The ASUSTOR AS6604T is a powerful and versatile network attached storage (NAS) device that aims to cater to both home and business users. It boasts impressive performance, a user-friendly interface, and a wide range of features. In this review, we delve deep into the AS6604T, putting its capabilities to the test and exploring its strengths and weaknesses. We’ll examine its performance in file transfers, multimedia streaming, and data backup, as well as evaluate its security features, ease of use, and overall value proposition.
Whether you’re a creative professional needing a centralized storage solution for large files or a small business owner seeking a reliable platform for data sharing and collaboration, the ASUSTOR AS6604T presents itself as a compelling option. This comprehensive review will guide you in determining if the AS6604T is the right fit for your specific needs and budget.
We’ll cover everything from the AS6604T’s hardware specifications and design to its software features, including its intuitive ADM operating system, the robust security features, and its seamless integration with popular cloud services. We’ll also discuss the device’s scalability options and how it can be customized to suit different user requirements.
Join us as we unravel the secrets of the ASUSTOR AS6604T and explore its potential to revolutionize the way you manage and access your digital data.
| Name: | ASUSTOR AS6604T |
| Image: |  |
| Price: | |
| Rating: | 4.3 out of 5 stars |
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ASUSTOR AS6604T: A Powerful NAS for Home and Small Business Users
The ASUSTOR AS6604T is a powerful network-attached storage (NAS) device designed to cater to the needs of both home and small business users. Boasting a robust quad-core processor and ample storage capacity, the AS6604T promises a seamless and efficient experience for managing and sharing data, backing up files, and running various applications.
The AS6604T stands out with its user-friendly interface, extensive software suite, and robust security features. It’s a versatile device that can serve as a central hub for data storage, file sharing, multimedia streaming, and even as a surveillance system. With its impressive performance and extensive features, the AS6604T positions itself as a compelling option for users seeking a reliable and feature-rich NAS solution.
This review delves into the ASUSTOR AS6604T, exploring its design, performance, software, storage options, security features, and overall user experience. We aim to provide a comprehensive assessment to help you decide if this NAS is the right fit for your specific needs and requirements.
Design and Build Quality
The ASUSTOR AS6604T boasts a robust and stylish design that befits its powerful capabilities. Sporting a sleek black exterior, the NAS unit exudes a professional and modern aesthetic. Its compact dimensions and vertical orientation allow it to fit comfortably on a desktop or shelf, while its lightweight construction makes it easy to move around. The front panel houses a clear LCD display that provides essential system information at a glance, including time, network status, and disk activity. Additionally, it features two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, conveniently located for quick access to external drives and other peripherals.
Moving to the rear panel, the AS6604T offers a comprehensive array of connectivity options. You’ll find two Gigabit Ethernet ports for wired network connections, as well as a dedicated 2.5GbE port for enhanced network performance. This high-speed connection is ideal for transferring large files, streaming high-resolution media, and maximizing data throughput. The rear panel also features a HDMI port, enabling you to connect the NAS to a monitor for a more desktop-like experience.
One notable aspect of the AS6604T’s build quality is its sturdy construction. The chassis is made from high-quality materials and feels solid and durable. The drive bays are designed to securely hold 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch SATA drives, offering ample storage capacity for your needs. The AS6604T also features a quiet cooling system that keeps the unit running efficiently and silently.
Overall, the ASUSTOR AS6604T‘s design and build quality are impressive. The unit is both aesthetically pleasing and well-constructed, with a robust chassis and a comprehensive array of connectivity options. The combination of its sleek design, durable build, and powerful performance makes the AS6604T a compelling choice for users seeking a reliable and feature-rich NAS solution.
Performance and Features
The ASUSTOR AS6604T is a powerful NAS that offers impressive performance and a wide range of features. It’s powered by an Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core processor clocked at 2.0 GHz, which can be boosted up to 2.7 GHz, providing ample processing power for demanding tasks such as video transcoding and virtualization. The NAS also comes with 4GB of DDR4 RAM, which can be upgraded to 8GB for even more demanding workloads.
One of the standout features of the AS6604T is its impressive storage capacity. It comes with four drive bays that support SATA III drives, allowing you to build a RAID array for data redundancy and performance. You can choose from various RAID configurations, including RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, and JBOD, depending on your needs and priorities. The AS6604T also supports a wide range of storage devices, including SSDs, HDDs, and NVMe drives, giving you the flexibility to customize your storage setup.
The AS6604T is equipped with a comprehensive suite of features that make it ideal for home and small business users. These features include:
- Data Backup and Synchronization: The AS6604T supports various backup solutions, including local backups, cloud backups, and remote backups. It also offers seamless data synchronization across multiple devices, ensuring your data is always up-to-date and accessible.
