NAS by stefan @ 2015-03-06
The latest N4310 SOHO/Home NAS from Thecus is a visible upgrade over their low-cost N2310, both outside and inside; the hardware has been beefed up regarding the number of USB 3.0 ports, we’ve got more internal RAM and the SoC frequency (AMCC APM86491RDK) is now 1GHz instead of only 800MHz.
At first we would like to thank Thecus for sending a sample of their N4310 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.”
Power Redundancy Supported
With your data secure, consistent operation also needs to be ensured. To this end, the N4310 also comes equipped with an additional power jack. Connecting the N4310 to a power source with this secondary system means that even in the event of an adaptor or socket failure, the NAS will remain in operation.
iSCSI Storage Supported
Addressing the evolving needs of professionals seeking both efficiency and versatility in their NAS, the N4310 utilizes Hybrid Mode Storage for resource management, meaning support for both file (NFS or SMB/CIFS) and block-level (iSCSI) storage.
AES Data Encryption
AES Data Encryption provides flawless security for your RAID volume when dealing with sensitive data. This 128-bit security solution is implemented with improved efficiency thanks to hardware-integration, and promises that your information will remain secure even in the event of data interception or hardware theft.
CPU Offload Hardware Engine
The N4310 is equipped with a CPU offload hardware engine, allowing for high performance and speed within a RAID environment (100MB/s read speed and 75MB/s write speed). The hardware XOR engine manages this by handling parity calculations and freeing up the system processor.
5 Minute Complete Installation
The N4310 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 N4310 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 N4310 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® N4310 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 N4310’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.
The Thecus N4310 is featuring similar packaging design elements as the N2310 model, but on the construction level we will find hardware upgrades, but also a reinforced chassis. The larger cardboard box is provided with a plastic handle, for easy manipulation:
In order to learn more about the product, we will be able to check the sides of the packaging:
After the removal of the top cover, we will first “meet” with the accessories box:
Here we will find the power brick, one power lead, the LAN cable, screws for fitting both 3.5’’ and 2.5’’ drives, one installation disk but also one Warranty Card leaflet:
The power supply was manufactured by Channel Well Technology and on the output we have 12V, 5.42A:
The Quick Installation Guide which is available for the N4310 tells us in a multi-language form which is the fastest way for completing the setup procedure:
On the bottom layer, we will find the main product, carefully protected by thick foam and also a transparent plastic bag:
When compared with the N2310, Thecus has went this time with an all-black metal chassis instead of plastic, which is easy to open for maintenance:
In the front we have four numbered HDD trays, while on the left we have the status SSDs along with some additional buttons:
By looking a bit closer, we will discover the Power LED along with the Status LED, further down we have the HDD activity LEDs for each bay, one LAN activity LED but also an USB activity LED; lastly we will see the USB Copy button along with the Power button:
On the metallic sides of the chassis, we will be able to see the printed Thecus logo:
In the back side of the unit, Thecus has placed two USB 3.0 ports, one LAN port, a small Reset button hole, but also dual DC-IN ports (main and backup). The 92mm cooling fan sits in the middle and on its right side we’ll get to see one Kensington port along with a small fan router; additional close-up photos are also available down below:
On the bottom side of the unit we will see some additional air grills along with the product serial number sticker:
In each corner, the manufacturer has placed one square-shaped rubber foot for a better stability on the table:
The plastic trays are made in such a way for accommodating both 2.5’’ and 3.5’’ drives:
Here are some additional photos with the main elements; unlike the designs from other manufacturers, we haven’t found any rubber elements for vibration-dampening purposes:
For testing purposes, we will install our two SSDs inside the trays:
The top metallic cover can be removed quite easily and we can see that there is plenty of free space inside for performing cleaning maintenance when necessary:
Both fan and SATA Power/Data daughter-board are connected to the tiny mainboard:
On the back side of the motherboard we will find one battery which retains the settings (model CR2032):
After installing the drives and powering up our N4310 sample, we went ahead on the designated page for downloading the helper utility, which is named in this case “Intelligent NAS”:
After running the program, the NAS was detected right away, so we could proceed with the next steps:
We have two install modes available, which imply automatic volume creation or manual:
If the utility finds previous data on the drives, we are be prompted if the NAS should delete it by continuing the next setup step or if it should shut down:
The NAS will then continue the setup procedure:
Next, the utility prompts for creation of a Thecus ID:
After its creation, we can login from the same setup utility:
Lastly, we are displayed the final configuration results and we can also press on the Start Browser button for logging onto the web interface:
The ThecusOS login screen is no different than the one we have seen with the previously tested models:
The same thing we can say about the GUI, which seems a bit dated:
In order to setup the NAS for testing, we will have to define a volume and shared folders; the volume can be set from the RAID Management section:
Volume creation implies going through the wizard:
Afterwards we will be taken back to the RAID Management window:
Since we were also prompted by the interface that a new software version is available, we also went through and updated it via the Official NAS Application section (809->827):
The volume creation procedure also took care of defining some default shared folders, so we will use the NAS_Public one for benchmarking purposes:
