There’s no point in going through
Quick Setup again, since those settings were
already as I wanted them when I first set-up the
TS-409 Pro. It’s always good practice to keep
the time as accurate as possible on all your
computers and NAS appliances. Under System
Settings, I’ll select Date & Time, then check
the Synchronize with an Internet timeserver
automatically box. The default NTP (Network Time
Protocol) server works for me (figuratively and
literally), so I'll stick with it. Next we’ll click the
Update Now button to insure we have
communication with the server. Status: Success
should appear next to the button. Now I’ll change
the Time Interval default of how often the
NTP server is polled for the correct time from 1 day
to 7 days—a more reasonable length of time, which
also happens to be the same length of time that
elapses before Windows automatically synchronizes
with an NTP server. Click Apply and we're
finished on this page.
System
Tools allows you to get to the nuts
'n bolts operation of the QNAP TS-409 Pro Turbo
Station NAS. If you want to
receive notification via E-Mail of any
issues with the TS-409 Pro, you'll need to
enter the required info under Alert
Notification.
You can
shutdown and restart the TS-409 Pro
here.
The
factory defaults under Hardware Settings
should be just fine for the majority of
users out there. They can be adjusted
however, if the situation demands it.
A UPS
(Uninterruptable Power Supply) is
a wise investment for any NAS to protect it
against power outages and other potentially
damaging line conditions.
The
TS-409 Pro fully supports S.M.A.R.T.
compliant hard drives, providing
operational status and alerts in real-time.
Here we
see the basic information on the selected
drive...
...S.M.A.R.T. parameters...
...a
Rapid or Complete test to
determine the overall health of the drive.
Rapid tests can take anywhere from 1 to 5
minutes, while the Complete test can take
over 2 hours.
If the
TS-409 Pro is going to be placed inside
a cabinet, it's probably a good idea to
enable the Temperature Alarm on each
drive. You can also schedule either the
Rapid or Complete S.M.A.R.T. test to run as
often as you like.
Firmware upgrades
for
the TS-409 Pro can be installed here.
TCP/IP Configuration looks good
as-is.
We’ll be back to play with the Jumbo Frames setting
later in the Benchmarking portion of the review
later on. Next, I’ll go to Network Settings and click
Microsoft Networking. “NAS” was the default name of
the workgroup assigned to the TS-409 Pro, so
I’ll just change that to WORKGROUP which is
the default for my network. That way we can
keep things consistent and avoid any potential
issues later on. The other settings here are for
corporate networks with domain networking. This is
the first SOHO-class NAS I’ve seen that can be
configured as a Domain Master, though. Pretty
impressive!
You can
also change how the USB One Touch Copy Backup
button operates.
If you're
feeling artistic and want a little variety,
you can upload your own image to be
displayed on the login page.
You can
upload up to four images in .JPG format.
Make sure they're no larger than 100x100
pixels...
...like
so.
Shares
can be backed up manually or automatically to
an external USB hard drive connected to the
TS-409 Pro.
Local and
remote TS-409 Pro NAS units can be
configured to replicate to one another.
Your QNAP TS-409 Pro
Turbo Station NAS settings can be saved
to file and restored, which can potentially
save you hours in re-creating user
accounts, shares and the like after a
worst-case scenario meltdown. Reset
returns the NAS to all of its factory
defaults—and DELETES EVERYTHING on the
hard drives. Take care clicking around
this option!
For
enhanced security, you can specify a single
or range of IP addresses that the TS-409
Pro can accept, or block.
Usually,
deleting a file from a NAS means it's gone
for good—unless that NAS happens to be the
TS-409 Pro with a Network Recycle
Bin.
The
TS-409 Pro also supports Remote Logins
(admin account only).
System
Event Logs are not only useful for
keeping an eye on the inner-workings of the
TS-409 Pro...
...but
you can also export them to an Excel
spreadsheet in .CSV format for reports.
System
Connection Logs keep you appraised of
who's connected to the TS-409 Pro.
On-line Users shows who is currently
accessing the NAS.
System
Information provides you with
information on the overall health of the TS-409 Pro,
as well as how long it's been up and
running.
Now I’ll need a user account for
myself. I’ll click Users under User
Management, then Create; fill in the
required information in all the fields, then click
Apply. Note that the Continue to set the
user groups to which this user belongs box is
checked by default. This takes you to the next
screen, where you’ll automatically be assigned to
the Everyone group. All users (including the
admin account) are automatically made a member of
the group whether Continue to set the user groups
to which this user belongs box is checked on the
previous page, or not. Also, you cannot remove user
accounts from the Everyone group. It’s like
joining the Mob—once you’re in—you’re in for life!
Private Shares can also be assigned to users
through User Management that only they can access.
I'm going
to set up an account on the TS-409 Pro
for myself. User account names are not
case-sensitive. They can have spaces, but
cannot exceed 32 characters in length which
includes spaces. The usual restricted
characters—" / \ [ ] : ; | = , + * ? < >
% `—cannot be used, nor can you start an
account name with -, # or @.
