Specifications

The N5810 Pro uses a quad-core Intel J1900 Bay Trail CPU. The CPU performs well and consumes very little energy, and many recent enthusiast-grade NAS servers use the Intel J1900 because it performs as well as it does overall. The only downside are its low transfer speeds with encrypted data files since it lacks a cryptography related instruction set. While the performance drop with encrypted files might not matter at home, it most likely will matter in a business environment.

Thecus equipped the NAS with a lot of memory, which, given its custom-tailored Linux operating system, will suffice in most cases. The server can also take up to five HDDs, which is enough to cover even the increased storage needs of a small office so long as high-capacity drives are used. To move data fast to and from the server, Thecus equipped this NAS with five ports for up to a 5 Gbit line between the server and a switch with support for the Link Aggregation Protocol, which is incredibly fast. The server also sports enough USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, with a USB 3.0 port at the front, which increases its usability. There are also an HDMI and audio-out port, but Thecus didn't include an eSATA port, which is strange even though these ports are losing in popularity since most users would now use USB 3.0 storage devices that are just as fast.

The N5810 is almost as large as a small mini-ITX system and quite heavy because of its metal enclosure. Its internal PSU is strong enough to power Intel's energy efficient J1900 CPU, and a 92mm fan keeps the system and all installed HDDs cool. The warranty is two years long, an atypical length for NAS products, and based on how much similarly featured offerings are currently going for, it is also priced fairly.