QNAP TVS-h1688X-W1250-32G High-speed media NAS with Intel® Xeon® W-1250 CPU and Two 10GbE Ports

I had a 2012 Mac Mini Server. It's been very good but lately it's had a few errors. I ran a Win XP virtual machine in Virtualbox and guess what - it transferred over to the Qnap! It took a little bit of effort and changes in XP before transferring but super fast now.I knew the time was coming and initially I had bought an M1 MacMini to do the job, but I had too many permissions problems with Dropbox users vs local user files. This has eliminated the problems.I started researching and found the QNAP TVS-h1688X-W1250-32G. I was concerned because we are in a MacOS print/design/video editing office and the last thing i need is Mac users upset because something doesn't work right. Apple has completely stripped their Server app to nothing, and users and groups are an absolute mess. Apple claims they simplified it, but in reality they just removed access to what administrators need to keep their users working.This runs Qnap Hero OS, a Linux kernel OS, which may scare you, but don't be. It's not hard. You have a lot of options and "it just works." Which is more than I can say for Apple's current file serving apps. With having a Xeon processor and 6 NIC - 2.5gb or 10gb, I was certain this could take over for the old server.Anyhow, this is a beast. it holds 18 drives internally. I have all but 4 filled up now. The drives are hot-swappable. I have inserted and removed drives while running and no hickups.I maxed out the memory to 128. there are four slots and the most you can have is 32 in each. Don't try 2 -64's because it won't work. Ask me how i know.What can this do? File sharing, media streaming - movies, music (have not tested); Multiple VM's simultaneously and can be assigned their own NIC. Cloud file sharing (like dropbox or google drive), FTP server, email, web, etc. It is literally a full blown server that you can access anywhere. You can link multiples of these servers together and control them all from one console. You can also connect your printer/scanners to this machine (Ricoh/Lanear through FTP).I had no idea that you could access the desktop right from a browser - or the VM's for that matter - yet it all works with no issues.The QNAP TVS-h1688X-W1250-32G will show you exactly what bays are filled right from your browser, what drives are in them, health, temp, status, etc. Create, modify pools, shares, and more all while having users connected. The apps are very easy to install also and most of the time Qnap will recommend for you what you need when you search in your browser viewer.Here is what is neat about this setup - the Macs understand it just fine fine - Use Time Machine, Tags, and more. Users and groups connecting to shares is much more reliable and easy to understand compared to the mess Apple left.I highly recommend this device, especially after being hesitant about not getting something too complicated.

I really wish that Qnap would use a little better-quality trays for this unit. As someone in procurement, these tray probably cot $0.25 cents to no more than $1.00 to make. I Really wish they would make these more durable; they are so fragile that it's almost insulting to pay close to $3,000 US Dollars to receive these unbelievably fragile and cheap hard drive trays.I wish there would be an aftermarket that would sell these trays made more durable; I would pay extra money for them.The trays are so cheap and fragile, that they come with a plastic key. I actually open or unlock all the trays and made sure I threw the key away. I did this as a safeguard to avoid anyone from trying to unlock or lock something that is almost impossible to see in which position it is.I can't describe to you -the reader, how fragile these trays are.The unit itself is a great deal for your money. This is my second unit for my own use; however, I have recommended and purchased over 20 units for my clients.Another feature I wish these units would bring is dual power supply. So it's highly recommended you purchased a $100 battery backup and plug the USB cable to your computer and have the unit shut itself off after a power loss. My other unit damage a few drives due to blackouts.Despite the cheap trays, I highly recommend these units; you just have to be careful with the trays and make sure you provide it with clean power.

I was waiting for this 1288x unit to come down in price during Black Friday 2024, but sadly in didn’t and probably will never be. For a 4+ years product it’s expensive but I think Qnap has done a good job keeping this product line refreshed by focusing on its QUTS software. Unlike some comments that complained about its noisiness, I think the product is relatively quiet provided it’s done uploading / downloading.Setup was quite a breeze though I haven’t fully tested its NAS capabilities yet. I almost cramped this sucker fully loaded with 8x20tb of Ironwolf HDDs, 4x4tb of Samsung SSDs, 2x4tb Crucial nvme SSDs, and 80gb of RAMs. I despise my old Synology 1515+ with literally no functionality nor features plus not compatible to Ironwolf 20TB plus noisy, and died on me after 6 years. This 1288X is features rich and fast, though its “powderful” instead of powerful Xeon processor is a bit outdated and pricey for a 4-year old product.Well let’s hope it’s reliable and Qnap will give the necessary support for next 10 years!

Have used QNAP products for years. Always works great. Some features have a steep learning curve but its worth the time and effort to get everything set up the way you want.This Server is a BEAST. Im running several VM's and databases, as well as a plex/emby server. Has no problems with multiple users.

This is an awesome machine. Still getting it setup; but already am able to connect with my network on 2.5gbe and my 10gbe cable for video editing. There is a learning curve with all the features; however, I am already making great headway with it installing my 4K video editing files and digital music files.

The TVS-h1688X-W1250-32G can work with up to 22TB hard drives. Due to the cost curve, I purchased 20TB hard drives and after the RAID 6 overhead 12 X 20TB hard drives yielded 146 TB of useable storage space. Tech support has always been helpful in the past regardless of warranty status. I am satisfied with this product.

We use this to store and serve large video files locally and remotely. Connectivity also allows us to edit video directly to this NAS. No need to move the large files on to our editing workstations. We presently are using it as a super fast file server, but this machine is capable of so much more. Many apps are available in their App Store, you can even run virtual machines!

Works great and very fast.