By
default, "Continue to set the user groups
to which the user belongs," is checked
so you can assign new users to groups
immediately after creating them.
Everyone and Administrators are
the TS-409 Pro's two default groups.
Watch what happens when I try to remove
myself from the Everyone group...
...it's
not allowed, as you can see here.
Adding or
removing an account from a group is as easy
as selecting the group that the account does
or does not belong to, and clicking the
Add or Remove button.
I've just
added my account to the Administrator's
group, which will allow me to log into the
QNAP Web Administrator to perform
administrative tasks on the TS-409 Pro.
But you know what? I don't really need to do
that (that's what the admin account is for,
after all). So...
...I'll
remove myself.
If I
decide to change my password, I can do it
here...
...like
so. Since my password is over the
recommended six-character length for
increased security, I'm going to cancel out
of this screen and move on.
Now I'll
create a Private Network Share for my
account.
Quotas
are a great tool for keeping excessive disk usage
under control. Unlike the ReadyNAS NV+, you cannot
assign disk quotas individually to users
and groups. On the TS-409 Pro, you need
to select Quota under User
Management and check the Enable quota for all
users box. Next, in the box labeled “MB” you
need to type a disk quota limit, which will be
interpreted in megabytes. This value must be
greater than 0 and cannot exceed 2,000,000.
Once you’ve done that, then you can dole out
individual disk quotas to users. Quotas for
groups are not supported on the TS-409 Pro.
A bit on the inflexible and limiting side; but it is
what it is…
Note that
once I create the share, only my account
will have access to it. By default, the path
on the NAS volume will be created
automatically.
Now to
map the share to a network drive.
Double-click on the TS-409 Pro under
View Workgroup Computers.
Right-click on the share and select "Map
Network Drive..." from the menu.
At the
Map Network Drive dialog box, click
Finish.
Windows
Explorer opens a window to our newly-mapped
network drive.
Here it
is under My Computer.
If you're
going to share the TS-409 Pro with
multiple users, the last thing you need is
having the drives filled with a lot of
unnecessary files. Quotas are an excellent
tool for diplomatically "encouraging" users
in being more efficient in managing their
files.
As you
can see here, the quota size is set to the
limit, which will apply to all users
on the TS-409 Pro. While this "all or
nothing" approach may seem a bit inflexible
at first glance...
...I can
easily change the quota size as needed—or
remove the restriction entirely—for an
individual user, as I have done for my
account. What would make quotas even more
flexible and powerful on the TS-409 Pro,
would be the ability to do the same for
User Groups.
We can
also take a look at any quotas that are in
effect.
A summary
of the quota size, disk space used and
status are shown.
When you
Delete an account on the TS-409
Pro...
...the
access rights of all shares assigned to the
account will be removed and will have to be
reassigned again even if you create another
account with the same name.
I need share named BENCHMARK for the
review. But before I do that, a word about shares
and the TS-409 Pro. When you first set-up the
NAS, you’ll notice that five shares are
automatically created:
● Public
● Qdownload
● Qmultimedia
● Qusb
● Qweb
These are system default
shares. Some of the TS-409’s features require
exclusive usage of them. Though you can assign user
and group access to them and create, modify or
delete folder and files within them, the shares
themselves cannot be modified or deleted. In the
event that these shares become corrupted or
otherwise destroyed, they can be restored by
clicking Restore under Network Share
Management. Incidentally, don’t do this
if there’s nothing wrong with the shares—you’ll
lose any folders and files within them if you do!
I'm going to set up one more share named
BENCHMARK that we'll need for the
review. Note the Path field on the
Property page for the BENCHMARK share.
Though it may appear otherwise in Windows,
the root of the share is not actually the
root of the RAID volume on the TS-409 Pro—but
a hidden system path (hidden to the OS,
that is) named /BENCHMARK0. If I were
to delete and recreate the BENCHMARK share,
a new path named /BENCHMARK1 would be
created for it, and so on. This is a
security precaution that you need not
concern yourself with, and should leave to
QNAP's Web Administration Tool to deal with.
In fact, if you were to create a share
manually to the actual root of the RAID
volume, you'll get a waring about the
security risk of overlapping share
paths, as shown in the last screenshot.
Under Network Share Management,
I’ll click Create and fill out the
appropriate fields to create the share named
BENCHMARK. Note that Grant full access right for
everyone and our old friend Continue to set
access right for this network share, are checked
by default. I’m going to uncheck the first and leave
the second unchecked. Since the Everyone account is
a “catch-all” account for any and all users (except
Guest) created on the TS-409 Pro, I’d
rather not leave any default checked or make any
selection that will hand-out full access rights to
this group. I will, however give my account
full access to the folder.
