QNAP Systems Ts 253 User Guide

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Action Description 
Filter snapshots 
Go to Storage Manager > Snapshot > Snapshot Vault to see 
a list of available snapshots. You can filter snapshots using the 
following criteria: 
Source: Source NAS IP address 
Volume/LUN: Replicated volume or LUN 
Location: Storage pool that contains the snapshot 
Status: Snapshot status 
Note: If the status of a snapshot is not Ready, you will not be able to view or access 
that snapshot. 
 
Display content 
1.  Go Storage Manager > STORAGE > Snapshot > 
Snapshot Vault. 
2.  Select a snapshot from the list and click "Show Snapshots”. 
The screen displays the following information: 
Left panel: Overview of snapshots 
Right panel: Folders and files in the snapshots 
Note: To review advanced information in an expanded window, click Hide snapshot 
content next to the search box. 
 
Download content 
1.  Go Storage Manager > STORAGE > Snapshot > 
Snapshot Vault. 
2.  Select a snapshot from the list and click "Show Snapshots”. 
3.  Click Show snapshot content. 
4.  Select the files that you want to download, right-click, and 
then select Download. 
Remove snapshots 
1.  Go to Storage Manager > STORAGE > Snapshot > 
Snapshot Vault. 
2.  Select a snapshot in the list and click Remove. 
 
Filtering Snapshots 
Navigate to Snapshot Vault in Storage Manager > Snapshot > Snapshot Vault and you 
will see a list of available snapshots. You can click the filter drop down list to filter snapshots 
with a set of criteria:  
Source: Source NAS IP address 
Volume/LUN: The volume/LUN that has been replicated 
Location: The storage pool where the snapshot has been stored 
Status: The snapshot status 
  
						

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Note: If the status of a snapshot is not Ready, you will not be able to view or access 
that snapshot. 
 
 
Displaying Snapshot Content 
Navigate to Snapshot Vault in Storage Manager > STORAGE > Snapshot, choose the 
desired snapshot replication from the list, and click Show Snapshots to display its content. 
You can see an overview of snapshots in the left panel or browse through folders and see files 
in the snapshots on the right panel. 
 
Click the Hide snapshot content button next to the search box to review advanced 
information regarding snapshots in an expanded window. 
 
To download files in a snapshot, click the Show snapshot content button, select the files, 
right click your mouse and click Download. 
  
Removing Snapshots 
1. Navigate to Snapshot Vault in Storage Manager > STORAGE > Snapshot. 
2. Select a snapshot replication in the list and click Remove. 
3. The snapshot replication is removed. 
  
Cloning Snapshots 
1. Navigate to Snapshot Vault in Storage Manager > STORAGE > Snapshot. 
2. Select a snapshot replication in the list and click Show Snapshots. 
3. Select a snapshot on the left panel and click Clone. 
4. Enter a name for the volume to mount the snapshot. 
5. Choose the folders/files to clone. 
6. Select OK and the task will start immediately. 
7. Go to Storage Manager > STORAGE > Storage Space and you will see the new 
volume that has been cloned from Snapshot Vault. 
8. You can now also use File Station to manage the files in the new volume.  
						

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Qtier 
 
Qtier is an automated-tiering storage solutions that moves hot data to high-performance storage tiers 
and cold data to lower-cost, higher-capacity drives, allowing users to enjoy exceptional application 
performance and lower TCO of storage at the same time. This chapter covers the following topics: 
Creating Storage Space with Qtier 
Managing Auto Tiering 
Monitoring Auto-Tiering Performance 
 
Note: This function or its content is only applicable on some models. To check for 
applicable models, please refer to the product comparison table on the QNAP website. 
 
Creating Storage Space with Qtier 
  
1. Install at least two different types of drives (SSD, SAS, or NL-SAS) in the NAS. One of the types 
of drives must be SSDs. 
2. Create a new storage pool in "Storage Manager" > "Storage Space" > "Create” > “New Storage 
Pool or Storage Manager > Storage Space > or Storage Manager > Storage Space > 
“New Storage Pool”. 
3. The storage pool creation wizard will appear, check Enable Qtier and click Next. 
4. Select the SSD drives to be used to build the ultra-high speed tier in the storage pool. Select 
RAID type and Hot Spare Disk. Click “Next”. 
5. Configure the Snapshot settings in the “Snapshot Protection Settings” section, then click “Create”. 
A confirmation box will appear informing you that the data on the selected disks will be erased if 
you continue. To continue, click “OK”. 
6. The “Expandable Qtier Tiered Storage Pool” window will appear, click “OK” to create other tiers. At 
least two tiers must be created. 
7. Proceed to create different tiers. Select the drives to build other tiers. Select RAID type and Hot 
Spare Disk. Review summary and click “Expand” to continue. A confirmation box will appear 
informing you that the data on the selected disks will be erased if you continue. To continue, click 
“OK”. 
8. The “Expandable Qtier Tiered Storage Pool” window will appear. 
o  To continue expanding the Qtier tiered storage pool, click “OK”. Select the drives to expand 
the storage pool. Select RAID type and Hot Spare Disk. Review summary and click “Expand” to 
continue. 
o  If you are done expanding this storage pool, click “Cancel”.  
						

