QNAP TurboNAS TS-431+ Consumer NAS Review

Introduction

As the NAS platform has changed over the years, going from a pure storage solution to a home media hub and more, many vendors still offer that pure storage for consumers that want a simple place to backup their data and share it via cloud services or throughout their home. QNAP has long been a staple in the NAS community and has recently went through and updated their much successful TS-431.

Now, on the outside, the revamped TS-431 now with an added + in the name, doesn't look much different. In fact, it is very likely that QNAP is using the same shell. Internally, that's where things have changed, going from an ARM V7 Cortex A9 at 1.2GHz and 512MB of RAM to, in the latest model, an ARM Cortex A15 at 1.4GHz and 1GB of RAM. This of course is backed up by a hardware encryption engine and QNAP's QTS platform.

The TS-431+ is a four bay NAS appliance that QNAP places in its SOHO market of products. This NAS features the ARM Cortex A15 from Annapurna Labs Alpine carrying the AL-212 model number. This NAS pairs 1GB of DDR3 memory with the SoC, along with 512MB of NAND flash for the operating system. Two gigabit Ethernet ports are backed up by three USB 3.0 ports along with support for USB Storage, Printers and UPS systems. Typical operating power is said to be around 26 watts while standby comes in around 12 watts, of course this is with four 2TB HDDs installed.