While I'm at it, I'll configure my
HP PCS 2510 Printer connected to the
TS-409 Pro as a network printer. For
anyone out there who has gone absolutely
nuts trying to get the HP's PCS 2510
Photosmart All-in-One working with network
printing functionality connected to any
NAS,
but have been stymied by HP's drivers,
here's a tip: use Windows XP's HP DeskJet
990C drivers. Even the duplex printing
accessory if you have it installed, works!
QNAP TS-409 Pro Turbo NAS Features
While there are a number of
applications on the market that allow you to share
photos, movies and music, it is definitely more
convenient to do so from a centralized source rather
than having the hard drives of your networked
computers clogged with gigabytes of
uncataloged and disorganized digital media files.
QNAP’s Multimedia Station on the TS-409
Pro allows you to do just that. There are three
ways of accessing Multimedia Station. The first is
through the Web Administrator via Network
SettingsàMultimedia Station,
and by clicking the
link. Or, if you have the box checked that displays
the service link on the login page, you can access
it there. Finally, you can go directly through the
browser by typing the following in the address bar:
http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8080/Qmultimedia
where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx = the IP address of
your TS-409 Pro
The Multimedia Station consists of
two components. First, there’s the Multimedia
Station itself which allows you to share digital
photos and MP3s between your networked computers.
All files for the Multimedia Station must be
placed in the Qmultimedia share on the NAS.
Logging in as admin, you create accounts and
passwords for users to access the Multimedia Station
service. You also have the usual file operation
tools at your disposal to create, modify and delete
folder and files within the Qmultimedia share for
organizational purposes. As admin, you can upload
files directly through Multimedia Station to any of
its folder, though you are limited to uploading one
file at a time.
QNAP's Multimedia Station for the
TS-409 Pro allows users to share photos,
music and videos. Individual accounts to
access Multimedia Station can be configured in
conjunction with share-level security to
prevent modification or even restrict access
to specific folders. Unfortunately its
functionality is hampered by some very
annoying bugs.
Collections of folders that contain
digital media files are referred to as albums.
As admin, you can assign which albums users have
access to, and whether or not they have the right to
modify their contents. Your users can use Multimedia
Station to view photos in slide-show format. When
viewed individually, they can zoom in or out of the
photo and view basic information about it (name,
resolution size and date created), and any
information about the camera that took the photo, if
it’s available in the file. They can also print or
save photos through the browser. Users can also
modify the description of their account and their
password (but not the user name you assigned to
them).
To say that my experience with
Multimedia Station was less than satisfactory would
be the understatement of the year. Using the latest
build of Mozilla Firefox (2.0.0.12) and Internet
Explorer 7 (5730.11), I ran into the following
problems:
● Excessive thumbnail generation times
for digital photos
● Scripting errors under IE 7 that
eventually brought the whole thing to screeching
halt.
● Cannot play Windows Media Player
files in either IE7 or Firefox. Ironically Apple
QuickTime files and iTunes songs play just fine
(Firefox only)
● The folder structure tree on the left
doesn’t work at all in Firefox. It works in IE7 but
generates more scripting errors.
Fortunately, I had much better
success with the UPnP Media Server. Once you
enable the service in the QNAP Web Administrator,
click the link below Enable UPnP Media Server,
or enter the following in your browser address bar
to access the configuration page to set the service
up:
http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:9000
where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx = the IP address of
your TS-409 Pro
Once you enable the UPnP (Universal
Plug 'n Play) MediaServer on the QNAP
TS-409 Pro Turbo Station NAS, you can
pipe your favorite tunes, movies and photos
directly to your Playstation or as shown here
an
Xbox 360, thanks to the
built-in
TwonkyMedia Server. If you own
either console, you'll find Twonky a lot
less aggravating to deal with than Multimedia
Station.
You’ll notice that the TS-409
Pro’s UPnP Media Server is powered by
TwonkyVision’s TwonkyMedia—a DLNA Certified™
media server that allows you to share your digital
media with standard UPnP-enabled client devices
throughout your home—without using a PC or having
one on full-time for the task. Normally you’d have
to purchase TwonkyMedia to gain the functionality it
offers on a number of NAS appliances. Not the
TS-409 Pro—TwonkyMedia is included with the NAS
and ready to go right out of the box! Digital photos
and unprotected movies and music can be played
through your home entertainment system or game
console—specifically the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Once you enable the UPnP Media Server
and enter the TwonkyMedia configuration page, setup
couldn’t be easier. Just use the Browse
button to select the folders containing the files
you want to serve. If you have many different files
mixed together in a folder but only want to use only
the photo or music files for example, you can narrow
the selection down with the file-type drop down
menus by choosing All content types, Music-only,
Pictures-only or Video-only. Very nice!
Clicking the Rescan content directories does
just that, updating TwonkyMedia’s metadatabase with
any new files you’ve placed in your content folders.
You can also adjust the Rescan in minutes
setting which automatically performs a scan of your
content folders at set intervals. You can disable
the rescan completely if you rarely update your
content on the TS-409 Pro and would prefer to
do it manually. Or you can increase the rescan time
to save bandwidth and resources on the NAS.
