QNAP’s TS-332X Includes 10 GbE SFP+, Three M.2 SSD Slots

[Julio Urquidi]

Powered by QNAP’s QTS operating system and AnnapurnaLabs Alpine AL-324 quad-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A57 processor, the 3-bay TS-332X tower NAS is available in two models configured with either 2GB or 4GB DDR4 RAM (expandable to 16 GB). Along with two GbE ports, the TS-332X comes with a 10 GbE SFP+ network port, targeting faster application throughput.

Storage-wise, TS-332X supports up to three hot-swappable 2.5/3.5-inch SATA 6 Gbps HDDs/SSDs, but also adds three M.2 SSD slots, making TS-332X a likely candidate for RAID 5 storage auto-tiering when used with QNAP’s Qtier application. VJBOD is also supported, allowing the TS-332X to iSCSI mount to other QNAP NAS products to create a larger storage pool.

Other TS-332X interfaces include three USB 3.0 ports, and one 3.5 line-out audio jack.

The QNAP TS-332X is available now. Here's the pricing according to QNAP.

TS-332X-4G-US - $419
TS-332X-2G-US - $379

 

[TheLostSwede]

So a consumer NAS with SFP+ again huh? How many consumers use SFP+ at home?
I mean sure, you could spend $250 on a converter...

 

[Threska49]

So a consumer NAS with SFP+ again huh? How many consumers use SFP+ at home?
I mean sure, you could spend $250 on a converter...

I've seen consumer switches (POE and regular) with it. Handy when one has a lot of cameras, and a number of switches to link to the NAS.

 

[sfx2000]

AnnapurnaLabs Alpine AL-324 quad-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A57 processor,

QNAP has had a good run with Annapurna Labs* - this is the first public mention of the 64-bit AL-324, but if it's anything like their A15 based chips, it's going to be a strong performer.

* Annapurna Labs - it's really hard to talk to them in depth, they're incredibly closed lipped as a business, and one has to be kind of a "made guy" to get anything out of them that's useful, Marvell is tough, but Annapurna takes it to a whole new level...​

I've really taken to the A57-based Comms Processors - I've got first hand experience with the competitor (Marvell Armada 8040), and if the AL-324 is anything similar, it's a good thing.

Looking to the future of 802.11ax and nBase-T, it's only a matter of time before we see chips like this trickle down, as they have not only the pure CPU horsepower to drive the performance, they also have the bandwidth across the internal and external buses to carry it thru.

Wonder what QCA and Broadcom have in hand to respond to chips like these...

 

[TheLostSwede]

A57 is already old hat, these days we should expect to see A72/A73 in new devices at the very least.

QCA has obviously been using their Krait cores to date, but I expect them to swap to Kryo for next generation stuff. That is if they're still interested, as some of their recent hardware has seemingly moved backwards to MIPS and Cortex-A7 based SoCs.

Broadcom already has some A57 based solutions, such as the BCM5871x which is a quad core based SoC which apparently has native support for 2x 10Gbps and 2x 2.5Gbps - https://www.broadcom.com/products/embedded-and-networking-processors/communications/bcm58712
Not expecting that to turn up in any affordable hardware though, even though they say it's for NAS and Routers, mostly due to the 8 PCIe lanes, which makes it a big and expensive chip. I'm surprised that Broadcom has a product brief for the chip though, that's a new one to me.

 

[sfx2000]

A57 is already old hat, these days we should expect to see A72/A73 in new devices at the very least.

QCA has obviously been using their Krait cores to date, but I expect them to swap to Kryo for next generation stuff. That is if they're still interested, as some of their recent hardware has seemingly moved backwards to MIPS and Cortex-A7 based SoCs.

A57 is still very valid - look at Armada... it's not just the cores, it's the rest of the SoC, and I'm thinking that the Alpine is similar, but Annapurna Labs puts even more into it.

QCA's Kyro, like Krait, is optimized for Smartphones - the real 64-bit Qualcomm ARMv8 core that one would be interested in is Falkor and the Amberwing fabric- it's a real beast, similar to the ex-Broadcom/ex-Cavium/now Marvell Thunder X2 - and there, Thunder X2 has scaled a bit better than Centriq...

 

[sfx2000]

A57 is still very valid - look at Armada... it's not just the cores, it's the rest of the SoC, and I'm thinking that the Alpine is similar, but Annapurna Labs puts even more into it.

