TESTING METHODOLOGY – TEST RESULTS

   Since some of the NAS servers/devices we have tested in the past are no longer in our possession (naturally) we will keep performing the exact same testing methodology we did in the past for as long as possible in order to provide accurate comparison results. So as always we will be using a single Seagate Constellation ES.2 3TB SATA III hard disk drive with the unit at hand (just like with all of the NAS servers) and perform several upload/download tests with a single 10.9GB file. Tests are repeated a total of 4 times after which we record the average numbers (from the 4 peak ones) into our charts. Finally the network device used is the same Netgear DGN3500 Gigabit ADSL2+ Modem/Router we always use when performing tests on NAS servers.

FILE TRANSFER TEST

A single 10.9GB file was uploaded and downloaded to and from all the NAS units in this test. At first I have to say that I was a bit skeptical about the initial results we recorded since they pretty much matched and even surpassed the ones of the x69 series by QNAP but after 4 runs it’s official so the AS-304T does surprisingly well In terms of performance and really has nothing to be jealous of from similar solutions.

TEMPERATURES

The AS-304T with its 120mm fan managed to keep our HDD at 33 degrees Celsius during testing.

POWER CONSUMPTION

Power consumption may seem quite high but let’s not forget that the AS-304T uses a dual core ATOM CPU along with the integrated IGP (the x59 series are the closest equivalent by QNAP).

NOISE LEVELS

It happened just once during testing (while watching Pacific Rim) but the 120mm fan of the AS-304T did almost hit 54dBA (however most of the times the noise levels didn’t cross the 48dBA mark).