Exterior

The AS-302T features a metallic chassis with a dark gray finish. This model doesn't feature an LCD screen like the 6 Series because it is of the mainstream category, but such perk are also pretty expensive.


The manual has an interesting description of the front LED indicators, which is why we borrowed it.


Only one of the two sides features ventilation holes. We came across exactly the same design on QNAP cases.


The rear has the 70 mm cooling fan and all I/O ports. The ports include three USB ports (one is USB 3.0), an Ethernet and HDMI port, the Kesigton lock, and line-out and DC-in socket. The AS-302T doesn't include any eSATA ports, which is a great shame.


The bottom has four plastic feet and two labels.


We removed the caddies to shoot some photos of the unit's internals, but will shortly also fully dismantle this poor NAS.


The trays are of high quality and can accommodate both 3.5" and 2.5" disks in case you want to use SSDs instead of mechanical drives. You won't notice a significant speed differences with SSDs since the NAS doesn't support the faster SATA III protocol, and using SSDs will also significantly reduce the NAS server's storage capacity, but SSDs are far more reliable and heat resistant. The caddies are unfortunately not numbered, and there are no locks since the NAS isn't meant for business environments.