One of my favorite products are NAS boxes, I’m not sure
exactly why. I think it’s the fact that they’re just so useful. NAS boxes are
much better than just an external hard drive ever could be that’s for sure.
Thecus is a company that’s well known for their NAS systems, they make some of
the best on the market. They’ve recently introduced a new line of NAS servers
called XXX, the X’s stand for Xtreme Power, Xtreme Function and Xtreme Value.
Today for review I’ve got the latest NAS server from Thecus called the N2200XXX,
so let’s just get into it as we’ve got a lot to cover.
Product Name: Thecus
N2200XXX NAS Server
Author: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: Thecus
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
High Performance
2-bay All-in-One NAS Server
The new XXX line of
Thecus NAS is leading the way in catering to your needs. With Xreme power,
Xtreme function, and Xtreme value, these Thecus NAS deliver. Whether it is a
strong product for a budget price or a high-powered NAS for the tech-savvy,
each model is extremely geared towards fitting you. From an extremely speedy
2-bay for your home office to an extremely powerful 8-bay rackmount for even
the most demanding enterprise, Thecus XXX NAS are ready for you.
The new age of NAS
requires serious products for serious needs. Time and again, Thecus has
provided products that go a step beyond the needs of users, serious and casual,
in terms of performance, functionality, and price. By first putting the Intel
Atom D525 processor in our 4-bay N4200PRO and N4200Eco NAS, Thecus got a
firsthand look at what this processor is capable of. To give SMB and home power
users what they need to get through massive quantities of data and large file
transfers, they knew the Atom D525 in a 2-bay NAS was the perfect solution. To
complement the D525, the Thecus N2200XXX Home NAS was beefed up with
top-of-the-line DDR3 RAM for an extra boost in speed across the board. This
combination made transfers over 90 MB/s possible in the N4200PRO, and the
Thecus N2200XXX Home NAS runs even faster!
Another fantastic
function on the Thecus N2200XXX Home NAS is the added connectivity of SD, SDHC,
and MMC cards. Storing music, photos, and videos has never been simpler and
faster with the built-in card reader.
Protection and
efficiency are also fortified to give you piece of mind and allow you to make
the most of your storage space. AES 256 bit RAID volume encryption and USB key
functionality give you the power to take your data security to the next level.
iSCSI transfers and iSCSI thin provisioning give you the connectivity of the
fastest protocol known to man and perfectly distributed disk space for multiple
users. With thin provisioning, users’ allocated space contracts and expands
automatically according their specific needs. These functions, among many
others, put the Thecus N2200XXX Home NAS ahead of the competition and make it
the perfect choice for home users with a flare for power.
Features:
Extreme Speed
With a power-house
of a processor in the Intel Atom D525 running at 1.8GHz, the N2200XXX runs
circles around the competition. Combined with 1GB of super fast DDR3 RAM, that
means incredible transfer speeds and less time spent waiting.
Bad Block Scan
Support
Scan your disks to
catch problems before they occur. Using detailed disk status updates, give your
disks the perfect settings and environment to maintain data integrity and
uninterrupted access.
Extreme Protection
Put safety first
with AES256bit RAID volume encryption and USB Key functionality. An
impenetrable wall of protection is at your disposal to make sure only those you
want can access your data, and no one else. Simply set up a USB flash drive key
that unlocks your data with no hassle and maximum protection.
Extreme Flexibility
Simplify your
access to digital cameras, smart phones, electronic dictionaries, and much
more. The N2200XXX supports SD/SDHC/MMC card readers for easy access to
multimedia data.
Cutting-Edge
Displays
Monitor your Thecus
N2200XXX Home NAS with a state-of-the-art LED screen. This keeps important
system and disk activity information right where you need it with display
technology that’s ahead of its time.
iSCSI Thin
Provisioning Support
Get the most out of
your storage space with the extreme speed of iSCSI and the efficiency of iSCSI
thin provisioning. Connect through iSCSI for the fastest data transfer speeds
available and make wasted disk space a thing of the past with thin
provisioning’s flexible storage functionality.
Specs:
1. Hardware
Platform
Processor: Intel
Atom D525 1.8GMhz Processor
System Memory: 1 GB
DDR3 SODIMM
LAN Interface: RJ-45×2:
10/100/1000 BASE-TX Auto MDI/MDI-X
LED indicator: Power
(Blue)
HDD1-2 Activity/Fail
(Blink white/Red)
WAN (Link: Solid
white; Activity: Blink white)
LAN (Link: Solid
white; Activity: Blink white)
USB (Copy LED:
Blink white)
Card Reader (Copy
LED: Blink white)
Disk interface:
SATA x2, 1x eSATA for external
Power: 60W external
power adaptor
USB Interface: USB
2.0 host port x3 (Front x1, Back x2) (A Type)
Card Reader:
Support SD/SDHC/MMC
Thermal/Fan
control: Thermal sensor on processor temperature
System FAN speed
controlled by temperature.
