Asustor AS5402T, 2 Bay NAS, Intel Quad-Core 2.0GHz CPU, 4X M.2 NVMe SSD Slots, 2x2.5GbE Ports, 4GB DDR4 RAM, Cloud Storage for Gaming and Live Stream, Network Attached Storage(Diskless)

The unit is easy to set up, Asustor's documentation is good. Performance seems fine so far. The construction is solid, and the disk mounts are easy to use.

I've had a D-Link ShareCenter for years but it's not been without issues. Had to downgrade my Windows SMB service to 1.0 to maintain connection and file transfers were on the slow side. What prompted me to finally replace the system was a desire to improve a Plex server I maintained on an old laptop. I wanted something that did not reset itself at unwanted times and an easy mechanism to add more media. My storage needs are not that great but wanted to maintain RAID 1 so the Asustor seemed to fit the bill. Installation was straightforward with good setup apps. As I was reusing disks from my D-Link, I needed to off-load all data and reload onto the Asustor but this was mostly an unattended process. The only issue I had was to disable SMB 1.0 on my PCs to allow the higher security versions to work. The Plex install went smoothly and I soon had a stable server up and running. A nice bonus was the Asustor android apps that allow remote access to files. I have not tested this product as a media center although it has the HDMI port and several media player apps. A word of warning, as this machine has a heart of Linux, several of the apps listed in the app center appear to assume the user has some knowledge of the Linux OS. I suspect there are many that are simple to set up but be prepared to dust off your reference books for others.

Getting motivated/excited to upgrade your NAS is difficult; your old one seems "good enough" so why bother? This thing is worth the bother! It has the power and expandablity to be a real workhorse. It runs Docker like a champ! It has enough processing power to run Plex with real-time transcoding. Optional SSDs serve as read/write caches to speed things up. I have the NAS in a closet and under heavy access, you can hear the drives, but the NAS itself is very quiet. It rarely needs a reboot and has been rock solid for me.

I've only ever owned Synology NAS units. I've owned several over the years. Haven't had a NAS for a couple of years and felt it was time to remedy that. Synology has gone in a weird not-customer-friendly direction lately -- they are engineering it so you are *urged* to purchase their over-priced NAS hard drives and get error or warning messages if you upgrade the memory with non-Synology RAM (Synology's own RAM is also horribly overpriced). And they seem to be falling behind in that they still only offer gigabit ethernet ports on their consumer NAS units. But Synology is tops when it comes to their NAS software, it's easy to use. But their hardware is not top-tier. So I evaluated several of tehir competitors' offerings and came up with Asustor having the best value proposition - superior hardware, but their software is a little unpolished, but their software gets the job done. More importantly is that they include 2.5 gigabit ethernet ports, 4 NVMe SSD ports, and the ability to use any compatible RAM and HDDs without the NAS pestering you with errors or warnings. So far it's been good. As fast as I expected, has been stable. So far it's been a more economical choice over Synology. As long as you are responsible with your settings and how you expose (or DO NOT expose) your NAS to the internet, you should be good to go.

I set 4-2 tb nvme and raid 6 the nvme then raid 1 on 2 10tb deskstar. I have both storages accessible via smb and apfs my pc’s back up to this and my macs. Its slow for the first 2 days while it builds the array but that aside its a solid box 3-5 min boot and so far stable. Take the time plan out its use. Its slower than much larger nas products but its amazing for its cost and performance. My one complaint and its not on the unit but the nextcloud software *think self hosted google drive but better features* the pre built installer is hard to re configure as its designed to self build. Run docker and compose the next cloud instance vs using the stores version in my opinion. Solid unit. I chose this over the all nvme version as i wanted fast and slow storage to provide more storage cheaper. Its permission manager is explicit deny wins over explicit allow so watch permissions when setting share users. Great dashboard great os amazing hw. In 3-5 years with a new stronger cpu i see this competing in enterprise. Medium small company’s

I bought this NAS to use as a music server. It seemed to be a better value compared to other brands; more powerful CPU, more RAM that (can be expanded down the road) and a mixture of drive options- 3.5HD/2.5SSD and M-2. The Asustor website has a wealth of information pre-sale and after sale for set-up etc. Setting the NAS up was a snap; download the current Admin software to your computer, plug it in, log-on and then update the NAS soft/firmware if necessary. The user interface is easy to follow and easy on the eyes. One small thing is that the plastic holders for the hard drives are a little filmsy. Not a problem if handled carefully and once installed in my case, they will stay. If you are into swapping drives frequently however I can see this being an issue. So far just a single SSD installed but it looks like a keeper. Runs cool and quiet. As an aside, running MinimServer controlled by IOS JPlay it is quickly replacing a dedicated music server.

