A.C. Ryan AluBox LAN

A Closer Look

While the body of the AluBox is made of aluminum, the front of the enclosure is kept in clean gray with some chrome finish plastic. The rear has a very similar shape and also has grooves to make stacking multiple drive easier. This does look very much like the Akasa Integral! lineup, so the manufacturing origins of the AluBox and the Akasa enclosures may just be the same. You will find a USB 2.0, an Ethernet and power connectors on the back. There is a large power switch as well.


The PCB is very efficiently cut, leaving no unused space. There is a sticker with an ID and a key. The longer ID is needed to gain read access, while the short key is required to write onto the hard drive. The system is implemented by the same Ximeta NDAS chip as is the case with the Akasa product.

Assembly

Installation is quite straight forward. There are two small screws holding the rear in place, so you better have a small screw driver at your immediate disposal. Once removed, the metal tray can be taken out. Installing the hard drive is secured by the thin, supplied screws.


Once this is done, simply slide back the hard drive into the AluBox, reconnect the front LED and replace the two tiny screws.