NAS by stefan @ 2014-08-19
This time we will review an entry-level NAS from Thecus, with an AMCC APM 86491 800MHz processor which is paired with 512MB of DDR3. The device works on the latest ThecusOS version and for storage expansion we have two USB ports, one of which is 2.0 and the other USB 3.0.
At first we would like to thank Thecus for sending a sample of their N2310 SOHO/Home NAS Server for testing and reviewing.
“In today's networked world, digital content is truly the most precious asset. At Thecus, we take pride in developing innovative storage solutions that keep data safe and secure. Founded in 2004, the Thecus team brings decades of R&D expertise, Thecus brand marketing channel development, and a strong customer focus to deliver high-quality products that meet the storage needs of individual, small/medium business and enterprise.
Thecus focuses on hardware and software integration and development, and the core protocols of digital media storage. The result is products that are easier to use and can offer greater connectivity to consumer devices. Thecus envisions greater integration of data storage for both home and office environments, and we strive to be a pioneer in these fields and provide our users with the products that are second-to-none.
To develop optimal storage solutions for such a wide range of users, Thecus has assembled a best-in-class development team with extensive experience in both storage hardware and software development. By combining engineering expertise with a keen focus on the end-user experience, Thecus builds products that are not only powerful but easy-to-use, making advanced storage products accessible to users of all skill levels. Thecus' mission is to transform the most sophisticated technology into easy-to-use solutions to introduce comfortable network storage environment to people's everyday life. By crafting technology that is transparent as possible, Thecus continues to bring exceptional data storage solutions to advanced users and organizations around the world.
Core Values
Quality, innovation, integration, and reliability -- the four pillars that Thecus was built on.
Quality - Commitment to bring only the highest quality products to the marketplace.
Innovation - Investing vast resources into research and development to provide high performance and easy-to-use solutions.
Integration - Understanding consumers' needs and bringing the most complete product line to serve various types of applications and environments.
Reliability - Bringing the most secure, easy-to-use, and reliable storage solutions available.
By expanding service and product coverage worldwide, Thecus' mission is to establish an international service network. Committed to Thecus core values, the entire corporate, research and development, sales, and technical support teams firmly stand behind this commitment of service. We put our words into actions to show our clients that Thecus is the number one choice when it comes to network attached storage solutions. We promise to deliver innovative solutions that empower users, and in doing so, become the top brand digital storage devices.”
5 Minute Complete Installation
The N2310 is designed with ease in mind; it is easy enough for anyone to set up. Overlook the several steps which usually are associated with setting up NAS appliances. Simply plug the power supply, insert the Ethernet cable, boot up the N2310 and set up will be completed within 5 minutes. This breakthrough feature truly makes this a plug-and-play NAS.
Self-RAID Creation
All Thecus NAS include an innovative Self-RAID Creation tool that analyzes installed drives and, once the user has selected their preferred balance of performance and protection, automatically builds their customized RAID volume.
T-OnTheGo™ Mobile App
We’re a mobile society, and our NAS solutions are keeping up! Incorporated into the N2310 is support for Thecus’s® T-OnTheGo™ smartphone app. Now supporting both iOS and Android, this NAS management software enables users to access, copy, stream, and edit any data between their NAS and mobile device. Your own personal cloud, from anywhere with internet access.
DDNS
Have easy access to your NAS via Dynamic DNS (DDNS), this allows users to allocate and access their NAS files via the internet remotely. Since IP digits are often difficult to remember, domain names are utilized to make NAS management much more convenient. When the IP address is changed, the DDNS server will automatically adjust the IP address to make sure that remote access is always available. In short, DDNS provides convenient remote internet access to your Thecus® N2310 by utilizing domain names instead of IP digits.
PLEX Media Center
The Plex Media Server is both the heart and brains for any digital media system. The free server is a module available on the Thecus® App Center that allows you to set up and manage your media. With the Plex Media Server installed on your Thecus® NAS, various devices on your network (such as your Xbox 360 and mobile devices) can connect to and stream your local and online media.
Native BitTorrent Support
Included in ThecusOS™ 6 is Transmission, a powerful BitTorrent client. Easily add torrent seed files to Transmission and sit back and relax as your NAS does the rest, independent of your computer. Once downloaded, your files will be automatically stored in your NAS P2P folder where you’ll be able to access them across your network or through the internet. Set and forget torrenting that’s accessible anywhere, that’s the N2310’s native BitTorrent support.
Data Guard
Data Guard backup solution is the ultimate software as it provides both local and remote parts. Currently, data is backed up across RAID volumes, external USB drives, and eSATA. In addition, Data Guard uses innovative technology to sync data across the network to other NAS and servers. More importantly, Thecus® Data Guard is the total backup solution which makes managing NAS user-friendly and convenient.
