Qnap tvs-672xt - optimising nvme speed

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
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Hi folks, long time lurker and plex pass holder. Finally decided to get a new build going and seeking you experts advice on how to setup.

Moving from my trust old TS-253 Pro with 2x 6TB SATA 7200rpm HGST drives in RAID-1 to a brand new TVS-672XT with the following setup (&upgrades):

-2x HGST 6TB drives from old NAS
-1x Toshiba 6TB SATA drive
-6x Intel 2TB 660P m2 nvme drives
-1x QM2-4P-384 PCIe Quad m2 extension card - called qnap support to confirm compatibility with tvs-672xt
-2x 16GB Crucial [CT16G4SFD8266] memory upgrade - how do I tell if they’re running dual channel?

Questions/Advice:

1)Given my current setup at RAID-1 I wouldn’t mind migrating over settings and apps etc but would that be possible with the additional 6TB drive and move from RAID-1 to I’m thinking RAID-5 for the SATA drives?
2a) A seperate RAID-5 array for the 6x nvme 2TB drives in the built in 2x m2 slots plus 4x slots on PCIe extension card.
or 2b) 4x 2TB drives on RAID-5 via the expansion card and 2x 2TB drives on RAID-1 acting as read-write SSD cache.
3) Trust optimal setup for system volume drive to be put on the 2TB RAID-5 array?
4) Would the stock nvme heatsinks from qnap be suffice or should I upgrade to these after market ones: 2 Pack M.2 NVMe Aluminum Heatsinks Cooler with Nano Silicone Thermal Pad https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J1VKPSX/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_xeMsDbEQYHRHB I’m unsure if they’ll fit on the quad nvme extension card given it comes with a ran albeit also stock basic qnap nvme heatsinks that look similar if not a little thicker in size.
5) 10GBE link to Netgear R9000 router using 6Com SFP+ to Ethernet adapter: 6COM Netgear Compatible 10GBase-T… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075WQWVS5?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
6) Based on the above, neither option is going with Qtier - just traditional RAID arrays and if recommended by you experts are useful for my use cases, can sacrifice 2x 2TB NVME’s for SSD Cache.

Thoughts and advice much appreciated. NAS mainly used in order of frequency:
Plex server, direct media streaming server, VPN Box, transmission torrent server, VM’s for Windows / Android environments.

Thanks!

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Hi Pal,

Have you managed to get this set up yet? I have just purchased a tvs672xt and I’m waiting for it to arrive.

Firstly im not sure the intel 660p are compatible with qnap expansion drives https://www.qnap.com/en/compatibility/?model=356&category=23

i think the cheapest M2 ssd that is compatible is the ADATA ASX8200 (it is also faster than the 660p) however the above link outlines other compatible drives.

I assume you will install QM2-4P-384 in the empty slot & it sounds like you’re removing the TB3 card & inserting another QM2 expansion card? Have you heard of QDA-A2AR or the QDA-A2MAR, it will allow you to install 2 x m2 ssd’s or 2 x Sata 2.5" SSD’s in a 3.5" bay, you will be restricted to SATA 3 speeds however it is a cheaper option than buying another expansion card.

With the Memory, i haven’t checked crucial website however on the Kingston website they have a list of compatible memory that will supposedly work with the 672 https://www.kingston.com/en/memory/search?model=99440&deviceType=8&mfr=QNP&line=NAS+Servers.

It seems the crucial and the kingston have identical specs. There are a number of threads where people are having issues with 3rd party ram and the Nas won’t start up. I think it has to do with the CL on the 3rd party ram is slower than on the Qnap ram, even though all other specs are identical. Someone on this thread purchased the crucial recommended ram for their Qnap and it still didn’t work

I think adding extra spindle drives will also be of benefit to achieve a raid 5, i remember reading to take full advantage of 10GBE you need a minimum of 6 drives in raid 5/6

I plan on having a similar set up to yours with
4 x WD red 6tb in raid 5,
2 x M2 SSD’s in the qm2 expansion for cache &
2 x M2 SSD’s for storage (not sure if you can use the QM2’s for storage, they could be for cache or Qtier only)
2 x M2 SSD’s in THE QDA-A2MAR in Raid 0 for another storage pool

Anyways hope some of the above could be of assistance, please let me know how you go.

Good Talk

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Hey matey!

Thanks for the response.

