QNAP TS-119 Turbo NAS in Storage appliances

When it comes to features, the TS-119 can safely claim to have all its bases covered. At first glance it may be a humble NAS drive, but beneath the surface lurks plenty of power. It's driven by a 1.2GHz CPU and 512MB of RAM, and its HTML front-end allows you to access a stunning list of features.

There's plenty for home media buffs: it's UPnP and iTunes-compatible, and has a TwonkyMedia server built-in. It also has a straightforward media-player, allowing you to browse thumbnails of your pictures and play media files.

But it's not just for a media library. The TS-119 has a download client which can manage FTP, HTTP or BitTorrent downloads, and includes a scheduler which should prove useful for those on limited broadband connections.

There's also a power-on scheduler, which allows you to set up the TS-119 to run at certain times of the day. You also get a web server, complete with a pre-installed version of Joomla. The TS-119 doesn't miss a trick here: it can function as a MySQL server, or can be set up to work as an FTP server.

The back of the TS-119 is home to two USB ports and an eSATA port, and can act as a hub to another storage device or as a print server. The front has a few status lights, another USB port, and Power and Copy buttons. The latter can be configured to copy everything from an external storage device to the TS-119, or vice versa.

Our version of the TS-119 came with a 500GB Seagate Barracuda, and provided a write speed of 26MB/sec when copying 3GB of large files, and a respectable speed of 13MB/sec copying those files back to the host PC; middle of the road, in other words. Scan, however, sells the TS-119 without a disk - luckily, installing one is simple.

Unfortunately, while devices such as the Linksys Media Hub NMH405 pride themselves on their ease-of-use for first-timers, the TS-119 is less intuitive. A collection of technical terms and cryptic icons litter the front end, and those not already familiar with NAS drive and network terminology will be spending some time with the admittedly excellent manual.

If all you're looking for is a media hub, the TS-119 is expensive, particularly when the Linksys Media Hub comes with a spare drive bay, the potential for a RAID array and an easier-to-use media system. However, if you want everything including the kitchen sink, the TS-119 does could be the answer to your prayers.

Author: Dave Stevenson