ASUSTOR Data Master Operating System

The ASUSTOR Data Master Operating System or ADM is a Linux-based operating system Asustor developed exclusively for their NAS servers. According to Asustor, it was designed around the use of applications, and its unique web-based graphical interface allows the user to handily organize applications by page, like on Android or iOS devices. ADM supports multi-tasking and comes with some basic applications pre-installed. If you want more applications to better customize the NAS around to your needs, you will find a great number of them through App Central.

The ADM interface looks like that of a smartphone running Android or iOS, so most users will easily get the hang of it. Asustor also provides frequent updates to ADM and is constantly adding new features. Some of ADM's more interesting features include the Searchlight search engine, the ability to pin frequently used applications to the menu bar, customizable desktop wallpapers, two-way transfer support, Mission Mode backup, FTP Explorer, the SoundsGood web music player, etc. The only serious omissions includes the fact that you cannot resize windows and the lack of widgets, which both Qnap's and Synology's operating systems include. We mentioned both of these omissions in our previous Asustor product reviews, but Asustor still hasn't made a point of fixing either, although they will hopefully do so with their next firmware update.

One of the more interesting applications will be XBMC since the AS-204TE is sold as a multimedia NAS. XBMC is currently the most popular media player, and it can fully replace a media player or even an HTPC when combined with the AS-204TE's HDMI port and the provided remote control.


The Searchlight box and all administrative options through which you can shutdown, reset, or put the NAS to sleep are in the top-right corner.

Administration Interface Walkthrough

Once we logged into the administrative panel, a welcome message greeted us, offering a tour of the web interface. We strongly advise you to follow through on this guide at least once, since it will show you all the basic steps you need to take to correctly set the NAS up. The paragraphs below will also take you through those steps since we took the tour.

Storage Manager

The first stop of the aforementioned tour is Storage Manager. It allows you to check or configure the volume(s) on the NAS, or migrate a volume to a higher Raid level, or replace currently installed HDDs with higher capacity ones. You can also check the disks and create an iSCSI target and LUN. Using iSCSI will make the disks you have on your NAS appear as local disks on any of the client PCs; however, all data will be transferred to/from them over the network. LUN stands for Logical Unit Number: Numbered disk drives that the operating system of the client PC sees as volumes.


Some more screenshots of the Storage Manager.

Accounts & Privileges

The second stop was Access Control, which allows you to configure user and group accounts, set domain users and groups, manage shared folders, and set application privileges.


The Access Control options allow you to configure the access rights of users or user groups to various applications. You can, for instance, deny some users access to sensitive applications like Surveillance Center. Once those users log into ADM, the corresponding Surveillance Center icon won't be displayed anywhere, so they won't be able to open it.

Services

This step allows you to enable some of the extra services ADM includes: Windows file service, Mac file service, NFS, FTP server, terminal service, etc. You should enable the terminal service if you are an advanced user and want to connect to the NAS through SSH.



After enabling the Windows File and Mac OS X file services, you are able to access the NAS via any Windows or Mac OS X operating system. The Windows File service is also widely known as SAMBA or CIFS.

App Central

In App Central, you will find numerous interesting applications you can easily install on the NAS. We won't delve any deeper into App Central right now since we will dedicate a whole portion of the review to this significant package.

Backup & Restore

This option allows you to set up the two-way backup and restore feature of ADM. You can also configure the function of the USB button at the front of the NAS here. The NAS can be used as a centralized backup server in a variety of ways:

• Use the NAS as an FTP or Rsync server and back data up to it.
• Use the built-in Rsync Backup function to pull data from other devices.
• Use the built-in FTP Backup function to pull data from other devices.
• Use Backup Plan to back a Windows PC or server up to the NAS.

You can also remotely replicate the NAS using the following methods:

• Use Remote Sync to push data to an Rsync compatible server or another ASUSTOR NAS
• Use FTP Backup to push data to an FTP server or another ASUSTOR NAS
• Use Cloud Backup to push data to Amazon S3

Finally, there is Mission Mode. It provides two options you can use when configuring your backup jobs. You can have a job continuously attempt to connect for a specified period of time or specify the number of re-connection attempts in the event a connection doesn't take place.

Cloud Connect

The last step of the tour takes you through the necessary network settings for remote and mobile access to the NAS, as your Cloud ID and Asustor's mobile apps give you access to the NAS from anywhere in the world if you have access to the net. While your Asustor ID gives you easy access to the NAS from anywhere, EZ-router helps you in setting your router up to allow access to the NAS over other networks, but you must have a router that is compatible with UPnP for this feature to work properly. The DDNS option will inform you of any WAN IP changes to the router you use to access the NAS from a remote location; it will also provide you with the new WAN IP after a change has been made.