Small, Yes Delete - QNAP QBack 35S (Drive Review)
The problem of the lack of free disk space sooner or later comes up against any lucky owner of unlimited Internet. Well, if you have enough willpower to restore order in the “ Downloads ” folders and in countless black holes with the name “ New Folder ”. And if the computer is in perfect order, but gigabytes of RAWs from the weekend can't be avoided? Or movies from LAN. Or ... (necessary to add). In general ... we must somehow deal with this.
Traffic.
The reason is either the initially small amount of space for data, or its irrational use. If the second is a consequence for which the user is responsible ONLY, then sometimes you just can’t argue with the first item.
Clenching his teeth, remove the "unnecessary of the necessary" and "the most necessary of the unnecessary? Burn DVDs? Use online storage? Everyone decides for himself, but perhaps the most obvious thing is to simply buy a capacious hard disk and insert it into the case. With the increase in free space we get additional heating of the space inside the computer case and a wide range of additional features (hardware), which in this embodiment are completely absent.
')
You can go the other way - to remove the hard drive from the system, placing it in an external box. In this version, we will get a more favorable temperature for the disk, a stylish appearance, the possibility of transportation and, importantly, new hardware capabilities.
There are quite a few boxes for discs, but today my article will deal with QNAP QBack 35S . We meet! ;)
Inside the box (in the foam material - for safe transportation) it turned out:
- Boxing QNAP QBack 35S for 3.5 ”-disk;
- Stand for the device;
- Adapter plate with SATA to eSATA (External SATA);
- eSATA-wire;
- USB wire;
- AC adapter;
- Network wire for power supply;
- CDs with software;
- Instructions for using the device;
- 6 screws for mounting the disc;
Agree, not bad! What is nice - all components are packed in separate bags, which everyone so much likes to clap;)
The instructions present the Russian language, in the manual there are small illustrations, looking at which it immediately becomes clear what and in what sequence to do.
Dimensions of the device - 209 x 123 x 38 mm. Boxing is made of two materials - metal and plastic. The metal part is represented by a large part of the device - it is matte anodized aluminum, the color of which I can not exactly name - in some setting it is gray, in some - gray-brownish. Of the plastic, the front and rear end parts are made.
The front part is glossy black, there are no controls on it. From the available - the logo of the manufacturer and two indicators (operation of the device and disk).
On the back matte butt are located: the OTB (One Touch Backup) button - for instant backup data; USB 2.0 type B connector; eSATA connector for connection (the adapter is included!); connector for powering the device (DC, 5V / 12V) and the on / off button of the disk.
Build decent appearance I like. It is a pity that both materials of the surface are to some extent easily soiled - apparently, the devices are not initially designed for active handing off.
The same is trying to confirm the plastic disk stand from the kit, which is faithfully ready to hold the device vertically somewhere in the closet or on a free shelf in the table. On the reverse side of the stand there are four rubber inserts that will not allow the disc to move away from parasitic vibrations, as well as extinguish them additionally.
The first thing you need to do to start working with the device is to unscrew the screw that does not come with a screwdriver :), which secure the top cover. Having done this, it becomes possible to slide out the inner metal support-chassis for the disk on which the controller is installed (JMicron JM20336).
It’s just impossible to completely pull out the chassis - the wire from the control buttons on the front panel to the controller is getting in the way. The instruction says that you need to pull out this very wire, but this is not so easy to do, especially without having nails at least three days old.
The next step was to install a SATA disk, I have this 500GB Seagate Barracuda.
First, the disk is placed on the stand, then a little pushed up into the controller, after which the stationary SATA-dad and power are inserted into its SATA connector. The holes in the disk are exactly opposite the holes of the box (irregularities, inconsistencies and non-standard disk sizes - I was mentally waiting for you!) - I put screws in there to minimize vibration during operation (as they are known, disks have the main source of noise).
Then we assemble the device in reverse order.
The power adapter itself does not stand out in any way against the other adapters, which cannot be said about the wire from the adapter to the disk - it reminded me kindly of the good old PS / 2;) It consists of 4 contacts that can be inserted in one way.