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9. The “Qtier Auto Tiering Schedule Settings” window will appear. Choose to reallocate data 
automatically during system idle time or during a specified schedule. Select “Apply”. 
 
Note:  
As relocation may affect the storage I/O performance, it is recommended to schedule 
this action during off-peak hours or when the storage is not frequently used. 
Auto Tiering cannot be started immediately after a storage pool is created, as it will 
need time to retrieve information on when data is accessed. It also cannot be 
scheduled for full time, otherwise the data access pattern may not be accurate. 
 
Managing Auto Tiering 
   
Go to Storage Manager > Storage Space and double click on a Qtier Auto Tiering Storage Pool to 
bring up the “Storage Pool Management” window. Select “Qtier Auto Tiering”. The following actions 
are available: 
Action Description 
Relocation Schedule 
Automatically reallocate data when the system is idle. 
The system will attempt to reduce the performance impact by 
only reallocating data to different tiers when the system is 
idle. 
Enable Qtier Auto Tiering Schedule. 
The administrator can manually set the data relocation 
schedule to low load times to reduce performance impact. 
Statistics Review the general information for each tier and history report. 
Manage > Stop Relocations Stop allocation. 
Manage > Set Allocation Level 
Set the default data allocation tier and data reservation ratio for 
ultra-high speed tier. 
Default data allocation tier: Set which tier new data will be 
stored in. 
Data reservation ratio for the ultra-high speed tier: Choose the 
amount of data to retain in the ultra high-speed tier (even 
though they are cold data.) 
 
Monitoring Auto-Tiering Performance 
  
On the Storage Pool Management dialog (bottom of the dialog), the current auto-tiering settings and 
performance will be listed:  
						

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Relocation status: Indicates if auto-tiering is active (or idle). 
Enable schedule: Indicates if the schedule is enabled. 
Data reservation ratio for ultra-high speed tier: Indicates the amount of data currently set to be 
retained in the ultra-high speed tier. 
Amount of data optimized for performance: Shows the amount of data that has been allocated to 
high-speed tiers (or the Move Down or Move Up columns in Manage > Statistics) in the 
last auto tiering schedule. 
Amount of data optimized for capacity: Shows the amount of data that have been allocated to 
high speed tiers (or the Move Down or Move Up columns in Manage > Statistics) in the last 
auto tiering schedule. 
Data allocation priority: Indicates whether data will be written on the SSD tier if the ultra-high 
speed is set in Manage or first written on the SATA tier and then the SSD if Capacity is set in 
Manage  
  
Additionally, you can check the history report ("Manage" > “Qtier Auto Tiering” > "Statistics") for 
further details on auto-tiering performance, including data moved up/down in a task, total used space 
after task completion and the current tasks with a trend chart.  
						

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iSCSI 
 
Manage the iSCSI storage, create advanced ACLs and back up LUNs with the iSCSI management 
features. 
 
 
For details on the features, please refer to the following links: 
iSCSI Storage 
LUN Backup  
						

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iSCSI Storage 
 
The NAS supports a built-in Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) service for clustered 
and virtualized environments. 
 
  
An iSCSI storage network includes the following nodes: 
Target: Storage device that contains one or more LUNs, which are logical units of storage 
Initiator: Client that initiates connections (through SCSI commands) to the storage device, which is 
called a target 
 
Note: In the context of your network, your computer (an initiator) connects to the NAS and 
retrieves the following: 
o List of available targets 
o List of available LUNs in each target 
 
In addition to enabling and disabling the service, users can perform the following tasks: 
Configure the port of the iSCSI portal 
Enable or disable the Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) service 
Manage all iSCSI targets and LUNs, including mapping and unmapping of LUNs to specific targets 
Note: The NAS supports multiple iSCSI targets and multiple LUNs per target. 
 
 
 
  
						

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In this chapter, these topics are covered: 
iSCSI Configuration 
Optimizing iSCSI Performance 
Advanced ACL 
Snapshot 
 
Note: The function or its content is only applicable on some models. To check for 
applicable models, please refer to the product comparison table on the QNAP website. 
 
iSCSI Configuration 
  
The NAS supports the built-in iSCSI service. To use this function, follow the steps below: 
1. Install an iSCSI initiator on the computer (Windows PC, Mac, or Linux).        
2. Create an iSCSI target on the NAS.        
3. Run the iSCSI initiator and connect to the iSCSI target on the NAS.        
4. After successful logon, format the iSCSI target (disk volume). The disk volume on the NAS can 
then be used as a virtual drive for the computer. 
 
Between the computer and the storage device, the computer is called an initiator because it initiates 
the connection to the device, and the storage device is referred to as a target. An iSCSI LUN is a 
logical volume mapped to the iSCSI target and there are two types of LUNs: file-based LUN and 
block-based LUN. File-based LUN is the legacy LUN, while block-based LUN is available for certain 
NAS models. Please refer to the product comparison table for details.  
 
