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We will be testing the Asus TS Mini NAS within our gigabit network which is pretty much as good as you will get for the home. It is a mixed network with several 1GBit switches for ultimate performance.
Reference Test PC:
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 @ 4ghz
Storage: Kingston 128GB SSD V+ Series
Motherboard: Asus Rampage II Gene
Graphics: Geforce GTX285 2GB
Memory: Corsair Dominator 1600mhz @2000mhz
Network: 2x Belkin 16 Port Gigabit Switches
Operating System: Windows 7 64 Bit Ultimate
Firstly we perform a native network test to ascertain pure data throughput. There is no Raid 0 option allowed with the ASUS TS Mini so we just went for the standard single drive option as it comes ‘out of the box'.
Data Throughput is interesting because while the read speeds are very good indeed (64Mb/s), we found that the write performance was considerably slower, averaging around 32 MB/s which is 50% of the read speed.
Our local PC has a fast Kingston SSD as the main drive and we are using it to ensure no bottlenecks occur on this side of the testing. Our PC is hooked up to the network and we transfer a 10GB MKV file from the PC to the NAS systems.
The Synology D710 is still our performance leader with the QNAP systems trailing slightly behind. The Asus TS Mini Server managed to slightly outperform the Buffalo Linkstation Duo that we reviewed a short while ago.
While the Asus TS Mini Server vastly outperforms the cheaper Buffalo Linkstation Duo, the QNAP and Synology D710 systems are leading the pack, by a considerable margin.
Next we created a folder of files, 500mb/s in size with a variety of files, from small database documents to larger jpgs and bmps.
While the Asus unit is outperforming the Buffalo Linkstation Duo, is it lagging behind both the QNAP systems and the performance leader, the Synology D710. These are decent results, but performance users on a high performance gigabit network may be more than a little disappointed. Putting this into real world terms, we are able to stream 1080p content, but copying a large folder of mixed files is going to take twice as long as either of the QNAP Pro NAS systems.
We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.
As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.
KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum
Noise was measured from half a meter away.
The Asus NAS in the real world is basically silent under normal use – the chassis is so thick it masks internal noise well. Only when you load the CPU heavily by writing and reading data constantly does it become audible and even then its quiet. These are extremely impressive results, especially considering the design utilises 2 x 40mm fans.
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.