I’m not the biggest fan of external HD enclosures. It seems that the speed of transfer is always too slow and the heat build-up causes you to lose data right up until the hard drive finally just dies. So when I received the Qnap QBack-35S, I was naturally wary of sticking one of my precious HD’s in there. Eventually though, I realized that it would have to be done. None of my friends were willing to let me gut their computers to borrow a hard drive.
First off, let’s have a little background on our subject. The QNAP QBack-35S Automatic File Backup Station is an encrypted data backup center designed for people who want a little more security for their data. Namely, an AES 256-bit data encryption. QBack-35S is a 3.5” single SATA drive external enclosure which is compatible with major hard disk drive brands. It supports up to 1TB capacity, USB 2.0, and eSATA high-speed data transfer. It offers hands-free and real-time automatic file backup along with Email backup. Four backup modes are provided including auto-sync backup, instant backup, one-touch-button backup, and schedule backup.
QBack-35S main features:
- Automatic file backup (one-way synchronization) through the powerful QBack auto-backup software installed on PC/notebook.
- Multiple choices of backup modes:
Auto-Backup (one-way synchronization)
Schedule backup
Instant backup
One-Touch-Button (OTB) backup (For QBack Software with USB connection only). - Incremental backup feature for all modes, only modified files and newly created files on computer will be backed up to save time.
- Smart detection of backup file size and available storage capacity on the disk to ensure successful backup.
- Backup all files in computer including all mails in Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail (for Vista), My Documents, Favorites, Fonts, and Desktop.
- Advanced data encryption technology (AES 256-bit) to make sure the backup data is securely protected at all times.
- Hard disk can be partitioned into 2 disks: Public and Secure disks by Quick Install Wizard.
- USB 2.0 and eSATA interfaces for faster backup file transfer rate.
- Support 3.5″ SATA HDD up to 1TB (not included).
- Support Windows Vista (32-bit)/ XP/ 2000/ Server 2003.
- Convenient data restore to original paths.
- Multilingual support: English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russia
| Hardware Spec | Software Spec |
|
|
The QBack-35S is very pleasing to the eyes. It has a sleek titanium shell with a gun-metal finish. The front is basically plain black plastic, with the logo at the top and two lights at the bottom for power and hard drive usage. The back is all business as well, with an OTB (One Touch Backup) button, USB connector, eSATA connector, Power connector, and last but not least a power switch. To finish it off, a nice little black stand holds the enclosure upright. Low profile, small, and easily transportable.
The package comes with a Quick Installation Guide, CD-ROM, Power Adaptor, Power Cord, six flat-head mounting screws, eSATA cable, an eSATA to SATA cable with mounting bracked, a USB 2.0 cable, and a glossy plastic stand.
The system used to test this hardware is as follows:
- AMD Sempron 3200+ processor
- 2GB system RAM
- 500GB Seagate HD
- NVidia GForce 5500 graphics card.
Once again, I bench tested at 8mb and 32mb with HDTach. Now I was getting the results I am used to. The average speed for a USB 2.0 connection was 19.2mb/s. So with a little hesitation, I proceeded to transfer the raw video files over once again. 57 minutes later, the transfer was complete. Now don’t get me wrong, USB is one of the most innovative connections to come into the world of computers, making damned near everything hot-swappable. But when it comes to large file backups, I would opt for the eSATA route.
In closing, the QNAP QBack-35S was quite impressive when it came to eSATA data transfer rates, and when it came to backing things up with the ultimate in flexibility. It handled heat dissipation like a pro, and I got the speed I was missing when USB was the standard for accessing files on an external hard drive. Aside from little things that I found personally irritating, like only being able to use the wide range of features in the QBack software in USB mode (Editor: both eSATA and USB cables must be connected to get full functionality), this is a product I would recommend to the average consumer who is simply looking for a way to back up their data safely and securely. For those who have large amounts of data to transfer in a hurry, you’ll have to give up security for serenity.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||