Buying first NAS. Suggest 4-bay NAS with USB 3.0

[P3R]

TS-459 Pro II have two USB 3.0 ports, one on the front and the other on the back.

TS-469 Pro, if available yet, is the alternative but that for some reason doesn't have a USB 3.0 port on the front, only two on the back.
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[P3R]

Strange it doesnt reflect on QNAP's website for that model !

Okay interesting, I didn't know that upgrade also applied to the 4-bay model.

From a business perspective it does actually make sense to not be too quick with updating the marketing material when adding a feature to a current model like this. There is stock out there worldwide with Qnap distributors and resellers and as soon the specifications are updated on the official web site, the value of that stock shrinks. That would definately upset the said business partners.

When being silent about the new feature for a few months Qnap may lose some marginal sales but they will at the same time keep their partners happy and not make customers angry. The customer that gets a USB 2.0 only version can't complain as it follows the official specifications and those that get an updated unit probably won't be to angry about that...

Should I buy a server product from a company which cant update its website ?

I think the above is a deliberate and generally wise decision but apart from that, Qnap have recently made an update of their web site that can't be described as anything but a huge failure. Finally now after several weeks of unreliable operation most (but not all) pages seem to work.

If those problems affects your buying decision is only for yourself to decide. All manufacturers have positive and negative things and I see this as another negative about Qnap but to me personally the positive still overweighs.

[schumaku]

Are you a company rep ?

Sorry when replying ... all formal QNAP reps have QNAPxxxxx usernames here.

We're in the lucky situation to have a bunch of "old crows" with a big rucksack rich on experiences in and aorund IT, networking, consulting, marketing, ... as active community forum members here.

[P3R]

Are you a company rep ?

Qnap customer only but with +25 years technical IT background and an interest also in the business side.

[P3R]

Will this CPU be enough to stream, burn side-by-side 3D Blu Ray files, over the network.

Personally I wouldn't burn from anything but a local disk but my guess is that it should work. It will definately be able to provide multiple HD-streams concurrently without a problem (provided you don't totally overload it with other tasks at the same time, see below).

What applications/features would I have to be doing to make the CPU a bottleneck ?

Torrent downloading on a fast link would be one simple way to tax the CPU heavily. Scheduling antivirus scans to occur concurrently with other things may not work that well either. There's a million other scenarios as well where the CPU will become a bottleneck and I won't try to list them all. Generally it's when doing many things at the same time that the CPU and/or memory will limit things.

FTP server

Yes.

Print server (attach printer via USB to NAS and make it network-capable)

Yes but not all printers on the planet will work.

Remote log-in via browser

Yes, possible in multiple ways depending on requirements. Be careful about the security though, only open up what's absolutely necessary!

Now, I am lookign at sharing family pictures with relos overseas.. Can I store my pictures on the NAS and give them access to a single folder, where they can view just those pictures, without knowing what else is store on the NAS ?

I don't know.

Can I host a website on a NAS ?

Yes.

The compatibility list for Media Players is pretty small
http://www.qnap.com/en/index.php?lang=e ... &g=4&gc=27
Is that it ?

Those are the ones tested and approved yes. There are probably many hundred others with new models popping up every week. It's impossible to keep up with compatibility testing for everything. The same applies to USB-printers and UPnP-routers.

Having a compatible UPnP-router isn't by the way a requirement for any service or feature to work in the Qnap. UPnP simplifies the initial router configuration but at the same time it compromises security forever. I always immediately disable UPnP and I recommend the same to others.

I am planning to get a Roku 2 XS...

The best advice I have regarding non-listed equipment is to search the forum for other customer experiences with the same or similar models.