZFS Mirror). Although they are SSD units, the previously configured SSD cache has also been activated here. All speeds are expressed in MB / s in the form of (X + X) measuring the speed of each PC when reading and writing data, since we have used two client PCs to make the most of its two 2.5G Multigigabit ports.

The following performance tests are with the shared folder without data encryption :

Samba speed test:

• Read (NAS to PC): 290 + 295 = 585MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 230 + 230 = 460MB / s

FTP speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 230 + 230 = 460MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 140 + 140 = 280MB / s

FTPES speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 240 + 240 = 480MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 150 + 155 = 305MB / s

SFTP speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 315MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 210MB / s

As you can see, the performance is excellent in all the tests, it has been shown that this NAS server is capable of squeezing the configured 2.5G + 2.5G connectivity. In addition, we have found that the CPU barely exceeds 20% occupancy.

Below, you can see the performance achieved using CrystalDiskMark from a PC:

As you have seen, we have made the most of both the SSD disks and the 2.5GbE network that we have.

The following benchmarks are under the same conditions as before (2.5 ‘SSD) but with the shared folder with AES data encryption :

Samba speed test:

• Read (NAS to PC): 290 + 295 = 585MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 140 + 160 = 300MB / s

FTP speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 220 + 220 = 440MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 145 + 140 = 285MB / s

FTPES speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 240 + 245 = 485MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 150 + 155 = 305MB / s

SFTP speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 315MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 210MB / s

As you can see, the performance is almost the same in all the tests that without using the encrypted folder, it is clear that the AES-NI hardware encryption acceleration works really well, in addition, we have verified that the CPU does not have too much% of use.

Below, you can see the performance achieved using CrystalDiskMark from a PC:

The performance in this case is also very similar, it is clear that it does not matter if we have the shared folder encrypted or not, the performance is excellent.

3.5 HDD Performance Test »

We have installed two 3.5 »Seagate IronWolf 4TB HDDs, configured in RAID 1 (ZFS Mirror). The previously configured SSD cache has been enabled for the best possible performance. All speeds are expressed in MB / s in the form of (X + X) measuring the speed of each PC when reading and writing data, since we have used two client PCs to make the most of its two 2.5G Multigigabit ports.

The following performance tests are with the shared folder without data encryption :

Samba speed test:

• Read (NAS to PC): 290 + 295 = 585MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 115 + 185 = 300MB / s

FTP speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 220 + 215 = 435MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 140 + 145 = 285MB / s

FTPES speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 225 + 230 = 455MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 145 + 140 = 285MB / s

SFTP speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 315MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 215MB / s

As you can see, the performance is excellent in all the tests, although we have used HDDs, all thanks to the SSD cache acceleration.

Below, you can see the performance achieved using CrystalDiskMark from a PC:

As you have seen, we have made the most of both the hard drives and the 2.5GbE network that we have.

The following performance tests are under the same conditions as before (HDD 3.5 ») but with the shared folder with AES data encryption :

Samba speed test:

• Read (NAS to PC): 290 + 295 = 585MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 115 + 180 = 295MB / s

FTP speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 220 + 220 = 440MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 140 + 140 = 280MB / s

FTPES speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 215 + 225 = 440MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 155 + 155 = 310MB / s

SFTP speed test

• Read (NAS to PC): 315MB / s
• Write (PC to NAS): 210MB / s

As you can see, the performance is almost the same in all the tests as in the previous test without data encryption, therefore, it is an excellent performance.

Below, you can see the performance achieved using CrystalDiskMark from a PC:

The performance in this case is also very similar, it is clear that it does not matter if we have the shared folder encrypted or not, the performance is excellent.

USB 3.2 Performance Test with FileStation

This NAS server has three 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A ports, and one 5Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type C port. In RedesZone we have tested the performance of the two types of ports of this NAS server.

The USB 3.2 Gen 2 speed tests have been using a Kingston KC2000 NVMe SSD and the ASUS ROG Strix Arion 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 enclosure, as we have in our USB benchmark. The speed obtained is the following:

• Read: 410MB / s (NAS to USB)
• Write: 340MB / s (USB to NAS)

In this speed test we can also see that it is outstanding, however, we are far from the speeds of a USB 3.2 Gen 2 at 10Gbps, we think it could do more with a better optimized operating system. It is true that we have used the NTFS file system for these tests, and that we depend on the Linux ntfs driver for this.

The USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type C speed tests have been using the same case and SSD, the speed obtained is as follows:

• Read: 426MB / s (NAS to USB)
• Write: 349MB / s (USB to NAS)

As you can see, we have achieved the same performance, regardless of whether we connect to one port or another.

So far we have come with all the performance tests of this QNAP TS-473A NAS, now we are going to see in detail what the Quts hero operating system is like and what storage options we have available.

QuTS hero operating system

This NAS server allows the installation of QNAP’s old QTS operating system, or the new QuTS hero. The only difference between the two operating systems is that the first uses the EXT4 file system and RAIDs, and the second uses the ZFS file system with RAIDZs. If we want to have the best data integrity and have a very advanced file system like ZFS, we will choose QuTS hero when it asks us to perform the installation.

