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Page 1 of 6  A new NAS (Network Attached Storage) device from the folks at QNAP Systems comes with 2 bays for Serial-ATA hard drives, RAID capability and enough built-in services to make many big servers totally obsolete. Here at OzHardware we take a closer look.
Appearance and Design: The design and appearance of the TS-209 Pro is almost identical to QNAP’s older TS-201 model which was also a 2-bay device. So they haven’t done too much in the design department to give us something new and exciting, but rather they’ve stuck with their old faithful design. QNAP TS-209 Pro 2-Bay NAS Device  The front facia of the TS-209 is a glossy black plastic item with a small control and status light panel at its base which includes a single USB port, while the rest of the unit is comprised of a grey powder-coasted metal chassis and body that when coupled with the two hard drives inside does pack quite a bit of weight, so it’s certainly not a portable solution. Thankfully it is a very rigid device, so stacking books or other computer equipment on top won’t be a drama at all. Status Light Panel on Front  At the rear of the TS-209 Pro the picture is dominated by a 7cm exhaust cooling fan, which is a great inclusion to keep the two internal drives cool with air being drawn in through intake vents on either side of the case. Also at the rear we have the usual power and LAN connectors, as well as two USB ports (in addition to the one we already have on the front) for connection to external hard drives, flash drives or even printers. There’s also a K-Lock (Kensington Lock) hole so you can secure this to the desk and stop someone walking off with it. Rear of the TS-209 Pro  All up it’s not a bad looking unit, and somewhat deceptive as to its capabilities - which we’ll talk more about later – it looks like just a simple hard drive box, but what it can do is quite impressive.
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