INTRODUCTION

   Many years ago the only people who were even remotely interested in getting their hands on a network attached storage device were large office and enterprise users who wanted to share data between many computers in a local network. Today things have changed quite a bit and so network attached storage devices are no longer just for local data sharing but can be used to cover a much wider range of needs (which is why many people consider them to be servers) so they can also be used to record stream from multiple USB and IP cameras (network video recorder), download files either directly or via the torrent protocol (download server), share data anywhere around the world (cloud sharing server), stream audio and video onto stationary and mobile devices (media server), playback video onto TV screens (media player), host websites (web server), send and receive emails (email server) and much more. ASUSTOR released the "entry" level AS1004T model a few months back and today we're here to check and see what it has to offer.

   Founded in 2011, ASUSTOR Inc. was established via direct investment from ASUSTeK Computer Inc. The ASUSTOR brand name was created as a portmanteau of “ASUS” and “Storage”. ASUSTOR is a leading innovator and provider of private cloud storage (network attached storage) and video surveillance (network video recorder) solutions, also specializing in the development and integration of related firmware, hardware and applications. We are devoted to providing the world with unparalleled user experiences and the most complete set of network storage solutions possible.

   Just like most entry level NAS servers the AS1004T doesn't use one of the higher performance dual/quad-core Intel/AMD CPUs (with built-in GPUs) so if plenty of power is what you're looking for this is really not the model for you. Instead ASUSTOR has equipped it with a Marvell Armada 385 1GHz dual-core SoC (system-on-chip) that comes with support for hardware encryption, 512MB DDR3 SDRAM (not expandable) and a 16MB flash module. The AS1004T also features a total of four 3.5" SATA III bays (can be configured in single, JBOD and RAID 0/1/5/6/10), two USB 3.0 ports and an RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet port. Also since the Marvell Armada 385 SoC was not designed with media playback in mind the AS1004T lacks an HDMI video output (quite unfortunate considering that its size and design would also make it ideal as a media player).