Next you need to decide how the drive will work - via USB or SATA wire. To begin, I chose the first option - connect. Everything is ready to go.
Nothing happened just because I forgot about the on / off switch on the back of the drive, which was initially turned off. Turning it on, on the front panel of the device, the blue operation indicator lights up with a fairly large brightness. The disk starts to buzz, the system detects a new device (it's nice that you do not need to install any drivers, everything works without them).
To increase the functionality, you can (need !!!) put the software from the disk from the bundle, and we'll talk about it.
On the disk from the kit is QBack software, the distribution of which takes about 115 megabytes. Quite a lot, but as it turned out, this is due to multilingualism (English, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Italian, Spanish). I learned this after I went to the manufacturer’s website, hoping to download a newer version of the software. Surprised - usually new versions of programs are always available on the site, but in this case the software was still fresh on the disk.
The site has the ability to download software only in the language you need - the Russian version weighed about 15MB. During installation, the program searches for connected drives, which in my case was found to be without problems.
After launching, the program offers to create a protected area on the disk, indicating the size required for this by a slider. I decided to do without it, created a completely “transparent” disk, which was then formatted. If you want to encrypt something, the AES algorithm with a 256-bit key is at your service.
Then some kind of initialization occurs, as a result of which two folders appear on the disk - QBackData and QBackSetup . The first one stores user data, the second one contains a backup copy of the installation program (exactly the version and language that was installed in the system) - well, this is a very logical move!
The main program window looks like this:
From it, the transition to the desired functions. I'll start with the last item, with the system parameters. There are not many of them, but they are there;)
In the left part of the parameters window there is a system log, in which events such as disk start-up, creation of some partitions on it and so on are recorded. On the right are 4 buttons.
Filter options
Allows you to customize masks filters. I decided to use the example from the hint, saving myself from temporary files.
One-touch action setup
Activates or deactivates the quick copy button on the device. Options, as you can see, are few - I would add the following opportunity: a single click - quickly copy data to a disk, hold the button - delete pre-selected data without the possibility of recovery. Developers, motivate us - sales in Russia will jump;)
Secure Disk Management
Everything is clear here - changing the password on the disk, connecting and disconnecting it.
Initialization
In case the disk is not detected by the system.
Run through other tabs.
Automatic backup
Specify in the file tree those folders (or files) on the copied disk that you want to copy to the QBack disk. The program will hang in the tray and track changes to these files.
Click "Start" - after some time, the program will report on the successful completion of the operation, the results of which will be on the disk and in the window log.
As you can see, everything worked.
If you try to repeat the operation, the program will report the completion of the operation much faster - only those files that have been changed or new files in the marked folders are copied (cumulative method).
Scheduled Backup
Pretty useful feature. The required files and folders are indicated in the file tree, then it is indicated at what time, when and with how often a backup should be made.
Instant Backup
It would seem, what is the difference between automatic and instant copying and why every time you need to poke around in the tree of files and folders, choosing the right one? There is a difference - the first option will suit you when you just want to copy the necessary files and folders that you don’t usually copy (Muzychka, pictures, programs) or if you need to monitor the change of some files on the source disk, copying them on the fly. Instant copying is activated by a button on the device's case - what needs to be copied consistently (all kinds of reports, text documents, source codes, etc.).
Instant recovery
Well, so far without the recovery function. First, a disk is selected from which information will be copied (it is nice that the program supports work with several devices), then the user on the local computer [forgot to say that on the disk with backups all information is divided into the same structure as on the original disk. In addition, the name of the user who made the backup is taken into account. The program will either not allow to grow in order, or make a copy of it :)]
Files that need to be restored from disk are selected and the last item indicates where everything will be restored.
Voila!
Once again I turn to the wonderful program HD Tune Pro 3.10 , which helps to build beautiful graphics for my stateek) For a start, I ran my 500GB drive by plugging it directly into the SATA connector.
We look to tsiferki from the graph of linear reading. The speeds are (Mb / s) - at the maximum - 74.1 , at the minimum - 35.5 , the average - 60.1 .
