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SOHO NAS servers tap 1.6GHz Armada 300 SoCs

Nov 16, 2010 — by Eric Brown — from the LinuxDevices Archive — 31 views

Qnap Systems announced a new family of “TS-x19P+” network-attached storage (NAS) servers for home and SOHO users, integrating Marvell's 1.6GHz Armada 300 SoC. The new models run on Linux firmware, and include the one-drive TS-119P+, dual-drive TS-219P+, and four-drive TS-419P+, with the latter offering up to 8TB of networked storage, says the company.

The TS-x19P+ NAS servers provide file sharing, backup, and UPnP-compliant media streaming between PCs, Macs, Linux, and UNIX-based computers, says Qnap. The devices ship with version 3.3 of Qnap's Linux-based Turbo NAS firmware (see farther below).


TS-419P+

(Click to enlarge)

All three models run on a "Marvell 6282" system-on-chip (SoC) clocked to 1.6GHz, along with 512MB DDR2 RAM and 16MB of flash memory, says Qnap. This would appear to be the Armada 300, which Marvell also refers to as the 88F6282 (confusingly, this is the same name the chipmaker used for the earlier "Kirkwood" processor when it was clocked up to 1.2GHz).

The Kirkwood notably appeared in Marvell's own SheevaPlug Plug Computer design, as well as some Synology NAS devices including the DS409. The new Armada 300 clocks up to 2GHz, and is used in the second-gen version of the Plug Computer.

The Armada 300 is again based on the 88F6000 family, which is built on a Sheeva core that is in turn based on Marvell's Feroceon and XScale architectures. The NAS implementations using Marvell processors appears to be based in part on Martin Michlmayr's port of Debian Linux to the SheevaPlug architecture.

TS-419P+ port detail
(Click to enlarge)

All three of the TS-x19P+ series devices support 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA II hard drives with up to 2TB capacity, says Qnap. They all provide swappable drive trays, and the TS-219P+ and TS-419P+ feature hot-swappable hard drives. The dual-bay (4TB) TS-219P+ supports RAID 0/1, and the quad-bay (8TB) TS-419P+ supports RAID 0/1/5/6/5 plus hot spare, says the company.

The TS-419P+ is also said to provide for online RAID capacity expansion and online RAID level migration. The devices are said to support transfer rates exceeding 100MB/sec.

The top-of-the-line TS-419P+ offers dual gigabit Ethernet ports, as well as four USB 2.0 ports (one front-facing) and dual eSATA ports for storage expansion, says Qnap. The other two models drop down to one gigabit Ethernet port, and three USB ports, once again, with one port facing front. Like the TS-419P+, the TS-219P+ offers two eSATA ports, but the single-drive TS-119P+ supplies just one, says the company.

Other standard features include LEDs, buttons, an alarm buzzer, and a K-lock security slot, says Qnap. There is also said to be a backlit monochrome LCD display.

TS-219P+
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Power consumption depends on the model. The TS-419P+ consumes 31 Watts in operation and 13 Watts in sleep mode, says Qnap. The TS-219P+ draws 19 Watts, or seven Watts in sleep mode, and the TS-119P+ consumes only 12 Watts, or five Watts when asleep.

Each of the devices supports wake on LAN, as well as scheduled power on/off management, says Qnap. The smart fan and aluminum case design help to produce a "nearly silent" working environment, says the company.

TS-119P+
(Click to enlarge)

The new Turbo NAS firmware 3.3 provides an easy to use AJAX-based user interface for managing NAS features, says Qnap. The release was also used with Qnap's SMB-oriented, dual-core, 1.8GHz Atom D525 based Business Series Turbo NAS servers. Announced in September, these models include the TS-259 Pro+ (4TB), four-drive TS-459 Pro+ (8TB), five-drive TS-559 Pro+ (10TB), and six-drive TS-659 Pro+ (12TB).

An earlier 3.2 version of the firmware shipped with Qnap's SOHO oriented TS-459U-RP and TS-459U-SP NAS servers, both of which shipped in March with the dual-core Atom D510 processor.

The NAS firmware 3.3 provides automatic backup of all computers on the network, as well as the ability to host websites and record home security surveillance video from IP cameras on the network, says Qnap.

The software also provides a UPnP-compliant media server, and can act as a standalone file server for BT/FTP/HTTP and eMule downloads, says the company. The UPnP server (TwonkyMedia) supports media players such as the Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming consoles, as well as HD media players compatible with NFS, says Qnap.

In addition, Apple iPod/iPad/iPhone or Android devices can be used to stream music and video or view digital photos stored on the NAS via a Wi-Fi or 3G connection, says the company.

Stated Tony Lu, Product Manager for QNAP, "These new models offer home and SOHO users many of the advanced networking features found on our higher-end NAS servers, making the TS-x19P+ series an incredible value for the consumer."

Availability

The TS-x19P+ Series Turbo NAS servers will be available this month through Qnap global commercial distributors, resellers, and retailers, says the company. Prices were not listed.

More information on the TS-419P+ may be found here. More on the TS-219P+ may be found here, and more on the TS-119P+ should be here.


This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.



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