replacing TS-639 - what is the most reliable 6 bay QNAP NAS?

[jmarks]

After 3 years of service, my TS-639 can no longer recognize disc 2 and is running in degraded mode (read only) RAID 5. After several diagnostic sessions with Keith at qnap, including trying two new drives, it looks like something in the NAS is bad.
The official recommendation from QNAP is that I replace the machine, since repairs are will cost 30-50% of a new NAS and are warrantied for only 90 days.

There are three 6-bay QNAP products available : the 659 Pro+ (USB 2.0, no upgradeable RAM), the 659 Pro II (USB 3.-0, upgradeable RAM), and 669 Pro (20% faster processor, but the same as the Pro II).

All 3 systems will meet my needs, so I am primarily interested in buying based on Reliability.

Does the community have opinions about the comparative reliability of these 3 models? Is one more prone to failure than another? I also have two TS 659 Pros (not Pro IIs) and they have had no problems.

Thanks very much!

[pwilson]

After 3 years of service, my TS-639 can no longer recognize disc 2 and is running in degraded mode (read only) RAID 5. After several diagnostic sessions with Keith at qnap, including trying two new drives, it looks like something in the NAS is bad.
The official recommendation from QNAP is that I replace the machine, since repairs are will cost 30-50% of a new NAS and are warrantied for only 90 days.

There are three 6-bay QNAP products available : the 659 Pro+ (USB 2.0, no upgradeable RAM), the 659 Pro II (USB 3.-0, upgradeable RAM), and 669 Pro (20% faster processor, but the same as the Pro II).

All 3 systems will meet my needs, so I am primarily interested in buying based on Reliability.

Does the community have opinions about the comparative reliability of these 3 models? Is one more prone to failure than another? I also have two TS 659 Pros (not Pro IIs) and they have had no problems.

Thanks very much!

The easiest way to compare those NAS units is to consult the QNAP 6-Bay Comparison Chart.

As far as reliability goes, I would expect them all to be about the same. I note that TS-659Pro/659Pro+/659Pro II all share the same Firmware file. Only the older TS-659 (ie non-pro) uses a different Firmware. The only notable difference I noted between them on the comparison chart, is that the TS-659 Pro II supports upgradable RAM while the other models in the 659 series do not.

You should be able to migrate for your original TS-659P+ drives to any of these units while retaining the data.

Patrick.

[schumaku]

TS-669 Pro is replacing the previous 6-bay models, aside of the faster processor, these have upgradeable DRAM (with a second slot), too.

[jmarks]

Thank you both! As I said, the diffence in features is not issue for me. What I am would like to learn from the community is the failure/repair record of these three machines.

[schumaku]

The older the NAS model resp. it's hardware, the longer the estimated 24*7 operation time or the number of power-up operations - the more likley you will see some first hardware issues here in the forum. the newer the hardware, the less obvious issues. Don't know what you expect to hear from us.

[P3R]

What I am would like to learn from the community is the failure/repair record of these three machines.

With the TS-669 only available in volume for some months there can't be any reliable failure statistics at all and I doubt the community will have anything meaningful (one, ten or fifty failures reported here says nothing about general model reliability) on the other two models also.

A forum simply isn't a good source for the data you want. It's almost exclusively people with problems that report their experiences and we have no access to reliable sales numbers of each model to compare the complaints with. Also most forum users lack the ability to see the big picture and trends so we often see useless advice like: I bought one hard disk of brand X and it failed, so don't ever buy brand X.

I think you've been you've been very unlucky having a NAS fail (especially as it looks to be something more costly than a fan or a power supply) after only three years. I don't think the TS-639 is more prone to failure than any other model and I very very much doubt you will get any useful answer about reliability on different models here. I would recommend that you choose the model you prefer based on features, availability and price.

[jmarks]

Thanks. That is what I will do. Please note that I am still a lover of qnap devices.

[sbresin]

Hi,
Following your discussion, how many years on average does last a nas which is powered on 24x7?
thanks

[schumaku]

Following your discussion, how many years on average does last a nas which is powered on 24x7?

For me - until the machines are phased-out, powered off, and dismounted from the network, ie. a TS-101 and a TS-201 form 2005/2006 or so - not that long ago... Here at home - manufacturer ** - the oldest units are from 2007. Oh - I?m operating a hand full of servers here built by DEC in 1995...1997 includidng the original HDD, too. No doubt, QNAP NAS hardware is very reliable. Some external power bricks delivered with the home and SOHO machines are slightly worse - so here I had some replacements.

HiFi eqipment in two rooms is 25 rep. > 30 years old - figure - so there are more critical factors:
- Regular poerwer-down/power-up is killing hardware (sorry all Green readers).
- Regular thunderstorms with lightnigs are - especially with power line and power grid in the free air - a deadly risk for any eleconic material. with the exception of long distance highest voltage lines (perfectly terminated on both ends by the grid operator) there aren't any here - all underground power grid. Electrical grid installations in many other countries are (sorry to say) a nightmare for long-lastig electronic equipment.
- All the bigger servers, NAS and all "backbone" switches are on "live" 3.5/5 kVA UPS systems here.
- TV and radio are deliverd by (underground) Cable TV - so not many aerials on the roof (some HAM radio RX, wide-range RX, aviation RX are in place, as well a weather station - all computer/NAS connected are connected over fiber), all antenna cable have surge protectors installed.

[sbresin]

ok thanks good to know