QNAP TS-409 Pro Turbo NAS Review

First Impressions (Interior)


The first thing one notices when trying to open the enclosure is the “warranty void” sticker strategically placed on the back. Not only does this sticker make opening the NAS a risky proposition but the sticker actually hides a 5th screw that needs to be removed in order to remove the one piece external case. This makes it blatantly obvious that QNAP does not want you to open this NAS enclosure up under any circumstances so even though we did, please do not do so yourself.


When you do open the case to look at the innards of the 409 Pro, you are greeted to a very impressive sight. The internal of this NAS is not only laid out very nicely with no major air flow blockages but you get to see one the better examples of cable management from a manufacturer. Not only is everything neat and tidy but the QNAP builders took the time to zip-tie all the wires into place in order to improve airflow through the enclosure.


Equally nice to see was the use of locking SATA cables. These cables ensure that transportation of the NAS does not knock an important data connection loose.

Equally as impressive was the vdesign of the hard drive cage which has been fabricated to perfection. While the hard drive cage is not removable and is riveted in place the two sides of the cage are indented so that even if QNAP had been sloppy with its cable management it would not have impeded air flow. This combination was great to see and really does show how much QNAP cares about its products.

The exhaust fan that creates this air flow is a 28.8 CFM variable speed Y.S. Tech FD129225LB-N 92mm fan that has a standard 3 pin connector. This 3rd wire is what allows QNAP to state its fan is a “smart fan”. Just as a PC’s motherboard can control fan speed based on internal temperature readings, so too can this NAS control the RPMs of its fan. This allows for a fan that is as quiet as possible across as wide a heat spectrum as possible. The noise that it creates is of such a nature that (except for when the fan is spinning at full speed) it blends easily into the background noise of just about any environment.

As an added bonus, the increased noise when the fan is spinning at max RPM’s is an easy way for you to tell when your 409 Pro Turbo is working extremely hard. If this happens often, you may wish to considered relocating the NAS to a cooler environment or at least making sure it has adequate ventilation (i.e. don’t put it in a small enclosed cabinet). If the unit is already in a cool environment with lots of air flow you may want to consider stepping up to the “big leagues” and purchasing a dedicated server + external storage array since you are more than likely are overloading the NAS’s not so insignificant capabilities. If upgrading is just not in your budget, as long as this unit is working you can manually set the fan speed and remove all “smart fan” features. This of course is done at your own risk since you can fry parts if they overheat.


If for some reason you need to change the included fan for another model, its removal consists of unplugging the fan from the printed circuit board (PCB), cutting few cable ties, removing the 4 mounting screws and sliding it out of its metal cradle.


As previously mentioned, the drive cage is an integral part of the NAS and is not removable. This adds a lot of rigidity to the unit and helps keep any flexing to a minimum. Instead of removing the drive cage to install a hard drive one simply has to unscrew one of the four metal hard drive caddies, mount the hard drive via 4 screws that mount up from the bottom of the unit and slid the unit back into place. While this does sound easy, achieving a good lock up between the power & data connectors between the back of the hard drive and the connectors on the back of the drive cage does take a little bit of force. As it stands it is fairly easy to not have the hard drive not completely connected. However, QNAP obviously though of this and the inclusion of two thumb screws on the front of each metal hard drive caddy ensures that not only are all hard drive mounted properly but that they also securely mounted. This does slow down the hot swapping of hard drives but the added security more than makes up for it.


As a nice little attention to detail the two screws that are so vital to securely mounting the hard drive caddies can not be lost. While they are spring loaded, they are designed in such away that they can not fall off and thus be lost. As is becoming a reoccurring theme, it is not only the big things but the little ones as well that make this unit such a joy to work with.


One interesting design feature of the 409 Pro Turbo is the fact that this unit does not have a backplane in the traditional sense of the word. Yes there are 4 power connectors and 4 SATA data connectors on the back of the drive cage but they are nothing more than individual power and SATA cables that connect separately to the main board of the NAS. This makes it very easy to replace a bad power connector or data connector considering they are standard off the shelf”hardware. It is only the small converter hardware that connects the hard drive to its power and data cables that would be hard to source out.


In a new design twist, and unlike previous models, QNAP designed the main printed circuit board to be slid into and out of place. It is held in position just like other units with the use of screws and lock washers but the PCB cannot just be lifted out of the unit like it can on the 109 and 209 models. Since you can not remove the drive cage from this unit QNAP needed a different method of insertion and removal of the PCB and installing the PCB with all its delicate electronics before mounting the drive cage sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Their answer was to take a page from the high end pc case industry and have the “motherboard” (sans tray) removable. It may not be a unique way of doing things but it does work well. Best of all you do not have to worry about damaging the PCB when sliding it in and out since instead of just using formed metal, QNAP installed a plastic low friction “runner” on each side of the case that not only provides protection from damage but also some extent offers insulation against static charge from the metal case. This is definitely a quirky yet very well designed and executed piece of engineering and their attention to detail even goes so far as to slightly bevel the front of the board so that it will fit easier.