QCA's Kyro, like Krait, is optimized for Smartphones - the real 64-bit Qualcomm ARMv8 core that one would be interested in is Falkor and the Amberwing fabric- it's a real beast, similar to the ex-Broadcom/ex-Cavium/now Marvell Thunder X2 - and there, Thunder X2 has scaled a bit better than Centriq...

ThunderX2 - from another site - but this is not smartphone numbers...

https://www.servethehome.com/cavium-thunderx2-review-benchmarks-real-arm-server-option/

 

[thiggins]

So a consumer NAS with SFP+ again huh? How many consumers use SFP+ at home?
I mean sure, you could spend $250 on a converter...

Agreed SFP+ is not common for consumers. But it is less expensive to build in than copper.
An SFP+ cable costs less than $20.

 

[tiger_liem]

Please review newly release qnap ts-251b. Thank you

 

[TheLostSwede]

Agreed SFP+ is not common for consumers. But it is less expensive to build in than copper.
An SFP+ cable costs less than $20.

Less than $20 for 1-2m, sure, but it becomes terribly expensive at longer runs. I guess QNAP does at least offer a couple of switches with both SFP+ and 10GBase-T, but the cheapest model is over $480...

 

[thiggins]

Less than $20 for 1-2m, sure, but it becomes terribly expensive at longer runs. I guess QNAP does at least offer a couple of switches with both SFP+ and 10GBase-T, but the cheapest model is over $480...

To me, one SFP+ port on a router is clearly intended to connect a nearby device, either uplinking to a switch or maybe a NAS.

 

[Threska49]

QNAP has had a good run with Annapurna Labs* - this is the first public mention of the 64-bit AL-324, but if it's anything like their A15 based chips, it's going to be a strong performer.

* Annapurna Labs - it's really hard to talk to them in depth, they're incredibly closed lipped as a business, and one has to be kind of a "made guy" to get anything out of them that's useful, Marvell is tough, but Annapurna takes it to a whole new level...​

I've really taken to the A57-based Comms Processors - I've got first hand experience with the competitor (Marvell Armada 8040), and if the AL-324 is anything similar, it's a good thing.

Looking to the future of 802.11ax and nBase-T, it's only a matter of time before we see chips like this trickle down, as they have not only the pure CPU horsepower to drive the performance, they also have the bandwidth across the internal and external buses to carry it thru.

Wonder what QCA and Broadcom have in hand to respond to chips like these...

Quite a bit of time because the router and NAS market are price sensitive (gaming routers notwithstanding). Margins are going to be lower as well.
nas

 

[EngChi]

So a consumer NAS with SFP+ again huh? How many consumers use SFP+ at home?
I mean sure, you could spend $250 on a converter...

Almost every consumer that wants 10Gbe would be using SFP+ at home... it is simply much cheaper - here is for example what I did
switch - Brocade ICX 6450-48 , 4xSFP+ and 48 1GBe - $89 on e-bay.
cards - Connect X3 - $25 each
cables - Huawei SFP-10G-AOC1M , $27 each.

so for ~$90 I got full enterprise switch with 4 SFP+ ports and 48 gig ports with every feature possible. new firmware (as recent as two week ago), license , and this is flying.
if you insist on new - mikrotik has a new model that includes 2 SPF+ ports and a bunch of gig ports, full support and everything for $130
for ~$50 you get a card and cable.

show me please anything similar to this in the 10BaseT land..
so , yes - anyone who is doing 10Gb at home right now and counts dollars, would go SFP+ so NAS is much more valuable with it vs RJ45 port as there are no switches to plug that into...

 

[Strong Lead]

Almost every consumer that wants 10Gbe would be using SFP+ at home... it is simply much cheaper - here is for example what I did
switch - Brocade ICX 6450-48 , 4xSFP+ and 48 1GBe - $89 on e-bay.
cards - Connect X3 - $25 each
cables - Huawei SFP-10G-AOC1M , $27 each.

Current price for the ICX 6450-48 on newegg.com is just under $1,800. (Amazon sells for just under $3,000) The cheapest ConnectX3 card I could find was a refurb for $150. You got the number one cost item in your system for 1/18th current street price and the second highest item for 1/6th street value. Your ability to put together an amazing system for an outright steal is simply not replicable.

