QNAP  has launched a new rackmount NAS unit, aimed at budget-conscious SMB’s looking for advanced features in an entry-level device.  Read on for details.

QNAP  has launched a new rackmount NAS unit, aimed at budget-conscious SMB’s looking for advanced features in an entry-level device.  These are four-bay rackmount units running Marvell CPU’s and sport 1GB of DDR3 RAM and dual gigabit network ports.  Here is the press announcement from QNAP:

Taipei, Taiwan, March 21, 2013 – QNAP^® Systems, Inc. today announced its new budget friendly Turbo NAS lineup TS-421U and TS-420U rackmount models for the workgroups and entry-level SMBs with fast-growing needs of economical network storage. The TS-421U features with Marvell CPU 2.0 GHz, and the TS-420U features with Marvell CPU 1.6 GHz. Both models operate with 1GB DDR3 RAM, and provide sustained high performance for daily routines in file storage, sharing, and data backup.

“The TS-421U and TS-420U satisfy the requirements of SMB and workgroup users who desire high performance networked storage with low acquisition cost but won’t compromise on reliability and features,”said Laurent Cheng, product manager ofQNAP. “They deliver high performance coupled with a broad range of business-ready applications.”

The TS-421U and TS-420U are affordable yet high performance and reliable network storage solutions. Both models support iSCSI target service with Thin Provisioning, dual Gigabit LAN ports with failover and load balancing. The offerings of 2 USB 3.0 port and 2 e-SATA ports improve data transfer speed, and are beneficial to expanding the storage capacity or backing up the NAS data.

The TS-421U and TS-420U deliver high efficiency in daily business operations and privilege control. Both new models support cross-platform file sharing for Windows^®, Mac^®, and Linux/UNIX users, and provide a centralized storage solution. The Windows AD and LDAP directory service features enable the IT administrator to retrieve user accounts from Windows AD or LDAP-based directory server and efficiently assign access rights on the Turbo NAS, greatly simplifying the account setup for businesses with a large number of users. The Windows ACL (Access Control List) feature allows sophisticated shared folder permission settings, increasing productivity on access right management.

Both new models offer a well-rounded backup solution with comprehensive backup alternatives, including Real-time Remote Replication (RTRR) for real-time or scheduled data backup, backup to cloud storage including Amazon^® S3, ElephantDrive^® and Symform^®, and the support of third-party backup software such as Veeam^® Backup & Replication and Acronis^® True Image. Windows users and Mac users can use QNAP NetBak Replicator utility and Apple Time Machine respectively to easily back up data to the Turbo NAS.

More features designed for businesses include the FTP server for easier large-size file sharing, the RADIUS server for centralizing and consolidating user authentication, the Syslog server for collecting and storing the logs of other network device on the Turbo NAS, the VPN server for accessing the Turbo NAS and other resources on the same local network from the Internet, the proxy server for web filtering and monitoring to enhance business Internet security, the web server for hosting multiple websites on the Turbo NAS, and so on.

Key Specs of New Models

• TS-421U –  4-drive 1U rackmount unit, Marvell 6282 CPU (2.0 GHz), 1GB DDR3 RAM, 2X Gigabit LAN ports, 2X USB 3.0;
• TS-420U – 4-drive 1U rackmount unit, Marvell 6282 CPU (1.6 GHz), 1GB DDR3 RAM, 2X Gigabit LAN ports, 2X USB 3.0.

Availability
TS-421U and TS-420U are now shipping. Learn more about the new models and other QNAP Turbo NAS lineup at www.qnap.com.