TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

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xardius
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TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by xardius »

Hi.
First things first: Sorry for my "not so good" english, it's not my native language.

I start with a quick description what I plan to do:
I'd like to buy a TS-873A NAS but I'm not sure if this is the best choice for my purpose. It would be my first real NAS, before I've used internal and external HDDs and Windows Shares.
I don't really need to many fancy functions (no VMs, no Plex, or similar things). All I want is a Network storage which I can mount as a Network Drive within Windows and Linux Machines. My Clients only have 1Gbit Ethernet, maybe I'll upgrade to 2,5Gig later. I'll use 8x8tb Seagate IronWolf HDDs in a RAID 6 configuration. I need to encrypt the HDDs. This is very important for me.

Now, since you know what my goal is, If have a few questions and it would be great if someone could answer me :)
1. Is the TS-873A a reasonable NAS for my purpose?
2. Should I use the new QuTS Hero and ZFS?
3. Snapshots, Inline Data Deduplication and Inline Compression sounds interesting. Should I use it? Do I need some addional RAM or an SSD Cache for these features and if yes, are these features worth it? Are they available with encryption?
4. Do I need addtional RAM or an SSD Cache for encyption?

Thank you for your help :)
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dolbyman
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by dolbyman »

By far overkill for your situation

Get any low power 8 bay NAS .. e.g. TS-832PX ... should be just fine for 1GbE environment

don't forget the external backups, a RAID is not a backup
QNAPDanielFL
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by QNAPDanielFL »

This should be a great NAS for the price. It has a good CPU, 2.5GbE and the ability to take a 10GbE card.
I like QuTS Hero. But if you only have 8GB RAM, then QuTS Hero will likely have less performance than QTS because QuTS Hero needs more RAM to perform well. You can add more RAM and then this should work well with Hero. Or even 8GB RAM should work with Hero. Just performance might be a bit less.

With 8GB RAM deduplication is not an option.
If you have many VM images you can consider adding up to 64GB RAM and using deduplication for the folder or LUN where your VM images are. There will be a performance cost, so you can consider if it is worth the performance cost for the space savings.
If you don't have many VM images then I suggest you don't use dedupe.

You can use compression for almost anything and compression does not use much RAM.

You don't need cache for encryption.

QuTS Hero is great for data self-healing to heal data corruption and copy-on-write to prevent data corruption.
Also, HDD performance is better on Hero if you have enough RAM.
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Moogle Stiltzkin
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by Moogle Stiltzkin »

no vms, not plex, sounds like all you are using it for is file server?

so you could probly get a lower end model. but most of the lower end models are capped at 1gbe. 2.5gbe is usually for things like x253d, x73a, x72N, although some models support addon cards to add 2.5gbe or 10gbe ports for example

should u use zfs? personally i would. but it cannot do expanding hdds like qts. Instead you have to do from scratch if later you want to add new hdds. not a problem for me, but maybe problem for you (convenience wise).

x73a model supports ecc ram, another positive, especially when using zfs.
NAS
[Main Server] QNAP TS-877 (QTS) w. 4tb [ 3x HGST Deskstar NAS & 1x WD RED NAS ] EXT4 Raid5 & 2 x m.2 SATA Samsung 850 Evo raid1 +16gb ddr4 Crucial+ QWA-AC2600 wireless+QXP PCIE
[Backup] QNAP TS-653A (Truenas Core) w. 4x 2TB Samsung F3 (HD203WI) RaidZ1 ZFS + 8gb ddr3 Crucial
[^] QNAP TL-D400S 2x 4TB WD Red Nas (WD40EFRX) 2x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf, Raid5
[^] QNAP TS-509 Pro w. 4x 1TB WD RE3 (WD1002FBYS) EXT4 Raid5
[^] QNAP TS-253D (Truenas Scale)
[Mobile NAS] TBS-453DX w. 2x Crucial MX500 500gb EXT4 raid1

Network
Qotom Pfsense|100mbps FTTH | Win11, Ryzen 5600X Desktop (1x2tb Crucial P50 Plus M.2 SSD, 1x 8tb seagate Ironwolf,1x 4tb HGST Ultrastar 7K4000)


Resources
[Review] Moogle's QNAP experience
[Review] Moogle's TS-877 review
https://www.patreon.com/mooglestiltzkin
xardius
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by xardius »

Thank you all for your answers.

I didn't know about the TS-832PX (I must have missed it while researching). This is a very interesting option, but I think I stick with the TS-873A since the price difference is not so huge and the TS-873A seems to be a bit more "future proof".

