Asustor Flashstor 6 FS6706T review: A NAS for NVMe drives

Price When Reviewed

$479

Best Prices Today: Asustor Flashstor 6 FS6706T

$449

$449.00

Have you seen the dramatic drop within the value of flash drives just lately? Drives and capacities that after value a major quantity at the moment are extremely inexpensive, and there appears little to arrest the value drops because the spot value of NAND flash.

The purpose is that new wafer densities are coming delivering better capacities, and that’s pushing down the worth of present wafers within the gross sales channel.

An attention-grabbing affect of the value discount is that M.2 NVMe drives that have been as soon as virtually solely for desktop PC and server caching use are being utilized purely for his or her storage capacities.

Up thus far, we’ve seen NAS packing containers that use standard exhausting drives and SATA SSDs for storage, but when they do settle for NVMe drives, it’s usually for caching standard drives.

Proof we’ve reached a tipping level with using these modules comes with two new merchandise from Asustor. The Asustor Flashstor 12 Pro FS6712X and the Flashstor 6 FS6706T, which I’ll be protecting on this evaluate.

Essentially, these are the identical machine with the exception that the FS6712X can take 12 M.2 NVMe drives and the FS6706T six. And the larger Flashstor has a single 10GbE LAN port, whereas the six-drive FS6706T has twin 2.5GbE ports.

In all different respects, like processor, reminiscence and expandability, these are brothers from the identical mom. The apparent query here’s what putting in NVMe drives in a NAS can obtain, and is it something you may want?

Design & Build

Given how small NVMe drives are, Asustor let its engineers go somewhat wild with the FS67 collection, and so they got here up with this oddly angled field made fully of dust-attracting black plastic.

This design gained’t mount to a rack, however it won’t look misplaced subsequent to an Xbox or PS5, ought to you have got both of these video games consoles.

What barely mystified me initially is that the ability button is hidden beneath the facet with an overhang. When powered, it lights up that facet of the NAS, though anybody above or to the left gained’t see these visuals because of the angle.

The entrance facia is generally for styling other than a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 port. All the opposite ports that embrace extra USB, LAN, S/PDIF optical out and HDMI are all on the again.

Access to the storage bay is thru an entry panel on the underside to the precise, and 4 screws launch that to disclose 4 M.2 NVMe slots.

These are made particularly for 2280 type issue modules, and holes have been reduce within the board to permit most airflow round them. The solely drawback right here is that the scale of these air flow holes makes utilizing 2230 modules a problem with out an adapter, and that is prone to develop into a extra fashionable type issue sooner or later.

Booting this NAS requires a minimal of 1 NVMe drive, and in my testing, I used two Crucial P3 collection modules.

If you wish to see the opposite facet of this motherboard, two screws may be faraway from the rear, releasing the highest. It comes away to disclose two SoDIMM RAM slots, with one occupied with a 4GB DDR4-2933 module.

The most quantity of RAM that the Intel Celeron N5105 can handle is 16GB. This chip does help twin channel mode, so you can add one other 4GB to the pre-installed module, or you can take that out and put two 8GB sticks. It may also be attainable to place an 8GB module in and get 12GB complete in single-channel mode, however I didn’t check that risk.

Curiously, the larger FS6712X mannequin comes with the identical quantity of RAM, hinting that with the velocity of the NVMe storage, having further reminiscence doesn’t affect file-serving efficiency dramatically.

It’s good to have choices, and for those who prefer to load up on functions, 16GB provides loads of working area.

With an NVMe module put in and all of the panels again in place, the FS6706T is not any completely different from some other Asustor NAS. Once powered up, the Asustor management centre utility can be utilized to put in ADM 4.2 working system and put together the NAS for service.

Specs & Features

A fast go searching on-line retailers reveals that the most important NVMe drives are typically out there at 8TB. These embrace the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus and Corsair MP600 Pro (and Pro XT).

More makers might be creating bigger drives since SK Hynix has began producing its new 238-layer 3D NAND wafers to compete with each YMTC and Micron 232-layer chips that can quickly be launched.

Using any of those, the FS6706T has the potential for 48TB of complete capability and 40TB in a RAID 5 resilient pack.

The ADM working permits the dynamic enlargement of a quantity, so it could be attainable to begin small, with a single 1TB drive, after which increase with subsequent installations. Though if you wish to use RAID 5, I’d suggest you begin with not less than three drives of the identical capability.