Data Burn
NAS data can now be burned directly to CD, DVD, and Blu-ray discs with Data Burn, this hassle-free module makes burning data to a disk effortless. In addition, burning ISO image file is also supported. Whether you’re managing audio, media or essential files; Data Burn copies information fast while significantly reducing waiting time. The process of burning file to disk is now easy and smooth with Data Burn module.
USB 3.0 Connectivity
The next generation of connectivity is here with speeds 10x faster than USB 2.0. Whether connecting digital cameras and smart phones, backing up large external hard drives, or extending the capacity of your NAS, USB 3.0 will make sure it's done in no time at up to 5 Gbit/s. Backwards compatibility adds the connectivity of a world full of USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 devices to get the best combination of speed and universal access.
User Quota
Divide the massive storage of a Thecus NAS among multiple users. Whether there are two users or 100, User Quota make it easy to divvy up and manage disk space.
This time we will take a look at one of the entry-level NASes from Thecus, which is built for easy administration and easy installation. The product is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard box, which shows a photo of the NAS in the front along with some of the highlights:
If we flip the box on one of the sides, we will be able to discover some more info regarding the internal hardware, rated performance, applications, package contents and supported languages:
Some of the main product functions are described on the opposite side:
For ease of transportation, Thecus has equipped the box with a plastic handle:
After lifting the top cover, we will be welcomed by a Quick Installation Guide:
Underside it we have a small box which contains all the bundle:
Finally, on the bottom layer we will get to see the main product, sitting well between two pieces of protective foam:
Coming back to the bundle, we will receive one power lead, a single RJ45 cable, necessary screws for mounting both 2.5’’ and 3.5’’ drives, the power brick, one installation disk and a Warranty Card leaflet:
The power brick is manufactured by Channel Well Technology and is rated on the output as 12V, 3.33A:
The N2310 NAS is very compact and the chassis is made of plastic (no more metal folks!):
In the front we have the two removable trays and on the left side we have the activity LEDs along with two buttons:
The individual LEDs are for signaling presence of power, information LED, two LEDs for drive activity, LAN activity but also a separate one for the external storage devices:
As on other NASes meant for home use, we will get an USB Copy button along with the On/Off button:
The sides of the unit carry the Thecus logo; the middle is made of shiny black plastic so the manufacturer saw fit to cover it with a transparent film:
If we look at the back side of the unit, we will be able to spot a small 60mm ADDA fan, which is quite silent after the unit has been initialized successfully, but also one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0, the LAN port, one Reset button and the DC-IN port. On the right we also have the Kensington lock port:
On the bottom side Thecus has placed four rubber feet along with a sticker which holds the product serial number:
The plastic trays removal is an easy process:
The trays can accommodate both 2.5’’ and 3.5’’ drives, are entirely made of plastic but do not feature any vibration-dampening characteristics:
Here is a closer look at the spring which makes the removal and mounting of the trays a bit easier:
In order to avoid limitations, we will use two SSDs in RAID 0 in order to perform the speed tests:
The utility Thecus uses for the N2310 is a bit different than the one we have found with the N4560; the software will first detect the NAS even during the initialization period; what we have found peculiar is the fact that we have succeeded to detect it only when we were using the PC on wired LAN, while on wireless it was not showing up:
Next we will be prompted to specify if the utility should use the Self-RAID Creation process or if we should proceed with this manually:
If data is found on the disk/disks we have inserted, the NAS will prompt in order to take the necessary precautions:
The Intelligent NAS software will then go on with the setup procedure:
As with other brands, we are proposed to create our own “Thecus” ID:
The necessary info must be entered up in order to continue the setup process:
The final setup step implies logging in to the web interface:
Right after we access the web interface, we will be prompted to log in:
A wizard is available, which will also help us create a volume in case we have opted for the “manual” procedure; the wizard will first prompt us to configure the notifications:
Then, we will go to the RAID volume creation menu, where we will select the respective drives and an automatic RAID setup will be created for us; Thecus advises that we should go to Storage->RAID->Create menu in order to specify a custom RAID type:
Next, we will be able to add a local user:
A confirmation window will appear, which will show us the options which we have previously selected:
The desktop of the ThecusOS is quite standard and not as feature-rich in terms of graphics or functionality, as we have seen with QNAP or Synology brands; initially, we only have the Shared Folder and RAID Management functions brought by default on the desktop, and here we will be also able to access OS updates, change users, reboot or shutdown the unit and more:
RAID Management allows us to create custom volumes, as we have mentioned before:
Its volume creation wizard will help us get through the process:
After all options have been selected, we will be able to see the process of RAID build creation, until it finishes:
Shared Folder will show us the folders which have been created by default on the NAS, which are also accessible on the local network; we can always add, delete or edit new ones or customize the existing folders for user accessibility and so on:
