Introduction

I would like to thank QNAP for supplying the review sample.


In the many years of having dealt with networking products, I have never come across a NAS and (POE) switch combination before. The QNAP QGD-1602P is a POE switch inside the same chassis as a 2-bay NAS that takes a pair of NVME drives. You can fully control the switch in QNAP's excellent QTS operating system since both the NAS and the switch are connected through a pair of 10 GbE connections.

An 8-core Intel Atom CPU is the brains of this product; let's call it a switch from now on out, and in combination with the 16 GB of RAM, it will handle anything you throw at it. If 16 GB of RAM is not enough, it is expandable to upwards of 64 GB. The switch consists of eight 2.5 GbE ports and two SFP+ ports, which provide speeds of up to 10 GbE. 5 GbE host ports are directly connected to the QTS side as well—in order words, the NAS.

The QGD-1602P can supply up to 380 W on its PoE ports. There are eight 2.5 GbE (RJ45), eight 1 GbE (RJ45), and two 10 GbE SFP+ ports. All sixteen non-host ports support the 802.3at PoE standard (PoE+), and four of these (1–4) also support 802.3bt (PoE++), which has them deliver up to 90 W of PoE power if required.

Specifications

Contents and Bundle

The box is quite large and provides adequate protection for such an expensive product.


A smaller box contains all the included accessories. You will find a power cord, fixing bolts for installing the 2.5" disks and M.2 drives, an Ethernet cable, a rack-mount kit, rubber feet, and a quick installation guide.

Exterior

This is a large switch since it also includes a NAS.


The four host ports directly connect to the NAS of the switch, while the others belong to the main switch. There are eight 2.5 GbE ports and eight 1 GbE ports, as well as two SFP+ ones. The first four ports can deliver up to 90 W, and the others up to 30 W. Total power output through the PoE ports reaches 380 W, making this product ideal for energy-hungry IP cameras or other network devices.


On the right of the front, you will find a button and two reset switches. The QTS power button allows the switch to be used regardless of the state of QTS, and the reset switches make resetting the switch and QTS separately possible. This ensures the PoE power supply isn't affected when resetting QTS, or vice versa, when running continuously operating VMs on QTS and resetting QSS (switch). As there are LED indicators for the purpose, you can also take a look at the status of QTS/QSS, your hard drives, PoE, and any system fans.


The LCD monitor displays real-time IP and firmware information of the Switch and NAS. The control buttons allow you to configure and restart these directly.


For lighting-fast speeds between the two, the NAS and switch are connected via two 10 GbE lines.


You will find three stickers on the switch. The most important of these depicts the cloud key, which makes initial setup rather effortless.


This is the backside of the switch—you will find the exhaust grills, AC input, and PCIe slot covers here.