INTRODUCTION

   When i first started testing NAS (network attached storage) devices a few years back my main target audience were small business and enterprise users so naturally the main focus of my reviews were high-end multiple-bay models that could easily feel right at home in such demanding environments. Years passed however and i can't say that I’ve changed my focus group that much since pretty much every single NAS device i test has at least 4 bays and is also ment for SMB and sometimes even for Enterprise use. Some of you have brought this to my attention over the past few months so instead of uploading yet another review of a high-end multi-bay model today i decided to take things the other way around and look at a much more affordable solution primarily aimed for home use. Well what better way to do that than to test the latest TurboNAS TS-121 single bay NAS server by our friends over at QNAP?

   QNAP Systems, Inc., as its brand promise "Quality Network Appliance Provider", aims to deliver comprehensive offerings of cutting edge network attached storage (NAS) and network video recorder (NVR) solutions featured with ease-of-use, robust operation, large storage capacity, and trustworthy reliability. QNAP integrates technologies and designs to bring forth quality products that effectively improve business efficiency on file sharing, virtualization applications, storage management and surveillance in the business environments, as well as enrich entertainment life for home users with the offering of a fun multimedia center experience. Headquartered in Taipei, QNAP delivers its solutions to the global market with nonstop innovation and passion.

   The TurboNAS TS-x21 line of NAS servers is amongst the last ones to "graduate" from QNAPs production line so although the TS-121 is a single bay model still it packs quite a punch thanks to its 2.0GHz Marvell single-core CPU (88F6282 Kirkwood SoC) which is paired with 1GB DDR3 RAM and 16MB of flash memory. Connectivity is also very good since the TS-121 comes ready with 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 Gigabit RJ45 port, 1 eSATA port and support for 4TB SATA II drives which although not the best choice (especially for people who may want to use an SSD) still it's quite normal for a single bay system (for HDD users at least). Granted we don't expect from the TurboNAS TS-121 to break read & write performance records since in the end it can only use a drive in single mode but thanks to its specs it should be quite fast.