Qnap tr - Reviews 2024

We have with us the new QNAP TR-004 expansion box , a box that allows us to expand the storage capacity of our PC or NAS QNAP. With four bays compatible with 2.5 and 3.5-inch disks and USB 3.1 Gen1 connectivity through USB Type-C, it is the ideal device to drastically expand the storage capacity of our PC working as DAS through a connection fast.

First of all, we thank QNAP for the transfer of the product to carry out this analysis.

QNAP TR-004 technical characteristics

Unboxing and design

In case it has not been clear to us when buying the product that is a computer compatible with the creation of RAID drives, we have the indications also in the external area of the purchase box.

The presentation consists of a neutral cardboard box of considerable size for the product at hand and a large sticker on the side that shows a photo of the QNAP TR-004 and what we have commented on the RAID.

We appreciate the fact that this QNAP TR-004 comes perfectly stored between two large polyethylene foam molds (the good one) and in turn in a plastic bag. Inside the box we find the following elements:

DAS QNAP TR-004 Expansion Box Cable + 65 W Power Supply USB Cable Type-A - Type-B Instruction Manual Cable routing accessories Security keys for fixing bays

Please note that this computer does not have pre-installed storage.

The appearance of QNAP TR-004 is based on a metal frame inside and a cover entirely made of black PVC plastic of considerable thickness we must say. It is clearly noticeable to the touch that its finishes are rough, except for the left side band that presents a more refined smooth finish.

Undoubtedly, the front will be of most interest, since the entire access area to hard drives and their installation are here. In total we have four removable storage bays and compatible with both mechanical HDD and SSD drives under SATA III 6 Gbps 2.5 and 3.5 inch interface.

An important aspect of this QNAP TR-004 is that these four bays have a key locking mechanism, in addition to the typical tab that we must lift to disengage the bay from its hole. In the accessory pack we have two copies of these keys.

In the front area we also find all the necessary indicators that monitor the status of the DAS, using LEDs, being the following:

Power LED LEDs for presence of installed hard drives Blue LED for this USB connection

After this, we will also have the button to disconnect or extract the DAS from the computer, and another button to make the instant backup of the files of the QNAP TR-004 to the possible NAS to which it is connected. We must not forget that this DAS also functions as an expansion box for QNAP brand NAS.

The brand indicates in its specifications that the functionality of this last button will be available from the second quarter of 2019. Likewise, the disconnection button will take effect when we have installed the QNAP External RAID Manager management software

We now look at the sides of the QNAP TR-004, an area where we only find a small ventilation grille for the air intake to the interior. In the right area we found absolutely nothing.

In the rear area we also find the connectivity of this DAS. This simply consists of a USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C connector with a theoretical speed of 5 Gb / s, in practice it remains at around 200 MB / s. We should not worry because in the purchase pack we have a USB Type-C to Type-A cable to connect to our PC.

The zone incorporates a button for connecting / disconnecting the DAS, just above the power connector, and a RESET button to leave the DAS with the factory settings. In the lower area we have a small hole for the installation of a router for the USB power cable and the traditional hole for the installation of Kensington locks. For cooling we will have an active system with this huge 120mm fan that supports 5 types of speed regime and is really quiet.

We have also not forgotten the small panel of DIP switches that will give us a lot of play when configuring the RAID level of our QNAP TR-004. In total we have 6 configuration modes that are indicated graphically on the box, in the DAS itself located in the upper area, and on the manufacturer's website.

In total we can modify the switches to manually create RAIDs 0, 1, 5, 10 and JBOD and the individual disk mode. But we also have the possibility of leaving them all activated so that it is from the software itself that we configure the RAID. Of course, we recommend this option.

We are left with the lower area, which only has four small rubber feet to support the DAS on the floor or table. Say that in this case they do not isolate the vibrations too well if we place it on a table.

Installation of hard drives and interior

The HDD installation procedure is quite simple. What we will have to do is lift the tab from the front of the bay, and then gently pull towards us to remove it without breaking it.

