QNAP launches smart edge PoE switch for Wi-Fi 6

QNAP Systems has launched its second-generation Guardian PoE managed switch – the QGD-1602P.

With multiple 2.5GbE MultiGigabit ports, 10GbE fibre ports and up to 90 watts PoE power, the QGD-1602P enables high-speed and high-power PoE network infrastructure for Wi-Fi 6 Access Points and Routers.

The QGD-1602P features two 2.5-inch SATA drive bays, uses Intel Atom multi-core 2.2GHz processors, supports QNAP's QTS operating system, and can natively host virtual machines (VMs).

With Intel QuickAssist Technology (QAT) the QGD-1602P empowers edge computing virtualization, and with QNAP's QuWAN SD-WAN solution the QGD-1602P can be connected to a VPN infrastructure with other QNAP devices, improving multi-site network transmission and cloud-centric management efficiency.

"With the prevalence of Wi-Fi 6 speed and the multi-site businesses, small businesses and organisations need to upgrade their LAN/WAN speeds to meet remote VPN and multi-tasking demands," says QNAP product manager Frank Liao.

"The QGD-1602P provides 2.5GbE and 10GbE speeds with 20GbE internal network bandwidth, and integrates Intel QAT, QuWAN SD-WAN technology and Network Virtual Functions (NVF) to optimise wired, wireless, LAN, WAN transmission and virtualization performance efficiency for wireless AP management, IP surveillance, network security and remote management applications.

The QGD-1602P offers the QNAP Switch System (QSS) and QTS operating system and comes equipped with 4-port 90 watts 2.5GbE, 4-port 30 watts 2.5GbE, and 8-port 30 watts Gigabit PoE – supplying up to 380 watts total power to various high-powered devices (PDs) while being compliant with the IEEE 802.3bt PoE++ standard.

Two 10GbE SFP+, two 5GbE, and two Gigabit host management ports serve as uplink ports to core networks and also provide connectivity to LAN devices and computers.

The QGD-1602P provides flexible and secure management interfaces via QSS switch or the Web GUI (QuNetSwitch) to operate Layer 2 management features.

With Network Virtual Switch, QTS can directly access and control data processed in QSS (through the 20GbE internal bandwidth) to accelerate computing between end devices and hosts.

The QGD-1602P and other QNAP solutions now support QuWAN – QNAP's SD-WAN solution – which provides full-mesh IPsec VPN topology between QNAP devices based in multiple sites to fulfil enterprise video, VoIP, ERP system data, and filing needs.

QuWAN adopts software-defined networking to achieve optimum network connectivity and supports cloud-centric management for deploying a resilient IT Infrastructure.

Versatile virtual machines can be run on a QGD-1602P to consolidate multiple services.

2.5GbE connectivity and up to 90 watts PoE per port is provided to support PoE Wi-Fi 6 access points (AP) and to become a wireless AP controller by installing Ubiquiti UniFi.

Sufficient power can be provided to 4K PTZ ONVIF IP cameras, with the QGD-1602P serving as an all-in-one surveillance server with deployment, management, recording, and processing all included with QNAP's QVR Pro surveillance solution.

The QGD-1602P supplies PoE to various low-latency enterprise SIP IP telephony and can be used as a multi-user IP PBX telephone switch with FreePBX software.

With MikroTik RouterOS, OpenWrt or pfSense firewall, the QGD-1602P can provide flexible routing functions, protect local networks and apply multiple security policies.

The QGD-1602P also supports Zabbix Network Management Platform to help IT staff auto-detect connected SNMP-compliant servers/devices and monitor network status.

It supports intelligent PoE management functions, including scheduling, power supply prioritization, and power enabling/disabling.

Two PCle Gen3 x2 slots are also available for expanding core functionality by adding 10GbE Network Cards, QM2 Expansion Cards, USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Expansion Cards, and Wireless adaptors.

Two M.2 NVMe SSD slots can be leveraged to increase IOPS performance. The storage capacity of the QGD-1602P can also be expanded by using QNAP expansion units.

Key specifications

• QGD-1602P-C3758: Intel Atom C3758 octa-core 2.2 GHz processor, 16 GB DDR4 RAM, supports hosting up to 6 VMs
• QGD-1602P-C3558: Intel Atom C3558 quad-core 2.2 GHz processor, 8 GB DDR4 RAM, supports hosting up to 4 VMs

4 x RJ45 2.5GbE 802.3bt 90-watt PoE ports, 4 x RJ45 2.5GbE 802.3at 30-watt PoE ports, 8 x RJ45 Gigabit 802.3at 30-watt PoE ports, 2 x 10GbE SFP+ ports, 2 x 5GbE host management ports, 2 x Gigabit host management ports; 2 x 2.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s drive bays, 2 x PCIe Gen3 x4 expansion slots, 2 x USB 3.0 ports