Tag Archives: NAS

It comes as no surprise to my friends and family that the time has come for me to set aside some of my storage devices and server builds of the past for something bigger and better in 2017. Over the years, we have embarked on a couple of projects related to building a NAS and piecing together a 40TB server using parts left over. This year, I have decided that I would go a few steps further...I decided that this build would last more than just a year. With that said, I started to scour the web for components and started planning the next CODServer, but why?

NAS are evolving faster than many segments of the computing world. Today, there are more NAS makers than you can shake a stick at, and all of them are on a mission to produce a product that will find its home in yours. asustor is no stranger to the market, and they have been quietly making some of the best NAS available today. While doing so, they have been keeping the costs down, the features rich, and the evolution moving forward. Recently, ASUSTOR launched their AS3102T 2-bay NAS with 4K capabilities and a Celeron processor, but will it be enough to capture our attention and deliver results that you, the consumer, are looking for?

Recently, I have been experiencing some strange issues with the Thecus W5000 that we had reviewed some time ago. The NAS is fantastic; and what it does, it does well, given the limitations Microsoft has put on the OS. Lately, things have been a little wonky though. The NAS goes offline intermittently, it becomes unresponsive to remote control requests, etc. In an effort to renew my love for the W5000, I decided it would be high-time I started poking around a bit to see if I can uncover the culprit and resolve the issues.

QNAP has shed their Intel only t-shirts and has partnered with AMD to introduce their new TVS-X63+ Golden Cloud Turbo vNAS lineup. These NAS are powered by AMD 64-bit G-Series Quad-Core CPUs, tons of RAM, they are outfitted with 10GbE, powered by AMD Radeon graphics, and feature a brand new Gold exterior. The question is, is this NAS enough to be considered when looking to purchase a storage platform, or will it be marketing propaganda overload?

It seems like there is a new kid on the block each and every week. Whenever I think that the dust is settling, someone comes running through like the road runner kicking up a new cloud trail. To be fair, Seagate not exactly a new kid on the block and is most definitely not new to storage. With Seagate's expansion through acquisitions (including LaCie in August of 2012), they took all the best features of LaCie and their knowledge of storage and put together what might be the next middleweight contender.

It is no secret that I am a storage junkie. Everyone that visits this site should have figured that out by now. With as much data as I store on my network(s), I am always on the hunt for a better hard drive to (over)populate my NAS and servers. Desktop drives are affordable but not ideal for NAS/Server storage while Enterprise drives are way to costly for the average person. Seagate thinks they have created the perfect drive for your NAS (and mine) and it goes by the name NAS HDD, It stores an impressive 4TB, and it is very inexpensive. Can it do enough to displace my current drive of choice?

ASUSTOR has become one of my go to manufacturers for NAS. They have made some great NAS at some very affordable prices. Naturally, as time goes on, components are less expensive for consumers and for manufacturers. This allows NAS makers to pack more power into their storage appliances without increasing costs. In some cases, we are finding more powerful NAS at lower costs. To compliment this decrease in costs, production ramps up, R&D ramps up, and product enhancements increase. Ok, the point of all that? ASUSTOR has released a new 8-bay NAS, gave it more power, slapped a new name on it, and... lowered the cost. Enter the AS5008T.

ASUSTOR has been hard at work. Not only have they been releasing some very impressive NAS lately, but they are also hard at work in the development labs to try and make ADM (ASUSTOR Data Master) the best operating system they can. ADM is intuitive, impressive, and fast.

Just when I thought it was safe to open a box again, Thecus drops one at my door and tells me that they have produced the First Ever Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials NAS. After coming hot off the heals of the Buffalo WSS 5400 NAS review, I thought I would have a break to get back to some good ole fashioned Linux based NAS reviews, I guess not. Having liked the Buffalo NAS, I can't wait to see what Thecus is able to accomplish with their W5000 5-Bay premium NAS.

In 2013, we published an article on building your own NAS for an affordable storage solution.  Well, there was such a positive reaction and such demand for an updated NAS build, I decided that it is high-time I revisit this article with a parts list relevant to 2015.