Asustor Drivestor 4 (AS1104T) 4-bay NAS Review

Asustor's Drivestor 4 lineup comprises just two models at the time of writing, the Drivestor 4 Pro (AS3304T) and the unit we are looking at here, the Drivestor 4 (AS1104T). Both models use Realtek's RTS1296 SOC but the Pro gets 2GB of DD4 memory, twice that of the standard Drivestor 4.

At the heart of the Drivestor 4 is Realtek's RTS1296 quad-core SOC which uses an ARM Cortex-A53 quad-core 64-bit CPU together with an ARM Mali-T820 MP3 3-cored GPU. If you feel that the 1GB of DDR4 memory is getting a bit stretched for your workloads and feel you need to add more, afraid you are out of luck, as the memory is soldered onto the motherboard.

The latest version (4.0) of Asustor’s ADM (Asustor Data Master) OS is a significant upgrade from previous generations, using Linux Kernel 5.4. The upgrade in kernel means you won’t be able to roll back the software after upgrading. It's a good enough OS although it does lack some of the refinements of some of its competitors. With over 200 apps available from the App Central store you can fine-tune the Drivestor 4 to match your requirements.

At the time of writing, the Drivestor 4 supports drives up to 20TB giving a maximum internal capacity of 80TB. Should you find yourself needing more, the NAS supports Asustor's AS6004U, a four-bay expansion unit, supporting up to 20TB drives. The Drivestor 4 supports two of these units via the two USB 3.2 Gen1 ports (one on the front panel, one on the rear)  giving a total supported capacity across the three enclosures of 240TB.

One gripe is the position of the power button. Sitting on the rear panel, it's hard to access if the unit is sitting on a shelf. It does seem an odd place to put it.

We found the Asustor Drivestor 4 (AS1104T) on CCL for £259.29 HERE.

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Pros

• 2.5GbE networking.
• ADM software.
• Storage expandability.
• 3-year warranty.

Cons

• Memory not upgradeable.
• Power button positioning.
• Lack of HDMI port.

KitGuru says: A well-priced, compact four-bay NAS, Asustor's Drivestor 4 is a good entry-level platform with the added bonus of 2.5GbE networking, although the combination of the CPU and just 1GB of memory means it does struggle with heavier workloads.

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