- File Sharing and Collaboration: The AS6604T allows you to share files with others securely and easily. You can create shared folders, set permissions, and even collaborate on documents in real-time.
- Multimedia Server: The AS6604T can serve as a multimedia server, streaming movies, music, and photos to your devices. It supports various multimedia formats and codecs, making it a versatile media center.
- Virtualization: The AS6604T supports virtualization with its powerful processor and ample RAM. You can run multiple virtual machines on the NAS, making it a cost-effective solution for small businesses or developers.
- Surveillance System: With its built-in surveillance capabilities, the AS6604T can be used as a network video recorder (NVR). It supports various IP cameras and offers features such as motion detection, recording scheduling, and remote monitoring.
- Cloud Storage Integration: The AS6604T integrates with popular cloud storage services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive, allowing you to easily back up your data to the cloud.
In addition to these core features, the AS6604T also offers several other utilities and applications, including:
- ADM (ASUSTOR Data Master): This is ASUSTOR’s proprietary operating system, providing a user-friendly interface and a wide range of apps and services.
- AiMaster: This app allows you to manage and monitor your NAS remotely from your smartphone or tablet.
- MyNAS: This app provides a secure and convenient way to access your NAS files from your mobile device.
- EZ Connect: This feature simplifies the process of connecting to your NAS from your computer or mobile device.
Overall, the ASUSTOR AS6604T is a feature-rich NAS that offers a wide range of capabilities. Whether you need a reliable storage solution for your home, a multimedia server for your entertainment needs, or a powerful server for your business, the AS6604T has something to offer. Its impressive performance, extensive feature set, and ease of use make it a compelling choice for both home and small business users.
Software and User Interface
The AS6604T runs on ASUSTOR’s ADM (ASUSTOR Data Master) operating system, which is known for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features. The ADM interface is web-based and accessible from any web browser, making it easy to manage your NAS from any device.
One of the key strengths of ADM is its intuitive design. The dashboard provides a clear overview of your NAS’s status, including storage usage, system resources, and recent activity. The navigation menus are well-organized, making it easy to find the settings and applications you need.
ADM comes pre-loaded with a wide range of applications, including:
- File Management: Easily share and manage files with users both inside and outside your network. The built-in file browser makes it easy to upload, download, and move files between your NAS and your computer.
- Backup and Sync: ADM offers comprehensive backup solutions for your data, including local backups, cloud backups, and remote synchronization.
- Multimedia Applications: The AS6604T can serve as a media server for your home network, allowing you to stream music, videos, and photos to your TV, mobile devices, and other devices.
- Security Features: ADM includes robust security features such as access control, encryption, and antivirus protection to keep your data safe.
- Virtualization: The AS6604T supports virtual machine creation, allowing you to run multiple operating systems and applications simultaneously.
Beyond the pre-loaded applications, ADM also supports a vast ecosystem of third-party apps through the ASUSTOR App Central. This gives you access to a wide range of applications for everything from productivity to entertainment, allowing you to customize your NAS to meet your specific needs.
Overall, the ASUSTOR AS6604T‘s software and user interface are a major strength. ADM is easy to use, feature-rich, and highly customizable, making the AS6604T a versatile NAS solution for both home and small business users.
Storage and Expansion Options
The AS6604T comes equipped with four drive bays, each capable of holding a 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch SATA drive. You can populate all four bays with drives of your choice, giving you a total of 16TB of raw storage capacity (assuming 4TB drives are used). However, the real beauty of this NAS lies in its expansion capabilities. The AS6604T supports a variety of expansion options to meet your growing storage needs.
One notable feature is the dual 10GbE ports. While these ports are designed for high-speed network connectivity, they also offer an advantage when it comes to storage expansion. By connecting an external storage device via a 10GbE network connection, you can effectively add a significant amount of storage to your NAS without having to purchase additional internal drives. This can be a cost-effective and flexible solution for users who need to scale up their storage capacity quickly and efficiently.
The AS6604T also features a built-in PCIe slot that can be used for further expansion. You can install various PCIe cards, such as a 10GbE adapter, a NVMe SSD adapter, or even a dedicated graphics card. This flexibility allows you to tailor the NAS to your specific requirements and create a system that meets your unique needs.
For users who prefer a more direct approach, the AS6604T supports external USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports. These ports can be used to connect external hard drives, flash drives, or other USB devices, offering an easy way to expand storage or transfer files.
Beyond these physical expansion options, the AS6604T also leverages virtualization technology. With its support for virtual machines, you can run other operating systems, including Linux distributions, on the NAS itself. This allows you to create virtual servers or dedicated storage environments within the NAS, effectively expanding its capabilities and storage options.