So I’ve got the TVS-672XT, and 2 temporary Intel 512gb pm981’s which I’ll replace with the 6x Intel 660p 2tb’s when they arrive late this wk or early next week.

I’ve also put in 2 sticks of the ‘dual rank’ Crucial 16GB Single DDR4 2666 MT/s (PC4-21300) DR X8 SODIMM 260-Pin Memory - CT16G4SFD8266 and confirm they work fine. Assuming cause they’re the dual ranked version they’re running dual channel too. Not sure how to test?

At the same time I’ve actually spoken over the phone to qnap USA support and confirmed compatibility for the QNAP QM2-4P-342 Quad M.2 PCIe SSD Expansion Card. This allows an extra 4 nvme m2 slots taking up the one spare pcie slot next to the pcie slot used up by the two thunderbolt ports. I’m assuming I fits fine and I won’t have I remove the thunderbolt pcie card! So all up with the 2 stock nvme m2 slots I’ll have 6x nvme m2’s I plan to run in RAID-5 for optimal performance or 4x in RAID-5 and 2x in RAID-1 ssd read write cache but seeking best practice advise on whether to do this and sacrifice storage.

As far as compatibility goes I’m confident the Intel 660p’s would work fine as it’s a trusted vendor. I chose em cause they cost a reasonable amount for 2TB and don’t run too hot so I’ll just entrust the default black qnap heatsinks for now unless advised otherwise given how close they’ll be to each other in the 4x pcie card, albeit with a fan and heatsink. Also the Samsung pm981’s seem to work fine although not on the qnap compatibility list but they do run a little hot and hit 70c once setting off the alarm under load but note I didn’t put any heatsinks on them as they’re temporary.

First I’m hearing re: the expansion QDA-A2MAR, how are they connected? Externally I assume but they’re SATA SSD Expansion bays not m2 nvme yeah?

Let me know your responses and we can then talk about the 10gbe setup, I’ve gone ahead and ordered the QNAP QSW-1208-8C 12-Port 10GbE Switch with SFP+ and RJ45 ports so we’ll see how we go as I’m trying to figure out whether a Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt connection between my laptop and NAS will provide internet to my laptop or if I need a 10gbe adapter for my laptop. Any ideas?

Thanks good chat indeed!

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Thanks for the quick response;

Thanks for the Info about the ram, ill definitely be getting the crucial now i know it works, most places i buy from won’t refund Ram once the package has been opened https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2708689. are you running 32gb?

I didn’t know the 672 had 2 x inbuilt M.2 slots, this is even better, i can now wait to get the QM2 expansion card & start utilising the inbuilt slots. Let me know how the 660p’s work as there’s a sale on in Australia ATM. Otherwise the ADATA’s are supported and they around around 3000mb/s read/write, i don’t think ill need those speeds for now anyway so if the 660’s work ill grab those.

Regarding the QM2 expansion card, i remember reading on the qnap forum that it can’t be combined or added to another raid group so maybe you could run the 2 inbuilt slots as raid 0 as SSD Cache & the 4 x cards in the qm2 as raid 5 as VM storage or other fast storage?

The QDA-A2MAR & the QDA-A2AR are both SATA3 adapters that can house either 2 x NVME M2 SSD’s or 2.5" SSD’s & they have hardware raid inbuilt so you could install 2 x ssd’s in 1 x 3.5" bay within the nas, it sounds like though you have plenty of SSD’s already 12tb? Also the adapters are still restricted to SATA 3 - 6GBS so that will be the bottleneck.

I wasn’t planning on running 10gb/e as the 672xt will be in my music studio next to my MacBook so plan on connecting it with a thunderbolt cable, however people are still getting 1100mb/s transfer speeds with 10gb/e & 4-6 conventional/spindle disks in raid 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dIXM5d1stY&feature=youtu.be
at 3min theres a speed test with 10gbe

With thunderbolt im pretty sure its not direct thunderbolt, its thunderbolt over IP which still theoretically can offer 20gbs. However not sure if the qnap virtual switch can offer internet over Thunderbolt 3. With T3 i think youre still only limited to 2 meters as cables dont come longer and speed degrades over distance, however with cat6a /cat 7 you can go alot further at full speed so maybe 10gbe might be better.

