Today, we’re going to provide you with our QNAP QGD-1600P Review to give you an idea of what this QNAP switch can offer, how it works, its specifications, what its essential features are, and if it performs as well as the company claims.
But before anything else, this product from QNAP is under the Guardian series and is a combination of a PoE switch / NAS device that allows for router, NVR, and AP controller functions. Not only that, but it also features a variety of pre-installed apps to provide efficiency to all of your SMB-networking needs. The PoE switch aids you and your business to instigate digital transformation by via the process of making edge devices smart.
QNAP QGD-1600P Packaging
This part of the QNAP QGD-1600P review is where we’ll focus on the company’s packaging for the switch.
When we got our hands on the QGD-1600P, it came in your typical yet tough-looking cardboard box. There isn’t much to see on the package since the company made sure to keep things simple, but what you’ll see is the name QNAP on the top-left area, while a sticker with further details takes the central portion.
The sticker displays the name of the switch device on its upper-right corner, and above it are the words “Smart Edge PoE Switch.” Its center shows an image of the QNAP QGD-1600P itself, while below it is a collection of its key features and other details about the product.
Inside the box, you will find the QGD-1600P itself, and it also comes with a couple of other accessories for installation. These include the power cord, six flat head screws for 2.5in HDD, an Ethernet cable, four rubber feet, a rackmount kit, as well as a quick installation guide.
QNAP QGD-1600P Review – Design and Functionality
This QGD-1600P from QNAP is the very first PoE-managed switch that features a 4-port, 60W & 12-port 30W Gigabit PoE and backs VMs (virtual machines). QNAP gave this device a dual-CPU design, providing it with Layer 2 functions that work effectively for QTS and VM applications. Not only that, but it sports an SDN (Software-Defined Networking) that allows it to work like an NVR, NAS, firewall, and router. It also functions as an AP controller for IP surveillance, storage expansion, network security, as well as wireless LAN control applications.
This switch provides SMBs with a centrally-managed LAN deployment and cost-optimized solution.
Key Features
This section of our QNAP QGD-1600P Review will provide you with all the essential features that the QGD-1600P has to offer.
Up to 60W PoE Capability
The QGD-1600P complies with the newest IEEE 802.3at and IEEE 802.3bt PoE++ standards. Also, it comes with 12-port 30-Watt and 4-port 60-Watt Gigabit PoE capability. The switch can provide a total power budget of 370 Watts for wireless APs, IP cameras, LED lights, IP phones, digital signages, and other high-power devices or PD.
Smart PoE Functions for Centralized + Efficient PD Administration
The QGD-1600P reinforces smart PoE management functions such as prioritization of power supply, scheduling, and enabling or disabling power. You can acquire the power consumption information and network connection status of PDs in real-time. At the same time, you can configure PDs to establish an energy-saving PoE network.
Complete Features for Layer 2 Management
The QGD-1600P offers comprehensive features for Layer 2 management such as LACP, VLAN, and LLDP so that you can control your network efficiently via bandwidth management and IP grouping. The switch also has strong security functions such as static MAC, IGMP Snooping, Wake-on-LAN, and QoS, which are suitable for easy deployment and simple networking environments.
Dual-system of Switch & NAS for the Best Performance
The QGD-1600P comes with a dual-system design, expandable architecture, and multiple-port capability. With these, the switch allows for optimum transmission and provide flexibility to meet business needs in terms of performance and diversification of apps.
The First of its Type + VM Support
Being the very first PoE switch with a QTS OS integrated for the container, VMs, and other cloud applications, it allows for a distinct storage and networking solution. Aside from the VJBOD, QVR Pro, and other diverse storage apps, the QTS App Center also allows VMs to run a lot of open-source software apps such as RouterOS, pfSense, MikroTik, OpenWrt, and Ubiquiti UniFi.
The QGD-1600P integrates public cloud services to meet the needs of various apps for storage expansion, IP surveillance, wireless LAN management, and network security. Its dual-CPU design enables the independent running of networking management interfaces of QTS and QSS or QNAP Switch System. Moreover, it offers the QuNetSwitch, a user-friendly web interface that aids SMBs in deploying a secure and flexible IT infrastructure.
Moreover, QSS and QTS work independently without any intervention to guarantee continuous operation. For instance, the VMs on QTS continue to run when you restart the QSS. Rebooting the QTS also doesn’t disrupt the PoE power supply of the QSS.
