Designed for users seeking a network storage solution that is both easy to install and easy on the eyes, the Asustor AS1004T ($239) is a four-drive NAS device that supports multiple RAID types and offers a plentiful selection of apps for backing up data, serving multimedia files, hosting websites, and more.
It's extremely quiet and comes with a user-friendly operating system, but you'll have to install your own drives and you don't get the speedy file-transfer performance that you get with the dual-drive Synology DS718+.
Storage With Style
The AS1004T ($270.77 at Amazon) uses a black enclosure with a textured diamond-plate finish that gives it a touch of style.
It measures 6.4 by 6.4 by 8.5 inches (HWD) and weighs a little more than 3 pounds.
You don't get many ports with this NAS: It has a single gigabit LAN port and two USB 3.0 ports (one in front and one in back).
In contrast, the QNAP TS-253B offers multiple HDMI ports, USB-C connectivity, and dual LAN ports, and the Synology DS718+ ($650.00 at Amazon) is equipped with dual LAN ports and an eSATA port.
The AS1004T also lacks the one-touch copy button that you get with the Synology and QNAP devices.
The front of the NAS contains four small LED indicators for power, disk activity, LAN activity, and system status, as well as the above-mentioned USB 3.0 port.
The device is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor and 512MB of memory.
It has room for four 3.5-inch drives and can handle up to 48TB of storage with support for Single Disk, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, and RAID 10 configurations using the EXT4 file system format.
Externally connected drives can use EXT3, EXT4, FAT32, NTFS, and HFS+ file systems.
You have to remove several thumb screws to get to the drives, which are also held in place with included thumb screws.
The same user-friendly web management console and mobile app (iOS and Android) that is used to manage the AS3202T and the AS6302T NAS drives also powers the AS1004T.
It's based on the Asustor Data Master (ADM) operating system that can be downloaded from the Asustor website or installed directly from the included resource CD.
It has a look and feel similar to Windows, which makes it easy to format and configure drives, manage users, share data, and download apps.
As with the Synology DS1517+, the AS1004T offers a wide selection of apps, but you'll have to use the App Central program to access and download them.
Many of the Synology apps are preinstalled.
Still, App Central contains a solid selection of apps including those for Plex Media, iTunes, and Pandora media servers, as well as a host of backup, synchronization, and cloud server apps.
In all, there are more 170 available for download.
The ADM desktop has an Access Control menu that lets you add users, create shared folders and user groups, and create app and user privileges.
The Activity Monitor displays CPU, memory, network, and drive activity and allows you to view disk usage for all volumes.
Use the Backup and Restore utility for local and cloud backups, FTP backups, and instant attached storage backups.
In the File Explorer menu, you can view directories and files in a Windows Explorer-type format, and the Storage Manager menu lets you see disk usage, disk health, and RAID settings.
To configure things like system notifications, LED brightness, date and time settings, and network settings, use the Settings menu.
Asustor covers the AS1004T with a three-year warranty.
Inside the box are a resource CD, a LAN cable, drive-mounting thumbscrews, and a quick start guide.
Not the Fastest NAS in Town
I downloaded the Asustor Control Center software from the web site, then hit Scan and Initialize.
It took several minutes to download the ADM software, partition and format drive 1, and update the firmware.
Next, I used the setup wizard to configure the device.
I created a password, set the time zone, had the NAS obtain an IP address automatically, and chose RAID 5, which gave me a total of 16TB of storage.
It needed about 5 minutes to complete the initialization process, which involves partitioning the remaining drives, creating volumes, and registering the device.
To test file-transfer performance, we use a 4.9GB folder containing a mix of photos, music files, videos, and office documents, and record the read and write speeds.
The AS1004T turned in mediocre scores on both tests.
Its read score of 42MBps was faster than the Promise Apollo Cloud 2 Duo , but couldn't keep pace with the Synology DS718+ and the QNAP-TS253B.
The AS1004T's write score of 42MBps was the slowest of the pack, while the Synology DS718+ led with a score of 79MBps.
On the plus side, the AS1004T was very quiet, unlike the QNAP-TS253B, which emitted a noticeable hum even when in standby mode.
Versatile, but a Bit Slow
It may not be the fastest NAS out there, but the Asustor AS1004T is certainly one of the quietest.
Installation and configuration are made simple thanks to the Asus Data Master operating system, and it can be outfitted with four drives for a maximum capacity of up to 48TB depending on which RAID configuration you use.
In addition to plentiful RAID protected storage, the AS1004T offers a hefty catalog of apps that allow you to use the device as a backup server, a media server, a cloud server, and more.
If speedy transfer performance is a must, the Editors' Choice Synology DiskStation DS718+ is your best bet.
It's equipped with multiple I/O ports and offers a robust catalog of apps.
It's a dual-drive device, but will accommodate a five-drive DiskStation expansion box to provide up to 84TB of storage.
The Bottom Line
The Asustor AS1004T is a stylish four-drive NAS device that supports multiple RAID configurations and offers a generous assortment of apps, but look elsewhere for speed.
