QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS
Removing the QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo from its packaging I was very surprised to see how compact this product is. From the various images available online, and knowing the sheer number of drives it supports, I was expecting this 8-bay NAS device to be quite a monster.
However, it measures a fairly modest 270mm long, 200mm wide and 298mm tall. This makes it roughly as wide as your typical 4-bay NAS device, only slightly longer, and considerably taller for obvious reasons. QNAP's device also weighs significantly more at 8.1kg, though keep in mind that the power supply is mounted internally.
The black front and aluminum chassis gives it a very sleek and professional look. You'll immediately get the impression that it's worth quite a lot of money – and unfortunately you'd be right. Still, the TS-809 Pro Turbo is intended for business use, and depending on their needs many will find it is well worth the $1,700 asking price.
Like all good NAS devices the TS-809 Pro Turbo allows drives to be hot-swapped during operation. There's no need to ever take the case off either. The use of individual, detachable 3.5-inch hard drive trays makes adding or removing storage capacity a breeze, and each tray can be independently locked for security purposes.
Each drive also has its own activity and power light on the front of the case, while status, LAN and USB LED indicators sit on top. The power button lights up blue when active on the front of the case and below it is a USB 2.0 port for quick and easy data transfers from portable devices.
Another useful feature found on the front of the TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS is called Touch-N-Go PC-less Installation. Using a clever little LCD screen the user is able to complete the first time installation in three simple steps. This LCD screen can then later programmed to display other useful information.
Moving on to the rear of the TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS there are a pair of 120mm fan grills, a power plug and a number of I/O ports. Unfortunately among them is not even a single eSATA port for high performance external storage, though you'll find four USB 2.0 ports, dual LAN ports, COM and VGA ports.