computer science

QNAP Systems

QNAP Systems is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand QNAP Systems rather than just read about it. In short: QNAP Systems, Inc. (Chinese: 威聯通科技) is a Taiwanese corporation that specializes in network-attached storage (NAS) appliances used for file sharing, virtualization, storage management and surveillance applications.

Key takeaways

QNAP Systems belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect QNAP Systems to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of QNAP Systems from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

QNAP Systems, Inc. (Chinese: 威聯通科技) is a Taiwanese corporation that specializes in network-attached storage (NAS) appliances used for file sharing, virtualization, storage management and surveillance applications. Headquartered in Xizhi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan, QNAP has offices in 16 countries and employs over 1,000 people around the world. QNAP became a member of the Intel Intelligent Systems Alliance in 2011.

Company history

QNAP, which stands for Quality Network Appliance Provider, originally existed as a department within the IEI Integration Corporation, an industrial computing service provider located in Taiwan. In 2004, QNAP Systems Inc. was spun off into a separate company.

Product overview

QNAP primarily produces Network-Attached Storage (NAS) appliances. The company also produces Network Video Recorders (NVR) and a series of networking equipment.

QTS – an operating system for NAS devices QES (QNAP Enterprise Storage) QuTS hero – an operating system similar to QTS that implements ZFS QuTScloud QNE QSS QuRouter The QNAP QHora-301W supports high-speed Wi-Fi 6 and 10GbE connections, while also providing an enterprise-grade SD-WAN VPN to allow multi-site VPN deployment via the cloud.

Vulnerabilities and attacks In 2021, SAM security group reported that it had discovered critical vulnerabilities in QNAP NAS devices. SAM security group said that these would mean that remote attackers could "execute arbitrary shell commands ... [or] create arbitrary file data on any (non-existing) location ... [or] execute arbitrary commands on the remote NAS". The company said that it had informed QNAP of the vulnerabilities in 2020 but that, four months after being informed, QNAP had not addressed them. The article was later updated to clarify that QNAP had resolved the problems for the most recent devices, but not for older systems, and then that QNAP had revised and released firmware for older devices. These critical vulnerabilities were reported by Bleeping Computer to be implicated in a massive ransomware attack on QNAP NAS devices in April 2021. This attack, named "Qlocker", compressed all files smaller than 20 MiB into 7z files using 7-Zip with a 32 character long password. In order to retrieve the password, users had to access an .onion webpage and pay 0.01 BTC. This cost users at least US$260,000. In January 2022, some QNAP NAS devices were affected by a ransomware infection known as DeadBolt. There were further attacks in March and May 2022.

Achievements 2019

TS-1677X named Best NAS Device of European Hardware Awards 2019 2018

Received the COMPUTEX Best Choice Award 2018 2017

TS-451+ named Best NAS Device of European Hardware Awards 2017 2016

Received the COMPUTEX Best Choice Award 2016 2014

Received ISO 27001:2013 certification in information security management Received 2014 iF Product Design Award Featured in PCWorld's 50 Best Tech Products of 2013

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with QNAP Systems

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what QNAP Systems claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to QNAP Systems before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about QNAP Systems ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of QNAP Systems

In research: QNAP Systems appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses QNAP Systems in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: QNAP Systems is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Backup software, Cloud storage, Companies based in Taipei, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for QNAP Systems outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study QNAP Systems in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what QNAP Systems means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain QNAP Systems out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is QNAP Systems in simple terms?

Why does QNAP Systems matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study QNAP Systems?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on QNAP Systems.