Replacing the TS-453 Pro

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Amplifiction
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Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2015 11:50 pm

Replacing the TS-453 Pro

Post by Amplifiction »

Hi,

In 2015, we bought a TS-453 Pro for our non-profit. We now need to replace it. We actually wanted to do it sooner (2020), but had to postpone because of covid. The NAS recently gave us our cue, when it started reporting 0 RPM for System fan 1, along with a blank system temperature. I figure it's a faulty sensor, as the fan is actually running fine. Also, the CPU and disk 1-4 temperatures all stay below 35°C.

We might keep the TS-453 Pro around for backup purposes, so if anyone has a solution for this problem, please share it. I haven't been able to find one.

We are replacing it as our main NAS anyway, so my first real question is: which current model would be the logical successor to the TS-453 Pro? The TS-453D seems very similar, would that be a good choice?

Being a non-profit, budget friendly options are always welcome. I wonder if a lighter model might suffice for our needs. We have been using our NAS as follows, meaning its successor should have the following features. (I realize a lot of it will probably be standard, but I'd like to make sure.)
  • Raid 5
  • Microsoft networking (SMB) for a maximum of 12 simultaneous users, including home folders and a network recycle bin.
  • Mostly for Office files, but also larger files such as Photoshop or GIS.
  • FTP-server
  • Crontab editing (Done via SSH, but a more user friendly option would be welcome.)
  • Some file sharing via MyQnapCloud
  • Antivirus
  • Qsirch
  • Backups to USB hard drives, currently formatted as EXT4. Encryption is a must have. One backup job is automated, the other starts manually.
  • Possibly backups to our old NAS
  • At least two NICs for port trunking, (balance-alb) maybe more for VJBOD with our old NAS/service binding/...
  • I have some spare DDR3L-1600 sodimms. Being able to install them into our new NAS would be a plus.

How easy is it to migrate to a new NAS? I'm hoping importing a config file will cover most settings (control panel > system > backup/restore settings). Some of the more time consuming stuff I'm not looking forward to setting up manually includes:
  • The list of users and user groups with all of their properties. Are they included in the config file?
  • Folder permissions: are they carried over when copying the folders from the old NAS to the new NAS?
  • Migrating crontab tasks: copy/paste from old to new crontab file?
Thanks in advance.
jon96789
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Re: Replacing the TS-453 Pro

Post by jon96789 »

i am in the same situation as you. I am migrating from the TS-453 Pro to a new TS-673A. The TS-453 Pro was too small in my case. I have to replace all four drives to increase capacity. Currently, I have four 6TB drives which gives me about 16TB net space in a RAID 5 config. I would have to spend ~$1000 to upgrade to four 8TB drives to get an incremental increase of 21.5TB space, or about 5TB which is not cost effective. Upgrading to the TS-673A (a new model) is $900. But I can add two more 6TB drives (at $150 each) and increase space to 27TB from 16TB, an increase of 11TB. It took me six years to accumulate the current 13TB of data i currently have and since my data load has drastically been reduced, the 11TB additional space should last me several years.

In any case, according to QNAP, you can migrate all your hard drives to a new NAS without losing any data or rebuilding your NAS. See this link (https://www.qnap.com/en-uk/nas-migratio ... on=ts-673a). There are some caveats in the notes in the link so read it well. According to the support tech, I should retain all my settings on the TS-453 pro when i migrate except for settings that the TS-673A does not have (e.g. the TS-453 Pro has four LAN ports and the TS-673A only has two (albeit they are faster at 2.5Gb/s vs 1Gb/s on the TS-453 Pro)

The TS-673A also has a faster AMD Ryzen V1500 quad-core eight-thread CPU which is supposed to be 300% faster than the Intel J1900 Celeron in the TS-453 Pro. Admittedly, this CPU itself does not make much of a difference unless you have a lot of users connected to it simultaneously.

On a side note. I did use MyQNAPcloud to access the NAS via the internet but I disabled it. I rarely used and never really needed it. I noticed in the Control Panel that somebody was trying to access my NAS, attempting to login via brute force. The NAS showed failed logins at the rate of 20x/minute from the internet. The failed attempts were from overseas and it appeared to be from China.

Since I also have a QNAP TS-853A as a backup, I have no need for my TS-453 Pro, so I'll be selling it. Since the TS-853A has the same CPU as the TS-453 Pro, I decided to use that as a backup to the TS-673A. My NAS access is pretty heavy and there were times when the NAS bogged down which the newer one should not. My concern is that the TS-853A is loaded with 4TB hard drives in a RAID 6 config. The maximum capacity is limited to 21.5TB which means I would have to replace the drives sooner if I approach that capacity.
jon96789
Know my way around
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 2:43 pm

Re: Replacing the TS-453 Pro

Post by jon96789 »

Regarding your fan issue. If you open the case, you will see the fan connector on the top left corner on the back of the case. The TS-453 Pro only has one fan (some NAS has two fans) but the motherboard has two connectors. You can try and plug the fan in the second connector and see if that works.
jon96789
Know my way around
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 2:43 pm

Re: Replacing the TS-453 Pro

Post by jon96789 »

After some reading, the problem may be the Intel LPC issue that is affecting the j1900 Celeron CPU. Your issue may be a symptom of the CPU LPC failing from degradation (from age and use). See this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=135089&start=165

A temp fix is to solder a 100-ohm resistor between pins 1 and 10 or 1 and 8 on LPC-CN1 connector on the main board. Note that the fix is temporary. It is not guaranteed to work (some people were not able to get it working). The issue is still there but the solder fix may delay the issue from popping up again until the CPU degradesfurther.