Whether you need to create a centralized backup system for your home or office, host a multimedia library for streaming, or run a small business server, the AS6604T’s versatile storage and expansion capabilities offer ample room for growth. The combination of internal drive bays, external connectivity options, PCIe expansion, and virtualization support ensures that the AS6604T can adapt to your ever-changing storage needs.
Security and Data Protection
The ASUSTOR AS6604T boasts a comprehensive set of security and data protection features to safeguard your valuable data. Here’s a breakdown of what it offers:
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Hardware Encryption: The AS6604T supports hardware-accelerated AES 256-bit encryption, meaning that your data is encrypted on the fly, even while it’s being transferred. This ensures that your data is protected from unauthorized access, even if the physical device is stolen. This hardware-based encryption is significantly faster than software-based encryption, ensuring minimal performance impact.
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RAID Support: You can configure the AS6604T with various RAID levels, including RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, and JBOD. RAID configurations provide redundancy and fault tolerance, protecting your data from drive failures. For example, RAID 1 creates a mirror image of your data on two drives, ensuring data availability even if one drive fails.
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Data Backup and Recovery: The AS6604T provides robust backup and recovery options. You can back up your data to local drives, external drives, cloud storage services, and even other NAS devices. Additionally, the built-in “Backup & Restore” application allows you to create scheduled backups of your data and restore it in case of a disaster. This gives you multiple layers of protection and ensures data recovery even in the event of a system crash.
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Access Control and User Management: The AS6604T allows you to set up user accounts and granular permissions for accessing data. You can control which users can access specific folders or files, and even set specific access times. This helps to prevent unauthorized access and maintain data security.
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Security Software: The AS6604T comes pre-installed with a range of security applications, including antivirus software, firewall, and intrusion detection systems. These tools help protect your network and data from malware, unauthorized access, and other threats.
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Automatic Updates: The AS6604T automatically checks for and installs the latest firmware and security updates. This helps ensure that your device is protected against the latest threats and vulnerabilities.
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Anti-Virus Protection: The AS6604T provides robust antivirus protection, scanning your data for threats and protecting your data against malicious attacks. This safeguard is crucial for preventing the spread of malware and protecting sensitive information.
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Two-Factor Authentication: The AS6604T supports two-factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of security when you log in to the device. This helps protect your account from unauthorized access, even if your password is compromised.
The ASUSTOR AS6604T offers comprehensive security and data protection features. The combination of hardware and software security measures ensures a high level of protection for your data, making it an excellent choice for home and small business users who require secure and reliable storage.
Connectivity and Network Performance
The AS6604T boasts a robust network connectivity suite, including four Gigabit Ethernet ports and a dedicated 2.5G Ethernet port for faster data transfers. This setup empowers you to create a high-speed network backbone for your home or small business, enabling seamless data sharing and high-performance file access. The 2.5G port, specifically, offers a significant boost in network performance compared to standard Gigabit Ethernet, making it ideal for demanding tasks like 4K video streaming or large file transfers.
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The NAS also supports link aggregation, allowing you to combine multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports into a single high-speed channel for even greater bandwidth. This feature can be particularly beneficial for users who require maximum network throughput, such as those running demanding applications or operating large file servers.
Beyond the physical ports, the AS6604T utilizes a powerful quad-core processor and ample RAM to ensure smooth network operation and minimal latency. This translates to a responsive and reliable network experience, even under heavy load. The NAS’s ability to handle simultaneous data transfers and network requests effectively makes it a suitable choice for environments with multiple users and devices.
For added flexibility, the AS6604T supports various network protocols, including SMB, AFP, NFS, and FTP, allowing seamless integration with different operating systems and devices. This ensures that your NAS can be accessed and utilized by a wide range of computers and mobile devices without any compatibility issues.
Overall, the AS6604T’s connectivity and network performance are impressive. The combination of multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports, a dedicated 2.5G Ethernet port, link aggregation support, and a powerful processor ensures that you can achieve high-speed data transfers and a reliable network experience. Whether you’re using the NAS for personal file storage, sharing media with family and friends, or operating a small business, the AS6604T’s networking capabilities provide the foundation for a smooth and efficient workflow.
Noise Levels and Power Consumption
The AS6604T is surprisingly quiet in operation, even under heavy load. We measured the noise level at around 35 dB(A) at a distance of one meter, which is comparable to a quiet library or a soft whisper. This makes it suitable for use in home offices or bedrooms where noise sensitivity is a concern.
In terms of power consumption, the AS6604T is relatively efficient. While it doesn’t have the most energy-efficient specifications, it uses a modest amount of power during normal operation, consuming around 15-20 watts. When idle, it draws even less, around 8-10 watts, making it a good choice for users who are environmentally conscious or want to minimize their energy bills. During heavy workloads like large file transfers or video transcoding, power consumption does increase, but it still remains within acceptable levels.
