The AS6208T is a high-performance NAS that might cost a bomb, but is able to offer a ton of storage space and a great number of other interesting features. For starters, it is not only equipped with a couple, but four Gigabit Ethernet ports which can all be utilized at the same time to either offer increased link reliability or blazing fast network-transfer speeds. However, you will need a compatible switch with the LACP protocol in order to team all Ethernet ports up. I also believe Asustor should provide the option for a 10Gb network card since compatible switches are priced more reasonably nowadays. Another plus is its two-line LCD screen since it allows for several basic administrative tasks without the need of a client PC. Not only can this NAS play a key role in a business environment, it can also be the main part of an advanced multimedia station thanks to its HDMI port and the hardware-transcoding engine of its Brasswell CPU. Performance in Kodi is outstanding, and you will really appreciate the multimedia performance of this NAS if you combine it with a high quality 4K TV. The only problem might be that you will need lots of space since the AS6208T is very large.

Asustor is well into the NAS market by now and poses a serious threat to other major NAS vendors, namely QNAP and Synology. Users who need a strong multimedia NAS should in my opinion look at options with bundled HDMI ports, which leaves Synology NAS boxes out. This means that most QNAP and Asustor offerings are game, with both offering HD-audio capabilities and the highly desirable HDMI ports with their high-end models. While ADM is a really good OS, it can't yet successfully square off against QNAP's operating system (QTS) which is mature and offers more functionality because it has been in development for far longer. I am, for instance, still waiting for Asustor to fulfill its promise of offering widgets and basic windows resizing in ADM. Don't get me wrong, Asustor is hard at work to polish and improve ADM, which it clearly shows by offering frequent updates, but I believe that it should focus on more basic options that are missing first since the competition has been offering them for ages. Another thing I noticed with the AS6208T are the increased CPU and system temperatures under taxing conditions. Higher CPU temperatures might not pose a problem because Intel Celeron CPUs are manufactured to withstand much higher operating temperatures, but those increased system temperatures lead to higher HDD temperatures that can prove fatal to storage reliability. Asustor should find ways to improve airflow within its NAS offerings since the close to 40°C with the 500 GB HDDs of my setup would turn out to be higher with higher capacity HDDs. While most users won't ever stress their NAS as hard as I did in my tests, a product should be build with the worst-case scenario in mind.

Asustor pays great attention to the surveillance capabilities of its offerings, which it shows by including four camera licenses for free. The maximum number of IP cameras the AS6208T supports might seem low when compared to competing offers, but I believe 25 camera licenses to be more than enough for an advanced surveillance station.