QNAP HS-264-8G SAN/NAS Storage System

Discover a silent, lightweight storage powerhouse designed for modern digital homes. The QNAP HS-264-8G SAN/NAS Storage System blends whisper-quiet operation with a robust multimedia workflow, turning any living space into a true home theater and personal cloud. Built to store, organize, and stream your 4K media, photos, music, and backups, this compact NAS doubles as a central multimedia center that supports a thriving ecosystem of apps—QuMagie for smart photo management, Video Station for smooth video playback, Music Station for synchronized streaming, and Plex Media Server for cross‑platform access. With dual HDMI 2.0 outputs, you can enjoy true 4K playback on two displays or mirror content across rooms, making it perfect for living rooms, home cinemas, or shared media libraries. Designed for quiet operation and easy, accessible expansion, the HS-264-8G is built to simplify your digital life while delivering dependable performance for your family’s entertainment, backups, and archiving needs.

• Ultra-quiet operation and energy-efficient design: engineered to blend into living spaces without distracting noise, the HS-264-8G stays cool and quiet while delivering reliable performance for long movie nights, game streams, and continuous backups. Its compact, fan-assisted cooling minimizes heat output and vibration, letting you place the unit in a living room, study, or entertainment cabinet without compromising comfort or conversation. With smart power management and low idle consumption, this NAS helps you save on electricity while keeping your media and data accessible whenever you need them.
• Dual HDMI 2.0 outputs for seamless 4K multimedia: leverage two independent HDMI 2.0 ports to drive two 4K displays or mirror content across rooms. This setup is ideal for a dedicated home theater and a secondary living area, or for professionals who want to run local transcoding, media previews, or live demonstrations directly from the NAS. The 4K capability ensures sharp videos, smooth playback, and true color reproduction, enabling HDR where supported and reducing buffering through efficient hardware-assisted decoding and streaming.
• Two-bay NAS with expandable storage and data protection: the HS-264-8G comes with ample built-in memory (8 GB) and two drive bays, providing flexible storage options and scalable capacity as your media library grows. With RAID configurations and hot-swappable drives, you gain data protection and easier maintenance—swap a failing disk without powering down, upgrade to larger drives over time, and maintain continuous access to your media and backups. This design is ideal for families who accumulate videos, slideshows, and music libraries over years, ensuring long-term reliability with straightforward upgrades.
• Rich multimedia apps ecosystem for home entertainment: unlock a complete media center with QuMagie’s AI-assisted photo management, Video Station’s intuitive video playback, Music Station’s synchronized music library, and Plex Media Server for broad compatibility with mobile, desktop, and smart TV platforms. Plex organizes your library, adds metadata, and streams content to nearly any device, while QuMagie helps you discover and relive memories with smart facial recognition and automated tagging. Video Station and Music Station provide curated experiences with playlists, offline access, and social sharing options, turning your NAS into a single entertainment hub that simplifies how your family discovers and enjoys content.
• Robust connectivity and smart management: designed for effortless control, the HS-264-8G supports practical networking with reliable Ethernet connectivity, USB expansion options for external drives or accessories, and mobile apps for on-the-go access. Remote access through official tools lets you reach your files securely from anywhere, while synchronization and backup features protect critical content against device failure or accidents. The combination of local storage, cloud integration options, and a friendly user experience makes this NAS an excellent choice for households that want fast local access to media plus secure, remote availability for backups, photo libraries, and documents.

Technical Details of QNAP HS-264-8G SAN/NAS Storage System

• Drive Bays: 2-bay NAS enclosure designed for SATA hard drives and SSDs, enabling flexible storage upgrades and performance tuning.
• RAM: 8 GB DDR4 memory included, providing ample headroom for multimedia indexing, app multitasking, and smooth playback across multiple streams.
• CPU and Performance: quad-core processor designed to handle multimedia transcoding, streaming, backups, and everyday NAS tasks with reliability and efficiency.
• HDMI Outputs: 2 x HDMI 2.0 ports enabling 4K (and above) video output to televisions or displays, supporting high-quality local playback and device passthrough for home cinema setups.
• Networking: integrated Ethernet ports with standard NAS networking features; supports secure remote access and fast data transfer within a local network.
• Storage Management: supports SATA drives with RAID options for data protection, performance tuning, and scalable storage growth as your media collection expands.
• USB and Expansion: USB ports for external drives or peripherals, with potential compatibility for additional accessories and quick data transfers.

how to install QNAP HS-264-8G SAN/NAS Storage System

• Prepare your drives: choose reliable SATA HDDs or SSDs compatible with the HS-264-8G, then install one or both drives into the hot-swap bays. Ensure drives are properly seated and secured according to the enclosure’s guidelines, taking care to align connectors and avoid overtightening.
• Connect to your network and power: attach the NAS to a stable network using the built-in Ethernet port, connect the power adapter, and power on the unit. Give the system a few moments to boot and initialize its operating system.
• Initial setup via web interface: access the QTS setup wizard from a connected computer by entering the NAS’s IP address or using the QNAP detection utility. Follow the on-screen prompts to create storage pools, configure RAID options, set up user accounts, and establish permissions for family members or colleagues who will access the system.
• Install multimedia apps: in the App Center, install Plex Media Server, Video Station, Music Station, and QuMagie. Configure Plex to index your media folders, set up libraries, and enable remote access if desired. Tailor permissions and user groups so each family member can access the content they are authorized to view or listen to.
• Optimize and secure: enable essential security features, enable automatic backups to protect important data, and configure remote access with strong authentication. Consider enabling cloud sync or local backups to other devices for redundancy. Once configured, organize your media into clearly labeled folders and tags to maximize indexing speed and search results in QuMagie and Plex.

Frequently asked questions

• Q: What is the capacity of the HS-264-8G?
  A: The actual usable capacity depends on the drives you install in the two drive bays. The unit ships with 8 GB RAM, and you can scale storage by adding or replacing drives with larger SATA HDDs or SSDs. RAID configurations provide data protection and improve performance for media streaming and backups.
• Q: Can I watch 4K content directly on a TV using the HS-264?
  A: Yes. With dual HDMI 2.0 outputs, you can drive two displays for direct 4K playback or mirror content in two rooms. This makes it ideal for a home theater setup or a media corner where you want seamless, high-resolution viewing without rushing to a separate media player.
• Q: Does this NAS support Plex?
  A: Yes. Plex Media Server is available via the App Center, enabling you to organize your media library and stream to Plex-compatible devices across your home network or remotely when configured.
• Q: Is the HS-264 quiet enough for a living room?
  A: Absolutely. The design prioritizes silent operation and low heat output, making it suitable for living rooms, home offices, and entertainment cabinets where noise can be distracting with other devices.
• Q: How do I protect my data?
  A: Use RAID configurations for redundancy, enable scheduled backups, and take advantage of remote access security features and user permissions. Regularly update firmware and apps through the App Center to maintain security and performance.