So if I understand everything correctly I'll do this:
I buy the TS-873A, make a RAID 6 with 8x8TB, use ZFS + encryption and compression but no deduplication and it should be fine with 8 gig of RAM and no SSD Cache for a 1gig enviroment (and maybe 2,5gig if I upgrade the clients later)?^^
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Moogle Stiltzkin
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by Moogle Stiltzkin »

xardius wrote: Thu Mar 18, 2021 12:30 am ...
more explanation what zfs is and what it offers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsFDp-W1Ks0

quts hero overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS7fCpQlAB4

quts hero explained by qnap themselves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVvtKz-ZB7M


performance comparison between quts hero zfs linux vs qts (i assume it's in ext4), scroll down to the file transfer performance in that link
File transfer performance
Compared to QNAP’s QTS operating system, the latest QuTS hero operating system delivers better data transmission performance and capacity of realizing the full potential of 10GbE data transmission. QuTS hero also outperforms QTS in multiple small file transfers.
https://www.qnap.com/quts-hero/en/


x73a model already comes with 2.5gbe ports by default. you can see the product video for this here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obxtGFnqO-E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvks9vQp9S8


:)
NAS
[Main Server] QNAP TS-877 (QTS) w. 4tb [ 3x HGST Deskstar NAS & 1x WD RED NAS ] EXT4 Raid5 & 2 x m.2 SATA Samsung 850 Evo raid1 +16gb ddr4 Crucial+ QWA-AC2600 wireless+QXP PCIE
[Backup] QNAP TS-653A (Truenas Core) w. 4x 2TB Samsung F3 (HD203WI) RaidZ1 ZFS + 8gb ddr3 Crucial
[^] QNAP TL-D400S 2x 4TB WD Red Nas (WD40EFRX) 2x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf, Raid5
[^] QNAP TS-509 Pro w. 4x 1TB WD RE3 (WD1002FBYS) EXT4 Raid5
[^] QNAP TS-253D (Truenas Scale)
[Mobile NAS] TBS-453DX w. 2x Crucial MX500 500gb EXT4 raid1

Network
Qotom Pfsense|100mbps FTTH | Win11, Ryzen 5600X Desktop (1x2tb Crucial P50 Plus M.2 SSD, 1x 8tb seagate Ironwolf,1x 4tb HGST Ultrastar 7K4000)


Resources
[Review] Moogle's QNAP experience
[Review] Moogle's TS-877 review
https://www.patreon.com/mooglestiltzkin
xardius
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by xardius »

Thanks again to everyone for the help.

I've ordered the NAS now, hopefully the delivery won't take too long (but it was shown as in stock, so I'm confident). I have also ordered a USB to 2.5g ethernet adapter so that I can connect my NUC (which is my main device) with 2.5g to the NAS. For the other clients it remains at 1gig for now. If it is necessary, I will also upgrade some RAM. But I'll try it with 8GB first.

The videos Moogle Stiltzkin posted are very interesting. Thank you!
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dolbyman
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by dolbyman »

I use a 5GbE USB-C adapter for my Hades Canyon NUC (to my 951X) works fine

QNAP does offer their own
https://www.qnap.com/en/product/qna-uc5g1t
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Moogle Stiltzkin
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by Moogle Stiltzkin »

xardius wrote: Thu Mar 18, 2021 5:53 am ...
interested to hear from u how it fares. i think it should be good, but i only have a ts-877 :)


i found some reviews here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlZjLp0RoTU

https://laptrinhx.com/qnap-ts-873au-nas ... 898261604/

QNAP QuTS Hero ZFS RAID Building and Resilvering Overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfqUYuh6ItQ
NAS
[Main Server] QNAP TS-877 (QTS) w. 4tb [ 3x HGST Deskstar NAS & 1x WD RED NAS ] EXT4 Raid5 & 2 x m.2 SATA Samsung 850 Evo raid1 +16gb ddr4 Crucial+ QWA-AC2600 wireless+QXP PCIE
[Backup] QNAP TS-653A (Truenas Core) w. 4x 2TB Samsung F3 (HD203WI) RaidZ1 ZFS + 8gb ddr3 Crucial
[^] QNAP TL-D400S 2x 4TB WD Red Nas (WD40EFRX) 2x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf, Raid5
[^] QNAP TS-509 Pro w. 4x 1TB WD RE3 (WD1002FBYS) EXT4 Raid5
[^] QNAP TS-253D (Truenas Scale)
[Mobile NAS] TBS-453DX w. 2x Crucial MX500 500gb EXT4 raid1

Network
Qotom Pfsense|100mbps FTTH | Win11, Ryzen 5600X Desktop (1x2tb Crucial P50 Plus M.2 SSD, 1x 8tb seagate Ironwolf,1x 4tb HGST Ultrastar 7K4000)


Resources
[Review] Moogle's QNAP experience
[Review] Moogle's TS-877 review
https://www.patreon.com/mooglestiltzkin
jon96789
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by jon96789 »

