Review: QNAP TVS-682T Thunderbolt 2 NAS

What About 4K Playback?

I had to test the drives for playback of 4K files. I don’t have a true 4K monitor yet, but I have a good collection of 4K footage. I loaded a few 4K files into the multimedia library to put it through the paces. Once loaded into the Multimedia library, you can use the included remote control to start the media viewer. It really is a fully equipped home media system.

Once you get the remote logged into the system, it’s like most other digital media players on the market. The 4K files played great with no stuttering. I was able to easily flip through an album of photos as well. Not only is the TVS-682T a powerful NAS; it doubles as a full digital media playback device.

Mobile Device Features

There are a number of mobile applications available to help you administer and even use the TVS-682T on the go from any Android or iOS mobile device. I have used a number of them to show friends content and images right on my smartphone while out and about. The speed of the apps is limited to your outbound bandwidth for quality of playback. The TVS-682T will automatically encode and playback your content based on the speed of your connection. It’s like a multi-bitrate media server that sits in your studio. Here are a few of the applications you can install.

• Qfile: Allows you to remotely manage, upload and download files off your QNAP NAS.
• Qmanager (Figure 3, below): Allows you to remotely manage your QNAP NAS.
• Qvideo: Allows you to browse and share your video collection.
• Qphoto: Allows you to browse and share your photo collection. Note: I recently pre-ordered a new smartphone and thought it would be good to back up my photos before the new one gets here. The app worked great. I was unable to create a new folder on the NAS from the phone. I created it in the File Station program on the 682T. It immediately appeared on the QPhoto apps. I selected all on my phone and let it work. It took a few minutes but it was simple and easy,

Figure 3. The QNAP Qmanager app

Other available mobile apps can be found here.

File Sharing

On other feature that can be handy is the file sharing. Place a customer’s finished project on the server and the 682T gives you the option to share directly via email. This can be a great feature and remove the need for a service like Dropbox. Your customers’ download speed will be limited to your upload bandwidth so this may not be a viable option in some studios.

Pros and Cons

Pros and cons of the QNAP TVS-682T are as follows:

Pros:

• Very capable NAS. Much more than just networked storage
• Access to data via mobile devices
• High-speed connection via Thunderbolt2 and 10Gb Ethernet
• Built in digital media player for home/studio theater
• Basic setup was simple (once it worked)

Cons:

• Setup did not follow the included quick start guide or user manual (your experience may vary)
• Average user may not be able to squeeze maximum potential from the NAS

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a new NAS for your studio you can go to a big box store and get one of those small plastic-cased versions with very rudimentary functionality or you can step up to a full blown studio solution like the QNAP TVS-682T. If you know a little about networking and have a fast internet upload speed you can even run your site and other services right off this single standalone system.

The TVS-682T was targeted at the image media professional as a robust, all-around unit. In a small studio, this baby could provide the following capabilities all in one unit:

• Multi-user external storage fast enough to edit on
• Remote file sharing of customer projects
• Networked backup of all PCs and Macs in the studio
• Networked Storage (safe on RAID5)
• Digital Media player for your in-house monitors used for demos and customer previews.

If nothing else, the 682T is a great external storage solution using the Thunderbolt 2 connections. Get a 10Gbit card in a second system and enjoy centralized high-speed storage. If you need a file on the road, just log in via the QFile app on the road and retrieve your files.

The QNAP-682T is simple enough to set up and use the core features for a general user. If you want to dig in and learn some networking and advanced features, it can do even more.

Note: QNAP will be releasing a Thunderbolt 3 version of this TVS-682T.