The Asustor AS3102T v2 ($219) is a two-drive NAS designed for home users looking for an affordable way to store and manage their data.
It offers a user-friendly operating system and a wealth of apps that let you create your own personal cloud server, serve media to devices throughout your home, and back up photos, videos, and other important data.
It's relatively easy to install and is equipped with dual LAN ports that support link aggregation, and it's a fast performer.
Rich in Features
The AS3102T v2 uses the same black diamond check enclosure as the AS3203T NAS that we reviewed back in 2016.
It measures 6.5 by 4 by 8.6 inches (HWD) and has LED indicators on the front for power, status, LAN connectivity, and disk activity.
Below the LEDs is a single USB 3.0 port.
The rear panel contains a WAN port, two gigabit LAN ports, two additional USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI 1.4 video output, and a power button.
The dual LAN ports can be configured for link aggregation to provide network speeds of up to 2Gbps.
To access the AS3102T's two internal drive bays, you have to remove two thumbscrews and the cover.
The drives (not included) are held in place by four thumbscrews, but unlike the AS6302T, this model does not support hot swapping.
The NAS is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Celeron dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 512MB of flash memory.
It'll accommodate a total capacity of 28TB using 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch SATA drives and supports Single, JBOD, RAID 0, and RAID 1 configurations.
It'll transcode 1080p video, but does not support 4K video transcoding like the Editors' Choice QNAP TS-251B-4G does.
A 70mm fan keeps the interior cool.
As with the AS4002T NAS, the AS3102T v2 uses the ADM (Asus Data Master) operating system that allows you to configure network settings and RAID volumes, format drives, create folders and shares, and download NAS apps.
It also uses several Asustor iOS and Android mobile apps that let you view video, download torrents, access data and photos, and manage the NAS using your mobile device.
The ADM opens to a desktop layout with multiple icons.
To create user groups and shared folders and assign user rights, tap the Access Control icon.
The Activity Monitor contains graphs that display CPU, memory, network, and disk usage.
It also lets you know which processes are running and how much memory they are using.
There are more than 230 apps available in App Central, including programs that let you use the NAS for backups or press it into service as an IP camera surveillance station, an email server, a VPN server, and a cloud server.
There are also eCommerce, home automation, blog content management, and multimedia apps for iTunes, Spotify, Netflix, and Plex media server functions.
Use the Backup and Restore icon to configure and schedule cloud and FTP backups, set up remote syncing and external disk backups, and configure system setting backups.
With the File Explorer you can manage files and folders on the NAS and any connected external drives and do things like share links to folders, set folder permissions, configure virtual drives, and set up CIFS (Common Internet File System) folders.
Tapping the Services icon lets you enable SAMBA and macOS X file services, join a network workgroup, configure Rsync and TFTP server settings, and enable web server functionality and WebDAV sharing.
The Settings icon takes you to a screen where you can configure network settings, control fan speeds, configure energy-saving settings, and set up ADM Defender to protect the NAS from malicious internet attacks.
The Storage Manager allows you to create, edit, and remove RAID volumes, check disk and volume status, enable RAID Scrubbing, and configure iSCSI (Internet Small Computer Systems Interface) targets.
To manage devices that are connected to the NAS via USB, tap the External Devices icon, and to coordinate syncing between the NAS and your connected devices, use the EZ Sync Manager.
Speedy Performance
The AS3102T v2 is easy to install.
I popped in two 6TB HGST drives, connected the device to the same router as my desktop PC, plugged it in, and fired up the installation CD.
I clicked Start to install the Asustor Control Center software on my PC and the device was immediately identified.
I clicked the red Uninitialized button and clicked Next to download the ADM software and initialize the NAS.
I waited a few minutes for the software to partition and format the drives and restart the system, and opted to manually configure the NAS (you can also chose 1-Click Setup, which automatically chooses a RAID configuration based on your performance and reliability preferences).
I then entered a name and password, configured my date and time settings, and configured my network settings (DHCP, static).
I then selected my RAID level (RAID 1) and waited a few minutes for the initialization process to finish.
The AS3102T v2 needed a little more than 10 hours to completely build and synchronize my RAID 1 file system before I was ready for file-transfer performance testing.
The AS3102T v2 turned in speedy scores on our file-transfer tests, in which we measure the device's read and write speeds using a 4.9GB folder containing a mix of photo, music, video, and office document files.
Its score of 84MBps on the write test topped the TerraMaster F2-221 by 22MBps and was just a bit faster than the Synology DiskStation DS718+ (79MBps).
The QNAP TS-251B-4G led with a score of 100MBps.
On the read test, the AS3102T v2's score of 83MBps once again bested the TerraMaster F2-221 and the Synology DiskStation DS718+, but came up short compared with the QNAP TS-251B-4G.
Quality Home NAS
Speedy performance and a wealth of branded and third-party apps make the Asustor AS3102T v2 a solid choice for a home NAS device.
You can use it as a cloud server, a media server, an IP camera surveillance station, a data backup and storage solution, and more.
It's easy to install and comes with a user-friendly OS, and it offers 2Gbps network transmissions using link aggregation.
That said, if you have an extra $120, consider the QNAP TS-251B-4G NAS.
It offers faster performance, 4K video transcoding, hot swap drives, and a generous selection of multimedia I/O ports.
As such, it remains our Editors' Choice for two-drive NAS devices.
The Bottom Line
The Asustor AS3102T v2 is a two-drive NAS designed for home users that delivers speedy performance and comes with a generous assortment of I/O ports and apps.