QGD-1600P and VJBOD for a Highly Scalable Storage Solution
The QGD-1600P can hold up to two SATA drives and other hardware-based storage expansion accessories like USB, PCIe, RAID Expansion Enclosure (TR-004U), and SAS expansion for reliable performance. With the QNAP VJBOD, you can also expand the storage space of the QGD-1600P, and allocate storage space from a remote NAS. Additionally, it lets you take snapshots, create storage pools, clones from snapshots, and index multimedia files in QGD-1600P’s media library. With storage expansion and VJBOD, you can attain the highest possible storage utilization to meet your data storage and backup requirements.
Strengthen Security with a Built-in Virtual Router and Firewall
You can easily turn the QGD-1600P into a security router with a firewall through a virtual router and firewall software. When you install RouterOS, Mikrotik, and OpenWrt, you can set Layer 3 routing functions to create site-to-site VPN tunnels between headquarters and branches while keeping the transmission of enterprise network data secure.
pfSense is a virtual firewall software that assists enterprises in segregating or protecting local networks and applying multiple security policies. It’s a platform for on-premises requirements of all types of enterprises.
Creating a Wireless AP Controller With UniFi AP
The QGD-1600P comes with Gigabit PoE features for different types of high-power APs that are PoE wireless. The QNAP QGD-1600P adopts VM and PoE technology to support PoE wireless APs and UniFi, which is Ubiquiti’s wireless LAN management software. With that, the switch acts as a hardware and software-based wireless access point controller.
The QGD-1600P not only allows PoE management over wireless APs and data transmission, but it also enables the central administration of networking devices. It promotes the efficiency of network management while reducing costs.
Specifications
This QNAP QGD-1600P is a web-managed switch unit that makes use of the Intel Celeron J4-115 quad-core 1.8GHz CPU. It has a 64-bit x86 CPU architecture, plus a 4GB system memory and a maximum memory of 8GB (two 4GB).
The QNAP QGD-1600P comes with a 2.5in SSD, a 2.5in HDDtwo SODIMM DDR4’s, plus a switching capacity of 32Gbps. Additionally, it comes with a RAM/cache that’s 4GB with a 2.5in platter size.
It supports the EXT4, EXT3, NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, and HFS+ external hard drive file system, plus the EXT4 for the internal hard drive file system. The switch measures 6.3 (H) x 20.79 (W) x 15.87 (D) and weighs 5.56kg (gross) / 4.41kg (net). Lastly, the QNAP QGD-1600P comes with a 2-year warranty as well.
Hands-on with the QNAP QGD-1600P
Now on our QNAP QGD-1600P Review, we’ll get to know more about how the QGD functions and how well it performs.
The QNAP QGD-1600P is a lot more than you think since it’s packed with the OS of a NAS device, the GUI QTS 4.4.1, plus an entirely separate hardware system. And since the NAS sports a different reset and power button for each, the result would be a total of two systems that you can readily and easily manage physically and independently.
With the QDG-1600P making use of SSD’s for storage we highly recommend that you install drives that are designed with NAS usage in mind. The best choice we found is the Seagate IronWolf 110 Network Attached Storage SSD. Built for NAS usage, these drives will give you outstanding performance for all NAS applications.
QTS NAS GUI
The Intelligent NAS OS is perceptive, user-friendly, and helps when it comes to managing data or files without putting in a lot of effort in the process. Not only that, but it simultaneously provides you with high data protection as well.
This QTS continues to improve the NAS UI with a new and easier-to-manage look, as well as a ton of enhancements & features that allows you to achieve more for work and play. Plus, it also keeps your data protected and accessible anytime, anywhere.
The VM Installer
Available in the QTS NAS GUI software is the VM Installer. It is the area where you can install the virtual machine environments on the device’s switch side.
Currently, the QGD-1600P supports OpenWrt, pfSense, and OSRouer in the VM Installer. Each of these is readily available once you open the installer. It’s nice that we were able to choose the VM installation directory, as well as the space allocation that you want to give the VM. We appreciate that QNAP made things more accessible and convenient by presenting everything in a user-friendly and straightforward manner.
Once you’ve completed the initial steps, you can choose a more customized setup based on your preference. You can select if the VM will have access to the internet, and you can even choose the ports you want to assign the WAN and VM to.
QuNetSwitch
QuNetSwitch lets you take advantage of an easy-to-use web UI to aid IT administrators in effectively controlling PoE and Layer 2 networks. Its graphical statistics analysis and overview dashboard readily exhibit all the switch details, as well as the pored devices for IT administrators to make central management and control of high-power tools more accessible and convenient.