Something told me that when connected via the eSATA-bar from the kit, the scan will not change much. And so it happened, but the processor load instead of 16.6% was just some 2.3%. I ran the test several times - the same thing. Good :)
Well, the final stage was the race through USB 2.0. I connect, I run tests. Indicators on average are (Mb / s): maximum - 33.1 , minimum - 31.6 , average - 32.3 ; CPU usage is 11.4%.
Well, great performance! (I remember the numbers of other external disks I tested).
Pay attention to the disk temperature in the pictures. When connected via USB, it is undecided; when connected via SATA2 (in the case), it was 40-42 degrees; when taken out - 30 -35 degrees. This is what I said at the beginning of the article.
Minuses
- Brand surface;
- OTB button only works via USB connection;
pros
- Excellent equipment;
- Sturdy construction, good build, nice materials; stylish appearance;
- Ability to connect via eSATA and USB 2.0
- Possibility of vertical mounting
- Simple and functional software with support for 9 languages, including Russian;
- Support encryption function;
- Price (2000-2500 rubles).
There are ready-made external solutions with disks inside, where your overpayment is proportional to the volume of the drive. Here is a decent price for an excellent box. You decide what to insert inside - the user who decides to start making backups should also have freedom of choice! ;)
Thanks to the stylish appearance, the device will not be a black sheep in any corner of your apartment or office. Simple and intuitive Russian-language software does not make you nervous - you will not have to understand for a long time, everything works like a clock. Moreover, it is not even necessary to remember about it - just set it up once, then the program will do everything itself.
In general, if you really wondered about the safety of your data, if you need a decent personal assistant, I can recommend this device.
By the way, the QNAP company name stands for “ Quality Network Appliance Provider, ” which means “ supplier of high-quality network devices ” in Nashensky - I think it is, because I was not too lazy to go to the manufacturer’s website, study the lineup and read reviews on other sites. By the way, there are interesting devices designed not only for home and office use - take a look;)
I will end with one truthful saying - “ All PC users are divided into two categories - which make backup copies and which they DON'T make them ”.
My other recent reviews:
- Logitech HarmonyOne - Almighty Remote
- Logitech MX 5500 Revolution Review
- Overview of the HIPER HMC-2K53A-H2 Media Center
- Optimus Maximus Keyboard Review
- Optimus Mini Three Keyboard Review
- My blog
Successes!
Traffic.
The reason is either the initially small amount of space for data, or its irrational use. If the second is a consequence for which the user is responsible ONLY, then sometimes you just can’t argue with the first item.
Clenching his teeth, remove the "unnecessary of the necessary" and "the most necessary of the unnecessary? Burn DVDs? Use online storage? Everyone decides for himself, but perhaps the most obvious thing is to simply buy a capacious hard disk and insert it into the case. With the increase in free space we get additional heating of the space inside the computer case and a wide range of additional features (hardware), which in this embodiment are completely absent.
')
You can go the other way - to remove the hard drive from the system, placing it in an external box. In this version, we will get a more favorable temperature for the disk, a stylish appearance, the possibility of transportation and, importantly, new hardware capabilities.
There are quite a few boxes for discs, but today my article will deal with QNAP QBack 35S . We meet! ;)
Equipment
Inside the box (in the foam material - for safe transportation) it turned out:
- Boxing QNAP QBack 35S for 3.5 ”-disk;
- Stand for the device;
- Adapter plate with SATA to eSATA (External SATA);
- eSATA-wire;
- USB wire;
- AC adapter;
- Network wire for power supply;
- CDs with software;
- Instructions for using the device;
- 6 screws for mounting the disc;
Agree, not bad! What is nice - all components are packed in separate bags, which everyone so much likes to clap;)
The instructions present the Russian language, in the manual there are small illustrations, looking at which it immediately becomes clear what and in what sequence to do.
Appearance
Dimensions of the device - 209 x 123 x 38 mm. Boxing is made of two materials - metal and plastic. The metal part is represented by a large part of the device - it is matte anodized aluminum, the color of which I can not exactly name - in some setting it is gray, in some - gray-brownish. Of the plastic, the front and rear end parts are made.
The front part is glossy black, there are no controls on it. From the available - the logo of the manufacturer and two indicators (operation of the device and disk).
