The QNAP TS-251+ vs The QNAP TS-253A - QNAP NAS HDMI 2016 Faceoff featuring TS-253A-4G & TS-251+-2G HD

Does £30 make all the difference between the QNAP TS-251+-2G and the TS-253A-4G? http://www.span.com/product/Qnap-Desktop-NAS-TS-253A-8G-2-Bay-RAID-0-1-8GB-RAM-~52840 Another NAS comparison and this time we want to look at two of the newest QNAP NAS units of late last year. The QNAP TS-251+ and the QNAP TS-253A - Both Quad Core, both fantastic NAS devices but which one is the perfect NAS server for you? Here are their vital statistics: The QNAP TS-251+ £223 without VAT 2 Bay – Can be expanded upto a total 7 or 10 Drives with the UX-500P (£305) and UX-800P (£489) – Spread the RAID or independent volume. Intel Celeron 2.0GHz Quad Core (up to 2.42GHz) ( 64bit x86) 2GB DDR 3– Can be Upgraded to 8GB AES 256-bit Encryption EXT 4 File System 2x USB 3.0 2x USB 2.0 1 HDMI 2 LAN 1 touch Backup (FRONT) HDMI give you the ability to access your NAS via a HD Monitor or TV and access everything from your media via the player, PLex or Kodi through to a web browser, Youtube and a stand alone PC setup with a Keyboard and Mouse. 2 Year Warranty HD Transcoding – Native However for PLEX – This chip is better as it is a more recognized and support PMS NAS CPU. POWER HDD standby: 10.56W In operation 18.09W Read and Write – RAID 0, 2 LAN, 2X Seagate 1TB Read – 223MB/s Write – 225MB/s Encryption performance AES hardware encryption engine 205 MB/s Read 178 MB/s Write Surveillance (includes 2 licences) Includes 2 free camera licenses, up to 40 camera channels And on the other side we have the: The Synology DS216+ £226 Without VAT 2 Bay can be expanded to 7 Drives with the DX513 (£282) – But not fully supported and will appear as an independent volume Intel Celeron N3050 dual-core 1.6GHz, burst up to 2.16GHz 1 GB DDR3 RAM AES-NI 256 bit Encryption BTRFS or EXT 4 File System Built-in data integrity check Flexible Shared Folder/User Quota System Advanced snapshot technology File or folder level data restoration Cloud Station with file versioning 1x USB 3.0 2x USB 2.0 1 eSATA 1 LAN 1 touch Backup (FRONT) 2 Year Warranty 4K Ultra & HD video transcoding - Native Power 7.52 W (HDD Hibernation) 17.57 W (Access) Read and Write – RAID 0, 1 LAN, 2X Seagate 1TB Read – 111MB/s Write – 109MB/s Encryption performance AES-NI hardware encryption engine 103 MB/s Read 109 MB/s Write Surveillance (includes 2 licences) Includes 2 free camera licenses, up to 25 camera channels Conclusion Of the two, I would recommend the TS-251+ The QNAP Software is more expandable and more can be done. Big leaps are being made with DSM 6.0 but it’s still in Beta and QNAP QTS software is a more dominant force for those with a little experience in NAS or IT in general. The CPU on the QNAP is a better CPU and if both were QUAD core’s, then it wouldn’t be so bad, but given the tasks that these units are required to perform are so similar and the prices are neck and neck, I put my weight behind that true and tested Intel QUAD at a bursted 2.4GHZ as it will go the extra mile. Another rea