Qnap Systems: The NAS and NVR Experts

Teddy Kuo, Chairman

The amount of data flowing across the internet today is mindboggling. Data is encroaching on becoming new currency; with big data analytics these days being the best way to extract maximum intelligence from that data. More intelligence from data means companies can leverage the data for their business success. This is especially true for governments that use data in day-to-day activities. As governments are divided into different divisions, the growing amount of data becomes so rampant that it becomes especially hard to simplify everyday tasks and boost profitability.

As data influx increases, it becomes equally important that storage for that data is managed efficiently. Cloud computing concept is one that comes to mind. However, cloud computing comes with a lot of added cost and risk especially for governments because public clouds are often safer than private clouds in this day and age, but the day governments upload all their sensitive data onto public clouds is one that we may never see. So the next option is Network Attached Storage (NAS), which gives users the best of both, onsite and cloud data storage.

This is where ‘Quality Network Appliance Provider’—QNAP comes in--offering a range of turnkey NAS and Network Video Recorder (NVR) solutions that have been designed with the goal of offering quality, value, and convenience to customers. The California-based firm’s NAS storage is the ideal solution for IT-based projects of governmental agencies. NAS gives users the security of physically owning the drives that store the data while having the convenience of accessing it from anywhere when connected to the network.

NAS offers the security of owning the drives that store data while having the convenience of accessing it from anywhere when connected to the network

This effectively enables sharing of data across all departments under the government umbrella, increasing work efficiency and productivity. The icing on the cake is that NAS’s multiple built-in applications such as remote replication, FTP servers, web servers and file servers can all be easily maintained without the need for any professional IT knowledge or extra spending. “Our NAS solutions can provide virtualization so that customers can use Windows on the server. We also provide containers, so customers can easily implement IoT private cloud types of solutions,” says Teddy Kuo, Chairman of QNAP.

QNAP’s first ever NAS device was released in 2006. QNAP bases its NAS devices on its proprietary storage software, QTS 4.3.4. Now with a revamped UI that not only simplifies the storage management system but also puts further emphasis on the visualized snapshot management, making storage and snapshot management much easier. A snapshot allows the NAS to record its system state at any time and in the event of an unexpected situation, the user can revert to a snapshot that has been saved at a previous point in time. Just like restoring a computer using the Previous Point Restore feature. The firm also offers RAID protection against hard drive failures, notifying users through SMS or email when it detects failing drives.

NAS ranges from 4 TB to well beyond 700 TB and is the perfect storage option for government agencies as cloud computing often gets expensive quickly; the more data is stored on it. Though, for customers that do want to store data on the cloud, QNAP has them covered. “We work with hybrid cloud solutions like Dropbox, so, customers can upload the data into the NAS box first and can then schedule uploads to the cloud on a daily basis.

It even works the other way round,” continues Kuo. QNAP’s Cloud Drive Sync is a wizard that helps users back their data on a cloud from the NAS or vice-versa; it is capable of multiple cloud management with a dashboard and job statistics. In 2017, QNAP launched its Thunderbolt 3 NAS lineup, specifically designed for higher transfer speeds. With the major trends today pointing towards scale-out solutions, NAS systems are already at the forefront as its single driver support is ideal for scale-out solutions.

"As of now, we have about 1,000 employees worldwide, and our revenue is about $0.2 billion. Our five-year goal is to have a company that has a revenue stream of $1 billion"

QNAP’s NVR solutions are robust IP-based surveillance systems that capitalize on the popularity of high megapixel and fisheye cameras. Its QVR Surveillance Station 5.1 software maximizes the usability of the cameras with high management efficiency of the surveillance systems. Compatible with a myriad of cameras available in the market, QNAP’s Surveillance Station offers real-time monitoring, different recording modes and playback options, among others. A highlight of NVR is that users can analyze a desired section of video without the need for manually screening pieces of video. The Centralized Management System also enables multiple cameras to be controlled at once, negating the need for users to copy/paste settings for individual cameras in the same area.

QNAP announced the launch of the Orthanc project for NAS, a free open-source ecosystem that makes NAS systems into lightweight and powerful picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) that are specifically designed for the healthcare industry. “As of now, we have about 1,000 employees worldwide, and our revenue is about $0.2 billion. Our five-year goal is to have a company that has a revenue stream of $1 billion,” concludes Kuo.