Buffalo 5810DN 8-Bay 32TB Preloaded NAS Review

Bohs Hansen / 6 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

A pre-populated NAS will, of course, costs more than an empty one, that’s a given. So don’t be surprised by the costs. At the time of this review, the Buffalo TS5810DN with 32TB (8x 4TB) can be yours for £2642.68 or $2263.99.

The included drives retail for £108.18 at the time of this review. Eight of them are thereby worth £865.44, making the actual NAS unit price £1777.24. That isn’t cheap as such, but it isn’t a lot either. Considering the equipment, support, and performance you get, it’s a fair price.

Final Thoughts

It was a pleasure to have my first Buffalo NAS in the office. Not only is it a great looking device built with quality components, it’s also a powerful file server. The asking price is a bit higher than with some other devices, but there’s a reason for that. You get a fully populated device as well as an awesome replacement service in the event that something goes wrong.

The OS was a bit of a surprise to me. Most NAS devices have nearly endless application options, but that’s not the case here. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I like that the device focuses on what’s important: serving files.

Design

Buffalo’s TS5810DN is a great looking device, there can be no doubt about that. The mix of great and black with a light touch of red give works great. The hidden drive bays behind the lockable door also help with the visual appeal. But the door isn’t just for the visuals, it also secures the drives.

The unit features a status display too. It is used for general status as well as for notifications. The front-facing USB port is covered with a small rubber piece which further allows the unit to keep its smooth appearance without losing functionality.

Performance

Thanks to 8 available drive bays and the built-in 10GbE abilities, Buffalo’s TeraStation TS5810DN speeds through all the benchmarks with impressive results. We go above 500MB/s throughput in a lot of tests, which is impressive. If speed is vital to your efforts, you know what to get now.

OS

The operating system doesn’t offer as many options as you get with some other NAS systems. Instead it focuses on being the best file server it can be. Fewer functions also mean fewer conflicts possibilities and more system resources for the important things: serving you your files the quickest way possible.

The GUI reminds of those found in network devices which should make it easy for system admins to navigate around and make the necessary changes. While it doesn’t offer the same application options as others, it has everything a business setup requires.

Surprising Discovery

During my tests of the Buffalo TS5810DN, I made a surprising discovery. I could not get my usual USB dock to work. The Silverstone TS11C wasn’t detected at all, no matter which drives I inserted. Ordinary portable drives, such as my Toshiba Canvio Basics was recognised without any trouble.

Pros:

Business Oriented OS
Great performance with built-in 10GbE
Pre-equipped with drives
24-hour exchange-service if a drive should fail
Quad-core CPU and 4GB RAM

Cons:

Higher costs through pre-population

“Buffalo’s TeraStation TS5810DN does what it’s supposed to do. It serves your files with extreme performance and features a business-oriented, clutter-free, OS experience.”