Qnap TVS-1271U-RP review
You’re spoilt for choice with Qnap’s latest rack NAS appliance

The TVS-1271U-RP offers a big hardware spec at a competitive price and an unbeatable expansion potential. However, real world performance is average and the top model on review is best suited to hardware intensive apps such as Qnap’s Virtualization Station.
-
+
Choice of hardware; Big expansion potential; 10GbE ready; Extensive cloud backup apps
-
-
Noisy fans; Supports read cache only; Average real world speeds

Virtualization Station and QvPC
The Core i7 CPU and 32GB of memory are a good choice if you're planning on using Qnap's unique Virtualization Station app. Managed from the QTS console, this allows the appliance to host multiple VMs and OSes.
It's very easy to use and we could create manual VM snapshots and use them for rollback purposes. It comes into play with Qnap's QvPC technology and HybridDesk Station app as you can access the QTS interface and Virtualization Station app with a local HDMI monitor, keyboard and mouse and use the appliance as a PC.
The latest QTS software adds many new features including a VPN Server app and even more backup features. There's Qnap's RRTR synchronization and replication to Rsync compatible appliances while the new OpenStack Swift app adds support for big cloud providers such as HP Cloud and RackSpace.
Amazon S3 and Glacier plus Microsoft Azure get their own apps and workstation backup can be run using Qnap's Qsync app or its NetBack Replicator software. There are more clouds on your horizon with file syncing apps for Dropbox and Google Drive while the beta Gmail app allowed us to secure our Google Mail account mailboxes to a folder on the appliance.
Conclusion
Stacking up the TVS-1271U-RP against Synology's 12-bay RS3614xs+ shows it to be better value although the Core i7/32GB model is a tad excessive if you're only planning on using it for general network storage duties. Even so, whichever model you choose, you'll find it scores highly for its excellent range of features while the huge expansion potential makes it ideal as a big backup repository.
Verdict
The TVS-1271U-RP offers a big hardware spec at a competitive price and an unbeatable expansion potential. However, real world performance is average and the top model on review is best suited to hardware intensive apps such as Qnap’s Virtualization Station.
Chassis: 2U rack CPU: 3.2GHz Core i7-4790S Memory: 32GB DDR3 Storage: 12 x 2.5/3.5in SATA hot-swap drive bays Array support: RAID0, 1, 5, 6, 10, hot-spare, JBODs Network: 4 x Gigabit Expansion: 2 x PCI-Express 3.0 slots, 2 x mSATA sockets Other ports: 4 x USB 3, 4 x USB 2, HDMI Power: 2 x 500W hot-plug PSUs Management: Web browser, QvPC Warranty: 3-year limited
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
Dave is an IT consultant and freelance journalist specialising in hands-on reviews of computer networking products covering all market sectors from small businesses to enterprises. Founder of Binary Testing Ltd – the UK’s premier independent network testing laboratory - Dave has over 45 years of experience in the IT industry.
Dave has produced many thousands of in-depth business networking product reviews from his lab which have been reproduced globally. Writing for ITPro and its sister title, PC Pro, he covers all areas of business IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, network security, data protection, cloud, infrastructure and services.
-
“Governance is an irreplaceable role”: Microsoft Security VP on why diversity and sector expertise will keep security workers relevant in the age of agentic AI
News Improved AI skills and a greater focus on ensuring agents are secure at point of deployment will be key for staying ahead of attackers
By Rory Bathgate Published
-
Microsoft: get used to working with AI-powered "digital colleagues"
News Tech giant's report suggests we should get ready to work with AI, revealing future trends for the workplace
By Nicole Kobie Published
-
HPE boosts Aruba, GreenLake security
News Tech giant hopes to help enterprises battle against rise of "sophisticated" cloud threats
By Nicole Kobie Published