The QuNetSwitch is the primary section for switch-based activities, and it features a similar design to a lot of core system applications from QNAP. What’s cool is that you can still see and manage the QuNetSwitch app when you have the QTS NAS portion of the device as an application window. Meaning, you can conveniently complete tasks from either side, which is excellent.
When you’re on the primary UI, you will promptly view the following: active connections & available ports, PoE connectivity, and the amount of power drawn by the ports. It also displays port traffic analytics, security logs & alerts, port/LAG Trunking setup, the Active Security protocols that are in place, as well as all the connected users.
You should remember that the QNAP QGD-1600P backs the installation of wireless cards (like the QWA-A2600) and wireless AP applications in the QTS that supports an extensive MIMO environment. It conveniently lets you add wireless connections to the Switch and NAS environments to establish a full PoE LAN & strong wireless network that has access to the switch’s applications.
The QGD-1600P + QVR Pro Surveillance Suite
The QGD-1600P works excellently with the QVR Pro, which is QNAP’s latest surveillance software service. Designed to help establish an economical IP surveillance system, it integrates NVR, PoE, as well as NAS storage use.
Technically, the QGD-1600P makes the surveillance network infrastructure more straightforward while simultaneously satisfying the needs for adequate central management, surveillance deployment, computing, and video recording.
The unit provides 4-port 60W, as well as 12-port 30W Gigabit PoE, to a variety of high-powered IP cameras featuring the ONVIF standards. And via the QVR Pro, you can readily manage and control cameras, playback & record videos, monitor mobile applications, and even failover recording tasks with ease. We also appreciate that the QGD-1600P is integrated with an HDMI output to link external monitors that allow you to do surveillance video monitoring in real-time.
Technically, the QNAP QGD-1600P’s NAS and switch combination provides extensive benefits for data access and growth. But because of its easy port management, PoE ports, HDMI controls, 8-camera license, and QNAP QVR Pro applications, a lot of people also purchase the device due to it being a surveillance solution. And with that, we can surely claim that the QNAP QGD-1600P perfectly delivers in this category.
QNAP QGD-1600P Review Summary
Overall, we had a wonderful experience using the QNAP QGD-1600P. It offers a lot of advantages, the main one being a single device that performs as a switch and a NAS. It saves physical space since we don’t have to purchase two devices like we commonly do, and aside from saving space, it helps consume less power even while doing multiple functions.
Also, this QGD-1600P simplifies the control of the switch and NAS while keeping everything safe and secure. Unlike other complicated switches from competing brands, the QGD-1600P is user-friendly, so even non-IT professionals will be able to use this. Its design and the interface of the QTS are all clear and straightforward, which makes controlling the switch easier to understand.
What makes the QGD-1600P a better device is the QuNetSwitch software that allows for managing and moderating your NAS. Its well-designed interface, combined with the QNAP NAS’ Virtual and Network Switch software, will enable you to easily create unique networks using your custom permissions, securities, priorities, and protocols. Having all of these utilities for the QGD-1600P make VM deployment easier, which is usually challenging in other switches on the market.
To make things better, the QNAP QGD-1600P also acts as a surveillance solution that features a NAS and PoE-managed switch combined, which is something we consider as a smart idea from the company. Directly connecting all the cameras to the NAS is simple, and it allows for remote access of the NAS with https, VPN, encryption, and other services.
When the QNAP QGD-1600P functions as a switch, it provides control on the priority of service commands, pfSense support firewall management, DDOS prevention measures, as well as camera priority settings. As a NAS device, the QGD-1600P protects surveillance recordings using its RAID control and provides backup with Hybrid Backup Sync 3. It also features user permission settings.
Furthermore, you won’t have to worry about data loss in case someone steals the QNAP QGD-1600P from your home or office since it comes with QNAP’s Hybrid Backup Sync application that provides a wide range of backup options. It also covers local backups over the network or USB, Internet backups via mounted drive protocols, and WebDav, as well as 3rd party cloud support. You can configure these to backup data from the QGD-1600P in real-time, or set a schedule for it. Aside from that, you can decide if the device will create new backups or overwrite the older version to save storage space.
To conclude our QNAP QGD-1600P review, we enjoyed using this product, and we highly recommend it. If you want to purchase the QNAP QGD-1600P, search for shops near you via the store locator on the company’s official website.
