Asustor Lockerstor Gen 2 NAS - Should You Buy It?

When it comes to brands that I discuss here on the NASCompares when discussing NAS, one brand that always seems to have always existed (yet doesn’t get the same level of online fame as its peers) is Asustor. Founded in 2011, they have well over a decade of solutions under their belt and every time we see periodic refreshes come around from all the brands (every 2-2.5 years or so), we have seen them either be the first to bring some new tech to the market OR be the one that manages to bridge the gaps in the portfolios of the bigger brands with one of their own solutions. Today I want to review exactly that kind of solution, the Asustor Lockerstor 4 Gen 2. Now, that ‘Gen 2’ but is really important and not just a generic mini upgrade. When the original Lockstor series arrived in 2020, it had numerous features that their competitors had BUT crucially managed to consolidate brand unique ones, such as BTRFS and M.2 Slots like Synology, yet an HDMI 4K Port, 2.5GbE and an LCD display like QNAP – as I say, they always tend to bridge the gaps! The Lockerstor Gen 2 series arrives on the market 2+ years later and this new Gen 2 refresh brings upgrades to almost every single element of that hardware on offer (with only 1 real exception – and even then, it’s still tip-top). So, let’s take a closer look at that Asustor Lockerstor 4 Gen 2 NAS drive, see if ‘Gen 2’ is as good as it promises and whether this new NAS deserves your data?

00:00 - The Start
00:55 - FOUR M.2 NVMe 2280 SSD Bays
02:22 - Improvements in CPU and Memory vs Lockerstor Gen 1
04:37 - PCIe Upgrades towards 10GbE
06:11 - The Lockerstor, the Middleground between Synology and QNAP
08:33 - HDMI 2.0b and 10G USB by default!
10:59 - Asustor does not include a fluid/flexible AID Configuration
12:41 - Noise when the Lockerstor is in operation
14:28 - Surveillance Center on the Asustor Lockerstor could be better...
16:28 - ADM is better than ever, but still lacks a few killer apps
19:42 - Asustor were targetted by ransomware group, deadbolt
21:40 - Round up and conclusion

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[pnwdyke]

This video and your long-form review of the 4 bay have really helped me consider next steps for my setup. I run Emby off an old iMac but I need to upgrade the external storage so that it's fault tolerant (so double the drives or go RAID) which means buying a multi-drive enclosure and more hard drives, and while this option would roughly doubly the cost of that project, it takes the iMac out of contention entirely by taking over server duties, and so in the end, a new computer + RAID enclosure is more expensive and less future proof than getting a NAS like this and running the server from there. Plus it gives me access to other services I can host that I might find useful. Thanks for the excellent content!

[ASUSTOR_YT]

9:34. Hi there! We do not have official support for 5GbE on USB and do not recommend people go out and purchase one. We do, however have upgrades in the works to help people add 10GbE AND M.2 to their NAS. Stay tuned!

On the other hand, we do support SMB Multichannel which gives 5GbE-like performance when combining both Ethernet ports. No expensive switches needed! And it's completely FREE!

[tensiondriven]

Please do a vid on putting an open source OS on an ARM based Asustor! No one has done it!

[RoopeBb]

Great video as always from you, informative and great! I'm really new to all this NAS world and been watching your videos and getting a lot of great info and knowledge. Thanks for doing these! 

One suggestion though, your audio might need a bit of improvement. Just a suggestion and my personal (subjective) view, so please don't be offended. I don't know what kind of mic or system you are currently using to capture your voice but there could be some room for improvement.

- In post, you could get rid some of that room echo. There are many de-verberate tools available, like Acon Digital DeVerberate, iZotope RX De-Reverb etc.
- try speaking a bit slower as it gets a bit "essy" (messy s-letters, because of your teeth?) at times. Especially for your non-native English speaker audience it can be hard to fully understand the message. Speaking a little slower can help, there's no need to rush.
- try using a lavalier microphone or a "shotgun" microphone to improve the sound quality in general and further help with the room (ambient / reverb) tone.
- In post, you could edit the sound a bit more polished; eq, de-ess, compress, limiting.

Thanks again, keep up the good work! Loving your channel! :)

[mdd]

I was looking at the 4 bay, and with shipping it was ~$830, but the 6 bay was $840, plus $90 shipping ...(damn that shipping to Japan!) Needless to say, the 6 bay I ordered (your fault!) should hold me over for my remaining lifetime! (I will need a 5 port 10 GbE switch soon....!)

[pb]

Love mine and got unRaid working on it just fine. F2 is how you get into bios if anyone is interested. Works like a champ so far. Going to stress test it and do some 4K Plex transcoding hopefully soon. So far happy with the purchase and nice to know unRaid can run on it as that is my preferred NAS OS.

[alonzosmith]

I love my ASUSTOR AS7004T currently looking to upgrade to a gen 2

[anubs]

got one recently to replace a synology DS220+ (got the AS6702T), quite a bit more expensive but wile more difficult in some aspects Super happy with it.

it lives in the living room and the DS220 was just ALWAYS reading and writing something to the drives and was quite loud (poor HDD mounting solution IMO).
the AS6702 being able to install the OS on a SSD mostly spends it's time there which is the first perk, the HDD's are mounted way better reducing ratteling noises under read/write...little less sound dampening but a much cleaner less annoying sound all together.

and wile NAS disks arent really supposed to do it, it can hibernate the HDD's when the tv's are off and we're away as all they do is store media not everything >.>

can also be used to re-encode files though....only lighter workloads (264/265 w/o denoise) I mean it'll get the job done but as mine is also my pihole that does not like being choked out by a video re-encode and if you limit the core's it'll take literal days to get anything done so I'm opting to let the desktops handle those loads (2d on nas or 45 min on a 12 core desktop think due to sheer speed the desktop also eeks out a w in power efficiency :P ).

