Introduction

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

We recently tested the QNAP TS-419P II, the top of the line NAS of QNAP's Home & SOHO category. In today's review we will evaluate the TS-669 Pro, a NAS that belongs to a higher category and is suitable for Small and Medium-size Business environments. The TS-669 Pro offers all functionalities of a modern NAS, namely centralized storage and file sharing, a backup center, Cloud storage capabilities etc. and on top of that it is able to attain very high transfer speeds through the two Gigabit ports it is equipped with. QNAP claims 221 MB/sec reading and writing speeds, in our testing we will try to confirm that.

This NAS is powered by an Intel Atom Dual-core CPU that runs at 2.13 GHz, it is equipped with 1 GB RAM which can be expanded to 3 GB and can take up to six HDDs that are installed in hot-swappable and lockable trays. Since this device is intended for business environments and its HDDs might contain sensitive data, the locks are essential. Here we should note that like every NAS device this too needs a little attention to what HDDs you will use, since there are some that are incompatible with it and more specific with its RAID modes which almost every of its future purchasers will utilize. Thankfully QNAP's official product page provides a detailed HDD compatibility list. which you should check first, before you buy the drives.

Specifications

A dual core Atom CPU is the brain of the NAS, which should be sufficient enough. The available memory is one GB and can be easily upgraded to two or three GBs. Regarding hot-swap, up to six can be installed into this NAS, something that most likely will empty your wallet since the prices of HDDs still remain high. Also before you purchase the HDDs you should better take a look at QNAP's HDD compatibility list, because some disks are not compatible with the RAID levels that the TS-669 Pro supports, or simply cause a lot of trouble. Moreover you can search a little further in the official QNAP forum for opinions of other users who already bought the drives you are planning to get.

Jumping to the network part of the TS-669 Pro, we can see from the table above that it is equipped with two Gigabit Ethernet ports, which support LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol). However in order to take advantage of LACP's increased speeds you should connect the NAS to a switch that is also compatible with port trunking, otherwise you won't see any improvements in network transfer speeds. The same applies to Jumbo frames, and in addition you should configure the MTU value of your clients accordingly to fully exploit them.

This NAS is equipped with two USB 3.0 ports which greatly enhance its usability, but unfortunately both of them are located on its rear side. In our opinion at least one USB 3.0 port should be installed on the front, for easier access.

The dimensions of the NAS are not compact, that's for sure, simply because six 3.5" drive bays need lots of space. However you can't call it large either since it has about the same size as an SFF case. Despite the limited space, QNAP managed to squeeze a small PSU in there which can deliver up to 250W, more than enough power for the needs of the TS-669 Pro.

Finally the warranty is set to only two years, a short period in to our opinion, while the price looks highly intimidating at over $1000. However we should not forget that this NAS is not intended for home use but mainly for business environments where reliability and performance come first and cost follows (closely).

Packaging

The NAS comes in a big, white package which is sturdy enough to handle abuse. On the front we find the model description, a front shot of the NAS itself with its LCD screen activated and a brief feature description. Also on the bottom there are many badges describing various characteristics of the TS-669 Pro.


On the rear side of the package we find more details about the product's features and some nice icons that illustrate its usability in various operations and tasks that an administrator can utilize it for.


On the remaining two sides of the box is a list of hardware and software specifications, along with a useful illustration that gives a detail description of buttons, indicator LEDs and I/O ports on the front and rear side of the NAS.

Contents & Bundle

Since many users skip directly to the installation of the device without reading the provided manual, unless they run into trouble, QNAP put some simple instructions on how to set it up quickly, on the rear side of the top flap. So once you open the flap you are greeted by the welcome message and the instructions. Clever move!
The NAS is well protected inside the sturdy box since both of its sides are fully covered by thick packing foam. On top of that it is wrapped in a heavy duty nylon bag.


The bundle includes a software CD including QNAP's applications, the user's manual, two Ethernet cables (CAT 5e), two bags of screws, the AC power cord and finally a card that informs the lucky buyer about the free firmware updates that QNAP provides. With such a high price it would be a real shame to charge extra for firmware updates.