I have a TS653a with 6 x 6tb wd red drives in raid 5 that handle all my qnap, kodi, itunes & torrent server and has been running fine for the last 4 or so years. The 672 will be for all my music samples and sample libraries (have around 12tb of data) so plan on running 4 x 6tb wd red pro in raid 5, 2 x m.2 ssd’s for cache in raid 0 & either a qm2 quad card with 4 ssd’s or a QDA-A2MAR just to hold all the sample libraries that need fast access in raid 1.

It’s a good time to be alive.

Thanks for the Info, let me know how you go with the 660’s

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No worries! You’re a fellow Aussie - small world, which part?

So I sourced the NAS via qnapshop Australia, ask for Dan, he can give a deal 30-40% below listing price if you wanna save some $$$ for all the other parts to make the NAS SSD fast and 10GBE awesome! These retailers must make crazy margins on these qnap’s as most purchase at list pricing. All other parts, and add-ons I’ve purchased from various USA stores and got em purchased on my behalf and shipped over gst free via shopandbox as they’re personal individual shoppers basically doing all the shopping and shipping for me and consolidating everything into one box to save on intl shipping! Pretty neat service I’ve used for years esp since the GST changes.

As for the RAM I can confirm the 16GB Crucial’s work, yes I’m running 2x16gb @ 32GB in total, with the assumption they’re dual channel as it’s the ‘dual ranked’ version. Not sure why you’d not be able to return it if it doesn’t work as they’re not exactly sealed but just in a blister plastic pack that you can easily slip the memory out / back in as if unused if it doesn’t work. Found this particular RAM pricing like a lot of things a rip off with Aussie retailers, cheaper stateside. I’ve come from various older qnap’s and they never mention RAM compatibility cause they want you to buy their rip off branded! Kingston or Crucial usually a safe bet.

Yeah for sure the TVS-672XT has 2 built in m2 nvme slots. What I didn’t know and didn’t get confirmed on the internet before purchasing was whether it was reserved only for ssd cache as per the majority of the marketing or it could be a volume too, either standalone or with the other drives in the 6 bays! Can confirm the latter is true, which is awesome and I hope the same is true with the QM2 quad nvme expansion card so I can do RAID-5 and 6x nvme m2’s!

The quad nvme m2 expansion pcie card is the thing I’m quite frankly most excited about as it makes the most of the small physical size of this storage type! No where does it say I gotta remove the thunderbolt pcie card to accommodate the expansion card? I recall reading if you want additional a QM2 pcie card and dedicated graphics card you would then need sacrifice the thunderbolt pcie card which isn’t the case with my setup as they’ve advertised it as a quad nvme card, single pcie slot so here’s hoping…!

That said with so many nvme m2 cards in close proximity my thought process was that despite the 660p’s not being the fastest it’s certainly one of the coolest and stable plus the 2TB version has the best endurance / speed / cost per GB vs the other capacities available.

QDA-A2MAR & the QDA-A2AR are both SATA3 adapters to be used on any of the 6 bays? Interesting! I was initially going to go for 6x Micron enterprise 6TB SATA SSD’s before deciding m2 nvme’s were the way forward, love how small they and of course theoretically much faster than sata. I read they’ll break the 4TB barrier by the end of the year and hopefully become affordable at that size late next year.

Yeah I’m most interested to know whether a TB to TB connection with the aid of a qnap virtual switch will enable internet access on the laptop given the NAS will already be plugged into a 10GBE switch. If not, I’ll have to go purchase the QNAP QNA-T310G1T (rj-45) version for the laptop to get 10gbe speeds. Can’t see why not though given the theoretical TB 3 pipe can handle plenty and all the daisy chaining marketing mambo jumbo over the years I’ve read spruiking it’s awesomeness. Cable length won’t be an issue for me, nothing greater than 1.5M away, CAT5E and 6 over such short distances should handle 10gbe just fine, else I believe the TVS-672XT provided 3x short CAT7 cables.

Curious to learn more about your torrent server on qnap! What’s your plan on the plex setup? On the m2 nvme system vol drives?

Good stuff feel free to PM me if ya need tips of sourcing at the best $, I’ve been very patient building this qnap rig over the past couple weeks slowly accumulating everything, trust it’ll pay off when I set everything up :slight_smile:

p.s. Gotta go 10gbe mate! Esp if you’re going nvme m2! They’re both on the same logical upgrade path to me to make the most of its speed potential

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