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A NAS system with poor software will never make a good purchase so we are glad to see Asus opting for the Windows Home Server package.
After inserting the installation disc Asus then allow a NAS configuration package, this only needs installed on one machine within the network however, so you don't need to run around the house installing this onto every computer that connects to the network.
The first thing the software package does after being installed is to find the NAS system on your network and then to update the software installed. This only takes a few minutes.
During the initial configuration of the software you are asked if you want to back up this machine when it is asleep or only if it is turned on. Simple enough requests and user friendly, even for novices.
The Windows Home Server Console interface is clean enough and within this you can perform a plethora of tasks. You can schedule backups, manage your shared folders and create and adjust user accounts for specific folders meaning you can password protect your own folders so other members of your family can't get access to your personal information.
This installation has been adjusted by ASUS to offer their own features. The ASWM (ASUS System Web Based Management Software), Asus Xtor manager and ASUS Webstorage.
This ASUS Webstorage option gives the end user one year free storage (500GB) to back up and access files from anywhere. Once the year is passed then you can continue using this after paying a fee. By using the software you can select which folders and files you wish to backup to the cloud. Asus offer a system to limit upload speed so your internet connection doesn't grind to a halt when this task is underway. This software also lets the user see how much room they have left online and gives the ability to delete files.
This software addition is extremely useful as it gives a complete breakdown of your home server status providing information about the motherboard fans and temperatures, network utilisation, drives, memory and CPU utilisation.
The remainder of the software contains all the user interface requirements we need, such as configuring updates via the internet and for setting up users and passwords. It is all very easy for anyone who has used any version of Windows before and will prove in many cases to be the biggest selling point.
Personally I still find the QNAP operating system to still be the most comprehensive, but perhaps it is because I have used it for many years now. I also found the ATOM processor to be rather sluggish at times with the Windows software, especially when files were copying to the server and you were active in the console. We could find no way to set Jumbo Frames in the software so we would assume that the software will analyse the network connection and pick the best settings automatically.
That is quite expensive. the software is much better than the buffalo NAS, but its twice the price with the same 1TB storage. its not much faster either than the buffalo. Ah well, nice attempt by Asus
ouch, almost £400. id rather buy two 500 GB drives for the synology unit you guys reviewed recently and get much higher performance for about 50 quid more. Seems Asus need to get this dropped to around £270.
nice enough unit, if it was much faster, rather slow.
Thats £200 performance for £380. its not going to work for Asus really unless they target the PCworld audience, and they might not fork out so much for a NAS. has the potential to be great, but they need to drop the price by £100-130.
Asus have mistargeted this unit. The controller performance is sub £250 market, but they have put on expensive software which adds to the value, but they sell it for the same price as a naked synology 710+ which has basically twice the performance if you add your own drives.
Working it out. Synology 710 £380, same price as the asus without drives, so adding 1TB is about £50-60 more, 2TB is actually down to £90 now in the UK, so id go for that. get double the storage and double the performance for £90 more. seems like a no brainer to me. The buffalo on the other hand, is half the price and isnt actually much slower. Asus need to do more market research, might work on lesser sites, but we kitguru readers are too coy !
This is the issue with Windows. sure its awesome and user friendly but that system I bet is slower than a linux powered unit with a much weaker processor, this negates the power of the atom in this market place and everything feels sluggish. my friend has another unit with an atom processor in it running windows and it just grinds. The Linux OSes are much better and cost nothing to product. Asus assuredly have to pay out of t he pocket for this software.
Its a failed execution for asus, which is a shame as I like the appearance and internal strucutre.
You know, I read this review and thought, ok its not that fast but for £250 its a good buy, and was going to order one until I saw the price.
Asus, WTF?! I also saw the review on bittech of this earlier and they scored it lower than Kitguru, seems a bad product pricing. If they have put in a raid 0 system and offered 2tb for this price, it would be a great buy, but a single 60 quid drive and no raid 0 options even if you want them later? no jumbo frame options is also shocking in a unit like this.
Disappointing product, but I like it. just needs to drop in price to be a worthwhile purchase. I hate the way companies market these as ‘gigabit’ capable but they really struggle to achieve even a third of the rated performance at times.
Asus make some stunning motherboards and even their promotional graphics cards are wicked but once they step outside these zones, they tend to falter a little. they make some nice laptops however.
Windows is always the death of these NAS systems.
Why? the companies like asus need to charge moer to cover the costs that microsoft inflict. they run slower than any other OS due to the bloated code. performance is a bit poor for the price however, thats something they should look into.
Also Zardon I tink your review scored it too high, bittech are more accurate giving it 5 out of 10. you are too generous.
Zardon I read the bit tech review last month actually on this and I just refreshed my memory, they said it got 8 MB/s write speed? and 6.2 MB/s read speed? thats way under 100mbit, never mind 1000mbit. Are they wrong?
Hi Francois, I can’t comment on other websites and its not really ethical of us to do so anyway. id rather concentrate on what we do here rather than what anyone else does.
I can say however that the testing we performed was handled over a dedicated belkin 16 port gigabit switch which is one of the best on the market (I find so anyway). so our testing is pretty much limited by the devices rather than issues with the network. im positive the results I posted are accurate in our own environment.
Zardon, thats why I come here, I almost didnt buy the Noctua NH D14 after reading the bit tech review when the product was launched, they gave it performance 6 out of 10 or something ridiculous. Then I read your review and it was almost 10/10. I bought one via a dealer here and it is incredible. I rest my case 🙂
I think you’re missing the point. This is not a NAS, it’s a server. Aside from providing file sharing, it does fully automated incremental backups of up to 10 PCs on the network, bare-metal restore of a fried or infected box, remote access to all PCs on the network through RDP, and has dozens of excellent add-in programs providing features like integrated off-site backup. You can plug in a stack of external USB drives to easily increase the capacity. It’s a lousy NAS, but it’s a very good value as a server. Don’t compare it to NAS boxes, compare it to HP MediaSmarts and other WHS boxes..
Dont think its missing the point myself. I know the QNAP have a lot of that functionality Alan and even the synology can be connected to USB and even eSATA drives. I also am pretty sure QNAP can offer automated backups.
While Alan Jones makes some good points, the ‘NAS’ marketplace in 2010 is so advanced that many of them are actually ‘server’ systems, even if they aren’t running Windows operating systems. Synology systems for instance, one of which was reviewed here, can offer esata and USB drive connectivity for additional storage. they can offer media streaming, bitorrent functionality and even server duties such as FTP and other things. QNAP are much the same, as their NAS systems, even offer backup duties and almost everything I can see that this Asus ‘server’ system supports.