QNAP Frequently Asked Questions

How is the QNAP used for video editing ?

The QNAP is a NAS (network attached storage) device. This means that multiple people can share the same disk drive storage, without having to spend the money for each editing system to have its own local storage. Everyone connected to the QNAP can share the same video media stored on the drives.

Is the QNAP fast enough to have multiple editors working on the same video media at the same time ?

Yes. Of course, this depends on the model of QNAP that you have selected. Most QNAP NAS systems with 8, 12 or 16 drives will be more than fast enough to allow multiple editors to be able to edit the same media at the same time.

What video editing software works with the QNAP ?

Apple FCP X, Apple FCP 7, Davinci Resolve, AVID Media Composer and Adobe Premiere. AVID Pro Tools also works. Graphics programs like Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, and Maxon Cinema 4D also work. To get AVID Bin Locking to work with multiple AVID Media Composer editing systems on a QNAP, you must purchase Hedge Mimiq for each editing system. This will allow full AVID bin locking, just like an AVID Nexis.

Can the QNAP host the PostgreSQL Database for Davinci Resolve ?

No. This used to work up to Resolve 17. With Resolve 18, I now recommend just putting Resolve Project Server 18 onto a Mac, and using this for the PostgreSQL 13 database.

Is the QNAP fast enough to edit 4K video media with multiple users at the same time

Yes. For 4K media editing, I strongly recommend using thunderbolt to 10G Ethernet adaptors on the editing computers, or 10Gb Ethernet PCIe cards if you have Windows PC's or old Mac Pro's. These products are made by Sonnet Technology, QNAP, OWC, and ATTO Technology.

How do I transfer my video media onto the QNAP storage system ?

You plug in your media drive into your local computer, mount the QNAP onto your computer desktop, and drag the media from your external drive to the QNAP drive.

Can I sync the media from my local computer to the QNAP ?

Yes. QNAP supplies a free program called QSync that you can load on your Mac or PC. Many people prefer to use a popular third party program called ChronoSync from Econ Technologies to accomplish this.

How can I access the QNAP over the internet ?

I used to use QNAP QVPN to do this or QNAP Wireguard, but because of Ransomware issues from Deadbolt and QLocker, I no longer use these included programs. I now use ZeroTier and Tailscale. Both of these as of May 2023, are not officially authorized by QNAP, but they all for the remote mounting of the QNAP to a remote computer over the internet, without having to open up any ports on your internet router, preventing the possibility of getting a Ransomware virus.

Will the QNAP mount on the desktop of my computer like a USB or Thunderbolt drive ?

Yes

Will the QNAP mount on my computer desktop like a USB or Thunderbolt drive if I use QNAP QVPN over the internet ?

Yes. If you install QNAP QVPN Service, you can now VPN directly from your computer into the QNAP over the internet, and all the QNAP shared folders will mount directly onto your computer. Of course, you are at the mercy of your internet connection speed, for access to your files. Freelance editors and graphics people all over the world will be able to access your QNAP using File Station, if you grant them permission to do so. This also applies to ZeroTier and Tailscale.

How can I edit an entire show over the internet using a QNAP ?

As of 2023, the most realistic way to accomplish this is thru a process called "proxy editing" You transcode your original video media to low res proxy footage. You put these files into a folder you want to share on your QNAP. Your freelance editors will use ZeroTier or Tailscale to remote into your QNAP, where they will have access to the folder that contains the low res proxy files. Once downloaded to their computer, they edit the show. When they are done, they can upload the finished show, and the project file from the editing system back onto the QNAP. You can now use this project file at your facility to conform that show using FCP X or Adobe Premiere back to the original full resolution media. This will produce a finished show at full resolution.

How do I create proxy media on the QNAP for remote access ?

There are many programs available to create proxy media. These include Adobe Media Encoder, Apple Compressor, Hedge Edit Ready, Imagine Products Prime Transcoder and even the free MPEG Streamclip. All of these products will create proxy files from your original media.

How do I accomplish digital asset management on a QNAP system ?

There are many programs that do digital asset management, like CatDV, Axle Video and Ikonik. You just point them at the QNAP.

How do I backup to LTO Tape from the QNAP ?

You plug an LTO drive into your computer, like an MLogic MTape, or MagStor. You run an LTO software program like Imagine Products PreRoll Post, YoYotta ID, or Hedge Video Canister, on your computer. You mount the QNAP storage onto your computer desktop, and tell the software to make an LTO tape backup from the QNAP shared storage volume. As of May 2023, the only native LTO program for the QNAP is Archiware P5.

Do I have to understand Linux to use a QNAP ?

No. The interface to setup the QNAP is done in an easy to use web browser. You can access this from Internet Explorer, Safari, Google Chrome or Firefox.

Do I have to install any software on my computers to use a QNAP ?

