| QNAP TS-879U-RP 10GbE NAS Server |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Network | |
| Written by Bruce Normann | |
| Monday, 19 March 2012 | |
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Page 10 of 10
QNAP TS-879U-RP 10GbE Upgrade ConclusionThis is not a full review of the QNAP TS-879U-RP Turbo NAS Server. For that, please refer to the previous article from last month. This article is a follow-up, which reviews the additional performance obtained with the optional 10GbE Network Interface Card, and the performance of the unit with AES 256-bit Volume-based Data Encryption. In addition, I included a new test protocol, which has recently been enabled on the Windows 7 platform. Because of the limited scope of this article, I won't be re-evaluating the product ratings for the TS-879U-RP; the original ratings in the full review are still applicable. Even though I was able to wring out significantly better performance from the unit with the enhancements I implemented, I believe my initial impressions are still accurate. The raw file transfer rate of the QNAP TS-879U-RP Turbo NAS server was about four times faster with the 10GbE network card installed. Looking at simple file transfers, both Read and Write speeds were in the range of 450 MB/s, which is outstanding performance. I knew that the platform was capable of much better than I was able to achieve with the base Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. I wasn't sure how far I could push this NAS with 7200 RPM HDDs, though. Many of the Enterprise-class HDD products have migrated to the Serial-Attached-SCSI (SAS) interface, which is not supported on this unit, so 10,000 or 15,000 RPM drives were not going to be a readily available option. Enterprise-class SSDs are coming into their own though, and QNAP has posted some very impressive results from their test labs, using eight Intel C510 120GB units. Performance with FIPS 140-2 Certified, AES 256-bit Volume-based Data Encryption enabled was much lower, even with the 10GbE interface. The read and write speeds were slightly better than what the base model TS-879U-RP delivered with GbE connectivity, but nowhere near the level that the un-encrypted configuration provided. The Intel Core i3-2120 CPU, which is a dual-core member of the Sandy Bridge family, doesn't support the Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions (AES-NI) set. These new instructions speed up the encryption/decryption process by anywhere from 3x to 10x, depending on the implementation. You have to move up to the Quad-core E3-1225 Intel Xeon Processor in the TS-EC879U-RP version, with ECC memory, in order to get that capability. It makes sense - if you care enough about your data to protect it with AES 256-bit encryption, you probably want to ensure its integrity with ECC memory.
The Appearance and Construction Quality of the unit aren't changed by the addition of a dedicated 10GbE NIC, so there's nothing to mention there. The Functionality doesn't change directly, but the performance of that functionality does, in the case of AES 256-bit encryption. The capability was usable with the base configuration, and remains so with the enhanced network bandwidth. Unfortunately, the performance with encrypted drives did not scale up as well as it did without encryption, and gains of only about 20% were realized. In my mind, that difference doesn't really change the functionality, so the product rating is unaffected. The value proposition for the QNAP TS-879U-RP Turbo NAS Server is definitely impacted by the ability to add a $700 NIC and consequently increase the raw performance by a factor of four. The difference is akin to adding a dedicated video card to your PC, to take over rendering duties from an integrated graphics processor. Yes, it's a significant price adder, but the boost in performance is even more significant. Given the increasing number of roles that a modern NAS is capable of assuming, that substantially higher level of throughput might be a game changer. Value is one of the only ratings that might be impacted by the enhanced networking performance that's available with the optional NIC. As of March 2012 the diskless TS-879U-RP model was listed for $2899.99 at Newegg, or for the same price $2899.99 from Amazon. Newegg also sells the high-end Network Interface Cards you need to implement 10GbE networking. If you've only got short distances to cover, it's probably easier to stick with Cat 6 wiring, and I was very happy with the performance of the two Intel NICs I purchased for this project. The Intel E10G42BT, X520-T2, 10Gbps Ethernet NIC is on QNAP's compatibility list and sells for $689.99 at Newegg. The Intel E10G41AT2, 10Gbps Ethernet NIC is also available at Newegg for $512.00, in case you just need a single 10GbE connection on one of your other devices. They're both compatible with a wide variety of operating systems, including Windows 7. That's not always a given, for enterprise-class hardware. Windows Server - yes, Linux - yes, VMware - yes. Consumer OS's are usually a maybe for this type of product; make doubly sure it's compatible before you buy, and check the relevant support forums for confirmation from the user base. My first testing experience with the QNAP TS-879U-RP was like doing a test drive of a modern-day Ferrari with the Valet Key. Yeah, I could tell I was driving a vehicle that had incredible performance potential, but I couldn't access it. Fortunately, all it took was $700 and a screwdriver to remedy that situation. I now feel like I've given this NAS a proper test and one that you probably won't find elsewhere. 10GbE test platforms are few and far between at the moment, and Benchmark Reviews is committed to staying at the leading edge of technology reviews. Pros:
+ 432 / 463 MB/s best read/write performance Cons:- 10GbE NICS are expensive (~ $700 each) Benchmark Reviews encourages you to leave comments (below), or ask questions and join the discussion in our Forum.
