INTRODUCTION

   Network attached storage devices (or servers as we like to call them) have gained popularity not only because of their affordable prices and compact size but also because of their low electricity requirements and out of the box use thanks to their user friendly operating systems and list of available and absolutely free to use applications. Because of that we've been doing our best to keep up with the all the NAS servers introduced in the market almost on a monthly basis but in the end that number is so large that it makes it extremely hard for us to cover every single user out there from home and office and up to small business and enterprise ones. Still we always do our best so since last time we had a rather entry/mid-level NAS model by QNAP today we'll be taking a look at something aimed much higher towards small businesses and enterprises, the latest AS7010T NAS Server by our friends over at ASUSTOR.

   Founded in 2011, ASUSTOR Inc., a subsidiary of ASUSTeK Computer Inc., is a leading innovator and provider of private cloud storage (network attached storage) and video surveillance (network video recorder) solutions. ASUSTOR is devoted to providing the world with unparalleled user experiences and the most complete set of network storage solutions possible.

   As the name suggests the AS7010T is the larger brother of the very good AS7004T so aside the fact that it has room for up to 10 2.5/3.5" SATA III drives it features the same Intel Core i3-4330 CPU running at 3.5GHz (the Mesa DRI Intel(R) Haswell Desktop with OpenGL version 3.0 and Mesa version 10.0.0 take care of the video end) along with 2GB of SO-DIMM DDR3 RAM (expandable up to 16GB). Things are also identical in terms of connectivity since we also have 3 USB 3.0 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 2 eSATA ports, HDMI v1.4a output, optical S/PDIF audio output and two Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet ports. 4k playback (max resolution of 2160p) is also a great feature of the AS7010T just like with the AS7004T and although as I’ve mentioned numerous times in the past it will be quite a while before such content becomes widely available still there's nothing wrong with investing in getting a unit that supports it especially if you don't plan on changing it anytime soon. So let's move forward and see what the desktop flagship NAS server by ASUSTOR is capable of.