When a QNAP gets setup for the first time, a program called QFinder Pro is downloaded from the QNAP website, so the setup process can be done. Other than that, there is no software required to mount a QNAP onto your Mac or Windows computer. There are no software license fees, or restrictions on any computer to access the QNAP in your network. If you wish, QNAP offers a free program called QSync which allows syncing data from your computer to the QNAP. This program is free and most people do not use this, as it's very easy to simply drag data around onto the QNAP.

Can I see the QNAP files on my iPhone or iPad ?

Yes. You can either use a web browser like Safari to acesss MyQnapCloud or CloudLink to see your files if you log into this account, or you can download a free Apple App called Qfile, that allows you to see the files on your QNAP directly on your phone or iPad, without having to log into any account. All of this is free.

What network protocols does the QNAP support ?

SMB, AFP, and NFS.

Can I use WiFi to connect to the QNAP ?

Yes. But your speeds will be limited to your WiFi connection . For best results you should use wired 10Gb Ethernet or 1G Ethernet.

How can I backup my QNAP ?

Purchase a second QNAP ! They are very inexpensive. You can use QNAP Hybrid Backup Sync to backup from one QNAP to another. It's free.

You can also backup to a cloud site like Amazon S3, Dropbox, or Google Drive, but this process will be slow.

Can I backup to a second QNAP over the internet ?

Yes. You would still use QNAP Backup Station or QNAP Hybrid Backup Sync, but you would have to open ports on your router to allow for remote access over the internet. The speed of the backup is dependent on the speed of your internet connection. I always recommend backing up locally first at your facility, and when the main backup is done, then move the QNAP to the remote location, so you are not trying to backup terabytes of data over the internet.

How large can the QNAP be ?

This depends on how many drives you have, and how large the drives are. As of May 2023, the largest drive available is a 22 TB SATA drive. The smallest QNAP I recommend for video editing needs to have at least 8 drives. This means that an 8 bay QNAP with 22 TB SATA drives will give you 132 TB of storage after creating a RAID 6 group. Of course, you can choose smaller, less expensive SATA drives. 12 bay non rack mount QNAP's can have 1 expander. There are also 12, 16 and 24 bay rack mount QNAP's that can support 8 16 bay expanders, for over 1 Pedabyte of storage on a single QNAP system.

Can I just put 4 drives into an 8 bay QNAP ?

Yes, but it will not be fast enough for multiple users to do video editing.

Can I use thunderbolt for video editing ?

Yes, but I do not recommend it. For multiple users, I always recommend getting a small 10G QNAP or Netgear switch, connecting this to the 10G port of the QNAP, and let all the editing computers plug into the switch with a Cat 6 cable. This gives the most consistant performance.

Exactly how do you connect multiple editing computers to a QNAP.

You purchase a Netgear or Ubiquiti or QNAP 10G Ethernet switch. This connects to the QNAP with a Cat 6 Ethernet cable. All computers plug into the Netgear switch. There are different size models of 10G switches - 8 port, 16 port, 24 port and 48 port.

If I only have 2 edit systems, do I need to buy a switch ?

No. You can plug in the computers directly to the QNAP 10G Ethernet ports, and assign static IP addresses to them on different subnets.

Can I plug I a Promise Pegasus or G-Tech Studio XL Thunderbolt RAID array directly into the QNAP.

Is there power protection on the QNAP.

Yes. QNAP works well with UPS from APC and Cyberpower. If you plug in a USB cable from the QNAP into many Cyberpower or APC UPS, and there is a power loss, the QNAP will safely shut down if it detects a power loss on the UPS. The amount of minutes before the shutdown starts can be easily set in a menu on the QNAP.

Does the QNAP just plug in and work, like a thunderbolt Promise Pegasus, or G-Tech Studio XL

No. Someone must setup the QNAP and initialize it.

Is the QNAP RAID protected ?

Yes. RAID 5 (allowing one drive to fail) or RAID 6 (allowing 2 drives to fail). RAID 50 and RAID 60 will be available soon. When a drive fails, you pull out the defective drive with power on, and put in the replacement drive. Everyone can continue to edit (with slightly degraded speeds) while this rebuild process is happening. There are no menus that you have to interact with, to get the RAID rebuilt to start. It happens automatically.

What is the cheapest model I can use for video editing ?

In my opinion, the answer is the QNAP TVS-h886. You must add a 10G card to this model.

What is the best value QNAP offers for video editing ?

As of May 2023, it is my opinion that the best value is the QNAP TVS-h1688X, which is a 12 bay array, with 4 SSD slots, and built in dual 10GbE ports. For even less money, the TVS-h1288X is an 8 drive system with built in 10G ports.

What is the best QNAP model for video editing and expansion if I am not on a budget ?

The QNAP TS-h2287XU-RP.

There are many QNAP models that look exactly the same, but seem like they are half the price. Can I purchase these models instead ?

No. They are not fast enough for video editing. They are only suitable for backup systems.

What if I have a problem with my QNAP ?

Simple answer - call Bob Zelin's CEL phone at (407) 257 9157, or email him at bobzelin@icloud.com