What routers use 2.5GbE ports? Netgear now uses SFP+ which is 10Gb but it is not compatible with the 2.5GbE ports.
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Moogle Stiltzkin
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by Moogle Stiltzkin »

jon96789 wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 11:22 am What routers use 2.5GbE ports? Netgear now uses SFP+ which is 10Gb but it is not compatible with the 2.5GbE ports.
10gbe ports on qhora?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJvBF5CfU4k
NAS
[Main Server] QNAP TS-877 (QTS) w. 4tb [ 3x HGST Deskstar NAS & 1x WD RED NAS ] EXT4 Raid5 & 2 x m.2 SATA Samsung 850 Evo raid1 +16gb ddr4 Crucial+ QWA-AC2600 wireless+QXP PCIE
[Backup] QNAP TS-653A (Truenas Core) w. 4x 2TB Samsung F3 (HD203WI) RaidZ1 ZFS + 8gb ddr3 Crucial
[^] QNAP TL-D400S 2x 4TB WD Red Nas (WD40EFRX) 2x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf, Raid5
[^] QNAP TS-509 Pro w. 4x 1TB WD RE3 (WD1002FBYS) EXT4 Raid5
[^] QNAP TS-253D (Truenas Scale)
[Mobile NAS] TBS-453DX w. 2x Crucial MX500 500gb EXT4 raid1

Network
Qotom Pfsense|100mbps FTTH | Win11, Ryzen 5600X Desktop (1x2tb Crucial P50 Plus M.2 SSD, 1x 8tb seagate Ironwolf,1x 4tb HGST Ultrastar 7K4000)


Resources
[Review] Moogle's QNAP experience
[Review] Moogle's TS-877 review
https://www.patreon.com/mooglestiltzkin
jon96789
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by jon96789 »

I just purchased a TS-673A and am very happy with it. FYI, the firmware installed on the NAS is buggy and must be updated to 4.5.3.1670, otherwise a few apps will not work properly. It's a tad flimsier than the TS-853A that I have and a lot flimsier than the TS-453 Pro but considering how rarely you will be swapping out drives, i think it is a non-issue. It does have locking disc trays but I was surprised to see it is made of plastic iso the metal keys from before.

With the AMD V1500B CPU, the NAS is a bit faster responding than the older Intel J1900 Celeron CPU. I noted later that the TS-873A is only $150 more than the TS-673A. I should have spent the additional money to buy the TS-873A. But I have to consider that the TS-873A would have to be configured as RAID-6 with its eight bays (a very good recommendation as my TS-853A just had two drives fail simultaneously). That means I really get only one extra drive bay over the TS-673A in its RAID-5 config.

My three NAS (my original TS-453 Pro, the TS-853A and TS-673A) all use WD Red Plus drives. I really have to reconsider buying a different brand as the Red drives all seem to fail right as the warranty expires. Considering i have 18 drives (of 4- and 6-TB capacities), I had to replace six drives in the past year, not a good sign. I have about 15TB of data and the NAS are all mirroring each other.
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Moogle Stiltzkin
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Re: TS-873A - Is this the NAS I should buy?

Post by Moogle Stiltzkin »

even if you did get the higher bay models, this should only be done if you expect to be expanding to those extra bays you will be getting. if not, then may as well save your money.

the cost of ownership also includes the cost spent on your backup for your main nas, so take that into account when tallying your total budget cost.


what did you mean by flimsy? did you just mean the trays?

i've used both the metallic and the plastic trays. honestly it didn't matter to me. although the plastic trays seem to slot in better into the bays. also it had an option for tooless installation so i could forgo the screws. i did not see such an option for the metallic trays (at least for the older qnap nas models i have anyway, not sure about the newer ones).

did you opt to use qts or quts hero? i highly recommend quts hero :D
NAS
[Main Server] QNAP TS-877 (QTS) w. 4tb [ 3x HGST Deskstar NAS & 1x WD RED NAS ] EXT4 Raid5 & 2 x m.2 SATA Samsung 850 Evo raid1 +16gb ddr4 Crucial+ QWA-AC2600 wireless+QXP PCIE
[Backup] QNAP TS-653A (Truenas Core) w. 4x 2TB Samsung F3 (HD203WI) RaidZ1 ZFS + 8gb ddr3 Crucial
[^] QNAP TL-D400S 2x 4TB WD Red Nas (WD40EFRX) 2x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf, Raid5
[^] QNAP TS-509 Pro w. 4x 1TB WD RE3 (WD1002FBYS) EXT4 Raid5
[^] QNAP TS-253D (Truenas Scale)
[Mobile NAS] TBS-453DX w. 2x Crucial MX500 500gb EXT4 raid1

Network
Qotom Pfsense|100mbps FTTH | Win11, Ryzen 5600X Desktop (1x2tb Crucial P50 Plus M.2 SSD, 1x 8tb seagate Ironwolf,1x 4tb HGST Ultrastar 7K4000)


Resources
[Review] Moogle's QNAP experience
[Review] Moogle's TS-877 review
https://www.patreon.com/mooglestiltzkin
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