KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
Asustor may be a new name in the NAS sector, but this is certainly a remarkable first product for us to review. While it isn't as sophisticated on a software level as products from long term market leaders Synology or QNAP, there is no doubt that they are a company to watch over the next year.
The biggest problem Asustor will face will be brand recognition, specifically when factoring in the price point. You can buy this NAS from SCAN for £399.00 inc vat, which puts it right in a head to head against established market leaders.
There is no doubt that the performance of the AS 602T is excellent and it can handle intensive duties without much of a problem. You can easily insert another 2GB of inexpensive SO-DIMM memory if you need a little more multitasking capability within a demanding environment.
‘Asustor Data Master' is a terrible name for their Linux NAS operating system, sounding more like a simple hard drive repair utility. In practice it actually proves to be very capable, responsive and stable. They do need to change the name however. With a few more years of software development Synology and QNAP may have something to worry about.
I can certainly recommend the AS 602T NAS system, it has impressed me, especially for such early stages of development. The price is high, but Asustor are gunning for the market leaders and have not skimped on quality or features.
Pros:
- good overall performance.
- Excellent software development.
- bulletproof to configure.
- Application download support.
- Can be turned into a Boxee media player.
Cons:
- expensive.
- tough competition against Synology and QNAP.
- ‘Asustor Data Master' is a terrible name for an OS platform.
Kitguru says: An excellent first showing from Asustor. Watch these guys over the coming year.
