QNAP QuTS hero TVS-472XT-i3-4G, 4GB RAM, 1x RJ-45 10GBase-T, 2x RJ-45 1000Base-T

QNAP really has delivered the best of both Worlds with its Thunderbolt-NAS drives: you get the potential speed of a directly-connected SSD drive that’s quick enough to actually edit video from, but coupled with the benefits of a traditional NAS, including large shared storage pools, protection against disk failure and automated online backup. The TVS-472XT hits a sweet-spot too, with a compact four-bay enclosure that cherry-picks the best of the connectivity of the higher-end models without being excessive for most smaller operations. You get a single 10 Gigabit ethernet port and twin Thunderbolt 3 ports, allowing you to directly connect three devices for very fast access, and if you’re lucky enough to have a 10Gbe network switch, the Thunderbolt ports also act as bridges, allowing suitably-equipped Macs or PCs to connect at maximum speed without splashing out on expensive 10Gbe adapters. Twin NVMe M.2 ports and upgradable RAM also provide easy routes for increasing performance for certain applications. Meanwhile a wealth of USB 3.1 ports allow quick connection to external drives - including a handy front-mounted port for easy backup - while an HDMI 2.0 port lets you connect the unit directly to a TV for media streaming in 4k up to 60p. QNAP rounds it all off with a powerful software suite that makes it easy to run media servers, security cameras or automated backups to cloud services. As someone who’s used traditional NAS units for years, I was already won-over by the traditional network aspects, but the direct Thunderbolt connection transforms its flexibility. Here’s a drive I can use for both traditional network storage and sharing as well as super-fast direct access similar in speed to a quick external drive. I can highly recommend it to any photographer or video creator, where the only real questions remaining are whether to go for the four, six or eight bay model and what drives to populate it with.

The QNAP TVS-472XT has so many features it can practically do anything besides being a plain data storage device, but such capability increases cost. If you don't need all these bells and whistles, you can get a Thunderbolt 3 DAS for considerably less, though you may find the number of clients a DAS can accommodate limiting. Unfortunately, even less well-known NAS/DAS servers with Thunderbolt 3 ports are expensive, such as the TerraMaster D5 I previously reviewed.