Network specs for this unit are twin 2.5GbE LAN ports, one thing that almost all PC motherboards at the moment are coming with as commonplace. With two 2.5GbE ports, this {hardware} may very well be used as a firewall, or these strains may be bonded collectively for extra community bandwidth with an acceptable 2.5GbE swap. These ports will mechanically downgrade to 1GbE and even 100Mbit if the community infrastructure doesn’t help the total velocity.

One potential community configuration is that you just plug your laptop immediately into one of many ports and the opposite into the community. That provides you the total uninterrupted bandwidth to add information to the NAS, but additionally for others to entry the contents from the community.

Even mixed, two 2.5GbE don’t add as much as the bandwidth of the one 10GbE that the FS6712X will get, however realistically 2.5GbE switches are way more inexpensive than 10GbE ones. For house customers, 2.5GbE offers a major bump up from gigabit Ethernet and is quickly turning into the de facto commonplace for house and SOHO customers.

There are some potentialities of accelerating the community bandwidth additional by repurposing the USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports with 2.5GbE and even 5GbE adapters, however the economics of that will recommend that purchasing the FS6712X can be a greater possibility.

The USB 2.0 ports on this NAS are primarily there for anybody that desires to make use of it as a pc. It is fully attainable to attach a display by way of HDMI, mouse, keyboard, after which set up workplace functions or use web-based workplace instruments.

They can be used to attach printers and different low-bandwidth peripherals to be accessed over the community.

While some NAS makers embrace HDMI however don’t make a lot use of it, Asustor has a graphical interface for HDMI that permits it to be a easy menu answer for Plex, streaming companies or hyperlinks to the net interface.

This performance, though fundamental, makes this NAS supreme for media displays, and the inclusion of a S/PDIF optical output is a helpful function for these wanting to make use of the FS6706T as a media server with audio being redirected to a Dolby sound system.

There is one remaining function of this design I’d prefer to name out for being extremely considerate, and that’s a strap Asustor included that holds the ability wire in place. With this hooked up, it’s not possible to by chance pull the ability cable from the PSU out of the again of the NAS, which might corrupt the drives in the event that they’re writing information on the time.

I solely want extra NAS makers thought concerning the foolish issues customers can do and the way they may be averted.

The missed alternative right here is that there’s loads of area inside this case for a few SATA 2.5in bays, and that may have made this {hardware} an ideal stepping stone between the world of standard drives and NVMe.

Being capable of cheaply combine a few 4TB 2.5in HDDs with 4 1TB NVMe modules would have offered a lot the identical community speeds however with better capability for much less outlay.

Performance

Forget the NVMe drives and how briskly they are often. The important issue within the velocity of the FS6706T is the twin 2.5GbE LAN ports for many eventualities.

Because until the applying getting used on the Flashstor is engaged on information saved on the system, precisely how a lot can come and go is dictated by the LAN ports and the way they discuss to the purchasers throughout the community.

Typically, a single consumer on a 2.5GbE Ethernet port can shift not less than 250Mbps switch from the NAS, assuming they’re the one ones connecting. By utilizing a swap with channel bonding help, the bandwidth may be break up between two purchasers, one on every port.

But, the FS6706T consists of beta help for SMB Multichannel, permitting a single consumer to get all of the bandwidth in the event that they’re linked with two 2.5GbE ports or a single 5GbE/10GbE line. The quoted velocity for that state of affairs is 590MB/s reads, and 583MB/s writes, or barely higher than a domestically linked SATA SSD.

Over a single 2.5GbE port, I managed 275MB/s studying and writing, greater than double what I’d count on from gigabit Ethernet.

In principle, the USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports may very well be used with 2.5GbE adapters hooked up, doubling throughput to the identical stage as the one 10GbE line on the Flashstor 12. However, we didn’t have these gadgets to check compatibility with ADM 4.2 or if these might implement SMB Multichannel.

There are just a few USB to 5GbE adapters out there, however the price of these gadgets makes the financial justification for the Flashstor 12 to get a 10GbE LAN connection.

For these doing native NAS processing, it’s price noting that the NVMe drives gained’t be working at full velocity. The Intel Celeron N5105 solely has eight PCIe lanes, and a few are taken up with USB and LAN ports. The restricted out there lanes would infer that, at greatest, a single PCIe 3.0 lane is allotted to every NVMe drive.

This lane distribution is a greater state of affairs within the Flashstor 6 than the 12, as in that mannequin, there may be solely a single lane of PCIe 2.0 for every drive, and PCIe lane switches are required to take advantage of use of the out there bandwidth.

Getting essentially the most out of the Flashstor 6 requires not less than a 2.5GbE swap, ideally with help for channel bonding or SMB Multichannel, and purchasers linked by pairs of two.5GbE LAN ports.

