For those of you who want your NAS system to always be online without downtime, the High Availability (HA) feature from QNAP could be a must-have solution!
What Is High Availability?
With High Availability Manager, you can combine two identical QNAP NAS devices into a single failover system.
If the main NAS (active node) fails, the backup NAS (passive node) will automatically take over — all services keep running!
Main Requirements
- Two NAS devices with the same model & specifications
- OS: QuTS hero h5.3.0 or the latest version with HA Manager support
- Minimum 8 GB RAM
- Identical disk slots & capacity on both NAS devices
- Stable & separate networks for:
Cluster Connection (client access)
Heartbeat Connection (internal synchronization)
Snapshot immutability, encrypted volumes, and WORM folders are not supported.
Quick Steps to Set Up HA
- Install High Availability Manager on both NAS devices
- From the main NAS → click “Create Cluster”
- Follow the wizard:
- Select interfaces for cluster & heartbeat
- Enter credentials for the second NAS
- Choose Cluster IP (the IP clients will access)
- The backup NAS will be formatted & synchronized automatically
Tips
- Use the same network switch for maximum stability
- Enable Quorum Server to prevent split brain
- Perform failover testing before going into production
- Always keep external backups, HA ≠ backup!
QNAP with High Availability Manager is ready to keep your NAS running 24/7.
Start exploring High Availability now!
For usage guides and more information, visit the following page:
High Availability Manager