See this page for instructions:
https://www.threshold-lovers.com/downlo ... -everyone/

Click on the blue Telecharger button to download a picture of the fix.

Intel has acknowledged there is an issue with the aforementioned J1900 Celeron CPU and AFAIK there is no permanent fix.
jon96789
Know my way around
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 2:43 pm

Re: Replacing the TS-453 Pro

Post by jon96789 »

QNAP confirms there is no permanent fix for this issue.
Amplifiction
Starting out
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2015 11:50 pm

Re: Replacing the TS-453 Pro

Post by Amplifiction »

jon96789 wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 1:04 am In any case, according to QNAP, you can migrate all your hard drives to a new NAS without losing any data or rebuilding your NAS.
Thank you for the comprehensive information you have provided. It has been very helpful.

I originally planned to buy new hard drives for our new NAS, as our current ones are over six years old. However,
  • RAID5 covers the loss of individual drives. (We also make two separate backups of our data daily and weekly.)
  • I can’t seem to find out whether or not folder permissions get carried over when copying files from NAS to NAS. (Method 3 in this article: https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/knowledg ... he-old-one.) The same goes for exactly which settings get backed up when backing up system settings. (Posts such as this one partially but not fully alleviate these concerns: viewtopic.php?t=112573)
  • Qnap seems to promote physically transferring drives as the smoothest way of migrating to a new NAS (in the aforementioned article).
That would mean we would have to buy a six bay NAS, for the same reason you did: the need for increased storage capacity. If I understand correctly, you won’t be adding the two extra drives right away to your six bay NAS?
jon96789 wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 7:12 am Regarding your fan issue. If you open the case, you will see the fan connector on the top left corner on the back of the case. The TS-453 Pro only has one fan (some NAS has two fans) but the motherboard has two connectors. You can try and plug the fan in the second connector and see if that works.
That would be an easy fix. I will try it.
jon96789 wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 6:27 pm After some reading, the problem may be the Intel LPC issue that is affecting the j1900 Celeron CPU. Your issue may be a symptom of the CPU LPC failing from degradation (from age and use).
Interesting. This makes me wonder if it’s wise to invest in another NAS that runs on a Celeron CPU.
RandomMen wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 4:52 pm TS-453D 4G. This unit accepts non-compatible qnap ram.
Thanks for confirming.
jon96789
Know my way around
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 2:43 pm

Re: Replacing the TS-453 Pro

Post by jon96789 »

That is why I went with the TS-673A.. It uses the Ryzen V1500B CPU. Actually, you might want to consider the TS-873A instead. The price difference is only $150. If I knew that earlier, I would have opted for the TS-873A.

The drawback is that an eight-bay NAS has higher chances of two drives failing. That is why many recommend RAID-6 (gives you protection if two drives fail simultaneously) for eight-bay NAS. That would actually net you three additional bays iso two for the $150.
Amplifiction
Starting out
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2015 11:50 pm

Re: Replacing the TS-453 Pro

Post by Amplifiction »

jon96789 wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 2:02 am That is why I went with the TS-673A.. It uses the Ryzen V1500B CPU. Actually, you might want to consider the TS-873A instead. The price difference is only $150. If I knew that earlier, I would have opted for the TS-873A.

The drawback is that an eight-bay NAS has higher chances of two drives failing. That is why many recommend RAID-6 (gives you protection if two drives fail simultaneously) for eight-bay NAS. That would actually net you three additional bays iso two for the $150.
We have ordered the TS-673A as well. We will be physically transferring the drives. Did the migration go as smoothly as Qnap's compatibility tool (https://www.qnap.com/en-uk/nas-migratio ... on=ts-673a) claims?
Amplifiction
Starting out
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2015 11:50 pm

Re: Replacing the TS-453 Pro

Post by Amplifiction »

To answer my own question, everything went well. I only had to
  • take a look at the new network config, because (as jon96789 stated) the TS-673A has fewer NICs.
  • reconfigure MyQnapCloudLink (retaining old settings such as account name and NAS name) + relog in client devices.
  • remake 1 out of our 2 sync jobs to USB hard drives, (using the same settings) as it inexplicably kept failing.

All in all, it has been a smooth transition. Kudos to Qnap for that. Also thank you @jon96789 for your advice.
EDIT - Kudos to Qnap, but I do hope our new TS-673A will last longer than six years.
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