QNAP TR-004 4-Bay USB3.0 RAID Expansion Enclosure, Expands capacity for QNAP NAS or use as DAS with PC, RAID 0/1/5/10/JBOD/Software Ctrl

Was quite slow out of the box (30MB\s), until I realised it came with a sluggish USB 2.0 A to C cable, instead of a USB 3.0 one the enclosure is rated to work with. After purchasing a new proper spec cable, it sits happily transferring data at around 250MB a second.

Read QNAP's online setup instructions well though - the included "Quick Start Guide" was nowhere near comprehensive enough to explain the product. Was quite slow out of the box (30MB\s), until I realised it came with a sluggish USB 2.0 A to C cable, instead of a USB 3.0 one the enclosure is rated to work with. After purchasing a new proper spec cable, it sits happily transferring data at around 250MB a second.

Read QNAP's online setup instructions well though - the included "Quick Start Guide" was nowhere near comprehensive enough to explain the product.

I have a QNAS TS-451+ with 4x4TB drives in raid 5. Its nearly at its capacity now so the options are either to buy 4 new higher capacity hard drives or to get an expansion enclosure. I went with the expansion enclosure route as its less disruptive and cheaper ( I already had 3x2TB drives already)

TR0004 was easy to set up (You Tube is your friend) and now I have 4TB extra to go with my 11TB in the TS-451+. When have the enclosure in software control in QTS, the QNAP software recognize it as an external storage in that can be managed via QTS

Using the setup to store my movie files (Plexmedia server)and backup files. So far no issues....view more I have a QNAS TS-451+ with 4x4TB drives in raid 5. Its nearly at its capacity now so the options are either to buy 4 new higher capacity hard drives or to get an expansion enclosure. I went with the expansion enclosure route as its less disruptive and cheaper ( I already had 3x2TB drives already)

TR0004 was easy to set up (You Tube is your friend) and now I have 4TB extra to go with my 11TB in the TS-451+. When have the enclosure in software control in QTS, the QNAP software recognize it as an external storage in that can be managed via QTS

Using the setup to store my movie files (Plexmedia server)and backup files. So far no issues.

Special thanks for PLE for shipping this quick time (from New Zealand). Shipping time was better than some Australian based shops.

Had a bunch of 2TB Segate Barracuda drives left over from a couple of GIS projects (ex servers), this QNAP TR-004 4x Bay extn NAS/DAS enclosure allowed me to make use of them and implement a 6TB DAS using hardware Raid-5 (4x 2TB drives) hung of a cheap Intel NUC (which also acts as a media centre and reason for not spending a couple bucks more for a standard QNAP NAS) - cheap low cost, lower power consumption solution - works great, and far quieter than anticipated - USB 3.0 connection performance is more than acceptable for this role and adds more flexibility if you want to connect the storage to other devices. Had a bunch of 2TB Segate Barracuda drives left over from a couple of GIS projects (ex servers), this QNAP TR-004 4x Bay extn NAS/DAS enclosure allowed me to make use of them and implement a 6TB DAS using hardware Raid-5 (4x 2TB drives) hung of a cheap Intel NUC (which also acts as a media centre and reason for not spending a couple bucks more for a standard QNAP NAS) - cheap low cost, lower power consumption solution - works great, and far quieter than anticipated - USB 3.0 connection performance is more than acceptable for this role and adds more flexibility if you want to connect the storage to other devices.

Unlike NAS this can be connected directly to your PC. I get good read/write speed around 120MB/s.
Note: Always use RAID via software, only then you can see the Drive Health via Qnap app

Given 4 stars due to below issues
Had to re-setup few times because the drive was not showing up on windows explorer
Stock fan is very noisy, replaced it with a quitter fan Unlike NAS this can be connected directly to your PC. I get good read/write speed around 120MB/s.
Note: Always use RAID via software, only then you can see the Drive Health via Qnap app

Given 4 stars due to below issues
Had to re-setup few times because the drive was not showing up on windows explorer
Stock fan is very noisy, replaced it with a quitter fan

Great NAS box for use of jellyfin so now my family can watch classic tv shows and cartoons Great NAS box for use of jellyfin so now my family can watch classic tv shows and cartoons

Had old Orica DAS that died so bought this to replace it. Was pleasantly surprised as put the drives in order and was all recognized in its raid 5 configuration. Didnt have to reformat and no data lost. Very quiet unit Had old Orica DAS that died so bought this to replace it. Was pleasantly surprised as put the drives in order and was all recognized in its raid 5 configuration. Didnt have to reformat and no data lost. Very quiet unit

I bought this as a replacement for an old but good Drobo DAS unit (unrepairable and no longer produced).

PROS:

moderately priced
a tidy little unit, good build quality
easy to set up
very little fan noise ...

CONS:

... but a lot of hard drive noise
no cache and thus: PAINFULLY SLOW (it took more than 72 hours to restore 16TB of data) - slower than a typical NAS unit via ethernet

If you want simple and slow, it's OK. If you want speed, look elsewhere. I bought this as a replacement for an old but good Drobo DAS unit (unrepairable and no longer produced).

PROS:

moderately priced
a tidy little unit, good build quality
easy to set up
very little fan noise ...

CONS:

... but a lot of hard drive noise
no cache and thus: PAINFULLY SLOW (it took more than 72 hours to restore 16TB of data) - slower than a typical NAS unit via ethernet

If you want simple and slow, it's OK. If you want speed, look elsewhere.

Does what it says. Found the fan VERY quiet.
Take your time with the setup and note that new drives get formatted when you change raid options! Does what it says. Found the fan VERY quiet.
Take your time with the setup and note that new drives get formatted when you change raid options!

Set mine up with 4x4Tb ironwolf drives. Works flawlessly and fast. Set mine up with 4x4Tb ironwolf drives. Works flawlessly and fast.

Great tool for basic disk expansion and backup - not really designed for performance Great tool for basic disk expansion and backup - not really designed for performance

I've loaded mine with 4x2TB Ironwolf HDD in Raid5 configuration. Connected directly to the computer. Works with no hiccups, setup was very easy and is visible as a regular external disc.

But. Write and read speeds are ridiculously slow. 5 MB/s write (partially due to Raid 5 parity requirements, but still), 35 MB/s read. Perfect as a "set and forget" backup, ok to stream 2.7k compressed video, but too slow for a daily disk. I've loaded mine with 4x2TB Ironwolf HDD in Raid5 configuration. Connected directly to the computer. Works with no hiccups, setup was very easy and is visible as a regular external disc.

But. Write and read speeds are ridiculously slow. 5 MB/s write (partially due to Raid 5 parity requirements, but still), 35 MB/s read. Perfect as a "set and forget" backup, ok to stream 2.7k compressed video, but too slow for a daily disk.

Good as a dumb storage pool to hold drives if you already have a machine doing processing and. I am using hardware raid with it right now with no hiccups Good as a dumb storage pool to hold drives if you already have a machine doing processing and. I am using hardware raid with it right now with no hiccups