Asustor Lockerstor 4 (AS6604T) 4-bay NAS

[crmaris]

The Asustor Lockerstor 4 (AS6604T) is a high-performing, expensive 4-bay NAS that operates quietly. It packs capable hardware, including a highly efficient Intel Celeron CPU and two 2.5 Gbit Ethernet ports. It can also take two fast NVMe drives for caching.

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[melkhior]

Great review, but IMO a bit expensive. I assembled recently a NAS by myself with better characteristics for less money:

- Case with 4 hot swap and 250W bronze rated PSU.
- J5040 motherboard.
- 256 GB M2 SSD (+ PCI adapter).
- 8 GB RAM.

385€ at Amazon. Too much difference for me.

 

[crmaris]

True, if you can do it on your own and you don't need easy-to-use OS (with many capabilities), the extra software apps etc. you can save lots of money.

 

[melkhior]

True, if you can do it on your own and you don't need easy-to-use OS (with many capabilities), the extra software apps etc. you can save lots of money.

The easy to use OS could be OMV. It's easy to install, to configure and to install dockers. In less than 2 hours you can have a NAS ready to use with some good plugins.

 

[TheLostSwede]

So when is TPU going to invest in a multi-gig switch? It's a bit moot reviewing a 2.5Gbps NAS on a Gigabit connection.
QNAP has some very affordable options, they might even send you one for review if you ask them nicely.
This looks like a perfect fit, as the eight port switch is all 2.5Gbps.

QSW-M2108-2C | Entry-level 10GbE and 2.5GbE Layer 2 Web Managed Switch for SMB Network Deployment

The QSW-M2108-2C is a Layer 2 Web Managed Switch with two 10GbE SFP+/RJ45 combo ports and eight 2.5 Gigabit ports. Supporting Layer 2 switching and network management via a user-friendly web user interface, the QSW-M2108-2C offers flexible deployment in hybrid high-speed network environments and...

www.qnap.com

The easy to use OS could be OMV. It's easy to install, to configure and to install dockers. In less than 2 hours you can have a NAS ready to use with some good plugins.

I've been running OMV for a few years. I also worked at QNAP at one point in time. The two compare poorly in terms of overall look and feel, but surprisingly there isn't too much disparity in terms of functionality, especially after support for Portainer was added to OMV.
I would say that the retail NAS guys have a lot more spit and polish with regards to their UI, but they also have a lot of nasty bugs and old, bad code lurking. Here OMV wins hands down, as it's based on Debian, so OMV would only suffer if Debian suffers from problems.
Yes, some things are a tad convoluted in OMV and takes some figuring out, but for a free NAS OS, it's overall quite easy to use.

 

[Makaveli]

True, if you can do it on your own and you don't need easy-to-use OS (with many capabilities), the extra software apps etc. you can save lots of money.

This is true however I think the asus nas still uses less power if that is a concern for some.

 

[GermanProgrammer]

You can use the NVMe as Raid 1 with new Firmware. See youtube video for instructions.

Asustor NAS - Using the NVMe SSD Bays for Storage​

 

[TheUn4seen]

The easy to use OS could be OMV. It's easy to install, to configure and to install dockers. In less than 2 hours you can have a NAS ready to use with some good plugins.

Well, depends on how do you value your time. I have two NASes: One I built mostly for fun and because I got some hardware for free, the second I bought because I preferred to spend this time at work, earning more in the time I would spend building a NAS than I paid for one in a shop.

 

[nageme]

Great review, but IMO a bit expensive. I assembled recently a NAS by myself with better characteristics for less money:

- Case with 4 hot swap and 250W bronze rated PSU.

It's a problem is if you want a small case.
There are practically no available NAS-sized cases for standard motherboards.
And the few larger ones that are available cost as much as half a NAS.