Thecus N2310 2-bay Intelligent NAS Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The price point of the N2310 is the biggest selling factor by far. In both the UK and the US a good selection of outlets stock the system with state side prices around the $140 mark though Amazon, Staples and Newegg Business and UK prices around £120 through Amazon and Scan. In addition to the barebone prices, there are also a good number of pre-populated systems available with capacities ranging from 1-8TB. Prices on these naturally do vary based on the drives used, but if you shop around, there are one or two bargains to be had.

Overview

Taking the cost factor out of the equation for just a moment and looking at the system from the angle of the users needs, the N2310’s overall performance is surprisingly stronger than I would have expected, although the boot and RAID build times are notably longer. Fortunately the initial build of a RAID array and the booting of the system is only going to happen once with the odd reboot every now and again for system updates to take effect. Considering the amount of additional software features that we see on many of today’s systems, the single core processor does a fair job in keeping up with the dual-core offerings that are typically regarded as today’s standard.

The performance to and from the drives is also pretty respectable. Granted the N2560 that we looked at previously is able to offer more read and write performance, along with a few other 2-bay systems, however they do cost a little more to buy in the first instance, thus defeating the point of a ultra-low cost system.

Although I am pretty contempt with the system itself and the functionality that Thecus’ OS 6 offers, the Intelligent NAS software that needs to be downloaded before you can set the system up does leave me a little disappointed. Whilst I can understand that the software offers up the ability to set up the system without needing to manually enter the IP address and go through the setup process manually, it would be better to see this option still available for those users who would prefer to go down the manual route. Additionally the setup of the Thecus ID for the remote access I feel should be left for configuration from the OS 6 admin panel. Additionally the software could do with a few more features to manage the NAS from one place. After the system has been setup, the software redirects you to the web admin panel which to me seems a little pointless and diverges away from the point of basic users needs.

Take the Intelligent NAS software out of the equation and we have a really good system for the rock bottom basic user. If the software was given a bit more time to develop and in itself be more user-friendly then I’d be happy to give this an award. Until that point though sadly I’ll have to say that whilst it has everything going for it, the simple matter of a software application has let the system down a little.

Pros:

• Super-low price point for the rock bottom needs of the market
• Respectable performance figures
• Low power consumption
• Multitude of software features

Cons:

• Intelligent NAS software still feels a bit undeveloped

“Thecus are right on the money when it comes to designing and building a no-thrills system for the basic user who doesn’t want to spend over the odds for their needs. Sadly though the Intelligent NAS software that is meant to make this system easy to use lets the system down and I feel like it could do with a lot more work before I’d give a good thumbs up.”

Thanks to Thecus for providing us with this review sample.