After we have analized the high-end AS-604T NAS from ASUSTOR, they have also released to the market the AS-300T series, composed from one unit with two bays and one with four bays. While on the exterior the AS-300T series and AS-600T series might look about the same, there are some differences like less USB 2.0 ports in the back, no eSATA but it has preserved the USB 3.0 ports and introduced an audio jack for connecting directly speakers or other audio equipment. In the back we have the same 120mm fan which keeps the drives along with the motherboard cool during operation and the power supply is integrated. In order to minimize costs ASUSTOR have also removed the frontal display with the control buttons so we will have to perform the entire configuration via software; in the same area we have however an IR sensor.

Considering that this is a product is recommended for home use, ASUSTOR has not removed the HDMI port so we can transform the whole NAS into a media center by installing the XMBC application. The interface can be controlled by using a keyboard and mouse but separately we can acquire a small ASUSTOR remote to make the control even easier.

The platform comes with an Intel Atom CE5335 CPU at 1.6GHz (Dual Core), with 1GB DDR3 memory on-board; the available memory cannot be expanded as with the AS-604T.

ASUSTOR have recently developed the second revision of their ADM software which is very responsive and quite easy to use. We can install lots of applications in order to enhance the server functionality like Dropbox, Download Center, Surveillance Center, SoundsGood and much more. We can always migrate the drives easily to a new ASUSTOR NAS with more bays, without the need to transfer data to one another via LAN by consuming precious hours.

The only issue we did encounter so far was the fact the system starts up right away when the power lead is connected to the back of the unit, but afterwards the NAS will operate just fine. ASUSTOR is working around the clock in order to solve this problem with Intel and hopefully a new firmware will be launched shortly to address it.

Later edit: It seems that the power on issue we have mentioned was present only with the first batch of AS-304T NASes. The current batch contains a fix which prevents the initial power on and for the previous batch there is a hotfix which is offered by ASUSTOR on request. We have tested the hotfix and we can render this issue as SOLVED.

The AS-304T NAS is available online for about 509 Euros, and the remote can be bundled with the package for about 20-25 Euros more.

ASUSTOR AS-304T 4-bay NAS Server for Home Office is Recommended For:

In Belgium, the customer info is the following:

Distributor:

ITC Multimedia

http://www.itcmm.com/

Reseller:

Xellion

http://xellion-tech.be

For Netherlands, we have the following customer info:

Distributor:

Network Media Systems

http://www.networkmediasystems.nl/

Reseller:

Informatique

http://www.informatique.nl/

Wifimedia

http://wifimedia.eu/

MyMediaCenter

http://www.mymediacenter.nl/

Mobile-Harddisk

http://www.mobile-harddisk.nl/

We would like to thank again to ASUSTOR for making this review possible.