INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Roughly a week ago some friends visited our testing grounds (lab as some people like to call it) to see how we do things and from all the things they saw in here what really piqued their interest was the QNAP TS-469U-RP rackmount NAS Server which has taken a permanent role as our download server, DVB-T server and surveillance station. Of course the moment our friends learned of the price tag that specific mode has (or had since it's not widely available anymore) they were slightly disappointed since they too are looking to purchase NAS servers mainly for use as download servers and media players. Personally i also think that a NAS server used for media playback (thus placed close to your TV set) also has to be small in size and not just cost-effective something which obviously most NAS servers we've tested/used over the years are not. Thecus is trying to change that by introducing the latest N2560 2-Bay NAS Server which we've been testing for roughly a week now.

 

   In 2004, Thecus Technology was founded to design, manufacture, and market digital storage products. Now, 10 products and over 100 awards later, Thecus is recognized as a global leader of digital storage solutions. With decades of R&D experience, the Thecus team has developed an entire range of state-of-the-art storage products for consumers and enterprises alike. With its global sales channel development, quality Thecus products are now distributed in over 30 countries and territories across the globe. Thecus products are designed not only to be powerful and flexible, but easy-to-use. Users have increasingly growing digital libraries, and they need to access their digital media as quickly as possible Thecus storage solutions consistently deliver top-notch performance, able to deliver digital media at an impressive clip. To keep data completely safe, Thecus products are designed with data security in mind, each coming with numerous security options for the user to select. Thecus storage products also have the unique ability to support third-party software modules, making Thecus products infinitely customizable. And to make sure our products are accessible to both novices and experts alike, Thecus makes sure that each of its products can be easily installed and used. Secure and flexible storage products that simply work. That is the Thecus guarantee.

 

   The first thing that surprised us with the N2560 was its size which for a 2-Bay solution it's quite small however Thecus didn't stop there so they also equipped it with an Intel Atom CE5335 1.6GHz Dual Core CPU (SoC model combined with the Intel GMA3600 based on the PowerVR SGX 545 IGP) and 2GB DDR3 (soldered, not upgradable). Strangely enough the unit only supports 3.5" drives (JBOD/RAID0/RAID1 modes) but on the bright side it has both HDMI and SPDIF outputs at the rear something i haven't seen in the past at least not from a home oriented solution. The housing is also not very sturdy since it's made out of hard plastic but for home use i don't think most people will consider that as being an issue. So specs-wise at least the N2560 seems to be on par with devices that cost almost twice as much however there are many things that make a NAS server so lets keep going to see if Thecus has succeeded in launching the ideal home NAS server. 

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The N2560 package has a small product picture at the front which is surrounded by all its main features.

 

 

On the left side we see the hardware, applications, bundle contents, available languages lists right above contact information regarding Thecus.

 

 

Some of the product features are mentioned on the right side.

 

 

Like the front at the rear we find a drawing of the N2560 and its main features placed right next to it.

 

 

At the top of the box Thecus marks the model contained inside the box (N2520/N2560).

 

 

The entire bundle is placed inside a cardboard box sitting on the device.

 

 

From the box we took out the N2560 NAS Server, AC power adapter with cord (part of the reason as to why the device is so small), RJ-45 Ethernet cable, quick installation guide, warranty card, HDD compatibility warning paper, four plastic drive mounting brackets, two wire ties and a software CD.

 

 

THE N2560

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The N2560 is primarily made out of hard plastic, only comes in white color (but for our photo bench but you can already see that) and measures 210mm in depth, 114mm in width and 166mm in height with a weight of 2.4kg.

 

 

On the right side we see a large Thecus logo.

 

 

Much like the entire unit the front is very simple.

 

 

Here we see the activity LEDs along with the one-copy button, the on/off power button the a USB 3.0 port (used with the one-copy button).

 

 

The top is perforated to allow hot air to exit the interior.

 

 

To open the front door you just need to push where the several dots are located.

 

 

You can slide two 3.5" drives in here by using the bundled mounting brackets.

 

 

As expected the majority of connectors are placed at the rear.

 

 

Thecus has used an 80mm fan by ADDA which although normally is not what I’d call large for the N2560 however it is.

 

 

Right beneath the fan we see a Gigabit Ethernet port, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI output, SPDIF (optical) output, DC in port and a Kensington lock.

 

 

At the bottom we see four small round rubber feet and several exhaust holes.

 

 

The Thecus logo placed on the side pulsates with a nice white color when the device is in use.

 

 

SETUP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although the N2560 does come with a software CD in the bundle i strongly recommend downloading the latest software versions from their support page.

 

 

You can launch the setup procedure via the Intelligent NAS software. You just need to select the desired disk mode and after 5-6 minutes you will be good to go.

 

 

You may also create a Thecus ID from the Intelligent NAS software for use with the T-OnTheGo Android/iOS app by Thecus that allows you to access the device from anywhere in the world.

 

 

The system initialization tab is the last step in configuring the device for first use and pops up once you access the device via your preferred web browser.

