Fujitsu Celvin Q800 review

Fujitsu has a low profile in the SMB NAS market, with its Celvin family consisting of only single and dual drive appliances. The Celvin Q800 is its first quad-drive desktop system.

The Q800 boasts a fine specification, with a 1.8GHz dual-core Atom partnered by 1GB of DDR2 memory. The USB 2 port at the front teams up with the backup button alongside and, along with a pair of eSATA ports, there are four more USB 2 ports at the rear. The drive carriers have mounting holes for 3.5in and 2.5in drives, and RAID options extend to dual drive redundant RAID6. We dropped in a pair of 1TB SATA drives and used the front panel display and control keys to create one big stripe. Further installation is easy – the Fujitsu Finder utility locates the appliance on the network and offers quick access to the well-designed web interface.

The Q800 supports Windows, Mac and Linux clients, AD authentication and FTP and IP SAN services. It can host web sites, offers multimedia services including iTunes, and provides sophisticated IP camera surveillance with motion detection and direct video recording. For workstation backup you have the dated but functional NetBak Replicator, plus support for rsync and Apple’s Time Machine.

This looks very impressive, but NAS aficionados will have spotted that the Q800 is a rebranded Qnap TS-459 Pro+. The only difference between the two is the name on the front panel and the drive carrier levers.

Naturally, performance for the Q800 is on a par with the TS-459 Pro+, making this one of the fastest quad-drive NAS appliances currently available. Qnap looks to be on to a nice little earner with its desktop appliances as Cisco also uses them for its NSS 324 and NSS 326 products.

If performance is a top priority, avoid Cisco’s NSS 324 as it’s based on the older TS-459 Pro, which has a slower 1.6GHz D510 Atom processor. It’s also the most expensive, doesn’t have the surveillance features or backup software but does boast Cisco’s five-year warranty.

Qnap’s own TS-459 Pro+ only has a one year manufacturer’s warranty, although some vendors such as Scan Computers are boosting this to two years. The Q800 looks good value and Fujitsu offers a standard two-year warranty, with an option to upgrade to a further year for about £18.

Unfortunately, Q800 distributors are thin on the ground and we could only find it being sold with a UK price at DiTaQ Computer. All we know about this company is it’s based in Malaysia, and although its website shows offices across the globe, there isn’t a phone number listed for any of them.

The Celvin Q800 impresses mightily with its performance, features and value. Our only reservation is the lack of UK distributors, leaving us no choice but to recommend the Qnap TS-459 Pro+ as the superior, and safer, choice.

Author: Dave Mitchell