[AbsoluteNo_Thing]

Great review, quick question when you have a moment, can you let me know if you can use Seagate desktop barracuda drives in there, unfortunately, they are 8TB SMR, not CMR. I have 6 laying around that I want to use, was originally going to build a x470 file server with a 3900x cpu that I haven't got around to doing. Thanks!

[xino]

How do you see that the scarers put the CPU at 70 degrees in idle? At least on 4-bay models like this one. That throws me off a bit. In summer I don't even want to imagine

[phillvallace]

Was thinking of going synology but with them pushing having to use their drives on their platform, is sort of a deal breaker i feel, Lockerstor is the only other choice in my country so tempting but maybe I should just setup my own

[lowesmed]

I got a Asustor AS3202T that got hit by the Deadbolt ransomware. I was running Plex, EZ connect and other port opening services as well as the default admin account. I had no experience in NAS security back then but ever since the attack I’ve been reading up a lot. Now I want a new NAS and after the attack I thought “never more Asustor” and started looking at the Synology DS1621+, but considering all the features in Lockerstor 6bay gen 2 I’m really contemplating getting Asustor again. I will use my old NAS as backup and set up snapshots, not use external access without vpn, set up different accounts etc and make as much security adjustments as I can but I still totaly can’t fight the feeling of insecurity 😅 what are your thoughts? Am I overthinking the security threat? Should I go with Asustor or combine new Synology with old Asustor as backup. Is there any security benefit of combining brands? Thanks for a great video!

[Bmad]

I started off with an WD PR2100 then upgraded to qnap ts-464 but with the Qnap I have been having cpu issues the cpu is constantly working at over 90% an when I watch certain movies it buffers alot thinking about getting an asustor all I am running on the Qnap ts-464 is plex no 4k movies

[danharris]

@ Asustor TV: Can the Lockerstor 4 Gen 2 take various drive speeds in one array? I understand the drive capacities need to match, but, I have 2x 4TB Iron Wolf's which run at 5900 RPM. Buying another 2 will likely mean I have to purchase 5400 RPM speeds as the former is now discontinued. Will speed differential cause me issues?

[elodiecemoi]

The fact that you have to make a choice between NVMe and 10Gb/s is a bad point to my eyes, because I need both...
A unique USB port at the back makes me anxious about the use of a UPS: is the Asustor able to "understand" the communication with a UPS, and is it possible to use a HUB to connect more than 1 usb device ??
The possibility to use NVMe as a Storage Pool is great, it was not possible on the Synology Nases until recently, but Synology has changed its rules and it is possible now.
Nevertheless the Synology restrictions regarding the RAM, NVMe and disks, trying to enforce the use of their own brand (too expensive) is more and more unacceptable, and may push me to buy anther brand such Asustor or Qnap for my next NAS (my 12 years old DS413 has to be replaced)...

[renegadecruzr]

Let me start off by revealing I do not know much at all about Networking or wifi.
I am installing a completely new home system.
HOW CLOSE can the Nighthawk AX6000 WiFi Router (RAX120) be located to the NAS unit, and the unmanaged Switch?
I was hoping to place them on a wooden DIY shelf I’m making, to go on top of my file cabinet in my office.
The arrangement will be as follows:
• Router (will set OUTSIDE, top of shelf unit)
• Unmanaged Switch (will set inside the shelf unit; on top shelf)
• NAS Unit (will set inside of shelf unit; on bottom shelf)
If this setup is a problem, could I circumvent the problem by building the shelf unit from metal, and grounding the metal to the center safety grounding screw of a 110vac wall outlet?

[orquestradacostaatlantica]

I wonder if I can use this model as DAS, instead of NAS...
My question is because I use Backblaze as a cloud backup (and it doesnt support NAS)...

[MiauZi]

brilliant review! thank you a lot! really!

[sfo]

Hello, are you still using AS6702T? Can you help me test whether the NAS's power will automatically turn on after being turned off? I encountered this situation and opened a case with Asustor support but it still hasn't been resolved. Judging from the records, when the NAS is shut down, it will automatically start up once within 14 days. My setup is four 2T m.2 SSDs and two IronWolf Pro 14TB. Thanks.

[JasonFowler]

Raid is garbage, for personal use. Just follow the 3 copies law and you'll be OK. Anything important, which for the home is generally documents, photos and home videos just use MEGA or Google Drive. Have a USB drive for the second or just use two of them, skipping the online storage and use this as the third and local. Most drives spend 6 months to a year letting you know they are having issues before they finally die. Plenty of time to just copy files over, but the majority of things are perfectly fine in raw storage configs with the file system of your choosing. You are basically buying an Acer Aspire cheap computer here with the benefit of extra storage and swap bays. Asustor has always been a company doing it right and their own way. What other NAS in this price range can you play some CS-GO on, or play beast games off your main PC with Parsec? It's an over-engineered value monster and you need to own one right now!