QNAP TBS-453A 4-Bay M.2 SSD NAS Review

QTS Switch configuration

We’ve gone over QTS in depth in the past. The TBS-453A adds another piece of configuration. The TBS-453A adds 5 physical ports in a 4 + 1 configuration. The switch and switchports can be configured using the Network & Virtual Switch app in the QTS control panel.

The application essentially breaks the switch ports down into tow adapters. Adapter number 1 is the single physical port to the far right when looking at the switch ports and adapter 2 is the four ports to the left of port 1. While initially I thought maybe the TBS-453A could be used as a router of sorts, it cannot. It is purely a switch. When all four ports in adapter 2 are populated, the clients all exist on the same IP network.

QTS supports virtualization as well. Along with virtualization of the PCs, network virtualization is available as well. This allows the virtual PCs to connect to the physical network.

The TBS-453A can also act as a DHCP server to assign IP addresses to both local virtual and network connected PCs.

With multiple network adapters that could exist on different IP networks, a default-gateway needs to be assigned. Without it, the NAS wouldn’t be able to see other IP networks or the internet. You can set the default gateway manually or have the NAS automatically set the default gateway based on which interface can get to the internet.