Multi-Client Performance - CIFS on Windows

We put the QNAP TS-451 through some IOMeter tests with a CIFS share being accessed from up to 25 VMs simultaneously. The following four graphs show the total available bandwidth and the average response time while being subject to different types of workloads through IOMeter. The tool also reports various other metrics of interest such as maximum response time, read and write IOPS, separate read and write bandwidth figures etc. Some of the interesting aspects from our IOMeter benchmarking run can be found here. Since we have two network links, they can be teamed in 802.3ad dynamic link aggregation mode.

QNAP TS-451 Multi-Client CIFS Performance - 100% Sequential Reads

 

QNAP TS-451 Multi-Client CIFS Performance - Max Throughput - 50% Reads

 

QNAP TS-451 Multi-Client CIFS Performance - Random 8K - 70% Reads

 

QNAP TS-451 Multi-Client CIFS Performance - Real Life - 65% Reads

The real competition here is the Thecus N4800, which is based on the previous-generation Atom D2700. While the QNAP TS-451 wins out in some of the multi-client benchmarks (in terms of both total bandwidth as well as average response time), the N4800 does manage to win a few too. Ultimately, it is the target market (home users) as well as the power consumption numbers (which we shall see in the next section) that tend to make the Bay Trail platform an attractive upgrade option for NAS owners with previous-generation Atom-based units.

Encryption Support Evaluation Miscellaneous Aspects and Concluding Remarks
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  • DanNeely - Monday, July 28, 2014 - link

    @Ganesh This question is asked in some form on almost every NAS review. Would you consider addressing it by adding a build vs buy page to the base review template?
  • ganeshts - Monday, July 28, 2014 - link

    Yes, that is a good idea. Let me add it to the template in the concluding remarks section.
  • DanNeely - Monday, July 28, 2014 - link

    Thanks. Will it be showing up as an update to this review; or in the next one?
  • ganeshts - Monday, July 28, 2014 - link

    I think you already have a great set of points above, maybe I will just reserve it for the next article :)
  • DanNeely - Monday, July 28, 2014 - link

    Those were off the cuff and need some cleanup (if nothing else I switched wording halfway through) and the DIY section probably needs expanded; but feel free to use them as a starting point.
  • zodiacsoulmate - Monday, July 28, 2014 - link

    Ok I donno that cause in previous NAS review I didn't see anyone mentioning that, and this NAS is a little pricier than other ones...
  • BMNify - Monday, July 28, 2014 - link

    if you are going to do that then you better cover the less linked type of base kit

    for instance

    http://www.xcase.co.uk/rackmount-server-systems/mi... 4 hot swap custom itx case for £118.80 Incl. VAT

    just add a http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.as...

    ASUS P9A-I/C2550/SAS/4L Mini ITX Green and Space-Saving Server Board DDR3 1333/1600 ECC/Non-ECC UDIMM 4 x MiniSAS connector(Marvell 88SE9485 x 2)
    (up to 16 SAS/SATA 6G HDD connections)

    want to go larger then put that in something like the
    http://www.xcase.co.uk/rackmount-cases/2u-rackmoun...

    X-CASE RM 208 2U WITH 8 HOTSWAP BAYS AND RAILS £107.94 Incl. VAT
    http://www.xcase.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache...

    if you need more later then go for something like the X-CASE RM 212 PRO, 12 BAY HOTSWAP SERVER CASE £238.80 Incl. VAT
    or even the more generic NORCO RPC-4224 4U Rackmount Server Case with 24 Hot-Swappable SATA/SAS Drive Bays £253

    see ,it easy to build to a given price if you forget the toy dual core antiquated Marvell ARMADA™ 370 soc and you even get far more for less than this crazy £591.60 for an ugly looking steel box and generic single board computer without any hard drives installed...
  • BMNify - Monday, July 28, 2014 - link

    oc thats a mind bending 1004.77 US Dollar at current rates

    http://www.span.com/product/Qnap-Desktop-NAS-TS-45...
    Qnap Desktop NAS TS-451 4-Bay, JBOD/RAID 0/1/5/6 , empty case for £591.60

    OC you could always go the conservative view and still end up with a better data throughput
    usng something like the GA-J1900N-D3V Built-in Intel® Celeron™ J1900 (2.0 GHz) quad-core processor and dual gigabit Ethernet ports and pci slot to ...£61.17
  • DanNeely - Monday, July 28, 2014 - link

    Honestly, the hardware you're suggesting looks like DIY enterprise architecture more than a typical DIY NAS build. AT does do an occasional article on big enterprise boxes; but 8+ bay boxes are only a very small portion of the NAS coverage here. If we do get a DIY NAS article I'd expect it to be done with inexpensive hardware and at most a 6 drive configuration in addition to a 4 drive one. The 4 drive config would IMO be mandatory for comparison purposes since most of the existing reviews are for systems with that config.
  • BMNify - Monday, July 28, 2014 - link

    if its good enough for www.servethehome.com and http://forums.nas4free.org/

    http://www.servethehome.com/Server-detail/istarusa...

    http://forums.nas4free.org/viewtopic.php?f=60&...

    then its more than good enough for .anandtech to cover these options on a regular basis, after all readers want to know and be informed about the current options available to them, the options i mentioned above were based on the fact you can get HOTSWAP able hardware cases for far less then these ripoff consumer empty steel box's and SBC that cast them pennies on mass, and yet if you look you the enc consumer can actually find new and better kit such as the mentioned GA-J1900N-D3V Built-in Intel® Celeron™ J1900 (2.0 GHz) quad-core for far less to build than the lesser dual core Celeron™ J1800 that the qnap-ts451 uses....

    if you dont need/want 4-in-1 Trayless Hot-swap Backplane then just use the available generic £25 pc box's etc.... OC the ASUS P9A-I/C2550/SAS/4L Mini ITX gets a special mention as its an all in single board computer you the end consumer can get behind if you feel you will need/want tp add sas to sata cables and drives as you see fit over a longer time frame.....

    a one off cost that's more expandable as you add data to your LAN devices etc....

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