If it does not lift, it is because it is locked with the key, so we will have to turn the key clockwise to unlock it. A small sign marks the position of the padlock in each bay.

Then we remove a side plate from the tray, put the hard drive in its correct position (aligning the connector with the ones with the DAS) and place the plate to fix it. Finally we introduce the tray again and make sure that the plate is closed again.

Inside this QNAP TR-004 we can only appreciate the metallic chassis in which the external casing is supported, and the PCB that has the four SATA + power connectors of the storage units.

QNAP External RAID Manager software and first installation

This device does not have an integrated operating system, as is the case with NAS, nor does it have such advanced management. We can say that in this sense it is practically the same as a normal and current hard disk, although with the possibility of RAID and its basic management. In fact, it is compatible with QTS, Windows, MacOS and Linux-based systems, although we will not be able to control software from Linux systems.

In any case, we are going to install the software on our computer, and then we are going to connect QNAP TR-004 via USB to the PC. We run the software and the welcome screen will appear, which explains to us in general what we can do with it.

We recommend having hard drives fully formatted, otherwise, in Windows Explorer, as many hard drives as partitions will appear. In this aspect, the QNAP TR-004 is going to behave exactly like an external hard drive, and we can format the hard drives directly from the Windows disk manager.

Well, with QNAP External RAID Manager we can create a RAID in the units that we have installed, we just have to select the level we want, the hard drives involved and click on " create ".

Once done, it tells us to go to the disk manager to format the hard drives. Very important is the fact that we initialize them as a GPT partition, if we have a storage capacity of more than 2 TB, since in MBR format it will limit us to that space.

With this, we will already have our RAID built, in this case we have chosen a RAID 0 with two Seagate hard drives of 4 TB each.

In this software we will also have a section to update the DAS firmware and an Action Log. Of course if we connect the DAS to a NAS QNAP, we can treat it as if it were a storage extension of it, with the possibility of performing RAID, and all kinds of typical NAS actions.

Here we see that the data transfer from our PC to the DAS is located at the real maximum available for the USB 3.1 gen1 connection, being 193 MB / s. In this aspect, we miss that this connection was USB 3.1 Gen2, since practically all boards already have this type of USB and increasing the speed for RAIDs with more than two disks would be very useful. Recall that each SATA mechanical drive reaches approximately 154 MB / s, and one SATA SSD drives at 600 MB / s.

Final words and conclusion about QNAP TR-004

After a few days using this QNAP TR-004 we can say that its utility is evident, a box with enormous storage capacity that we can connect to our PC through USB, its design allows us to transport it without major difficulties, although of course it is not so portable like an external hard drive.

Another advantage is that we can also use it with NAS QNAP as an extension unit, perfectly manageable through the QTS system. The transfer speed is very high, superior to a Gigabit Ethernet network link, although we must say that a USB 3.1 Gen2 would have been much more advantageous.

Visit our guide to the best external hard drives on the market

As for the management from a PC, it is really simple, with the QNAP External RAID Manager software and the Windows disk manager we can use it as if it were a disk. The ability to do RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and JBOD, with and without software is extremely interesting and almost the best thing about this DAS.

QNAP TR-004 we will have it available in the market for a price of approximately 274 euros. If we consider that there are NAS for a similar price, we could consider it to be a high cost, although in this case the capacity is 4 bays. Another possible disadvantage is that we cannot configure it as a multimedia hard drive.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ 4 BAYS FOR 2.5 / 3.5 HDD AND SSD	- CONNECTIVITY IS NOT USB 3.1 GEN2
+ POSSIBILITY TO CREATE RAID	- DOES NOT HAVE SUPPORT AS A MULTIMEDIA DISC
+ COMPATIBLE WITH NAS QNAP
+ SILENT AND MINIMUM ENERGY CONSUMPTION
+ BACKUP COPY FUNCTION CONNECTED TO A NAS