But, the interior efficiency of the unit gained’t be considerably impacted by the velocity of the NVMe drives used, as they’ll be working properly beneath their potential. We’d suggest buying these which might be each low-cost and have a superb TBW worth over something exceptionally quick, and it’s totally pointless placing PCIe Gen 4 drives in there.

Price & Availability

The Asustor Flashstor 6 FS6706T has a value of $479/£449 on Amazon and Amazon UK. That’s for a unit with 4GB of RAM pre-installed however no NVMe modules.

Its greater brother, the Asustor Flashstor 12 Pro FS6712X, has an MSRP of $799/£789, however is often promoting for round $825 with the identical quantity of RAM pre-installed. European pricing roughly equates US {dollars} to Euros in most nations.

Considering a typical beginning set up, say three 2TB NVMe drive to provide 4TB of area with a single parity drive for resilience can value as little as $85/£65 a drive or round $250/£200 for the three. That makes a completely 2TB populated FS6706T near $1,000/£1,000 for a NAS with 10TB of usable area.

That compares badly with standard exhausting drives, however NVMe drives will get bigger and cheaper.

Only QNAP and Asustor have gone all-in with NVMe NAS at this level.

QNAP has an NVMe NAS, however the TBS-464 has solely 4 NVMe slots. It additionally comes with 8GB of RAM and twin 2.5GbE LAN ports, promoting for round $599/£625. This unit additionally may be upgraded by way of a PCIe card to 10GbE networking.

Those anticipating competitors from Synology ought to take into account that that firm typically solely helps its personal M.2 branded drives in these NAS that may take them.

Synology NVMe drives have a most capability of 800GB and are solely meant for caching. An 800GB Synology M.2 SNV3400 prices an eye-watering $350/£300 and has an underwhelming TBW of 1022TB. Therefore, until Synology makes a reversal in product technique, it gained’t be releasing an NVMe NAS.

Verdict

My preliminary response to the FS6706T and its FS6712X brother, these merchandise didn’t make an enormous quantity of sense. Because the interior bandwidth of those gadgets isn’t sufficient to take advantage of a number of NVMe drives of any velocity, and positively not the quicker varieties.

When you mix that situation with the lack to take advantage of that inner bandwidth over the community, it’s tempting to marvel what the purpose of the Flashstor NAS may be?

But in hindsight, that pondering misses the purpose considerably as a result of what an NVMe drive represents to a desktop system isn’t what it’s to the Flashstor.

In a desktop system, the important benefit that NVMe provides is efficiency, however within the Flashstor 6 (and 12) it’s merely storage in a handy bundle.

And, as 8TB and 16TB drives seem, the dimensions of that storage will develop into important for these that may afford to fill their Flashstor with modules.

With 16TB NVMe modules utilizing a RAID 5 configuration, the FS6706T might have 80TB of resilient area, and the FS6712X double that.

Filling the FS6712X with 2TB modules would value near $1,000/£1,000 and supply 10TB of resilient capability with a parity drive. That may appear an costly possibility Compared to a standard NAS operating exhausting drives. But a 12 months in the past, the price of modules alone would have been twice as a lot, and a 12 months from now, it should doubtless be a lot lower than now.

Going ahead, until NVMe drives cease being a factor, filling up the Flashstor will solely get cheaper. And, with the efficiency it may ship on this context, it’s a lot quicker to rebuild these packs with new bigger modules than it could be with exhausting drives.

In brief, the FS6706T doesn’t have the interior PCIe bandwidth to take advantage of six NVMe drives totally. And it can also’t push the restricted bandwidth it has out over two 2.5GbE ports, however for the aim of this train, that may not matter.

And it gained’t till we’re all operating NAS with 400GbE or quicker networks, ought to that ever occur.

Specs

CPU: Intel Celeron N5105
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics
RAM: 4GB DDR4 (upgradable to 16GB)
Storage: 6 x M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 drives.
USB: 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 2x USB 2.0
Outputs: 1x HDMI 2.0 port appropriate with 4K 60 Hz resolutions, 1x S/PDIF
Raid Types: RAID 0/1 /5 /6 /10, Single, JBOD
Weight: 3.6 kg
Dimensions: 227 x 225x 136 mm
Networking: 2x 2.5-GbE Ethernet (100/1000/2500)
OS: ADM 4.2
Internal File Systems: Btrfs, EXT4
External File Systems: EXT4, NTFS, FAT32, HFS+, ExFAT
OS Languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Magyar, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Portuguese and Russian

This evaluate initially appeared on techadvisor.com.