Asustor AS6204T 4-bay NAS Review

Asustor's ADM (Asustor Data Master) OS is a constantly evolving GUI (version 2.6.3 at the time of writing) and is easy to install, navigate through and is one of the most feature rich around particularly when it comes to add on apps.

Setting up the AS6204T is a pretty straightforward and painless task; it only takes around 10 minutes to load the OS and get the unit ready for use, although waiting for the disks to synchronize obviously takes a great deal longer. Each stage along the install process is checked off on the initialisation page so you always know what's happening during the install procedure.

The main ADM page shows the major sections of the OS, although for speed it might be handier to have some form of side menu on this main page as all the other section pages have to help you get to what you are looking for a little quicker.

App support has always been one of ADM's strong points, as one glance at the App Central menu confirms. App Central is the control centre for app management and shows installed apps, all available apps and updates. At the time of writing, the list of available apps to choose from runs to a very impressive 189.

MyArchive
One very clever backup solution that ADM brings to the table is called MyArchive. This allows hard drives to be used as removable drives so you can swap between different collections of data as and when you need it. Recently upgraded, MyArchive now supports EX4, NTFS and HFS+ file systems.

Data security, particularly in an office environment is paramount and MyArchive drives have AES 256-bit encryption support (EXT4 file system only at present) and to add another layer of protection a USB device can be used as a physical encryption key.

The AS6204T has up to three bays reserved for MyArchive disks.

Asustor Portal
The Asustor Portal allows the AS6204T to become the central hub of any media collection. The software comes with Google Chrome, Chromium Web, Netflix and YouTube apps and it also supports Boxee and Kodi.

Adding the URL-Pack gives even more streaming options. Connect the AS6204T to a HDMI ready display and you can use it to watch videos or browse the internet without the need to fire up your PC.

ADM 2.6 Highlights

• Asustor Portal
• MyArchive
• Searchlight
• iSCI Lun Snapshots
• Cloud Backup
• Web-based file access.
• VPN server
• Built-in FTP server.
• BitTorrent client.
• Plex Media support.
• Mobile control and media streaming via AiData, AiMaster, AiRemote, AiMusic and AiVideos.

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