On the back matte butt are located: the OTB (One Touch Backup) button - for instant backup data; USB 2.0 type B connector; eSATA connector for connection (the adapter is included!); connector for powering the device (DC, 5V / 12V) and the on / off button of the disk.
Build decent appearance I like. It is a pity that both materials of the surface are to some extent easily soiled - apparently, the devices are not initially designed for active handing off.
The same is trying to confirm the plastic disk stand from the kit, which is faithfully ready to hold the device vertically somewhere in the closet or on a free shelf in the table. On the reverse side of the stand there are four rubber inserts that will not allow the disc to move away from parasitic vibrations, as well as extinguish them additionally.
The first thing you need to do to start working with the device is to unscrew the screw that does not come with a screwdriver :), which secure the top cover. Having done this, it becomes possible to slide out the inner metal support-chassis for the disk on which the controller is installed (JMicron JM20336).
It’s just impossible to completely pull out the chassis - the wire from the control buttons on the front panel to the controller is getting in the way. The instruction says that you need to pull out this very wire, but this is not so easy to do, especially without having nails at least three days old.
The next step was to install a SATA disk, I have this 500GB Seagate Barracuda.
First, the disk is placed on the stand, then a little pushed up into the controller, after which the stationary SATA-dad and power are inserted into its SATA connector. The holes in the disk are exactly opposite the holes of the box (irregularities, inconsistencies and non-standard disk sizes - I was mentally waiting for you!) - I put screws in there to minimize vibration during operation (as they are known, disks have the main source of noise).
Then we assemble the device in reverse order.
The power adapter itself does not stand out in any way against the other adapters, which cannot be said about the wire from the adapter to the disk - it reminded me kindly of the good old PS / 2;) It consists of 4 contacts that can be inserted in one way.
Next you need to decide how the drive will work - via USB or SATA wire. To begin, I chose the first option - connect. Everything is ready to go.
Nothing happened just because I forgot about the on / off switch on the back of the drive, which was initially turned off. Turning it on, on the front panel of the device, the blue operation indicator lights up with a fairly large brightness. The disk starts to buzz, the system detects a new device (it's nice that you do not need to install any drivers, everything works without them).
To increase the functionality, you can (need !!!) put the software from the disk from the bundle, and we'll talk about it.
Software
On the disk from the kit is QBack software, the distribution of which takes about 115 megabytes. Quite a lot, but as it turned out, this is due to multilingualism (English, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Italian, Spanish). I learned this after I went to the manufacturer’s website, hoping to download a newer version of the software. Surprised - usually new versions of programs are always available on the site, but in this case the software was still fresh on the disk.
The site has the ability to download software only in the language you need - the Russian version weighed about 15MB. During installation, the program searches for connected drives, which in my case was found to be without problems.
After launching, the program offers to create a protected area on the disk, indicating the size required for this by a slider. I decided to do without it, created a completely “transparent” disk, which was then formatted. If you want to encrypt something, the AES algorithm with a 256-bit key is at your service.
Then some kind of initialization occurs, as a result of which two folders appear on the disk - QBackData and QBackSetup . The first one stores user data, the second one contains a backup copy of the installation program (exactly the version and language that was installed in the system) - well, this is a very logical move!
The main program window looks like this:
From it, the transition to the desired functions. I'll start with the last item, with the system parameters. There are not many of them, but they are there;)
In the left part of the parameters window there is a system log, in which events such as disk start-up, creation of some partitions on it and so on are recorded. On the right are 4 buttons.
Filter options
Allows you to customize masks filters. I decided to use the example from the hint, saving myself from temporary files.
One-touch action setup
Activates or deactivates the quick copy button on the device. Options, as you can see, are few - I would add the following opportunity: a single click - quickly copy data to a disk, hold the button - delete pre-selected data without the possibility of recovery. Developers, motivate us - sales in Russia will jump;)
Secure Disk Management
Everything is clear here - changing the password on the disk, connecting and disconnecting it.
Initialization
In case the disk is not detected by the system.
Run through other tabs.
