QNAP TS-h973AX 9-Bay NAS Enclosure

Powered by a 64-bit 2.2 GHz AMD Ryzen V1500B Quad-Core processor and 10GbE/2.5GbE connectivity, the TS-h973AX 9-Bay NAS Enclosure from QNAP packs a high-capacity hybrid storage infrastructure into a compact physical footprint. With five 3.5" SATA III 6 Gb/s drive bays, two 2.5" U.2 NVMe Gen 3 x4 / SATA III 6 Gb/s drive bays, and two 2.5" SATA III 6 Gb/s drive bays, the TS-h973AX can benefit from SSD caching to boost IOPS-intensive applications. With the ZFS-based QuTS hero operating system, the TS-h973AX helps ensure data integrity and supports block-level inline data deduplication and compression, near-limitless snapshots, and real-time SnapSync to satisfy mission-critical file servers, virtualization servers, collaborative video editing, and efficient data backup and recovery with business-class performance, job reliability, and lower overall cost.

The TS-h973AX comes equipped with 8GB of DDR4 RAM and supports up to 32GB of memory. Network connectivity is achieved using the one 10GbE and two 2.5GbE ports, providing high-speed connectivity and versatile networking possibilities. Additional peripherals, such as QNAP s QNA-UC5G1T USB to 5GbE network adapter, may be connected using the one 10 Gb/s USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port or three 10 Gb/s USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports.

This NAS supports a variety of RAID modes, including RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60, each of which offer data redundancy, speed, or a combination of both. For those who do not need a RAID, JBOD is available. You ll also be able to host multiple virtual machines and containers to run a wide range of applications, as well as expand storage locally using 4-bay TR-004 or 2-bay TR-002 JBODs. While the QuTS hero OS is installed, you ll have the option of switching to QTS. Included is a 10GBASE-T Ethernet cable, a power cord, a 120W power adapter, twenty-four flat-head screws for 3.5" HDDs, thirty-two flat-head screws for 2.5" HDDs, and two drive tray keys. Protection is provided by a limited 3-year warranty.

General Features

AMD Ryzen Performance with up to 32GB of RAM

Powered by an AMD Ryzen V1000 series V1500B 4-core/8-thread, 2.2 GHz processor with up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM, the TS-h973AX delivers aggressive yet power-smart performance for compute-demanding applications. AES-NI encryption support boosts encryption performance while also maintaining the security of your NAS data. SSDs can be flexibly installed for cache acceleration to maximize network and storage performance for data-intensive applications.

Dual U.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 3 x4 SSD Slots for Enhanced I/O and Low Latency

The TS-h973AX has four 2.5" SSD slots, with slots 1 and 2 supporting both high-performance U.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 3 x4 SSDs or economical SATA III 6Gb/s SSDs. For tackling latency-sensitive applications, you can take advantage of U.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 3 x4 SSDs that supply up to 32 Gb/s bandwidth to attain optimized performance and efficiency. You can also use QNAP s QDA-UMP adapter to replace U.2 NVMe SSDs with cost-efficient M.2 NVMe Gen 3 x4 SSDs to maintain high-level performance while saving more costs.

Coupled with QNAP s SSD-aware features, the TS-h973AX maximizes performance with high cost-effectiveness.

SSD Cache Acceleration
Increases IOPS performance and reduces latency for storage volumes - good for IOPS-demanding applications including virtualization and databases.

Write Coalescing
Transforms all random writes to sequential writes along with reduced I/O, effectively increasing SSD write performance.

Pool Over-Provisioning
Flexibly reserves a dedicated space in an SSD storage pool to allow new data to be written into a complete block even if the pool is almost full, thus improving the performance of fragmented pools.

Streamline Large Files Transfers and Video Editing with 10GbE and 2.5GbE

The TS-h973AX has one 10GBASE-T Multi-Gig (10G/5G/2.5G/1G/100M) port and two 2.5GbE RJ45 (2.5G/1G/100M) ports, providing out-of-the-box support for high-speed networking and supporting Port Trunking and Failover to reinforce your network infrastructure. QNAP also provides many other high-speed networking solutions, including 10GbE/2.5GbE managed/unmanaged switches, 2.5GbE/5GbE/10GbE PCIe cards, and USB 5GbE adapters for Windows/Linux workstations, allowing you to build a budget-friendly high-speed network environment for productive team collaboration.

ZFS-Based QuTS Hero Operating System Enhances NAS Performance and Data Integrity

QuTS hero combines the app-based QTS with the 128-bit ZFS file system to provide flexible storage management, comprehensive data protection, and optimized performance to tackle the complexity and performance demands of modern IT. From storage management and virtualization to collaborative media workflows, QuTS hero streamlines your business-critical tasks.

Data Integrity
QuTS hero s self-healing ensures data integrity and reliability. Write Once, Read Many (WORM) is also supported.

Data Reduction Improves Storage Efficiency and Performance
Inline data deduplication, compression, and compaction reduce file size to conserve storage capacity and optimize performance.

Multi-Level Cache Technology
Main memory read cache (L1 ARC), SSD second-level read cache (L2 ARC), and ZFS Intent Log (ZIL) for synchronous transactions with power fail protection are simultaneously supported to boost performance and security.

RAID Z Enables Robust Data Protection
Multiple RAID levels allow flexible capacity utilization. RAID Triple Parity and Triple Mirror deliver higher levels of data protection.

QSAL (QNAP SSD Antiwear Leveling) Enhances Data Protection
RAID-level SSD lifespan is automatically and regularly detected to prevent simultaneous SSD failure, improving your data protection and system reliability.

App Center Ecosystem Extends NAS Functionality
Apps for backup/sync, virtual machines/containers, content management, productivity, and more features can be used to expand the application potential of the TS-h973AX.

Inline Data Deduplication, Compression, and Compaction Drives Big Data Storage Efficiency

QuTS hero supports advanced block-based data reduction technologies (including inline data deduplication, compression, and compaction) to reduce file sizes, conserve storage capacity, and optimize performance. For example, if 20 virtual machines on a NAS are replicated using the same template, then storage space requirements for all 20 virtual machines can be reduced by up to 95%. Whether acting as primary or backup storage, the TS-h973AX optimizes storage utilization to provide a reliable storage cornerstone in the Big Data era.

Real-Time SnapSync Ensures Minimal RPO with Real-Time Disaster Recovery

Real-time SnapSync ensures that both the primary and secondary NAS maintain identical data. When data is written to the source, it is immediately written to the destination. If the primary NAS goes offline, IT staff can simply adjust the privilege settings of the secondary NAS to ensure continuous operations. SnapSync provides the strongest support for nonstop business operations and helps users to reduce the risk of data loss.

The TS-h973AX also supports snapshots and remote backup to help organizations accomplish routine backup tasks cost-effectively and efficiently.

Snapshots Multiply Backup Protection
Attain peace of mind with near-limitless, instant snapshots. Copy-on-write technology makes snapshot creation almost instantaneous without affecting ongoing data writing. Snapshot Replica replicates snapshot files to the backup NAS, simplifying data protection with version control.

HBS Simplifies 3-2-1 Backup Plans
HBS centralizes backup, restoration, and synchronization for easily transferring data in the TS-h973AX to another QNAP NAS, remote server, or cloud storage space. HBS supports QuDedup technology that eliminates redundant data at the source and makes multi-version backup faster.

All-in-One Virtual Machine and Container Hosting So