ASUSTOR Launches Flashstor Gen2 NAS Series Featuring AMD Quad-Core Ryzen Embedded CPUs

[Nomad76]

Following the enthusiastic market response and positive reviews of the revolutionary Flashstor series NAS, ASUSTOR Inc. has released all-new all-M.2 SSD NAS, the Flashstor Gen2 series, which includes both the Flashstor 6 Gen2 and Flashstor 12 Pro Gen2. The Flashstor Gen2 series brings radical hardware upgrades to meet the demands of enthusiasts and professionals. The Flashstor Gen2 series brand new hardware to achieve ultimate performance. The new Flashstor Gen2 series is powered by AMD's 6 nm Quad-Core Ryzen Embedded V3C14 which clocks up to 3.8 GHz. This new CPU delivers efficient, yet high performance, which along with high-speed I/O connectivity enables you to make the most out of your ASUSTOR NAS.

The Flashstor Gen2 series come with 10-Gigabit Ethernet, dual USB4 ports in an ASUSTOR first. USB4 is so fast, that it helps to fully unleash the high speeds offered by the M.2 SSDs. The USB4 ports are also compatible with Thunderbolt devices, as well as direct attach technology, extended possibilities that surpass the imagination of professionals and creators.



The Flashstor 6 Gen2 is equipped with 6 M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs, 8 GB of DDR5-4800 RAM, and 10-Gigabit Ethernet, greatly enhancing overall performance. The Flashstor 12 Pro Gen2 further increases maximum capacity by adding six more M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs as well as an additional 10-Gigabit Ethernet port for maximum performance. The Flashstor 12 Pro Gen2 features 12 M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs and 16 GB of DDR5 ECC memory. Both devices support up to 64 GB of ECC memory and ECC memory can detect and correct errors, which improves system stability and reliability while reducing the risk of corruption. For storage environments that require high reliability, such as enterprise servers and workstations, ECC memory helps ensures the accuracy and integrity of data. As long as you have more than one Ethernet port, the Flashstor Gen2 series supports SMB multichannel which can provide speeds of up to 2331 MB/s of read performance and 2358 MB/s of write performance, breaking the 10-Gigabit barrier. When paired with the Xpanstor 4 USB expansion device, the Flashstor Gen2 series can also support hard drives for low cost extra capacity or easy MyArchive backups, bringing the best of both worlds.

The Flashstor Gen2 series features an upgraded cooling system that contains two ultra-quiet fans and high-efficiency heat pipes, which effectively dissipates heat generated by the processor, network ports, and SSDs at all times. This increased cooling efficiency means better performance while also running quietly. To ensure stable and secure operation, the Flashstor Gen2 series comes with the latest ADM operating system, ADM 5.0. The Linux Kernel version upgraded to version 6.6. This upgrade includes the latest security updates, helping to ensure data security and reducing cybersecurity risks.

Pricing:

• Flashstor 6 Gen2 MSRP: £979
• Flashstor 12 Pro Gen2 MSRP: £1,339

Specifications:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14
• Performance: 2.3 GHz base - 3.8 GHz max - Four cores, eight threads
• Memory:
  • Flashstor 6 Gen2: 8 GB DDR5-4800
  • Flashstor 12 Pro Gen2: 16 GB DDR5-4800 ECC
  • 64 GB maximum - ECC supported
• Drive support:
  • Flashstor 6 Gen2: 6x M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs supporting PCIe 4.0
  • Flashstor 12 Pro Gen2: 12x M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs (8x M.2 @ PCIe 4.0, 4x M.2 @ PCIe 3.0 - Lane count varies)
• Networking:
  • Flashstor 6 Gen2: 1x 10-Gigabit @ 100/1000/2500/10000
  • Flashstor 12 Pro Gen2: 2x 10-Gigabit @ 100/1000/2500/10000
• Performance figures on RAID 5:
  • Single 10-Gigabit: Up to 1179 MB/s / 1181 MB/s Flashstor 6 Gen2
  • Dual 10-Gigabit using SMB Multichannel: Up to 2331 MB/s / 2358 MB/s
• External Ports: 2x 40 Gbps USB4 - 3x 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen2
• Supports Hardware Encryption Engine
• Supports RAID: RAID 0/1/5/6/10, Single, JBOD

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[Chaitanya]

Price aside, looks like a good upgrade.

Edit: Personally would liked to see Asustor move to much more traditional rackmount FF instead of current one.

 

[Ferrum Master]

It looks like PS2

 

[CosmicWanderer]

Love the idea of an all-nvme NAS, but we need drive prices to come down and capacities to go up.

A quick check on Amazon shows me a 8TB (max capacity) nvme drive selling for around $650. So with the 12-slot NAS, that's 96 TB of capacity for $7,800. That's too much money for too little capacity. Yes, it's fast, but I guess that's the compromise here. Speed for capacity.

Meanwhile you can get a 4-slot HDD NAS, and stock it with 4x 24 TB drives, each selling for around $580, giving you same 96 TB of total storage, but for $2,320.

That's a huge difference in price for the same storage capacity. Is the extra $5,480 worth it for the increase in speed? That's for you to decide depending on your use-case, but I'd wager for most home and even small business users, it's not.

 

[Crackong]

Love the idea of an all-nvme NAS, but we need drive prices to come down and capacities to go up.

A quick check on Amazon shows me a 8TB (max capacity) nvme drive selling for around $650. So with the 12-slot NAS, that's 96 TB of capacity for $7,800. That's too much money for too little capacity. Yes, it's fast, but I guess that's the compromise here. Speed for capacity.

Meanwhile you can get a 4-slot HDD NAS, and stock it with 4x 24 TB drives, each selling for around $580, giving you same 96 TB of total storage, but for $2,320.

That's a huge difference in price for the same storage capacity. Is the extra $5,480 worth it for the increase in speed? That's for you to decide depending on your use-case, but I'd wager for most home and even small business users, it's not.

I would say 8TB nvme is a niche product and doesn't worth the asking price.

Use 4TB instead (~$200), 12 of them costs $2400
The opposite side 12TB HDD ($240), 4 of them costs $960

Now the price jump $1500 is justifiable considering an at least 6x performance of SSD vs HDD.

 

[CosmicWanderer]

I would say 8TB nvme is a niche product and doesn't worth the asking price.

Use 4TB instead (~$200), 12 of them costs $2400
The opposite side 12TB HDD ($240), 4 of them costs $960

Now the price jump $1500 is justifiable considering an at least 6x performance of SSD vs HDD.

I don't disagree with you, but for me at least, it's not. I buy a NAS because I need more capacity. That's my number one priority. So it's all about maximizing the available slots with as much capacity as possible.

But again, that's just my use case. I don't think Asustor is marketing an all-nvme NAS for how much storage it supports (even though 96 TB is pretty significant). It's just the price that makes it not worth the increase in speed.

My current NAS has 4x 3.5" HDD bays, 2x 2.5" SSD bays, and 2x PCIe 3.0 nvme slots. It allows for a really good balance of storage options depending on the speed required. But the future is flash storage, so I'm really happy this Asustor NAS exists. I just hope the nvme SSD prices start to decrease.