I am replacing my TS-251+ with this TS-264:
16tb 16000gb - 2x8000gb 3.5inch Western Digital Red Pro WD8005FFBX HDD
My usage is backup, storage and some multimedia. I am backing up 2x1tb HDD from my workstation and storing archival data on the NAS. Additionally, I have about 25,000 photos and around 1,000 videos that I am working on curating and enjoying more.
The question: why would I want/need to, or not, install QuTS when I get it? I have read that I have to choose up front as there is no upgrade path.
Looking forward to the pioneers (the ones with the arrows in front)
Since you confirmed you’re starting with new drives in the TS-264 (rather than migrating the old disks in place), you actually do have a free choice between QTS and QuTS hero — so it’s worth deciding deliberately, especially as there’s no in-place conversion later.
For your specific use case — archival data plus ~25,000 photos and ~1,000 videos you want to keep and enjoy for years — the strongest argument for QuTS hero is data integrity, not the enterprise features usually cited:
Archived media is the classic scenario for bit rot (silent data corruption): files that sit untouched for long periods can degrade at the storage level — a photo develops corrupt blocks, a video section breaks — while the file name and size look perfectly fine. Traditional file systems (ext4, used by QTS) don’t detect or repair this, so you often discover it years later when you open the file, by which point your backups may have already overwritten the good copy with the bad one.
QuTS hero is built on ZFS, which checksums every block and verifies it on read. With your mirror (RAID 1), if a block fails its checksum, ZFS automatically repairs it from the good copy (self-healing). Run a periodic scrub and the system proactively finds and fixes degradation before it spreads. For irreplaceable family photos and video, that protection matters far more than dedup or WORM.
The honest trade-offs on a TS-264:
ZFS likes RAM, and 8GB is only just enough for QuTS hero. You won’t realistically be able to run inline dedup at that capacity (little benefit on a two-drive mirror of personal data anyway), and day-to-day it won’t feel as snappy as QTS — QTS on ext4 is noticeably leaner and lighter on resources.
It’s a one-time, irreversible choice, as you noted — so pick for the next several years, not just today.
Crucially, ZFS protects integrity, it does not replace backups. @dolbyman is exactly right that RAID is not a backup.
Here’s the nice part of your situation, though: you have two NACs, so you don’t have to decide blind. First, repurpose the old TS-251+ as your backup target rather than retiring it — use HBS 3 to back up the TS-264’s photos and archives to it. Once that first full backup is done and your data is safely in two independent places, you’re free to try both operating systems and feel the difference for yourself: run QuTS hero on one and QTS on the other, see whether the ZFS integrity benefits are worth the heavier resource footprint for your workflow, and then commit. That gives you a real 3-2-1 backup at zero extra hardware cost (offsite too, if you can place the old unit elsewhere) and a risk-free way to make the irreversible decision with first-hand experience.
So the direction I’d suggest: get one independent backup in place first, experience both QTS and QuTS hero hands-on, then settle on QuTS hero (ZFS) for the master copy if the integrity protection fits how you work — with the TS-251+ continuing as your independent HBS 3 backup. Those two layers together are what actually keep 25,000 photos safe for the long haul.
Generally, I like QuTs but with 8gb of ram I am dubious. On 128gb machine went from 7% ram use to 26% ram use when not running any VM’s. It is using 26gb more ram. I know this is dependant on number of drives (9 in my case), size of drives, etc. 8gb would scare me.
I have a COVID NAS, so I am stuck at 8 gigs of RAM. I’m still using QuTS hero.
Because of my limited options currently for off-site backups, getting rid of the possibility of bit rot was my highest priority.
I have ended up removing almost all Qnap apps and do anything extra I need on the NAS with Docker.
I’m up to like 25 containers or something and I still have a bit of RAM free. That includes immich with the additional AI processing Container like I’m not trying to keep the image RAM usage down full fat.
The 264 does not have a lot of CPU. Does not have a lot of GPU. You got the two slot versions, so like it’s not going to have that much storage space. Yours probably also has RAM slots while mine doesn’t.
I have been extremely happy with ZFS and I would like 200% recommend it. My only caveat and my greatest hint or suggestion is I would get a pair of M.2s. I started with 256 gig used units from my corner repair shop before upgrading down the line.
Set the NAS up with only the M.2s installed and no spinning rust so that it installs the system and prefers to use the system off of flash storage instead of hard drives. That does a lot. There’s a huge difference in the feel of the NAS and the OS when it’s primarily running off of SSDs instead of spinning rust.
