QNAP Turbo Station TS-201 - dual drive media streaming server and download partner

If you are looking for more storage for your music, videos and pictures or if you want to make sure your files are completely safe then the QNAP TS-201 is for you. As with the rest of the QNAP range this model provides the facilities to stream your music, videos and pictures all around the house or office. The simple web based user interface also makes it extremely easy to setup and use.

The QNAP TS-201 is the bigger brother of the popular QNAP TS-101. The main difference is that the TS-201 has two hot swappable drive bays, instead of just one. This means that this incredible media storage device is capable of protecting your precious data by mirroring from the primary hard drive to the second drive (via RAID 1 technology) - effectively the TS-201 secondary drive is a continuously updated backup of all the files stored on the primary hard drive. So if for some reason the primary hard drive fails you still have a complete copy of all your files on the secondary disk - absolutely no data is lost. Alternatively if you are backing up your data by some other method the TS-201 can be configured to use both hard drives as one big storage area.

• Easy to use and setup
  
• Ultimate data protection with RAID 1 mirroring - hot swappable disks
• Bit Torrent, FTP and HTTP downloads without a PC
• iTunes, TwonkyMedia (UPnP) and SlimServer media servers pre-installed*
• Low power consumption - leave on 24/7
• Quiet, shock-resistant solid construction aluminum portable case
• Supports 2x 750GB (and above) hard drives - external USB supports more drives

For the more adventurous there is the possibility of accessing the TS-201 NAS box via Telnet and installing custom software packages or even installing modified firmware. It’s also good to know that there’s an active community of QNAP owners developing inventive ways of using these already excellent NAS devices (see the links below).

If you are looking for even more storage capacity you may be interested in QNAP's largest standalone Network Storage box - the QNAP TS-401.

Stream Music, Picture & Video - 24 Hours A Day

Make your music, videos and pictures available 24 hours a day to network audio/video players and to your PC. Just copy your files to the TS-201 and the built-in TwonkyMedia UPnP server will scan the content and make it available. TwonkyMedia handles all the major formats (MP3, WMA, JPEG, MPEG, AVI, DivX, etc) and works with iTunes, Winamp, Adobe Photoshop Album, etc and an increasing range of network audio/video player devices.

If it’s music you’re interested in sharing, use the pre-installed SlimServer manager to organize your entire collection from an easy to use web interface, including any album artwork. SlimServer also supports streaming all of the BBC stations via the AlienBBC plugin.

Please Note: SlimServer can only be supplied pre-installed if the QNAP is puchased with disks.

Full of Features

Media Streaming Servers - play music and video stored on your TS-201 all around the house with the built-in TwonkyMedia UPnP and SlimServer media servers. Network music players such as the Logitech Squeezebox and Pinnacle Soundbridge are able to connect across the network to the TS-201 and stream music, videos and pictures. There’s no longer any need to have your PC running - you can safely leave the low power TS-201 streaming 24 hours a day.

Multimedia Station - user friendly web interface to easily manage photo albums and multimedia files. Store your photo and video files on the TS-201 NAS and then share them with friends and family over the network with the flexible built-in viewing software.

Download Station - supporting popular Bit Torrent P2P downloads independently of your PC. With this great function you can let your QNAP work away at your Bit Torrent downloads 24 hours a day without having to have your PC switched on. The TS-201 NAS box consumes very little power compared to a PC. You can add, manage and arrange download task priority from the easy to use web management tool.

Advanced Data Protection - The TS-201 provides complete protection for your files with RAID 1 drive mirroring technology. If you turn this feature on the TS-201 simply maintains a continuously updated mirror copy of everthing you are storing on the primary hard drive to the secondary drive. In the event of the primary disk failing the mirror copy on the secondary drive can be promoted to be a primary and you can continue accessing your files as if nothing happened. When the faulty drive is replaced the intelligent online data rebuilding capability re-mirrors all your data to the new hard drive – without any downtime.

Disaster Recovery - with Remote Replication files can be backed up to another TS-201 (or other QNAP NAS) in a remote location so that you can recover rapidly from a disaster.

To help reduce replication time and conserve precious network bandwidth QNAP have developed Block Level Remote Replication that compresses the data before sending it over the network.

Backup Sever - backups become a breeze with QNAP’s NetBak Replicator backup software. You simply install the software on your PC or MAC and you can backup your files to the TS-201 in a click. You schedule backups to run when it’s convenient, choose what files to backup with filters. You can even backup across the Internet to the TS-201.

File Server - obviously the TS-201 strength is with sharing files to anyone connected to the network. You can access files from PC or MAC and setup security on your sensitive files by assigning access rights for users.

Print Server - simply connect a USB printer to the TS-201 and share the printer to any Windows PCs on the network without leaving a PC connected to the printer turned on.

FTP Server - an alternative method of sharing files is via the built-in FTP server. Ideal for giving access to your files across the Internet.

Web Server - publish your HTML files with the easy to setup web server. This makes it easier than ever to put yourself online. Amazingly the TS-201 even has PHP and SQLite already installed for some serious web development.

Technical Specifications

Hardware:
DRAM: 128MB
Flash Memory: 16MB
HDD Capacity: 2 x 3.5" SATA I/II HDD, upto 1500GB (1.5TB) with 2x 750GB drives
Network: 1x Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet port (supports 10/100/1000 Mbit/sec)
USB: 3 x USB 2.0, supports USB printer, disk, digital camera, pen drive, card reader, USB hub
Power Supply: External power adapter, 60W, 100 - 240v
Energy Saving: HDD sleep mode - low power consumption & low noise
Security: K-Lock security slot for theft prevention. Power cord hook for kick off protection.

Software:
Operating System: Embedded Linux
Network Protocols: Microsoft networks (CIFS/SMB), Apple (AFP), Web (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
Network Clients: Microsoft Windows 98/ME/NT/200/XP/2003/Vista & Macintosh system 7.5

Physical:
Form Factor: Portable desktop
Dimensions: 214mm (D) x 175mm (W) x 115mm (H)
Net weight: 2.4Kg Gross weight: 3.5Kg

What You Get

• QNAP TS-201 Turbo Station Unit
• AC Power Adapter & Cord
• RJ-45 LAN Network Cable
• Front Panel & Screws
• CDROM - user manual, quick install wizard & utilities
• Quick Installation Guide

Useful Links

QNAP Website
QNAP on Wikipedia
Open TurboStation Wiki
Slim Devices / Logitech SlimServer
TwonkyVision

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you purchase a QNAP TS-201 bare without disk(s) the SlimServer media server will not be pre-installed. If you require SlimServer you must purchase the TS-201 with disk(s) as SlimServer needs to be loaded onto the hard drive(s) and is not pre-installed in the QNAP's firmware.