Real-time clock:
Battery backup system clock
PCI-e x1 slot: 1
Power management:
Power on after power lose resume
Buttons: Power
button
USB copy button
Buzzer: Frequency
Controllable
Chassis: 2bays
Tower Metal Chassis
Environment: Temperature:
5°C to 40°C
Humidity: 0 ~ 80 %
R.H. (Non-condensing)
2. Software
Functions:
RAID:
RAID modes: RAID 0,
1 and JBOD
Auto-rebuild:
Supported
Hot-swap: Supported
RAID Volume
Encryption: AES256bit
Disk:
Power management: Spin
down while idle time setup
Bad Block Scan:
Supported
SMART Info:
Supported
SMART Test:
Supported
Roaming: Supports
roaming to other N2200XXX
Network:
Configuration:
Fixed IP Address, Dynamic IP Address
IP sharing mode:
Can be enable/disabled
Transport
Protocols: TCP/IP/Appletalk
File Protocols:
SMB/CIFS, HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, TFTP, NFS v3, AFP
Link Aggregation: 6
modes supported:
1. Local balance
2. Failover
3. Balance-XOR
4. 802.3ad
5. Balance-TLB
6. Balance-ALB
Data Access:
Client OS support:
Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7 UNIX/Linux Mac OS X
WebDisk(module):
Web-based file access
TFTP: Build in TFTP
Server
FTP: Build in FTP
Server with bandwidth control
Secure FTP: Build
in secure FTP Server with bandwidth control
Download Manager
(Module): HTTP / FTP / BT / eMule / NZB
Printer Server
(IPP) Supports USB printers
Supports IPP
various printers: Client can manage print tasks (List/Delete) via Web user
interface
Data Backup:
Client schedule
incremental data backup: Acronics True Image (OEM)
Client system Disaster
Recovery: Acronics True Image (OEM)
USB/card reader
device copy to N2200XXX: Through one button copy
Snapshot: Supported
Bi-directional USB
Copy (Module): Supported
Native Rsync:
Supported
Block Level Access:
iSCSI Target:
Supports Microsoft/Mac/Linux Initiator
iSCSI initiator:
For stackable with other Thecus NAS which support stackable
iSCSI Thin
Provisioning: Configurable to virtual size as system allowed capacity
Power management:
Schedule power on/off:
Supported
Volume management:
Multiple file
system selectable: EXT3 / EXT4 / XFS / ZFS
Multimedia Support:
iTunes Server:
Supports AAC, MP3 w/ ID3 tag and WAV
Photo Web Server:
Supports GIF, JPG (JPEG) and PNG
Supports EXIF
display
Supports slide show
Media server:
Supports uPnP AV streaming protocol
User
Authentication:
Local User:
Supports built-in user accounts
Local Group:
Supports built-in user groups
Windows NT/ADS:
Supported
File System:
Type: Journaling
File System
Language Support:
Unicode Support
Authorization
(ACL): Read, Write or Deny options on individual users or groups for share and
sub-folders
Administration:
Multi-Lingual
Web-based administration: Web-based server management Interface Supports
English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French,
German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Polish and Portugal
Utility Program: MS
Windows Setup Wizard, Supports Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7 Mac setup Wizard
(OS X only)
Email notification:
Sends system messages via Email to system administrator
SNMP trap: System
information trap out
Others:
Web Disk (Module):
Supported
User Quota:
Supported
Recycled bin:
Supported
Web Server
(Module): Supported
ISO Mount:
Supported
User module:
Supported
IP CAM surveillance
(Module): Supports up to 5 IP CAM
Price:
$446.22 (From Amazon at time of review)
A Better Look at Things
:
I guess we can start with the video unboxing:
The box is nice looking; it really fits the XXX nomenclature.
Inside you’ll find everything packaged very nicely with Styrofoam for
protection.
When you get everything unpacked you’ll find documentation, power supply
and cord, software discs, Ethernet cable and a bag containing screws and keys.
The NAS box itself is black in color; it’s stylish and should fit right
in an office or home setup.
There’s a door on the front that opens to reveal two locking drive bays.
On the left side you’ll find the power and copy buttons along with a USB
port and a card reader.
On the back you’ll see the cooling fan along with power connection, two
more USB ports, and eSATA port and two Ethernet jacks.