One feature that we have loved about this NAS server is that it allows us to choose any operating system, in other models we only have the possibility to choose one or the other, but not any of them. Of course, if we change the operating system, all the data on the hard drives or SSD that we have will be erased, because the file system to be used is different, it is something that we have to be very clear about.

In RedesZone we have always used QuTS hero with the ZFS file system at all times, therefore, during the installation wizard and when we show you the firmware, this will be the operating system that we will have.

Setup Wizard

In the first menu of the QNAP TS-473A configuration wizard, it will allow us to start the intelligent installation of QuTS hero, however, we could also switch to the QTS operating system by clicking on the «QTS» icon that we have just below «Change OS» . We have clicked on “Start Smart Installation”.

In the second menu we can install the current version of QuTS hero on the disks, but we will also have the possibility to search for an update on the Internet, and even load the operating system ourselves to have the latest version. Next, we will have to enter the name of the NAS that we want, and define a password for the administrator user, which we will also have to confirm. Then we will have to configure the date and time, defining the time zone and the date / time, either by obtaining it through our PC, manually or by consulting an NTP time server.

After setting the time, we will configure the local network at a basic level, defining if we want automatic IP or manual IP. Next, it will ask us which operating systems are going to connect to the NAS server, depending on the operating systems to be connected, it will enable some services or others, as always. Finally, we will get a summary with the newly introduced configuration.

If we click on «Apply» we will get a warning message indicating that all the data on the hard drives will be deleted and will not be able to be recovered.

As soon as we click on “Initialize”, the entire process of formatting the disks, applying internal configurations and starting all the services of the NAS server will begin. This process can take about 5 minutes, so we must be patient.

Once everything has been installed and the main services are up, we will have a “Go to NAS administration” button, which will redirect us to the main management and administration menu of the NAS server.

From this moment on, we will be able to access the firmware menu where we will see that the graphical user interface is the same as always, nothing (or almost nothing) has changed.

All storage options

The storage configuration of this NAS server with the ZFS file system is as follows:

• RAID 0 and 1 (both at the same time) of the M.2 NVMe for SSD cache.
• RAID 1 (Mirror) of two Seagate IronWolf hard drives of 4TB each.
• RAID 1 (Mirror) of two 2.5 SSDs ».

Therefore, we will have two sets of storage, the storage set of the two 2.5 ‘SSDs is the first one we have created, because this which is the first one we create will be the’ system ‘, and it is where we will have the folders of the system and applications that we can install etc. The second set of storage which is HDD 3.5 »is for data only.

In the following image you can see a summary of the storage, and also of the different shared folders (dataset) that we have created on the NAS, either with encryption or without encryption. This configuration that we show you is exactly the same that we have used in our test laboratory.

In the “Snapshots” section we can if we have the different storage pools protected, of course, we can reserve a guaranteed space for these snapshots, and we can also have over-provisioning to improve overall performance.

In the following gallery you can see the Kingston SSD drives that we have used, and also the Seagate IronWolf hard drives for mass storage within the NAS server.

The configuration of the different storage pools and shared folders is as follows, we have compression in all of them and deduplication disabled. The reason for having deduplication disabled on all of them is because QNAP requires that we have at least 16GB of RAM, otherwise it cannot be enabled.

At the top where it says “Create” is the place where we will create a new storage pool, a new shared folder (previously called “Volume” in QTS), we can also create a LUN based on blocks and a Virtual JBOD. Regarding the snapshot options, we will have the same options as always.

A novelty is the “data reduction” part, we must remember that ZFS incorporates both inline compression and deduplication, here we can see the percentage of data reduction after compression and after deduplication. In addition, we will get all the shared folders of storage set 1. Of course, we can also delete the set, expand it and other typical actions that we already know of the QTS operating system.

As for SSD cache acceleration, we have used two M.2 NVMe SSDs. QNAP configures this SSD cache as read and also write, we will have the type of RAID 0 for reading and the type of RAID 1 as writing ZIL of ZFS. In this menu we can make all the settings related to the SSD cache.

As you can see, we have chosen two SSD drives and they are configured for both read and write cache.

We can configure this SSD cache specifically by shared folder (dataset), we will simply have to select “enable” or “disable” to configure it as we want.

Another very interesting aspect is that we will have a tool to create ZFS set profiles, with the aim of optimizing as much as possible the configuration that we make depending on the different hard drives and SSDs that we have installed. It is highly recommended that you perform these speed tests before you start creating your storage pools.

As you have seen, what changes the most in QuTS hero is the whole storage issue, we have new options, and there are other options that have disappeared, because we are using another file system that does not use them.

Other operating system options

As for the rest of the options of this operating system, they are exactly the same as always, nothing has changed. In the «Control Panel» section is where we can see and configure all the services of the NAS server, the configuration menu and all the services are the same as always, the only thing that changes is the «Shared folders» section because it is different from QTS in terms of management and creation.

