A Closer Look - Outside

QNAP has not skimped on the construction quality of the TS-859 Pro at all. The unit weights in at over 7 kg when empty, due to the thick and plentiful use of steel. The front is constructed of plastic and the top - shiny strip is protected by plastic foil.


Looking at it from the front, the bulk of space is taken by the eight hard drive bays, leaving only two possible locations for the Atom 330 and the accompanying mainboard. You essentially get an ITX system packed tightly within the unit with 1 GB of memory and a flash based storage for the Linux based OS. Turning the unit over, we can clearly see the power supply on top, above two 120 mm cooling fans and the connectors on the side. This means that the brains of the TS-859 is located on the side of the case. Turning the case so that side faces us, we can clearly see an air vent, which is intended to allow for air to exit the chassis, while the other side panel is completely solid, as there is no hardware present there.


You cannot see the LCD when the unit is off and it also shuts off if unused. QNAP also keeps the buttons to a minimum with a total of four. Two next to the LCD screen, and two more on the bottom left corner. Both of these are self-explanatory with one turning the TS-859 Pro on/off and the other allowing you to copy content straight from a USB based device unto the NAS. It would be an excellent touch if QNAP were to start including a USB 3.0 plug, as they offer higher transfer rates and are backwards compatible. Last, but not least, you will find the QNAP logo along with an Intel Atom sticker on the top left corner.


Taking a closer look at the PSU, it seems rather compact and will probally have its roots in the server industry. We will know for sure later on. The connectivity you will find in the rear is attached straight to the mainboard as it turns out. There are four USB 2.0 a pair of eSATA and a pair of Gigabit NICs. A VGA connector is also present, but connecting a monitor on here will only result in the user being able to see the command interface of Linux. There is no GUI present.


The small LCD screen features a blue backdrop and has two lines. You can call up quite a bit of information about the status of the device and also shut down, restart or put the device into standby. This has been made possible by a clever use of the two buttons on the side.


As I mentioned before, QNAP was kind enough to send the TS-859 Pro filled to the rim with 8 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blacks with 32 MB cache each. This is quite a sight and - yes the thought crossed my mind to put all of these into my full tower workstation. Too bad all these have to be returned after the review. Once all drives are pulled you can clearly see a large PCB with all eight SATA connectors. It is held in place by 11 screws to withstand the push and pull of the trays.