Specifications

The NAS uses a quad-core Intel Bay Trail CPU for good performance and low energy consumption, which is important for a device that is supposed to operate around the clock. Asustor pre-installed 2 GB of DDR3 RAM, which is enough for most scenarios, and the server's RAM total can be increased to 8 GB if you need more. The NAS server's storage capacity is limited to two disks for up to 12 GB (unformatted) if you get two 6 TB HDDs and configure them in JBOD. The AS5104T might be a better fit for those in need of more storage space since it can take up to four HDDs.

The AS5102T can compete with high-end servers in networking speeds because it has two Gigabit Ethernet ports that can be teamed for higher transfer speeds. The other I/O ports are three USB 3.0 ports of which one is at the face of the NAS, two USB 2.0 ports, and a couple eSATA ones. The unit also features an HDMI and S/PDIF port for digital audio output, which easily allows the NAS to play a central role in a multimedia setup, while acting as a network-storage device. NAS (Network Attached Storage) servers have for quite some time now offered way more than their name suggests, and they are now turning media players, a popular category only a few years ago, obsolete.

This NAS server is pretty compact because it only has two disk trays and runs off an external PSU that is powerful enough to cover its needs. Asustor also says the AS5102T to consumes very little power. We will obviously conduct several power energy consumption measurements to figure out whether Asustor's numbers are realistic. A 70 mm fan expels hot air out of the server's internals, which keeps the temperatures of its passively cooled CPU and HDDs under check.

Asustor provides a three-year warranty with the AS5102T, which is noteworthy since most competing offers only come with a two-year warranty. However, a NAS server's warranty should also not be compared to the warranty periods of other product (e.g. a laptop) since NAS servers are supposed to run around the clock.