Users looking for a four-bay NAS usually have to pay a significant amount of money since most companies don't have affordable four-bay NAS products on offer. Thecus saw an opportunity here and decided to release a larger version of the highly affordable N2310, the N4310. While still much more expensive than the N2310, it is priced low enough in comparison to similar offerings by the competition. The N2310's weak SoC manages to cope with most of the tasks set forth by the two-bay NAS; however, things don't pan out as smoothly in the N4310 with support for higher RAID levels, especially under heavy throughput. In the multi-client tests I conducted with a RAID 6 configuration, the NAS simply froze up with even no more than two clients. The administration interface was also slow to respond in the single client tests, which is clear proof that the AMCC APM86491RDK isn't up to the task. If you aren't a user with high demands or don't need high RAID levels since a JBOD configuration would be enough, the N4310 could be a good choice because it is affordable and of high build quality. However, you should look at other, more expensive product should you need enhanced multimedia capabilities, including an HDMI port, and high transfer speeds with multiple clients. I found the fact that Thecus provides power redundancy with this NAS, a feature even high-end NAS servers don't necessary support, strange, especially since the unit comes with a weak CPU that cripples performance. SMB features clearly also require the unit to function properly under heavy usage scenarios, which unfortunately isn't the case with the N4310.

Thecus still has a lot of ground to cover with their operating system before they catch up to the competition in terms of features and functionality. Many of the things I made a note of in the N2310 review unfortunately still haven't been fixed. I believe Thecus should pay more attention to their Linux-based NAS firmware by completely redesigning its interface and offering a more usable application center since its current incarnation is a ways behind QNAP's and Synology's corresponding applications. Thecus should also add IP camera control and several monitor options, since the surveillance capabilities of a NAS are becoming increasingly more important to a large portion of users.

The N4310's major advantage is its affordable price, which, however, should be much closer to the N2310's price tag even if such features as the dual-power option would have to be dropped to do so. The most significant disadvantage of this NAS is clearly its weak SoC because it sets the performance bar fairly low, which is a real shame. Thecus would apparently be better off with a stronger CPU, not just an enhanced version of the one the N2310 uses. Two additional HDDs can put a significant amount of stress on the CPU at higher RAID levels, especially when encrypted volumes are used. the N4310 is, generally speaking, a decent choice for its price; however, the N2310 is a much better product in terms of performance per buck since the performance difference is very low and the N2310 is way cheaper. The N4310 needs a price tag close to $200 if Thecus wants the unit to be competitive. As it stands now, it doesn't stand a good chance against the competition since most users will prefer to spend a little more money on a NAS with a stronger CPU.