The Asustor AS5402T fills my needs for a NAS. Currently, I'm using it mostly for just network storage. I haven't pushed its capabilities (like running more of the supplied applications). The AS5402T can be easily hardware upgraded. I've already expanded the memory to 16 Gb, no issues encountered (and is a cheap upgrade). I did noticed that with some HDDs, vibrations can be coupled to a structure that the NAS is sitting on. (I added pieces of rubber to the NAS's feet which helped some.) Unless you are a super power user, this NAS will work for you.

I really wanted to like this item. There were some great reviews for this NAS. Just as well, there are some HORROR STORIES; however, I'm not a happy camper, either. I've only had the device for a day, and it has already started to give me errors/crashes. The errors are to the point that I am just going to return it and be done. Once I see a device do that in the second day of ownership — it's a return for me — while I still can. The NAS unit has GREAT SPECS. Other than that the software is a dismal disappointment. It appears, the bulk of the development was placed into the hardware of this unit. As for the software, it's buggy, limited, and it feels as if that's the point of it — CONTROL. I couldn't even get the snappiness out of the desktop icons to my liking. They wanted to arrange themselves as they chose to be. The only AUTO power state it respects is S3. Thus, it utilizes this as the system default to suspend due to inactivity (you cannot change this). However, while the device does go into AUTO S3 Suspend Mode (INACTIVITY) to accomplish that quick wake it speaks of — it keeps your external HDDs that utilize enclosures spinning (*My enclosures have a 15 min power-down feature, it works.*). I think this NAS sends a signal to the Enclosed HDDs to remain powered on. It's rather strange because, when logged on, the external drives do actually spin down after the minute marker you specify (mine: 15min). Further, you can't seem to apply any settings — which will allow you to perform an AUTO S5: Soft Off (BASED OFF OF INACTIVITY). This is so that WOL can remain functional. You can however, schedule when the NAS goes into an AUTO S5: Soft Off Mode. I don't know about you, but I can't actually time exactly when I'm going to be utilizing the device, then something else grabs my attention. Meanwhile, for those few hours, or however long it takes me to get back — to shut the unit down... My external drives which reside in an enclosure will just be spinning the block! What's also funny is that my Synology DS218+ respects my External HDD Enclosed devices, gives me a BEAUTIFUL S5, it also powers them down while logged on/not in use for the purpose they serve. It's also still fully functional since December of 2019. I don't know maybe it's because I power the NAS unit down when I have no need to utilize it??? This as opposed to running it 24/7 as if I'm a datacenter!? After all, mine is for personal use, I utilize other options to to host things... *If only they'd give us back the ports, and let us choose our drives of choice... *While I do realize there are many that utilize their NAS units 24/7, I don't require that. There are times when I'd like to power down the device — completely (Well, S5: Soft Off/BASED OFF OF INACTIVITY.). I should by right have that option, Asustor isn't offering that at the moment. They'll save the disks in the device, as those do power down. However, my HDD enclosures with "spin down" functionality will continue operate. Once the unit goes into S3 Power Mode — for some strange reason they start up, keep spinning, that's all she wrote. If you like to know what product line is going in your External HDD, your preference might be an enclosure, like mine. Many of the "Premium External HDDs" only have 2-3 Year Warranties, that is by design, and for a very good reason. As it stands now, I utilize RED PROs for my NAS unit needs, I haven't had an issue with them yet. They're rock solid and reliable in my book. The 5 Year Warranty keeps me around. If you do much of nothing on your NAS like only files, some music, and maybe some other simplistic stuff — who knows, this could be the NAS for you. For me, it's just a BRICK waiting to happen.