Introduction

I would like to thank Asustor for supplying the review sample.


Asustor recently introduced the Lockerstor 4 NAS, a four-bay NAS with some interesting features. For starters, it uses a capable quad-core Intel Celeron processor for a NAS, with burst frequency of up to 2.7 GHz. Such a server has to strike a balance between power and energy consumption when it comes to the CPU since it operates continuously around the clock. A power-hungry CPU would increase the thermal load, which requires active cooling. Active cooling, on the other hand, is not as reliable as passive cooling and may get noisy. Keeping internal NAS temperatures low is of immense importance for other reasons as well—it ensures less storage-related issues over the long run. While aggressive fan-speed profiles will work, no one wants a noisy NAS at home.

Another interesting feature is the HDMI 2.0a port, which supports up to 4K resolution with a refresh rate of 60 Hz. In combination with the Asustor Portal applications, which include Plex, this NAS can be a powerful multimedia hub. Besides multimedia, there are other scenarios where an HDMI port may come in handy (e.g., surveillance). Below are a few more strong points that speak for the AS6604T.

• Two 2.5 Gbit Ethernet ports
• Pair of M.2 NVMe SSD ports
• Upgradable RAM
• Dual file-system support for internal storage (btrfs and EXT4)

Finally, if four bays are not enough for your needs some time down the line, you can easily expand your storage by connecting other Asustor NAS units over the bundled USB 3.2 ports.

Specifications