The hard drive racks are made of metal and allow you to use either 2.5”
or 3.5” drives.
Installation, Testing and Comparison
Here’s the N2200XXX powered on, it has white indicators everywhere:
To get started you’ll need to pop in the included disc and install the
setup utility and use it to find the NAS box. Once you know the IP you can use
the utility for basic configurations or you can log directly into the box which
is what I do.
When you first power up the box the main login web interface is bare as
you’ve got nothing running yet.
The next thing you’ll need to do is set up your raid array, this can
take a long time of course, and depending on how big the hard drives you have
are you might be looking at overnight feasibly. I’m using two 750gb Western
Digital Black drives. Once completed, you’ll see a nice little pie chart with
the storage available and the status of the array.
There’s a lot when it comes to options, here’s each one opened and
expanded for you to see:
The Thecus N2200XXX allows for many types of services including the
standard things like Web and FTP. Many come standard on the box and all you
have to do is configure them for use. One thing great about the Thecus nas
boxes is that you can add modules to expand the usability of them. You can get
them from the included disks or download them from the Thecus site, there’s
also an active community always working, improving and creating more. The
Thecus forums are a great place to start, as is the Thecus Wiki sites that are
out there created by users.
You can add streaming ability, as well as bitorrent, and surveillance
solutions along with mail servers, Twonky Media Server and even MySql. The N2200XXX can be used for most anything,
get a domain name and even host your own website with it. You can install
Wordpress or other CMS based websites with ease.
Once you get things up and running the main web interface will change to
show this.
The Thecus N2200XXX does have a cooling fan built in, and for the most
part it’s quiet but there are times when I’ve heard it spin up to full speed
and then it can get loud. This doesn’t happen often, and it’s usually only for
a minute or so. The box seems to keep your drives nice and cool.
Ok, on to some testing.
These charts are packed with data for three NAS boxes. I put the
N2200XXX up against the Thecus N4200 and the
Synology DS210+. My Synology runs encrypted, so speeds are a bit slower
with it. The N4200 is not encrypted. For testing I tested the N2200XXX in both
unencrypted and encrypted file transfers modes. In the charts you’ll see
E-Thecus N2200XXX and Thecus N2200XXX, the ‘E’ there meaning it’s the encrypted
transfers.
There are two charts for the transfers, one for ‘Transfer To’ the NAS
boxes from my hard drive and then one for ‘Transfer From’ the NAS boxes to my
hard drive. The same hard drive was used of course, a very speedy Samsung F4 320gb
HDD. It’s all running on my gigabit network.
All transfers are done via FTP as that’s how I access the box most
commonly while at home and while away. Units are in KB/s for speeds.
I used three separate things for transfers to represent single small and
large file transfers and a mixture of small and large files within multiple
folders.
-Small Video File Transfer (900Mb)
-Large File Transfer (3GB)
-Files and Folders Transfer which is a total of 3GB with 874
files within 199 folders.
The first chart is the Transfer To speeds:
As you can see, running unencrypted, the Thecus N2200XXX shows some
impressive speeds for all of the file transfers, actually coming out on top. Running
encrypted we can see the results are close to that of the Synology, but still
fall slightly behind.
Next test is the Transfer From part.
Here again you see the Thecus N2200XXX outperforms the other Nas boxes
when running unencrypted. When I turned on encryption the N2200XXX falls way
behind, but still not too bad in comparison really
Summary and Comments
If the transfer speeds are any indication, then the new Thecus Nas boxes
truly deserve the XXX nomenclature as they are Xtreme in terms of performance.
The N2200XXX has more than enough features for even the most advanced
user to appreciate. This box allows you to do really anything you need to from
setting up your own website to just accessing your files while you’re away.
This box really can do it all, and it’s fairly easy to use for a novice
user. Once you get into more advanced features, the inexperienced might need
some help, but the Thecus community is brimming with helpful people that are
eager to help out and solve any issues you might have.
DragonSteelMods gives the Thecus N2200XXX a 4.5 out of 5 score and our
Recommended Award as well.
Pros:
+Nicely made
+Tons of excellent features
+Small and compact
+Use either 2.5” or 3.5” drives
+Fairly quiet usually while in operation
+Fast transfers
Cons:
-A bit on the expensive side I think
-Might be overwhelming for the novice user
-Sometimes the fan can be loud
review# 708
Disclosure: This product was given to DragonSteelMods for review
by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment
for the review; we do not, never have, and never will, accept payment from
companies to review their products.
To learn more about our review policy, testing methods and ratings
please see this page.