The table below lists the features supported by block-based LUNs and file-based LUNs: 
 Block-based LUN 
(recommended) 
File-based LUN (Legacy) 
VAAI Full Copy Supported  Supported 
VAAI Block Zeroing Supported  Supported 
VAAI Hardware Assisted 
Locking 
Supported  Supported 
VAAI Thin Provisioning and 
Space Reclaim 
Supported  Not Supported 
Thin Provisioning Supported  Supported 
Space Reclamation Supported (With VAAI or from 
Windows Server 2012, 
Not Supported  
						

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Windows 8 or later versions) 
Microsoft ODX  Supported Not Supported 
LUN Backup Supported Supported 
LUN Snapshot Supported 1 Time Snapshot (With LUN 
Backup) 
   
Please note that in general, better system performance can be achieved through block-based LUNs, 
thus it is recommended to use block-based LUNs whenever possible. 
  
There are two methods a LUN can be allocated: Thin Provisioning and Instant Allocation:  
Thin Provisioning: Allocate the disk space in a flexible manner. The disk space can be allocated to 
the target anytime regardless of the current storage capacity available on the NAS. 
Over-allocation is allowed as the storage capacity of the NAS can be expanded using online RAID 
capacity expansion.  
Instant Allocation: Allocate the disk space to the LUN instantly. This option guarantees the disk 
space assigned to the LUN but may require more time to create the LUN. 
 
A maximum of 256 iSCSI targets and LUNs can be created. For example, if you create 100 targets on 
the NAS, the maximum number of LUNs you can create is 156. Multiple LUNs can be created for each 
target. However, the maximum number of concurrent connections to the iSCSI targets supported by 
the NAS varies depending on network infrastructure and application performance. Excessive 
concurrent connections may impact NAS performance. 
 
Note:  
It is NOT recommended to connect to the same iSCSI target with two different clients 
(iSCSI initiators) at the same time, as it may lead to data loss or disk damage. 
For ARM-based NAS models, the maximum volume capacity supported for online RAID 
capacity expansion is 8TB. 
 
iSCSI Quick Configuration Wizard 
Follow the steps below to configure the iSCSI target service on the NAS. 
1. If no iSCSI targets have been created yet, the Quick Configuration Wizard will automatically be 
launched and prompt users to create iSCSI targets and LUNs.  
2. Select iSCSI Target with a mapped LUN (more on iSCSI target only and iSCSI LUN only in 
the following sections) and click Next. 
3. Click Next.  
4. Enter the target name and alias.  
						

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5. Only use Enable clustering access to the iSCSI target from multiple initiators for cluster-aware 
file systems such as VMware Virtual Machine File System. The Data Digest and Header Digest 
are optional fields (expand on CRC/Checksum) and are the parameters for which the iSCSI 
initiator is verified when it attempts to connect to the iSCSI target. Click Next.  
6. Enter the CHAP authentication settings and click Next. Check Use CHAP authentication and 
only the initiator will be authenticated by the iSCSI target, and users of the initiators are required 
to enter the username and password specified here to access the target. Check Mutual CHAP for 
two-way authentication between the iSCSI target and the initiator. The target authenticates the 
initiator using the first set of username and password. The initiator authenticates the target using 
the Mutual CHAP settings. For username and password limitation on both fields, refer to the 
following: 
o Use CHAP authentication:  
Username limitation: The only valid characters are 0-9, a-z, A-Z and the maximum length 
is 128 characters.  
Password  limitation: The only valid characters are 0-9, a-z, A-Z and the maximum length: 
12-16 characters 
o Mutual CHAP:  
Username limitation: The only valid characters are 0-9, a-z, A-Z, : (colon), . (dot), and - 
(dash) and the maximum length: 12-16 characters 
Password limitation: The only valid characters are 0-9, a-z, A-Z, : (colon), . (dot), and - 
(dash) and the maximum length: 12-16 characters 
7. Choose the LUN type and LUN allocation method, enter the name of the LUN and specify the LUN 
location (disk volume on the NAS), the capacity and alert threshold for the LUN. Click Next.  
8. Confirm the settings and click Next.    
9. Click Finish.    
10. The target and LUN will both show up on the list. 
 
Creating iSCSI targets 
Follow the steps below to create an iSCSI target: 
1. Click Create.        
2. Select iSCSI Target only and click Next.      
3. Only use Enable clustering access to the iSCSI target from multiple initiators for cluster-aware 
file systems such as VMware Virtual Machine File System. 
4. Enter the target name and alias. Choose to click CRC/Checksum to select Data Digest and/or 
Header Digest. Then Click Next.      
5. Enter the username and password for Use CHAP authentication and/or Mutual CHAP and click 
Next. Check Use CHAP authentication and only the initiator is authenticated by the iSCSI 
target, and users of the initiators are required to enter the username and password specified here 
to access the target. Check Mutual CHAP for two-way authentication between the iSCSI target