 

T-ONTHEGO ANDROID/IOS APP

 

Although we did create a Thecus ID and went through all the steps we were unable to access the T-OnTheGo app by Thecus. This app allows for remote access of content you have in the N2560 from anywhere in the world so it can be quite useful.

 

 

WEB INTERFACE PART 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thecus has used their latest OS version (6) with the N2560 and as you can see at the initial login screen there's only the Admin icon.

 

 

This small disclaimer may be enough to alarm some people but Thecus did the right thing making it to be the first thing you will see once you login to the NAS.

 

 

By default there are only two icons on the screen at first boot however on the upper right corner we see an blinking arrow.

 

 

This is actually a warning message so since there are quite a few updates available the NAS application tab popped up (you should install all updates prior to using the NAS).

 

 

Clicking on the RAID management icon you can check the status of the installed drive(s).

 

 

You can access the control panel by clicking on the upper left corner.

 

 

WEB INTERFACE PART 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through the control panel you can check the status of the router, reboot/shutdown the device, check the file system of the drive(s), modify the network settings, add/remove shortcut icons from the initial login screen, check the units hardware information, enable/disable the left controller, launch the system monitor, set the FTP options, configure the transmission Bittorrent client, use the Mcafee AV and you can even burn data directly from the NAS onto an external CD/DVD/Blu-Ray burner.

 

 

You can also change the GUI language from the upper right corner and reboot/shutdown the device from the lower left corner.

 

 

Here's how the initial screen looks like with more shortcut icons enabled.

 

 

XBMC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The XBMC application is not something new so once again you can use it to stream media content onto your TV via the rear HDMI port and the SPDIF output (if you need it). Beware that in our case at startup the screen showed the Thecus logo and then lots of static which were replaced with the main XBMC menu once the NAS finished loading so don't worry if the same happens to you.

 

 

Once again we used our mkv rip of Pacific Rim (almost 30GB) and although it did play ok at first later on we did encounter several audio/video synchronization issues so it's quite evident that the N2560 at least right now can't be used with very heavy bitrate media files (perhaps with firmware tweaks things may change).

 

 

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. With speeds reaching almost 88MB/s in read and almost 83MB/s in write the N2560 is amongst the fastest 2-Bay NAS Servers we've ever used (however we did expect it to be slightly faster than that).

 

TEMPERATURES

Keeping the power supply outside of the chassis proved to be very beneficial to the drive inside since it never went over 30 degrees Celsius.

 

POWER CONSUMPTION

18W while in idle and 26 while at load with a single drive is certainly not what Thecus claims in their specs sheet but still we've seen worse in the past.

 

NOISE LEVELS

If the N2560 excels in something that's its noise levels since we never recorded anything over 43dBA.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The Thecus N2560 NAS Server is a small yet solid device with good performance across the board but does that mean that it's really good? Well for good or bad NAS servers are not judged solely by their performance but also by their available connections, build quality and of course their web interface (OS). Well i can't say i have any complaints in terms of connectivity since the N2560 offers both HDMI and SPDIF with two USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB 3.0 port and 1 Gigabit Ethernet port so all is well in this area. Unfortunately the exterior is made with plastic something which may disappoint some users since the majority of NAS servers have aluminum exteriors. However what's really annoying is the web interface (Thecus OS6) of the N2560 and here it seems that Thecus has a long way to go before their OS can go up against the ones by QNAP, Synology and even ASUStor in terms of user friendliness and of course appearance. Regarding the T-OnTheGo app i can't really make any comments but the fact that Thecus has thought of giving users a DDNS so they can access the device from anywhere in the world is very positive. Moving to the XBMC application i really think that with a little bit of tweaking it should be able to playback even the highest bitrate media files but until then that doesn't seem to be possible (on the other hand however that applies with most NAS Servers around the same price point as the N2560 not to mention most can't even use XBMC so we can't really consider it as a con).

 

   Thecus promotes the N2560 NAS Server as a home oriented solution (especially since they emphasize its media playback features) so right from the bat we didn't expect it to carry a hefty price tag. Unfortunately although we did manage to find the less powerful Thecus N2520 model inside the USA for unknown reasons the N2560 is yet not available at least not on any of the stores we know of (the recommended price tag however is set at around USD300 so you can expect to find it for less once it makes its debut). Still it is available inside the EU for a price tag of 276Euros (Amazon.de) and that makes for a very tempting price/performance solution especially for people who would like to use a NAS server for media playback. True the OS used is far from what I’d like it to be but it’s more than sufficient and in the long run Thecus could always introduce something a lot better to upgrade it. Bottom line for its performance, low noise levels, low temperature levels, size, looks and media connectivity (HDMI/SPDIF) the Thecus N2560 NAS Server grabs our Golden Award.

PROS

- Overall Build Quality
- Design (For Some)
- Good Performance (Speed/Temperatures/Noise Levels)
- Features
- 2GB DDR3 RAM
- Gigabit Ethernet Port
- 3 USB Ports (2xUSB 2.0 / 1xUSB 3.0)
- HDMI Output
- SPDIF Output
- SATA III (6Gb/s)
- T-OnTheGo DDNS Android/iOS App
- Price (For Some)

 

 

CONS

- Availability In The USA (Current)
- Thecus OS Needs Much Work