INTRODUCTION

   Although it's no secret that most entry/mid-level NAS (network attached storage) devices/servers are unable to compete in terms of read and write performance with "regular" external drives things change a lot when we move up the ladder and so high-end models can easily match and, in many cases, even surpass such performance levels. We are of course talking about NAS models with either 10GbE (10 Gigabit) or TB3 (Thunderbolt 3) connectivity which allow them to climb up to rather impressive read and write numbers of up to 1000MB/s and 2000MB/s respectively aimed towards heavy workloads regardless of market. There are always ultra-high end technologies such as 25/40/56/100G getting developed and released as we speak but it will be many years before (and if) we see rather affordable options based on those. QSAN may not be the oldest or most popular player in the NAS market but they've released quite a few impressive models and today with us we have the top one in their XCubeNAS line the XN8008T.

   QSAN Technology, a leading storage technology designer and manufacturer, was founded in July 2004. Building on our vast experience in the industry, QSAN strives to build enterprise-class storage systems that pride ourselves with outstanding performance, secure data protection, and comprehensive data management. QSAN endeavors to provide the industry with high-quality data storage systems that are simple, secure, scalable and reliable. For more information, please visit www.QSAN.com.

   Since the XN8008T is the flagship model in the QSAN XCubeNAS line it only makes sense that it should have high-end specifications and it does starting with a 7th generation Intel Core i5-7500T quad-core processor running at 2.7GHz with a maximum Turbo speed of 3.3GHz and a total of nine 2.5/3.5" bays (can be configured in single/RAID 0/RAID 1/RAID 5/RAID 5 + hot spare/RAID 6/RAID 10/RAID 50/RAID 60/JBOD) with support for up to 114TB of storage (currently at least). Worth pointing out is that 8 out of the 9 available SATA III 6Gb/s bays of the XN8008T feature external lockable drive trays while the last one is located inside a hidden compartment (QSAN refers to it as service door). The base model also comes ready with a single 8GB DDR4-2400 SODIMM module but our sample arrived with 16GB (expandable to 32GB) and a Thunderbolt 3 card (XN-TB302) which was pre-installed into the units single PCIe Gen3x8 expansion slot (also supports 10GbE cards). In terms of connectivity the XN8008T comes ready with 5 USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output (currently only for service/debug purposes) and four Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports. Under the hood of the XN8008T we also find an 8GB USB DOM (flash memory) and an 200W FLEX ATX power supply unit. Last but not least just like the XN5008T which we reviewed a while back (review here) the XN8008T also uses on a custom Linux kernel (QSAN Storage Management 3.0) to run a 128-bit ZFS file system.