Performance

We tested with 3.7.3 Build 20120801 using our standard NAS test process. Apples to apples comparisons for the TS-269 Pro were a little hard to come by, since other Atom D2700 powered NASes, such as the Synology DS1512+ and Thecus N4800 , have additional drives and no RAID1 performance numbers. The closest two-bay competitor to the TS-269 Pro is the NETGEAR ReadyNAS Pro 2 (RNDP2210), which sports a dual-core Intel Atom D525 CPU.

The Benchmark summary below shows Windows File copy write in RAID 1 configuration measured 84 MB/s, with file copy read almost 15 MB/s higher at 97 MB/s.

How does this compare? I first filtered the RAID 1 File Copy Write and Read charts to show only Atom D2700 NASes and one two-bay Atom D525 NAS. All of the D2700 variants use more drives than the TS-269 Pro and had no RAID1 performance numbers. So RAID1 numbers could only be compared with the NETGEAR ReadyNAS Pro 2 (RNDP2210).

File Copy Write Comparison - Atom two-bay products

RAID 1 File copy performance is slightly better than the Netgear ReadyNAS.

File Copy Read Comparison - Atom two-bay products

NASPT RAID 1 File Copy write benchmarks were less evenly matched at 111 MB/s for write and 94 MB/s for read. The tougher NASPT RAID 1 Directory Copy tests ran 16 MB/s from the NAS and 19 MB/s to it. The performance was significantly better than the Netgear ReadyNAS Pro 2 (RNDP2210), which wrote at 11 MB/s and read at 15 MB/s.

For attached backup tests, the Iomega UltraMax Pro has been retired in favor of a higher performance solution. We have switched to a Startech USB 3.0 eSATA to SATA Hard Drive Docking Station (SATDOCKU3SEF) containing a WD Velociraptor WD3000HLFS 300 GB drive. Best attached backup speed of 114 MB/s was with NTFS and worst was 91 MB/s with EXT3! Both results are extremely impressive!

Rsync network backup was less impressive, measuring 38 MB/s to the NAS testbed running Delta Copy. The ReadyNAS measured 44 MB/s here, while the Thecus and Synology 38 MB/s and 37 MB/s respectively.

Rsync backup Comparison

iSCSI write and read to a 10 GB RAID 1 volume produced 88 MB/s and 89 MB/s. The write numbers were middle of the pack with the Synology recording 97 MB/s, the Thecus 91MB/s above and the NETGEAR at 76 MB/s below. Read was top of the charts however with the closest being Synology (85 MB/s), followed by Thecus (79 MB/s) and the NETGEAR coming in at 54 MB/s.

Conclusion

Atom-powered NASes certainly perform, but they are pricey! The TS-269 Pro delivers performance you'd expect from its CPU, but prices in just under $600, without drives. By comparison, you can spend about the same money for the NETGEAR ReadyNAS Pro 2 (RNDP2210) and two 1 TB drives are included. Or if you'd rather have more storage, increase your budget by $50 more and you can get the RAID 5 capable, four-bay Thecus N4800.

I didn't include it in the performance comparisons since it's only a single core Atom D425 NAS. But two-bay Synology DS712+ is also worth noting on the bottom line. Diskless for just under $500, it had similar performance to the TS-269 Pro and has the added bonus of expanding far beyond two drives via an optional expansion cabinet.