Introduction

Our last few large capacity NAS server reviews were very high-end units that we tested with 10GbE Ethernet. 10GbE is a rapidly growing market, but due to the high cost of 10GbE switches and network adapters, it's still an enterprise option that most of us aren't ready for in our offices.

After that string of reviews you may be under the impression that all large capacity NAS servers have moved into this high-end class of products, but that isn't the case.

QNAP's TS-X69 series of products doesn't have the 10GbE capabilities as the higher spec models, but they do incorporate all of the other latest and greatest features. By eliminating 10GbE, QNAP was able to reduce the cost of the TS-X69 series. Instead users get dual gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, eSATA and QNAP's latest addition to the group, HDMI video out.

Today we're looking at QNAP's TS-869 Pro, an eight drive bay unit with more hardware and software bells and whistles than and medium sized office will ever use. You don't need to use all of the add-on features that go beyond data storage right away, the features are good for future use.

We'll look at the full gamut of features today, and then test the throughput of the TS-869 Pro.