INTRODUCTION

   Gigabit Ethernet connectivity may be more than sufficient for the majority of home networks but it's far from convenient when it comes to office and small business use so even though it did take a while 10GbE connectivity is now more popular than ever before. This of course is largely due to several price drops over the years so although back in 2015 when we first started doing 10GbE NAS reviews it was considered as way too expensive (niche) today things have changed so even some mid-end mainboards feature 10GbE ethernet controllers (alas not the highest performance ones). This is also why we've also seen a significant increase in NAS models ready with 10GbE cards right from the factory lately so things are really looking good for office/business users (and even home users) looking to upgrade their local network to 10GbE speeds. QNAP released their first 10GbE switches last year and after spending 1 full month with their QSW-804-4C model our review is finally here.

   QNAP Systems, Inc., headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, provides a comprehensive range of cutting-edge Network-attached Storage (NAS) and video surveillance solutions based on the principles of usability, high security, and flexible scalability. QNAP offers quality NAS products for home and business users, providing solutions for storage, backup/snapshot, virtualization, teamwork, multimedia, and more. QNAP envisions NAS as being more than "simple storage", and has created many NAS-based innovations to encourage users to host and develop Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and machine learning solutions on their QNAP NAS.

   The QNAP QSW-804-4C is a compact, unmanaged 8-port 10GbE switch (can be used both as a desktop model and in a rack) that offers 4 SFP+ fiber ports, 4 RJ45 copper ports and 4 SFP+/RJ45 combo ports (all 10GbE) featuring a total switching capacity of 160Gbps. Also, thanks to its support for the 10GBASE-T and NBASE-T standards (5 speed auto negotiation - 10G/5G/2.5G/1G100M) the QSW-804-4C 10GbE switch is compatible with existing cables so there's no reason for you to go out and get the far more expensive (still far more affordable compared to active optical cables - AOC) direct attach cables (DAC). QNAP has also given the switch support for the IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet standard that basically allows physical layer transmitters to consume far less power during periods of low or no data activity. Another feature that may not stands out at first is its dual 40mm exhaust fans which as you all see later on in our review even while in operation are almost inaudible. This may not be a game changing feature for most office/business uses but for home use (or even in our lab for that matter) this is extremely important.