Introduction

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



Asustor rolls out new models and lines every now and then. In this review, we will focus on the second top member of the AS62 line, the AS6208T capable of taking up to eight disks for a ton of storage space if you pick appropriate HDDs. This NAS uses an Intel quad-core Braswell CPU, and while it may be weak for a normal PC running Windows, it is just fine for Asustor's custom-tailored Linux operating system, offering good performance and very low energy consumption, which is very important in NAS servers that are run around the clock. The AS6208T is also equipped with a decent amount of RAM, which will allow for it to smoothly execute services in parallel, and with RAID 5, the four Gigabit Ethernet ports are capable of transferring upward of 355 MB/s once teamed, at least according to Asustor.

All AS61 and AS62 units feature SoCs that include hardware encryption engines since they are for business environments where data encryption is a necessary feature. NAS servers that don't have built-in encryption engines are sluggish with encrypted files and should be avoided if you plan on storing sensitive data on the server. The AS6208T promises up to 224.71 MB/s read and up to 132.56 MB/s write speeds with encrypted files so long as all four of its Gigabit ports are teamed.

Although it mostly addresses professional users, the AS6208T does come with HDMI and S/PDIF ports, which enhance the server's multimedia capabilities. An HDMI port is useful for multimedia playback, but can also be used for local administration should a system administrator, for example, not be able to connect to the NAS remotely for some reason. The AS6208T fully supports KODI, which is probably the best media player application around, can handle up to 2160p multimedia content, and offers 7.1 multi-channel HD audio through its S/PDIF port.