QNAP Releases QuTS Private Cloud Option

[ilovepancakes]

https://www.qnap.com/solution/qutscloud-hypervisor/en-us/

 

While I imagine it would kill the point of Xpenology for many, would be nice if Synology follows up and does this for DSM. QNAP not only has those images for private cloud infrastructure but makes images of their OS for VPS hosting too like Digital Ocean.

[flyride]

Interesting.  I have always thought that if Synology would properly license DSM to run on spec hardware there would be a lot of takers from this community.  DDSM is "almost" that.

 

That said, I'd be very surprised if there is nobody out there now running XPEnology on a VPS with Proxmox or ESXi...

[billat29]

34 minutes ago, flyride said:

I have always thought that if Synology would properly license DSM to run on spec hardware there would be a lot of takers from this community. 

 

Yes, I agree. I'm sure there was a survey some time ago.

Synology will have to do something sometime. The model of premium hardware and "free" bundled software generally ran its course some time ago. I expect that they think a push into the enterprise space will boost margins but it won't last long.

I quite like the concept of an image and a set of cloudy services for a subscription. It works for us and it works more generally for them as they can move to a more sustainable subscription model generally.

Edited August 22, 2020 by billat29

[jensmander]

I also find it very interesting and will give it a try on Hyper-V. 

 

I don’t understand why Synology lacks behind in their license philosophy. The new DS series is a total disappointment (I had the DS720+ and DS920+ for customers). I‘m not a big fan of cloud solutions but I welcome the possibility to host it on your own Hypervisor.

[billat29]

Please let us know how you get on.

[jensmander]

Ok, I gave it a try and set up a Hyper-V VM with 1x500GB SSD VHDX and 2x direct connected 1TB HDDs. The process is pretty straightforward. Download the Hyper-V VM, unpack and import it, adjust the hardware settings (I gave it 1x CPU and 4GB RAM) and fire it up. The rest is done as known via browser as usual (managing admin account, set up system settings, entering the license key, etc.). 

 

Qnap‘s browser gui is not as „clean“ as Synology’s DSM but good to handle. Some features like creating RAID and volumes seem to be more difficult but you’ll have more options (thick or thin volumes, warning level, over-provisioning, etc.). Although the VM has only one CPU and 4GB RAM dedicated it runs pretty smooth. SMB and rsync transfers are fast as expected. 

 

Next step will be installing some (free) apps.

[nemesis122]

Thank you for the hint but i dont understand completly my question is i have to pay every month for this image or for what is the money ?

I want running this image on my own hardware esxi hyper v or baremetall etc because i dont want my data in the cloud.

thank you

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by nemesis122

[jensmander]

3 hours ago, nemesis122 said:

have to pay every month for this image or for what is the money ?

 

Yep, they have a monthly and yearly subscription model. Each VM with QuTSCloud needs a valid license. Licenses with monthly subscription can‘t be upgraded, for example from 1 to 2 cores. That’s only possible with yearly subscriptions. 

 

Bare metal isn’t possible with QuTSCloud.

 

 

[nemesis122]

Hi Jensmander 

thank you for the information so in this case i can install on my own server esxi oder hyper v (hypervisor)etc and then i can install qts and i have to pay every month this 9$ only for using this image ??

 

[jensmander]

1 hour ago, nemesis122 said:

and i have to pay every month this 9$ only for using this image ??

 

Yes. It’s a simple cost calculation. Either buy a real hardware box from Qnap or run it as a VM with hardware specs of your choice. They would dig their own grave if this would be for free.

[ilovepancakes]

I think their pricing is reasonable for the people who really are going to want to run it in a VM as opposed to buying QNAP hardware. I am also glad they did pricing for different core counts as opposed to one price for all. Although, would be nice if it could be a one time purchase rather than paying yearly especially since buying their hardware is a one time purchase. They could charge $1,000 one time fee for this and make way more than selling a box of theirs for $1,000 with the OS included for "free" already. Heck, charge one time fee for only the current major version and then charge an upgrade fee for each next major version you want after that.

 

I *really* hope Synology follows up with DSM like this. Honestly feel like it would be a big blow to QNAP since DSM seems to be the software favorite between the two.

Edited August 25, 2020 by ilovepancakes

[nemesis122]

i can pay for the os 100$ np but i dont want pay every month🤑

But anyway DSM is much better😍

Edited August 25, 2020 by nemesis122

[billat29]

 In a previous life I used to run software businesses and after that I used to try to rescue others from the ashes. One time licence fee, even backed up with a monthly maintenance charge does not work in the medium to long term. This is why <everyone> has gone to some kind of subscription based service. If they haven't yet, they will.

 

You can pay annually if you hate monthly 😀

[ilovepancakes]

Just now, billat29 said:

 In a previous life I used to run software businesses and after that I used to try to rescue others from the ashes. One time licence fee, even backed up with a monthly maintenance charge does not work in the medium to long term. This is why <everyone> has gone to some kind of subscription based service. If they haven't yet, they will.

 

You can pay annually if you hate monthly 😀

 

This is a great point. One time fee would be nice for us.... but not for them. Hopefully the recurring revenue like that will allow them to improve QTS constantly and make it better, faster.

[jensmander]

Here’s a quick summary of the last 3 weeks I used QuTSCloud on HyperV (license for 1 core):

 

- runs stable

- mobile apps work without problems

- average load is 8-15% with normal access to it (SMB transfers, rsync backups, mobile access)

 

I‘ll wait for the 1st upcoming OS update to see if the firmware update also works.

[Krisje]

Hi,

It has been silent for a while regarding this topic.

Has anyone allready experience with the firmware updates?

And how is the overall experience after half a year?

[vanayr]

You asked in May, and I’m a bit late, but so be it 😁

 

Ran 3 nodes in a cluster for about 10 months at my previous employer. Rock solid. We were using the quts for some app functions as well as backing up some workloads to AMZ Glacier. Everything worked, though do keep in mind a few apps are not available as they locked down 3rd party stuff. Makes sense for support. 
 

We did multiple updates, had no issues. 
 

Our only gripe was no available 24/7 support for sale, but if you can live with web support, it’s solid. 
 

FYI we were a VMware shop, so your mileage may vary on other hypervisors. 

[advin]

Interesting. One time license fee a good idea 😀

[alphayash]

Please let us know how you get on. need to know!!

[deathstar]

Does Qtier work fine out of the box with this setup?

$5 a month may be worth it for me if this thing is stable and if it is a robust NAS software 'set it and forget it' rather than hackying away my life when new updates come out...