I've seen project disasters when estimators based decisions on best-case pricing for its component sections! (That's not to mention the idiocy I've heard, "We're losing money on each unit, but we'll make it up in volume." This from an engineer who should understand math.)

Inside a server room, you make a good point: copper vs. fiber really can come down to strictly cost for the whole system (including cables & connectors) because the decision has no material impact on installation cost. Those who have existing copper lines need a compelling advantage to switch the network to fiber because it costs so much to install new data lines. That said, we shouldn't force a solution that is right for the distributed network onto the connections inside the server room.

I know some 10G switches with copper can get hot. Are SFP + connections cheaper for the manufacturer than RJ-45 (with subsequent cooling)?

 

[EngChi]

Current price for the ICX 6450-48 on newegg.com is just under $1,800. (Amazon sells for just under $3,000) The cheapest ConnectX3 card I could find was a refurb for $150. You got the number one cost item in your system for 1/18th current street price and the second highest item for 1/6th street value. Your ability to put together an amazing system for an outright steal is simply not replicable.

I've seen project disasters when estimators based decisions on best-case pricing for its component sections! (That's not to mention the idiocy I've heard, "We're losing money on each unit, but we'll make it up in volume." This from an engineer who should understand math.)

Inside a server room, you make a good point: copper vs. fiber really can come down to strictly cost for the whole system (including cables & connectors) because the decision has no material impact on installation cost. Those who have existing copper lines need a compelling advantage to switch the network to fiber because it costs so much to install new data lines. That said, we shouldn't force a solution that is right for the distributed network onto the connections inside the server room.

I know some 10G switches with copper can get hot. Are SFP + connections cheaper for the manufacturer than RJ-45 (with subsequent cooling)?

I am confused by your message - are we still talking about the same thing here as in " SFP+ for consumers" , people who run advanced (for consumer) tech for their homelabs and such? if we are, your primary resource would be sites like e-bay or those who refurbish server equipment...

Right now, Brocade ICX-6540-48 is $99 on ebay (i.e. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Brocade-IC...h=item4d86ff130d:g:GWIAAOSwC~Bb02t2:rk:1:pf:0) , less if you want to use 10% off today ebay offer. (so $90).
Here are Connect X3 for $26 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mellanox-M...aN8yg:sc:USPSFirstClass!60540!US!-1:rk:2:pf:0 (or less with 10% off coupon). How is this not replicatable?

Servethehome has a Networking forum with huge thread on Brocade and how to (the OS updates, the configuration, resets, licenses, etc). Fairly simple to do (i did it and I am not networking expert). Many dozens of people bought the same switches the same way and run them now as this is enterprise level equipment happening to hit the market (very) cheap. Now, people do other things with them (open cases and swap fans because they have specific noise requirements), but you do not have to do it.


If you hate ebay and afraid to spend $90 for 48 port switch with 4 SFP+ , then Mikrotik models (i.e. Mikrotik CSS326-24G-2S+RM right now new with warranty sold on Amazon for $135 will set you up with 10Gb using SFP+. As I said earlier, I simply do not see similar prices for 10Gb alternatives for home (and that is from the person that already has Cat6 installed at home), the switching pricing is not there, cards are much more expensive, etc. My best bet if I want cat6 would probably be Ubiquiti Networks US-16-XG to tie up with other UBNT hardware I have and run.

 

[sfx2000]

Right now, Brocade ICX-6540-48 is $99 on ebay (i.e. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Brocade-IC...h=item4d86ff130d:g:GWIAAOSwC~Bb02t2:rk:1f:0) , less if you want to use 10% off today ebay offer. (so $90).
Here are Connect X3 for $26 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mellanox-M...aN8yg:sc:USPSFirstClass!60540!US!-1:rk:2f:0 (or less with 10% off coupon). How is this not replicatable?

Servethehome has a Networking forum with huge thread on Brocade and how to (the OS updates, the configuration, resets, licenses, etc). Fairly simple to do (i did it and I am not networking expert). Many dozens of people bought the same switches the same way and run them now as this is enterprise level equipment happening to hit the market (very) cheap. Now, people do other things with them (open cases and swap fans because they have specific noise requirements), but you do not have to do it.

Those are all data center pulls, and yes, there can be some good deals to be had...

The Brocades are nice switches, just note that environmentals can be a challenge for some (thermal, noise, power consumption), but for home labs, they're a decent way to go...