File Station is also exactly the same as always, showing us the “lightning bolt” that tells us that we have SSD cache acceleration. We can configure remote mounts, manage snapshots directly from here and much more.

The possibility of installing additional applications with App Center is still present, in this case, nothing has changed and we can install all the applications that we want, as we have always done.

If we go to the section to install applications of App Center, we can see all the available applications, such as Container Station, Virtualization Station and many others. We can install the same applications as always because all of them are compatible.

So far we have come with the analysis of the QuTS hero operating system in this QNAP TS-473A, as you have seen, the only thing that has changed is the entire storage section, the rest of options, services, applications that we can install in a Additional information through the App Center are exactly the same as always.

Now we are going to indicate a list of strengths and weaknesses of this high-end NAS server, and finally we will show you some final conclusions.

Strengths

• The NAS cage has excellent materials, is top quality, and the hard drive bays are easily removed.
• At the hardware level, it is one of the best NAS that we can buy for home and SMB environments. It has an AMD Ryzen V1500B processor and up to 64GB of DDR4 ECC RAM.
• It has 4 bays for hard drives and / or SSDs, as well as 2 M.2 NVMe slots for SSD cache.
• It includes 2 ports 2.5GbE for the LAN, with support for Link Aggregation. You will need to use a multigigabit switch that supports these speeds.
• Excellent performance both in reading and writing, whether in Samba, FTP, FTPES and SFTP, and even if the shared data folder is encrypted or not, since the processor has AES-NI.
• Excellent performance of the USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port, achieving great speed and making the most of the internal SSDs.
• Remarkable performance of the USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A port, we get the same speed as Type C, but we should get more speed.
• QTS or QuTS hero operating system, to be chosen by the user. We must remember that QTS uses EXT4 as its file system, and QuTS hero uses ZFS with all that it entails.
• The operating system allows you to install additional software through App Center, for example, we can have Container Station to use Docker, Virtualization Station and many other programs to squeeze the hardware to the fullest.
• Free applications for mobile devices that allow us to carry out any action, they are very intuitive and with a very renewed and intuitive design.
• The fans of this NAS are very quiet, the cooling of the internal components is optimal and the disks do not get too hot.
• Price: outstanding, worth about € 850 including VAT.

Weak points

• It does not have 10G ports by default (10GBASE-T or SFP +), it is necessary to install an additional PCIe card.
• The performance of the USB 3.2 Gen 2 port is the same as the USB 3.2 Gen 1, we think that QNAP should optimize this aspect to be superior.

Last conclusions

This QNAP TS-473A NAS server is one of the most versatile that we have tested in RedesZone. The first thing to note is that we can install both the QTS operating system with EXT4 as the file system, as well as the QuTS hero operating system with ZFS as the file system, therefore, it covers both “worlds” that we currently have in QNAP.

Regarding the hardware with its AMD Ryzen V1500B processor and up to 64GB DDR4 ECC RAM, the overall performance that we will obtain is beyond doubt , as you have seen in the performance tests with SMB / FTP / FTPES and SFTP among others. In addition, in terms of the storage we have (4 disk bays plus 2 slots for M.2 NVMe) it is really completeNot only will we be able to have a large storage capacity, but we will also have read and write SSD cache acceleration thanks to the M.2 NVMe drives that we can optionally install. In our performance tests you have been able to see that we have a local network speed of up to 585MB / s reading and up to 460MB / s writing, excellent values ​​taking into account the network connectivity that we have.

The connectivity at the Ethernet network level with its two 2.5G Multigigabit ports is very good, but we believe that it would have been better to incorporate 5G Multigigabit ports or directly a 10G port, we believe that in certain cases (certain RAID configurations and use of SSD) we could easily overcome the combined speed of 5Gbps that this NAS server has, so we would have a bottleneck at the network level. We must also say that we can install 10G Multigigabit or SFP + network cards through PCIe 3.0 x4 cards , because we have two PCIe 3.0 x4 ports available.

The incorporation of USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports at 10Gbps is a success to achieve maximum speed in external SSDs via USB, ideal for making backup copies quickly and easily, the negative part is that we have obtained the same speed as in the USB 3.2 Gen 1 port which is Type C, therefore QNAP should improve this aspect in the operating system.

Finally, we have only used the QuTS hero operating system with the ZFS file system, the operating system incorporates all the ZFS functionalities such as inline compression, deduplication, snapshots, dataset encryption, etc. Without a doubt, QNAP has done a great job with the operating system and ZFS, so we will get excellent performance.

The price of this NAS server is around € 850 approximately, it may seem like a high price for a four-bay NAS, but we must take into account its technical specifications and expansion possibilities, and the performance achieved is excellent overall.

This QNAP TS-473A is ideal for very demanding home environments, where large storage capacity and power are required, as well as in small and medium-sized businesses. If we take into account the technical characteristics, the performance achieved and the price of the equipment, the final assessment of RedesZone is 9.5 / 10 is as follows:

We hope you liked the analysis, if you have any questions you can comment.

QNAP TS-473A