Automatic backup
Specify in the file tree those folders (or files) on the copied disk that you want to copy to the QBack disk. The program will hang in the tray and track changes to these files.
Click "Start" - after some time, the program will report on the successful completion of the operation, the results of which will be on the disk and in the window log.
As you can see, everything worked.
If you try to repeat the operation, the program will report the completion of the operation much faster - only those files that have been changed or new files in the marked folders are copied (cumulative method).
Scheduled Backup
Pretty useful feature. The required files and folders are indicated in the file tree, then it is indicated at what time, when and with how often a backup should be made.
Instant Backup
It would seem, what is the difference between automatic and instant copying and why every time you need to poke around in the tree of files and folders, choosing the right one? There is a difference - the first option will suit you when you just want to copy the necessary files and folders that you don’t usually copy (Muzychka, pictures, programs) or if you need to monitor the change of some files on the source disk, copying them on the fly. Instant copying is activated by a button on the device's case - what needs to be copied consistently (all kinds of reports, text documents, source codes, etc.).
Well, so far without the recovery function. First, a disk is selected from which information will be copied (it is nice that the program supports work with several devices), then the user on the local computer [forgot to say that on the disk with backups all information is divided into the same structure as on the original disk. In addition, the name of the user who made the backup is taken into account. The program will either not allow to grow in order, or make a copy of it :)]
Files that need to be restored from disk are selected and the last item indicates where everything will be restored.
Voila!
Work speed
Once again I turn to the wonderful program HD Tune Pro 3.10 , which helps to build beautiful graphics for my stateek) For a start, I ran my 500GB drive by plugging it directly into the SATA connector.
We look to tsiferki from the graph of linear reading. The speeds are (Mb / s) - at the maximum - 74.1 , at the minimum - 35.5 , the average - 60.1 .
Something told me that when connected via the eSATA-bar from the kit, the scan will not change much. And so it happened, but the processor load instead of 16.6% was just some 2.3%. I ran the test several times - the same thing. Good :)
Well, the final stage was the race through USB 2.0. I connect, I run tests. Indicators on average are (Mb / s): maximum - 33.1 , minimum - 31.6 , average - 32.3 ; CPU usage is 11.4%.
Well, great performance! (I remember the numbers of other external disks I tested).
Pay attention to the disk temperature in the pictures. When connected via USB, it is undecided; when connected via SATA2 (in the case), it was 40-42 degrees; when taken out - 30 -35 degrees. This is what I said at the beginning of the article.
Check weighing
Minuses
- Brand surface;
- OTB button only works via USB connection;
pros
- Excellent equipment;
- Sturdy construction, good build, nice materials; stylish appearance;
- Ability to connect via eSATA and USB 2.0
- Possibility of vertical mounting
- Simple and functional software with support for 9 languages, including Russian;
- Support encryption function;
- Price (2000-2500 rubles).
Total
There are ready-made external solutions with disks inside, where your overpayment is proportional to the volume of the drive. Here is a decent price for an excellent box. You decide what to insert inside - the user who decides to start making backups should also have freedom of choice! ;)
Thanks to the stylish appearance, the device will not be a black sheep in any corner of your apartment or office. Simple and intuitive Russian-language software does not make you nervous - you will not have to understand for a long time, everything works like a clock. Moreover, it is not even necessary to remember about it - just set it up once, then the program will do everything itself.
In general, if you really wondered about the safety of your data, if you need a decent personal assistant, I can recommend this device.
By the way, the QNAP company name stands for “ Quality Network Appliance Provider, ” which means “ supplier of high-quality network devices ” in Nashensky - I think it is, because I was not too lazy to go to the manufacturer’s website, study the lineup and read reviews on other sites. By the way, there are interesting devices designed not only for home and office use - take a look;)
I will end with one truthful saying - “ All PC users are divided into two categories - which make backup copies and which they DON'T make them ”.
My other recent reviews:
- Logitech HarmonyOne - Almighty Remote
- Logitech MX 5500 Revolution Review
- Overview of the HIPER HMC-2K53A-H2 Media Center
- Optimus Maximus Keyboard Review
- Optimus Mini Three Keyboard Review
- My blog
Successes!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/54066/
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