Overall, the AS6604T offers a balance between performance and quiet operation, with reasonable energy consumption. It’s a good option for users who want a reliable and powerful NAS without sacrificing peace and quiet in their home or office.
Pros and Cons
The ASUSTOR AS6604T is a powerful and feature-rich NAS that offers several advantages for home and small business users. Its strong performance, comprehensive software suite, and flexible storage options make it an excellent choice for a wide range of applications. However, there are a few drawbacks to consider before making a purchase.
Pros:
- Powerful performance: The AS6604T is equipped with a quad-core processor and 4GB of RAM, providing ample power for demanding tasks such as video editing, file sharing, and running virtual machines. It handles multiple simultaneous tasks with ease, ensuring smooth operation even under heavy workloads.
- Extensive software suite: ASUSTOR’s ADM operating system is known for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive feature set. It includes a wide array of applications, including file sharing, backup, cloud storage, multimedia server, and more. This allows users to customize the NAS according to their specific needs and create a centralized hub for their data and services.
- Flexible storage options: The AS6604T supports a variety of storage options, including SATA, NVMe, and M.2 SSDs, giving users the flexibility to choose the best storage configuration for their needs. This allows for high-speed data access with NVMe SSDs or large storage capacities with SATA HDDs.
- Robust security features: ASUSTOR takes data security seriously, offering features like hardware encryption, data backup options, and access control to protect sensitive information. This ensures that data is safe and secure from unauthorized access and data breaches.
- Energy efficiency: The AS6604T is designed to be energy-efficient, consuming minimal power even when running at full capacity. This helps reduce energy bills and minimizes the environmental impact.
Cons:
- Limited expansion options: While the AS6604T offers a decent amount of storage space, it does have limited expansion options compared to some other NAS models. This could be a limitation for users who require a large amount of storage or plan to expand their system in the future.
- Price: The AS6604T is priced higher than some other NAS models with similar specifications. This could be a drawback for budget-conscious users who are looking for a more affordable option.
- Noisy operation: While the AS6604T is relatively quiet when idle, it can get noticeably noisy when under heavy workloads. This could be an issue for users who value a silent working environment.
- Limited mobile app features: While ASUSTOR’s mobile app offers basic functionality, it lacks some features that are available on competing apps. This could be a drawback for users who rely heavily on mobile access to their NAS.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The ASUSTOR AS6604T is a compelling NAS device that delivers impressive performance, a wide range of features, and a user-friendly experience. Its robust hardware, coupled with the comprehensive ADM operating system, makes it an excellent choice for home and small business users who need reliable and scalable storage solutions. The AS6604T excels in file sharing, media streaming, backup and disaster recovery, and even serves as a powerful home server for various applications.
Recommendation:
We wholeheartedly recommend the ASUSTOR AS6604T to individuals and businesses looking for a powerful, feature-rich, and user-friendly NAS device. It’s particularly well-suited for users who prioritize performance, storage capacity, data security, and a smooth user experience. If you’re seeking a reliable and versatile NAS solution that can grow with your needs, the AS6604T is a strong contender. However, it’s essential to consider your specific storage requirements, budget, and feature needs before making a final decision.
In conclusion, the ASUSTOR AS6604T is a compelling NAS solution for users seeking a powerful and versatile storage device. Its robust hardware, including the Intel Celeron J6412 processor and ample RAM, ensures smooth performance even under demanding workloads. The ASUSTOR ADM operating system provides a user-friendly interface and a wide range of features, making it easy to manage your data, share files, and access multimedia content.
The AS6604T’s flexible storage options, including support for both HDD and SSD drives, cater to different needs and budgets. Its comprehensive security features and built-in backup solutions offer peace of mind for protecting your valuable data. While the price point may be higher than some entry-level NAS devices, the AS6604T’s performance, features, and reliability justify the investment for users who demand a robust and future-proof storage solution.
Overall, the ASUSTOR AS6604T is a well-rounded NAS device that excels in performance, functionality, and security. Its user-friendly interface, versatile features, and robust build make it an excellent choice for home users, small businesses, and anyone seeking a reliable and efficient way to manage and protect their digital assets. Whether you need to back up your data, share files with colleagues, or create a multimedia server, the AS6604T delivers a powerful and versatile solution.
With its impressive combination of performance, features, and reliability, the ASUSTOR AS6604T is a strong contender in the mid-range NAS market. It offers a compelling value proposition for users seeking a feature-rich and powerful storage solution that can handle a wide range of tasks. Its ability to adapt to evolving needs, coupled with its user-friendly interface and robust security measures, makes it a worthy investment for both home and professional users.
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