Depending on how we perform the configuration, we can set multiple installable modules to show up inside the intro screen for direct login:
One of the installable apps is ElFinder, which makes file browsing inside the internal structure easy to do:
For using the Google Drive application, the NAS will prompt us to authorize it first with Google:
Another application would be Youtube-dl, which supposedly should work for downloading YouTube clips straight to our NAS. After we have tried it, we came to the conclusion that it is currently broken since YouTube has currently changed some of the security features, so it would need an update:
Piczza! is the weapon of choice in Thecus NASes for uploading and organizing photo albums:
WebDisk is another file manager, but this time proposed by Thecus:
We are coming back at the main ThecusOS desktop interface, which looks a bit outdated; two shortcuts are available on the screen, one for going straight to the Shared Folder settings and the later for adjusting the volumes:
The Control Panel section allows us to perform system-wide modifications and the options are split in multiple sections:
The General section gives us information regarding the currently installed firmware version and up-time:
The Status area shows which services are active:
Inside the System Log, ThecusOS is showing us what happens “behind the hood”:
Syslog services can be checked out from the next menu:
Date/Time menu is quite self-explanatory:
The Notifications can be fully customized from their own section:
We can establish a Scheduled On/Off program for each day of the week:
The Administrator password can be changed from the next menu:
ThecusOS allows us to upload or download configuration files, which helps us after a system factory reset:
The reset to Factory Defaults menu is next:
From the Power Management menu, we are able to Shutdown/Reboot the System:
A File System Check can be forced upon the next boot-up of the system:
Wake-On-Lan can be also enabled from the next menu:
SNMP service menu is next:
From the Networking menu, we can customize the host name, DNS settings and more:
The UI Login Functions menu lets us decide which applications should end up on the login screen:
The Hardware Information menu offers very little information about the inside components of the N4310:
We can enable the User Access Log in order to gain more information about the usage:
When we are using dual power supplies for redundancy, the Dual Power menu will come in handy for us:
Disk Information menu shows the currently installed storage drives and from here we can also establish the power management of the selected drives:
RAID Management we have covered before and is the place to go when creating RAID configurations and volumes; here we will also find out about the health of the current configuration:
NAS Stacking is also possible via the next menu:
ThecusOS also provides us with the possibility to mount ISO images:
iSCSI setup is next:
ADS Support is also available:
The next three menus take care of user creation, local groups and batch input:
The Shared Folder section allows us to see the default shared folders and also create new ones with ease:
User Quotas can be also set from the next menu:
Next, we have the User Group Backup menu:
Following next, we have menus for different services like LDAP, Samba/CIFS and so on:
The automatic thumbnail creation process can be configured from the next menu:
Thecus ID details are also available from the respective menu and from here we can also log out if necessary:
The iTunes Server module allows us to set different preferences:
In order to install 3rd party modules, we will have to navigate to the respective menu; some apps have dependencies, so we will need to install those modules first:
The official NAS applications have a separate section:
Some additional backup options are available with the Rsync Target Server, ACL Backup/Restore, Data Guard, Amazon S3 sections:
A data burner application is also available from the next menu:
When printers are connected, these have a separate menu for configuration:
Same thing goes for UPS:
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 Thecus N4310 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:
We have performed the same benchmarks but this time with the encryption turned on:
The latest N4310 SOHO/Home NAS from Thecus is a visible upgrade over their low-cost N2310, both outside and inside; the hardware has been beefed up regarding the number of USB 3.0 ports, we’ve got more internal RAM and the SoC frequency (AMCC APM86491RDK) is now 1GHz instead of only 800MHz. The chassis is now almost entirely built from metal for durability and the unit can house up to 4 HDDs. One interesting feature for the N4310 is power redundancy, where Thecus puts to our disposal two DC-IN ports so when one power supply will fail, it will automatically switch to the second one, so no interruptions will occur.
The problems with NAS detection which we have found on the N2310 were non-existant on the N4310 and ThecusOS has been worked on even further in order to provide a better experience (bug fixes mostly); however, ThecusOS really needs a visual overhaul since competitors like QNAP, Synology or ASUSTOR are far ahead on this matter. Also, we have found the modules installation not too intuitive and quite time consuming, the fact that the NAS installation is highly dependent initially on the “Intelligent NAS” application, we cannot resize the windows inside the GUI or cannot use widgets.
This is clearly a product which does not imply usage from a lot of users simultaneously because of the low-powered SoC, but should not create issues for home users. Speaking of home users, a HDMI port would have been nice to see in order to use the product as a media center, but this could have had raised the product costs even more.
The Thecus N4310 is available online for about 289 Euros, which is more than double than the 119 Euro-priced N2310. We find this value to be a little higher than expected, closing in to the bigger boys like QNAP TS-420, which sport a more powerful ARM processor so if Thecus decides to drop the price a bit, it may become quite an interesting product to look at.
We would like to thank again to Thecus for making this review possible!