QNAP: Released QTS 5.2 with Security Center

[German]Vendor QNAP has released its QTS 5.2 operating system for NAS drives on August 21, 2024. One new feature is the Security Center, which actively monitors file activity and is designed to ward off threats from encrypting ransomware. The improved system security and support for TCG-Ruby Self-Encrypting Drives (SED) also increase data protection.

QTS 5.2 with Security Center

QNAP (Quality Network Appliance Provider) went public (August 21, 2024) with the announcement / release of its QTS 5.2 operating system.

An outstanding feature of the QTS 5.2 version of the NAS operating system is the introduction of the so-called Security Center. This is intended to actively monitor file activities and ward off threats from ransomware. This is the manufacturer's response to cases in which NAS drives were encrypted by ransomware because vulnerabilities allowed the attackers to penetrate.

How QNAP intends to prevent this problem is not really clear to me at the moment. QNAP also wants to increase the system security of the NAS by supporting self-encrypting (SED) TCG Ruby drives. The manufacturer also claims to have implemented extensive optimizations to streamline operation, configuration and management processes and to significantly improve user handling.

What's new in QTS 5.2

QNAP lists the following innovations as "significant" for its QTS 5.2 operating system:

• Ransomware Defense with Security Center: This feature actively monitors file activities to preventively protect data security. If suspicious file behaviour is detected, the system immediately initiates protective measures (e.g. backup or blocking) to minimize risks and prevent data loss due to ransomware, attacks or human error.
  Kernel mode SMB daemon acceleration technology: QTS 5.2 supports kernel mode SMB daemon to optimize NAS SMB transfer performance. This improvement is especially noticeable in an all-flash storage architecture.
• Kernel mode SMB daemon acceleration technology: QTS 5.2 supports kernel mode SMB daemon to optimize NAS SMB transfer performance. This improvement is especially noticeable in an all-flash storage architecture.
• TCG Ruby Standard SED Support: TCG Ruby provides specifications for NVMe and other modern storage technologies that meet the current requirements of enterprises and data centers and facilitate compliance with regulations (such as GDPR, HIPAA and HITECH). SED encrypts the data on the entire drive via the integrated encryption processor, providing an additional layer of protection for information security.
• Flexible Sicherung/Wiederherstellung von NAS Systemeinstellungen: Users can now backup NAS system settings with detailed content information such as system, network and permission settings. During the restore process, users have the flexibility to selectively restore specific items, such as permission settings or network configurations.
• Flexible backup/restore of NAS system settings: Users can upload a list of apps installed on their NAS to myQNAPcloud. This enables quick installation of the same apps on new or multiple NAS devices, simplifying device replacement and management.
• Faster NAS boot/shutdown: QTS 5.2 increases the boot/shutdown speed by up to 30%.
• Convenient AD domain login: By integrating the QNAP NAS with the domain service, domain users can easily access the NAS with their domain credentials. Users can now quickly log in by simply entering their domain user name, eliminating the need to enter the AD domain name.
• Complete system backup of Windows® PC/Server: By using the NetBak PC Agent utility on Windows® systems, users can efficiently back up entire systems, disks, folders and files to their QNAP NAS for seamless recovery. You can also benefit from global deduplication and innovative synthetic incremental backup technology that enables much faster backup and restore.

The complete system backup of Windows systems (clients and servers) to NAS units using the NetBak PC Agent utility mentioned in the last point could be interesting. However, I cannot assess how practical this solution is – perhaps blog readers can comment on this. QNAS describes details about QTS 5.2 on this website.