Too noisy for the living room
Here are sound levels measured with a probe placed 20 cm from each NAS.
All are more or less the same except the Thecus N5200 Pro, which is noticeably louder with its three fans.
During drive access, sound levels do not increase dramatically because NAS fans cover the noise of those in the drives. Either way, the Synology is the most discreet.
We should point out here that Qnap allows manually setting the fan speed. There are three settings:
– Low : 43.5 dB ;
– Medium : 45.6 dB ;
– High : 48.2 dB.
Whatever the case, the noise produced by the NAS tested here remains too loud for our ears. Despite the attractive design of some units, we would still avoid placing them in the living room next to a Media Center. Also, we would not enclose them in a cabinet because while drive temperatures are still reasonable (as we will see below) this is on the condition that they are used in a well ventilated area.
Reasonable temperatures
With the help of a four sensor Voltcraft K204, we simultaneously measured the temperature of the four drives after one hour of intensive use in Iometer. The sensors were placed on the top and middle part of the drives. This isn’t the hottest area but it was the only point that we could take measurements in the same place on all NAS. For the record, when the NAS displayed the reading from its SMART sensors in the Qnap and Synology drives, they were roughly 2° higher than our thermometer.
The first thing that struck us was that temperatures remained very reasonable whatever the situation. None surpassed the 50° mark (and most often we are very far from this figure).
The N4100+ is the least well ventilated of all. This is only normal because in addition to being one of the smallest, it directly integrates its power block. This is also the case of the N5200BR Pro, but with a bigger casing (and an empty fifth slot in our tests), it has more efficient ventilation. However, despite all of this the temperature of its drives is still superior to that of the third casing with an integrated power block, the Buffalo Terastation Live. While this NAS is the most imposing of all with a height of 30 cm, its ventilation is very efficient.
The two units that have external power supplies naturally and despite their small size offer excellent thermal dissipation. With its honeycomb face, the Qnap has an advantage over Synology whose intakes are only found on the top and bottom of the facade. Therefore, its hard drives are a few degrees warmer, except the one on the bottom as it benefits from the largest air flow.
Consumption
We measured NAS consumption at the power outlet with the help of an ammeter at rest and in drive access.
Unsurprisingly, the Thecus N5200BR Pro proves to be the highest in energy use (measurement with 4 drives) as its Celeron M it is more demanding than the circuitry of rival systems. More surprising is the high figures of the N4100+ while the three others are more or less the same.
All except Buffalo offer a sleep mode with a time delay that can be set (includes USB drives with Synology). The only thing is that it isn’t an exact science and is sometimes difficult to activate this option. Thecus even says in its manual : services that scan the content of drives can prevent spin-down. And in fact, it was impossible for us to put the machines in sleep.
But to be honest, we didn’t insist either. In our opinion, a sleep mode should function easily, independently of services that are (or aren’t) functioning in the background (if not, what’s the interest ?!). For the record, note that Qnap announces a low consumption of 18.8 W in sleep versus 13.4 W for Synology. Thecus does not mention any figures.
On the other hand, the N5200BR Pro and N4100+ are the only ones to offer a start up planner, which, in our opinion, is indispensable. For each week day you can set the times the NAS will be on, for example, from 6pm to 2am on weekdays and 24 hrs on the weekend. If you do not use services which require permanent availability (unlike hosting a website) this energy economical solution is better than a sleep mode and at least it works every time.
