Best drives for the QNAP TS-233 in Canada
By Devin Chua · Data checked by Owen Nakamura · Updated For the QNAP TS-233 fit CMR NAS drives like Seagate IronWolf Pro or WD Red Plus across all 2 bays. QNAP locks no drive brand on the TS-233: its list is advice, not a gate. At 2 × 8 TB the TS-233 keeps 7.28 TiB usable in RAID 1. Since its ARM Cortex-A55 (4 cores, 2.0 GHz) serves files and backups quietly but does not hardware-transcode Plex or run real virtual machines, buy the TS-233's drives on price and quietness, not speed.
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CMR NAS drives for the TS-233
Only families with confirmed CMR recording and a 24/7 rating, in stock on Amazon.ca and sized for the TS-233. SMR drives are deliberately kept out.
What sets the TS-233 apart
The cheapest QNAP and deliberately modest: an ARM processor, 2 GB of soldered RAM, one gigabit port. The network caps you at about 110 MB/s here, so a faster drive buys no more speed. Buy on noise and price per TB, not on data rate.
Who the TS-233 is for
The TS-233 is built on the ARM Cortex-A55 (4 cores, 2.0 GHz) — a file-server processor, not a workstation one. It serves files, backs up your other machines and runs a few lightweight apps, but it does not hardware-transcode Plex and it will not host real virtual machines. With 2 GB of soldered memory, what the TS-233 ships with is what it keeps. Buy it to store and protect data quietly and cheaply, and let CA$/TB and noise choose the drives, because the CPU never will.
How the TS-233's network shapes the drive choice
The TS-233 connects over 1 × 1GbE, and that ceiling decides everything below it. A gigabit link tops out near 110 MB/s, which even a single 5400 rpm NAS drive clears easily. So on the TS-233 a faster, pricier Pro drive returns no extra throughput at all: put an IronWolf or WD Red Plus in every bay and buy on CA$/TB, warranty and noise. The only reason to pay for a Pro drive on the TS-233 is its longer warranty, not speed.
A worked configuration for the TS-233
Seagate IronWolf Pro or WD Red Plus in every bay is the recommendation for the TS-233. At 2 × 8 TB in RAID 1, the TS-233 lands 7.28 TiB usable, gives up 8 TB to parity, and survives 1 drive failing. Step the same 2 bays of the TS-233 up to 16 TB drives and it holds roughly twice that, at the CA$/TB the live table above shows.
One rule holds on every NAS, the TS-233 included: use CMR drives, not SMR. SMR drives rewrite overlapping tracks and collapse during a RAID rebuild, dragging a repair from hours into days.
The QNAP drive policy on the TS-233
unrestrictedOpen. QNAP locks no drives.
The TS-233 at a glance
| Bays | 2 × 3.5-inch SATA and 2.5-inch SATA SSD |
|---|---|
| Processor | ARM Cortex-A55 (4 cores, 2.0 GHz) |
| Memory | 2 GB, 2 GB, soldered Soldered, not upgradeable |
| M.2 NVMe | none No M.2 slots |
| Network | 1 × 1GbE |
| Operating system | QTS 5.2 |
| RAID types | Single, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1 |
Keep calculating
To see how much capacity is left after parity, the TS-233 capacity calculator is preset to its 2 bays and RAID types. For the TS-233, the wider basics of choosing a drive are in the buying guides, where we also explain why CMR rather than SMR is mandatory in any RAID array.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put third-party drives in the TS-233?
Yes. QNAP locks no drive brand on the TS-233 — its compatibility list is guidance, not a gate — so any CMR NAS drive works.
Which drives fit the TS-233?
The TS-233 takes any 3.5-inch SATA and 2.5-inch SATA SSD drive; use a CMR NAS family rated for 24/7 duty such as IronWolf, WD Red Plus or Toshiba N300. On its 1 × 1GbE, even a basic 5400 rpm drive saturates the TS-233's link.
How much capacity is usable in the TS-233?
In the TS-233, 2 × 8 TB in RAID 1 gives about 7.28 TiB usable and survives 1 drive failing; the balance is parity.
Can the TS-233 run Plex with hardware transcoding?
Only in software. The TS-233's ARM Cortex-A55 (4 cores, 2.0 GHz) has no Quick Sync, so Plex transcodes on the CPU — enough for direct play, not for heavy 4K transcoding.
Is a Pro drive worth it in the TS-233?
Not for speed. The TS-233's 1 × 1GbE caps throughput near 110 MB/s, which the cheapest NAS drive already reaches, so a Pro drive only buys the longer warranty and higher workload rating.
Devin Chua works out which drives, RAM and NVMe cache fit which NAS model at nasdrives.ca, and what the RAID choice means for usable capacity, checked against what is in stock on Amazon.ca.
Data checked by Owen Nakamura, Technical editor (data checking)