Network-attached storage and more
£369 FROM asustor.com FEATURES Bays for two 3.5-/2.5-inch hard drives and four M.2 NVMe SSDs, dual Superfast 2.5-Gigabit Ethernet ports, Time Machine support, with both SMB and AFP available
Coupled with Data Master goodies, there’s a great deal more you can do with this NAS
VERDICT
A perfect bridge to faster storage and networking, its performance excels with SSDs and 2.5GbE.
★★★★★
Choice of storage High performance
Time Machine support
Full SMB and AFP
Network-attached storage (NAS) has capacity and flexibility, but it’s slow. Asustor’s Flashstor broke new ground in performance for those who can switch completely to NVMe solid-state drives (SSDs). Its two new Nimbustor models bridge between past and future, with two (this AS5402T) or four (AS5404T) 3.5-/2.5-inch drive bays as well as four NVMe M.2 2280 SSD slots, giving you the best of both worlds.
Powering the Nimbustor is an Intel Celeron N5105 Quad-Core 2GHz processor with 4GB memory expandable to 16GB. The two-bay model tested supports RAID 0, 1 and JBOD, with optional hardware encryption. Its two Ethernet ports can be combined through an external switch to give SMB Multichannel speeds approaching 4Gbps. Coloured indicators on the front show when a network connection is running at 2.5GbE, and give separate hard disk warnings. There are also three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports for additional storage, and an HDMI 2.0b port for direct video display.
Installing SSDs is quick and simple, provided you remove the disk trays first. Remove two screws from its back, and the case slides open to reveal the four M.2 slots, numbered clearly in order of use. Modules are retained using a neat ratchet to save messing around with screws. We have asked Asustor to give clearer guidance on the need for heatsinks on SSDs, although we experienced no thermal problems.
Setting up is a breeze using its Control Center
