The most evident properties of the new NAS Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4 are the great flexibility in the configuration and a very fast network compartment, ideal for the small office but also for those who, from home, do Smart Working with ambitions of high performance and flexibility. Does it respond to these characteristics? And how does it do it? We tried it for a few weeks to try and give an answer.
Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4 at a glance
At first glance, the Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4 aesthetically resembles the AS6404T model we tested a few years ago, but the similarity is only in the look, features and performance are very different.
Like its predecessor, also in this case the aesthetics are austere and dictated by practicality : being a NAS for the office, the appearance favors the functions, unlike for example the Asustor AS5202T Nimbustor 2 where instead a front panel was used to cover the sleds and provide a more captivating look for those who put it in the living room and need something that can also be looked at.
Austere but practical appearance, the Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4 is still meant for the office, where design is usually a slave to comfort
The four front sleds, which hook the mechanical disks or SSDs using screws (included in the package), face a large monochrome LCD display for essential information (such as name or IP, useful data for connection) and a socket USB-A 3.0, in addition to the power button with LEDs that indicate operation.
Two other USB-A 3.0 connectors are placed in the back, together with the two RJ45 connectors, an HDMI output (for connection to a display, the NAS also provides an ad hoc interface), the power socket and a safety hook . In the package, we find the external power supply and two Gigabit Ethernet cables.
Ready go…
For the first installation of the Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4 we tried various solutions: for storage we opted for mechanical drives , such as 12 TB WD RED disks in RAID 1, plus a 6 TB WD Purple drive as a single disk, leaving the fourth sled to use MyArchive, a feature to which we return shortly.
In addition to this, we have inserted a 1 TB WD BLACK SN750 NVMe SSD M.2 as the cache unit for the volume given by the two disks in RAID 1: let's assume that 1 TB of cache is a lot for our personal use, however in a office with different accesses, even simultaneous ones, the SSD can radically change the use of the NAS by offering very high speed even using mechanical drives.
Two of the three disks used for archiving, in this case WD RED
We performed the initialization on the network: Asustor proposes an app, Control Center (for Mac and Windows) but in the end having the IP (which we found from the display) you can do everything both from the browser and from the App for iPhone or Android.
The operation, which takes about five minutes for customization (but you can also rely on a predetermined path) then needs a little more time to optimize the volumes and the cache but Asustor has worked very well in recent times. and we can say that the process does not take much away; no more than twenty minutes
The 1TB M.2 WD_Black SSD. Although this type of unit is designed for gamers, it also performed very well in this more business capacity
The ADM 3 operating system
Our test of the Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4 was carried out with ADM 3 (3.5.3.RBH1), the version of the operating system common to all i NAS Asustor. The system is, as per the tradition of the Asian brand, very simple and straightforward: we have already talked about the initialization process, but also in the management of resources and above all in the store it is easy to set up.
Asustor has done a very good job in recent years, growing both in terms of aesthetics (but there is still margin) and in terms of structure, where now ADM is a product that does not dissatisfy the more demanding technician nor the novice user who finds an environment with few doubts to solve for each operation he has to perform.
Also noteworthy is the App Store , with all kinds of solutions: the Asustor Apps perform the essentials for checking and browsing documents , and others are dedicated to multimedia management.
Do not miss Plex, but we also really liked Asusor Live, a service that runs a stream on multiple channels (Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, Instagram and Restream) starting from a single track from a computer or tablet, a function that has become very popular in recent years and that alone is worth the price of the ticket. Basically, a device transmits the video to the Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4, and this takes care of the split on all channels, simultaneously.
We then have App for the management of an eShop, compatibility with some Cloud services such as Dropbox or OneDrive, iTunes Server (but with Plex this service provides the impression of something dated), various backup solutions and ad hoc development solutions, such as Docker and WordPress.
One of the coolest features is MyArchive. Basically by defining a disk in this way, the NAS sees it as an external disk, and you use it as a cartridge between NAS Asustor, Mac or PC
Power and speed
The power is guaranteed by a powerful Intel Celeron quad core CPU, 4 GB Ram DDR4 (nice news this, instead of the more classic DDR3), however upgradeable up to 8, two slots for M.2 SSD memories and 2.5 GbE network ports, to be used also in Link Aggregation (but you need a router capable of supporting this standard).
During the initialization phase you can choose to use the more tested Ext4 as filesystem, or the new Btrfs , which also allows the convenient Snapshot function for added security. Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4 then supports USB external drives in HFS +, FAT32 and Ext4 without problems.
Note that Asustor offers a very interesting function: additional disks, instead of including them in the NAS Filesystem, we can manage them with the MyArchive function , so that the disk is “unattached” from the original NAS and functions as a kind of removable disk (who remembers the old SyQuest cartridges?), hot pluggable, on which to read and write.
