QNAP TS-873A Review: 64GB Ceiling, and Keep It Off the Internet

Eight bays on a Ryzen embedded chip with room for 64GB of RAM, on a platform with a ransomware history worth knowing.

Specifications

Specifications above come from QNAP's published specifications. Treat pricing as approximate, since Amazon pricing moves.

What it does well

• Sixty four gigabytes of maximum memory is far beyond what the competition allows, and memory is the resource that runs out first once you start hosting virtual machines and containers.
• The Ryzen Embedded V1500B is a genuine server-class part with ECC support in many implementations, and it handles multiple simultaneous workloads better than an N-series chip.
• Dual 2.5GbE is the right networking for most homes. It is roughly two and a half times gigabit and it is more than most spinning arrays can saturate.
• Three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports at 10 gigabit make external backup targets genuinely fast, which matters for the off-site copy in a 3-2-1 plan.
• It is several hundred dollars cheaper than the other eight-bays here for a comparable hardware class.

Where it falls short

• Security posture is the thing to take seriously. QNAP NAS units have been the target of repeated ransomware campaigns aimed at devices reachable from the internet. The mitigation is straightforward and it is mandatory: keep the admin interface off the public internet, disable UPnP port forwarding, use a VPN for remote access, and apply firmware updates promptly.
• Eight gigabytes as shipped is thin for a machine with this much capability. Budget for a memory upgrade if you plan to virtualise.
• QTS is capable and busier than DSM. There are more settings, more apps and more ways to configure something badly.
• The V1500B at 2.2GHz is not a fast single-thread processor, so anything that depends on one core running quickly will feel slower than its core count suggests.
• Eight drives in a home is heat, noise and continuous power draw. Put it somewhere you are not sitting.

What owners report

Owner reports on QNAP hardware are generally positive on value and flexibility. The recurring theme in the wider community is security, and it is not folklore: successive ransomware campaigns have specifically targeted QNAP devices that were reachable from the internet, usually via port forwarding set up for convenience. Owners who kept their units behind a VPN and patched promptly were not the ones affected.

Our Synology versus QNAP comparison covers the platform choice honestly. QNAP gives you more hardware and more configuration freedom; Synology gives you a more opinionated appliance. Neither is safe if you expose it, and our hardening guide is the checklist to work through before the NAS sees any traffic.

On memory, our ECC versus non-ECC comparison is worth reading if you are planning an upgrade, because the V1500B family is one of the few NAS platforms where ECC is a realistic option rather than a theoretical one.

Who it suits

• Anyone running virtual machines or many containers, where 64GB of headroom matters.
• Buyers who want eight bays at the lowest price among mature platforms.
• Administrators comfortable with a VPN and a patching routine.

Who should skip it

• Anyone who wants to port forward the web interface for remote access, which is exactly how these devices get compromised.
• Buyers who want the simplest possible appliance experience.
• Homes where four bays is enough, which is most of them.

Alternatives worth considering

Keep reading

• Synology vs QNAP
• ECC vs non-ECC memory
• 10GbE vs 2.5GbE
• NAS security hardening
• The 3-2-1 backup rule
• Synology DS1825+ review
• UGREEN DXP8800 Plus review
• Best 8-bay NAS

This review draws on published specifications, manufacturer figures and the consensus of verified owner reviews. We have not tested this product ourselves, and we say so rather than implying otherwise. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.