Introduction

We all know the old saying; if it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's usually pretty solid advice for a company, especially when they make some of the best products available on the market. QNAP doesn't follow that line of thinking at all and each year they look at their product line and ask how they can make it better.

NAS servers today are pretty much at the top of their game. There hasn't been a lot of changes to the foundation in a long time, so all of the basics have been the same for several years. With just about every NAS manufacturer sitting on the same foundation, in this case offering high speed redundant storage at the best price point possible, these companies need to expand and improve on their secondary product features. These include software packages, improved connectivity, ease of use, wider compatibility, included accessories and of course, product support.

QNAP has become a master at these secondary features and in doing so brought innovative secondary features into the foundation. One example is the current standard of having two or more gigabit Ethernet ports on SMB NAS products. Just a few years ago products were built with the expectation of having just a single port, but dual ports are now expected, foundation features. Another example is the high number of USB ports now found on NAS products. Even the most basic of units ship with four USB ports.

The QNAP TS-659 Pro II is the company's latest run on an award winning product. It wasn't that long ago we looked at the TS-659 Pro + and determined it was a spectacular product that improved upon an already existing design. The Pro II is a third generation product and it brings even more to the table while still keeping with core technology that makes it a great product.

USB 3.0 has been added as have optimizations to the software and firmware, making the TS-659 Pro II a better all-around product. Let's take a look at the specs and see what else has changed.