MyArchive can be used to perform progressive backups (instead of a tape) but also to quickly move incredible amounts of data from one NAS to another without clogging up a network (in practice, a volatile archive up to 18 TB, the current capacity of a disc). Plus, as the mode supports multiple FileSystems (such as EXT4, exFAT, NTFS, HFS + and Btrfs) the drive can also be read by Mac or Windows as an external drive via USB or Thunderbolt.
Of course, with a capacity of 2.5 Gb on an Ethernet network the data flow is not a problem (and if you have another Asustor server, the function is automated), but if other people already work in an office network, it is useless to congest the network for two or three days to pass 40 or 50 TB of data, better to opt for a disk in MyArchive and the question is solved a a little faster, leaving the net free.
During our test, speed was never an issue , even when we tried virtualizing a copy of Windows 10: if at all beginning of this article we have defined the aesthetics of the Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4 as austere, the opinion changes considering the remarkable capacity of silent dissipation . The connection tests via SMB or AFP, even multiple, have always been perfect, a sign that on the one hand the NAS is designed for heavy use in the office, but also that the WD Red drives have equal technical resources.
When the dissipation capacities weren't enough, the large rear fan came in handy, but it only happened once. Regarding this, the my-netdata App should be mentioned, which offers a complete analysis of every single aspect of NAS operations, and which is was the most valuable resource for understanding how it was working and which processes were engaging the NAS the most, even if the minute level of analysis takes some time to fully understand.
We can also say that during the test, we also suffered an attack from the network (the NAS is connected to a Public IP), promptly rejected by the Network Defender function, whose setup is very simple but which ultimately proved vital in its functions. .
Other functions
As we said at the beginning, although the Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4 was created for the small office, some features are not to be underestimated even for home smart working .
Connected to a public IP and via VPN, the NAS becomes a perfect cloud space for use by a workgroup. On a personal level, it is clear that it offers a serious alternative to a pure cloud, at costs that must be understood. Pure cloud services rarely operate only 2 TB, and with very high costs, here the initial expense is higher, but then it pays for itself over time: considering that some services are closing or reducing the offer, such as Google Photos that will no longer offer unlimited space for photos and videos, even on a private level, needs to be considered.
Some functions are really interesting: for example, in addition to the usual on, off and sleep functions controlled via timer, there is also the possibility to “wake up” the NAS via the network (useful function for those who use it in the living room) but we have found “Rush Hour” really interesting, which varies the power of the NAS in the hours indicated as the most used, perhaps giving space to the document sharing function.
The Rush Hour function allows you to define the use of the NAS during the day, in order to balance the power
We really liked the backup solutions, that can also be managed completely from mobile: if the simplicity of the basic operations is not enough, on the App Store we there are several solutions also from third parties. The backup functions via the network (including Time Machine) are also convenient for the first transfer, although in our opinion MyArchive is more convenient.
Finally, we also tried the new PhotoGallery 3 + AiFoto 3.0 solution (still in beta), which allows the creation of dynamic or personalized photo albums. The App looks promising, but here and there it is still a bit unstable, for the moment we preferred to opt for Plex.
The Netdata App is truly amazing, offering a painstaking view of every little aspect of the NAS. Unmissable for those who use it for work and want to keep an eye on the parameters
Obviously not all that glitters is gold: there are negative sides , but it should be noted that with each NAS of Asustor, these decrease. Apps for mobile are powerful and detailed, but in some cases they should be updated in the interface and in some cases they are a bit redundant.
Apple TV support is still poor (there is only one App for videos, one is missing for music and photos) and the system d The search for files via the browser must improve significantly, as we would like a more flexible management of document previews.
A small portion of the App Store
Conclusions
Important, impressive, austere but with excellent price / performance ratio (factor that made Asutor the third player on the market), the Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4 is a NAS destined to mark the market. The hardware features are all there, as well as a software system ready and suitable for the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, but which does not forget even those who today go to Smart Working. There is something to improve, as is normal, but we are facing a remarkable product.
Pro:
• Powerful and silent • The ADM operating system is now mature • The Asustor Live app is a flagship • The MyArchive function is very convenient
Versus:
• Mobile apps are interesting but need updating • Little Apple TV support • File search system can be improved
Price and availability
• 449.00 Euro (Asustor AS6602T Lockerstor 2, 2 discs) • 609.00 Euro (Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4, 4 discs and LCD display)
Asustor AS6604T Lockerstor 4 is distributed in Italy by Neostar, but you can find it more conveniently also at Amazon.it. There is also a smaller model (Asustor AS6602T Lockerstor 2) with two bays (instead of four) and without the LCD display, but with all other features unchanged.