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Comments
So, I would be happy to use the QNAP TS-879U-RP to test some SSD makers' new enterprise-class drives, and run them hard, in a realistic test case. But, just stuffing some consumer grade devices in the NAS to push it closer to 10Gbps throughput doesn't really do much for me.... I "get" why QNAP tested it that way, but I also think it would have been useful for them to publish additional test results with enterprise-class HDDs.
Use the SSD so you need to understand the physical limitations inherent in the product, it is obvious that no one ever use this product with SSDs, but the fact remains that with the HDD will never get to know the limits of the Qnap as well as any 'NAS or other product that has or needs to introduce SATA mass storage.
You CAN set up multiple iSCSI targets and/or multiple LUNs one one device, but they would all reside on one physical RAID volume.
RAID 10 (0r RAID 20)is usually best for database applications. RAID 5 can be slower in Write operations. Do you have the ability to set the system up in a test environment? I would strongly encourage that, so you can try the different configurations.
Details here: #qnap.com/static/landing/10gbe_en.html
Did I inspire them...? LOL
I got more than 450MB/s in ACTUAL real-world throughput, which is slightly more than the USB-IF expects the USB 3.0 connection to handle, so I would say that using USB instead of Ethernet would throttle the bandwidth somewhat. Of course, you lose all the advantages of having the device sitting directly on the network, which is a major feature of this and any other NAS.
In case of simultaneous streaming what total throughput can I expect... could the NAS handle 2x450 + 100 MB/s = 1000 MB/s? That should be supported by 8 high end disks but I do not know if the processor can handle a RAID5 encoding/decoding at this rate...
Last question: is it possible to wire the NAS with two 1 Gbe cables to the switch and handle two 100 MB/s streams from two different computers? Is it seamless - I mean would the computers all see a single disk or is it more complex to aggregate?
Your best bet would be to get a 10GbE switch, like the one I mentioned from Cisco, in the review. That way, all your workstations can get the bandwidth they need, and you have the bandwidth for future expansion.
Given this situation I think that the 10Gbe switch + many 10Gbe adapters is overkilling... I thought USB 3.0 would be very well suited to this kind of unsymmetric and non simulataneous access scenario. Where do you exactly see a problem? Do you think that the hybrid mode cannot work in practice or were you only saying the NAS cannot handle two USB 3.0 streams at 450 MB/s?
My main issue is that all the software for this, and most NAS devices, is designed and optimized to work in an Ethernet environment, not an ad-hoc USB network. The capabilities while connected via USB will be severly restricted. Upload and download, via a couple of built-in scripts, that's all.
FWIW, I'm never been impressed by the performance of USB with external drives. I guess I should test this one before I pull it apart...
Note: If you ever get the chance to test dual USB 3.0 transfer from two different computers ... :)
Thanks a lot for your help!
have such a box installed as ESXI 5.1 storage. Monday this week, the ESXI 5.1 freezed about 15 times after installing a additional RAID0 with 2 Samsung 830 512GB SSDs. Box is attached by 2* 10Gbit Intel X520 DA2.
Stopped to access this DataStore seams to fix the problem.
Support of QNAP always recommands to reset the box to the factory setup. Not very helpful.