The Printed Circuit Board of this NAS performs many of same roles that a motherboard in a normal computer would. This PCB is clean and well laid out with all chips placed on only one side of the board. Nothing is clustered too close together and everything is spaced far enough apart that even the modest airflow from its lone 92mm fan produces adequate cooling. No one likes having a NAS overheat and die on them and this tidy layout will certainly minimize this risk. This layout just reinforces how much time, effort and money went into designing this board since it would have certainly been cheaper and easier to have used both sides of the PCB, even if it would have increased overheating risks.


As with previous models QNAP uses a Marvell System-On-Chip (SoC) ARM9 processor. For this model it is the 88F5281 running at a 500MHz. While some would think that based on Marvel numbering scheme that this processor is simply an upgrade or improved version of the “Orion” 5182 used in the TS-209, it is in fact the second generation processor from Marvel’s Ferecon .15um technology. While this processor does run at the same speed as the older 1st gen 5182, this newer processor has a hardware floating point unit built into it, making it much more efficient clock for clock than the older processor. As these chips are extremely low power yet very efficient processors no heatsink is necessary for cooling. This makes them perfect for Network Attached Storage appliances where space, performance and cooling are at a premium.

Some of you may have went “oh it’s a cell phone chip!” when I said “ARM9” and in most cases you would be correct; ARM9s are found mainly in slow yet cool running appliances such as the ubiquitous cell phone or PDA. However, while the Feroceon line does technically follow the ARM926EJ technical specifications Marvel has “improved” upon these to the point where they are relatively powerful units. Unlike normal ARM9’s which employ an in-order, fixed-stage pipeline the Feroceon’s have a variable-stage pipeline, making them much more efficient (and thus much more powerful). For example the Linux “home brew” community has brought out patches for “mplayer” so that these ARM processors can seamlessly play RealAudio live Internet streams, turning your NAS into one big and expensive Ipod.


Once again QNAP went with Hynix memory for their TS series NAS appliance. In this case it is HY5PS12821C FP - Y5 DDR2 Ram on this model. Unlike previous models that only had 2 RAM chips this model has 4 of them; brining the total up from 128MB to 256MB of onboard, non upgradeable ram. According to Hynix documentation this 64MB DDR2 533mhz Ram chip is rated to run 3-5-5-5 @1.8volts (1.9 being max & 1.7 being min).


The Marvell 88SX7042-BDU1 is a PCI-E to Serial ATA Controller and is actually the same controller chip found on many consumer “software” RAID daughter boards (such as HighPoint’s RocketRaid 2314MS). For all intents and purposes the 7042 is a PCI-E version of the 6042 series SATA controller in that they have the same features and specifications except for the supported interface. This is a very interesting choice on QNAP’s behalf and does point to an enhanced PCI interface being used on this unit. After all why use a more expensive controller chip when its cheaper “sibling” has the exact same capabilities as it just without the PCI-E part?


This small chip is Genesys Logic’s GL852 USB controller chip. It is the same chip QNAP used on both the TS-109 and the TS-209 series. This lil’ guy is an 8 bit RISC processor that has a performance rating of 6 MIPS @ 12MHz. It is capable of controlling 4USB ports, it fully supports the USB 2.0 specification, and is fully backwards compatible with older USB 1.x hardware. The above pictures does not do a good job of showing how small this powerhouse really is, even getting a macro shot of it was difficult and at times it felt like a microscope would have been a better option.


As you can see, the QNAP 409’s network controller chip is none other than the Marvell 88E1118 “Alaska” gigabit Ethernet controller. This 10/100/1000 gigabit Ethernet controller is the exact same controller that graces the ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe, the M2N32 WS Professional and even the ASUS Crosshair. With such a prestigious pedigree it leaves little doubt about how well it will perform in “real world” situations.


While we were not expecting to see Panasonic or Rubycon capacitors, it was a nice and equally impressive surprise to see that QNAP opted for Sanyo capacitors. These Sanyo capacitors are rated for 105c and there are a dozen of these tall capacitors running the length of one side of the PCB. Seeing those lovely high quality capacitors removed any fears or doubts about this unit's long term durability; at least when it comes to its power distribution.