You have probably noticed that we had a small OS update sign on the top right side of the desktop; by clicking on it, the NAS application section has popped up, which makes the whole installation process easier:
As the GUIs from other manufacturers, the ThecusOS has its own Control Panel from where we will be able to customize the rest of the functions:
The General section will tell us the NAS manufacturer, product code name, OS build number, but also the Up Time:
In the Status section we get to see which services are running and which are not:
From the System Log menu, we have the option to see what happens “under the hood”:
Syslog-related options are to be found in a separate menu:
The Date and Time menu is pretty self-explanatory:
We can choose to enable simple and more complex notifications from the next menu:
A scheduled on/off program can be also established depending to our needs:
The administrator password can be changed from the next menu:
The current NAS settings can be downloaded to a file and uploaded later if necessary:
Also, we can bring the NAS to factory defaults:
The Power Management menu includes the Shutdown/Reboot buttons:
If corruption has occurred, we can always force a file system check:
The network settings can be customized from the next menu:
UI Login Functions menu permits user authentication to different modules we have installed directly from the login screen:
Hardware Information menu shows which modules are operational inside the NAS:
User Access Log can be also enabled from the next menu:
Disk Information section provides additional information regarding the installed drives:
In the next application section, we have options regarding file sharing/user related configurations:
Next, we have the section dedicated to Network Services:
For the applications, Thecus has dedicated a separate space; this is also the area where we can install 3rd party modules:
The iTunes Server can be easily enabled or disable via the dedicated menu:
Third-party applications can be downloaded from the Thecus website (App Center) and afterwards installed from the next menu:
The Official NAS Application installs exactly what it says: official applications. After the selected ones have been installed, we can choose to disable the unneeded ones at will:
Rsync Target Server can be configured from the next menu:
We can also perform ACL Backup/Restore:
The interface is also equipped with a disk burner, which can be accessed properly when we have a suitable device connected to one of the available USB ports:
Data Guard is another backup solution Thecus provides:
If printers are attached to the NAS, we can configure them here:
Same thing goes for the UPS section:
In order to transfer data to the NAS via the USB ports, we can use WebDisk; considering that the application does not offer a lot of information during the file copy/delete/other procedure, we have preferred using another 3rd party module instead:
One 3rd party application is ElFinder, which could replace WebDisk and is quite light:
For downloading torrents, we can always use the Transmission module:
Piczza is the Photo Album manager supported by Thecus and it works like a regular blog website. With it we will be able to upload our latest photos, organize them in different albums, run slideshows and more:
We can use the newly updated T-OnTheGo application in order to navigate through the contents of the NAS with our favorite tablet or smartphone:
This is also a file manager so we can perform file operations with ease:
We can also use T-Dashboard after we enter up the NAS connection details:
This application allows monitoring the current status of the NAS:
CPU : Intel I7 3750K Retail @ 4.7GHz
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard : ASRock Z77 OC
RAM : GeIL EVO CORSA 16GB 2400MHz C11
(2GB Exceleram DDR1333 for NASPT compatibility)
Video : Sparkle GeForce GTX 560 Calibre
Power Supply : Cooler Master 850W
HDD : OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD
Case: Cooler Master ATCS840
To test the NAS performances, the N2310 was populated with one OCZ Vertex 4 SSD along with one KingFast SLC E-Drive in RAID 0, formatted with a single volume and the NAS was connected directly to the computer, to avoid any limitations by implying additional hardware like a router. The first simple test was performed by loading the test file onto a RAM drive and then it was copied to the NAS, on its shared folder. The speed was recorded with Total Commander:
The second test was to copy the same file back to the computer; for eliminating any HDD speed limitations, the file was copied back to the RAM drive:
For performing a more advanced test, the Intel NAS Performance Toolkit was used, for performing 5 different test runs. Here are the results:
As extras, we have also included ATTO Disk Benchmark and Anvil:
The entry-level N2310 NAS from Thecus is featuring a different all-plastic chassis with support for both 2.5’’ and 3.5’’ drives. Thanks to the installable wizard, the setup can be done quite quickly, which can also include RAID creation. The motherboard includes an AMCC APM 86491 800MHz processor which is paired with only 512MB of DDR3; storage can be further expanded by using the USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports but we should not expect for stellar network transfer speeds.
During system initialization we could clearly hear the fan in the back but after ThecusOS has been loaded, it will quiet down accordingly.
Through the supported applications, we could remind PLEX Media Center, the native BT support via Transmission, data backup possibilities, disk burning and more. Additional applications can be installed as modules which will be found on the Thecus website; the NAS can be also accessed from mobile devices via the supplied software.
Regarding ThecusOS, we would like to see a more visually-appealing GUI as we have seen with the NASes from ASUSTOR, Synology, QNAP. For this to happen, the manufacturer will have to redesign it from scratch and also include widgets for gathering information on-the-fly.
The Thecus N2310 is priced quite low and we have found it online between 92 and 120 Euros, which is acceptable considering what is offered.
We would like to thank again to Thecus for making this review possible!