QNAP TVS-871 vs TVS-873e

[Bob Zelin]

Hi Andrew –

From what I can tell, the main difference is that the 871 has more RAM and the 10G card already installed?

REPLY – the TVS-871 is an old model, and it does not come with any free 10G ports. The TVS-871T is now discontinued. This came with two free 10Gbase-T ports. To have 10G in the TVS-871, you have to add a card.
An empty TVS-871 at B&H is $1785 for the 8G model.

The TVS-873e is a new model for QNAP. This model is $1299 at B&H Photo. It too does not come with a 10G card.
For BOTH models –
the single port 10G card is the QXG-10G1T – price about $90
the dual port 10G card is the LAN-10G2T-X550 – price about $399

The TVS-871T would do 700 – 800 MB/sec both READ and WRITE. I never installed a TVS-871, and added the 10G card
The TVS-873e will do 500 MB/sec WRITE and 900 MB/sec READ.

You write –
Setting up a small NAS, mixed Mac/PC environment with motion graphics artists and editors – total of 4-5 users.

REPLY – you are looking to buy the cheapest box possible. If you can get a deal on an old TVS-871T, this will work, but it better be a good deal. For 4 – 5 users, you need a 10G switch – either the Netgear XS708T or the QNAP
QSW-1208-8C.
I would not buy either model for 4 – 5 users. You are much better off with a more expensive model. These all come with the dual 10G ports build in, and have much better performance than the models you have listed. All have street prices under $3000 (but you have to add drives) –
QNAP TS-1685 (with 16 gig of RAM)
QNAP TS-1677x (with 16 gig of RAM)
QNAP TVS-1282T (with 16 gig of RAM).
My personal choice is the TS-1685. Street price under $2800 (plus drives).

Tentative gear list is as follows:
•QNAP TVS-871 – Core i7 16GB 8-bay

REPLY – again, old model, and you add the 10G card you listed below –

•8x HGST Deskstar 7200rpm 8TB Hard Drive

REPLY – similar money for the 10TB drives.

•NETGEAR 8-Port 10G Managed Switch

REPLY – the XS708T, NOT the XS708E

•Qnap QXG-10G1T Single-Port 10GbE Network Expansion Card (for desktop PCs)

REPLY – you need this inside your TVS-871, which DOES NOT come with the 10G card.
These cards work wonderfully in Windows 10PC’s in x4, x8, and x16 slots (not x1 slots).

•Sonnet Technologies Solo Thunderbolt 3 to 10G Adapter (for new MacBook Pros)
REPLY – correct

•Sonnet Technologies TWIN10G-TB2 Dual Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Thunderbolt 2 Adapter (for older MacBook Pros)

REPLY – correct

•APC Back-UPS Pro 1500VA (for battery backup of RAID and switch)

REPLY – get the Cyberpower. About $145, and the software for auto shutdown is already built into the QNAP for this with the free USB cable that Cyberpower gives you.

Let me know if you have any further questions. I do these every day.

Bob Zelin

Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com

[Andrew Saliga]

Hi, Bob.

Thank you. Very insightful, as always.

I didn’t realize that the 871T had been discontinued. Or perhaps that was the one I was actually seeking, and thought I must have been confused after not seeing it, but seeing the 871. Anyways…

We’re going to go with the QNAP TS-1685 and the 8TB drives. That will be slightly more than is needed at the moment for the system and capacity but will allow for room to expand without buying something that’s overkill.

I appreciate the help!

Andrew Saliga
Video | Photo | Writing | Marketing

[Andrew Saliga]

One small question… so that’s a 12-bay system. Do the SSD slots need to be filled as well, or what’s that setup like?

Andrew Saliga
Video | Photo | Writing | Marketing

[Bob Zelin]

the QNAP TS-1685 is an excellent choice. Make sure to get the 16 Gig model, and not less RAM for the number of users that you have. After RAID 6, you will have 80 TB of usable storage with twelve 8TB drives. As I mentioned before, you will get two built in 10Gbase-T ports included with this system. This will connect to your Netgear XS708T switch, and work perfectly. You DO NOT need to get the SSD’s for this model, as it’s for cache only, and you will not see a performance increase from this for conventional video editing of 4K images.

Please let me know if you have any further questions. You have my contact info.

Bob Zelin

Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com

[Andrew Saliga]

Thanks, Bob!

That more than thoroughly answered my questions. I’m excited to get the unit up and running.

Andrew Saliga
Video | Photo | Writing | Marketing