The most noteworthy aspect of the internal hardware is the storage configuration. The FS6712X supports twelve M.2 NVMe slots, allowing for a significant storage capacity. With the ability to accept 2280 PCIe M.2 NVMe modules, the device can potentially house up to 48TB of storage, with the potential to double that capacity when 8TB modules become widely available,peaking at 96TB. There are also several official expansion devices supported (only SATA drives), with even a new 4-Bay 10Gb USB-supported Asustor expansion device available (the AS5004U). Very quiet, and barely noticeable, are relative euphemisms, like almost silent, not useful in translation. Every ear hears what it will. An acceptable level of noise depends subjectively on individual use case scenarios. I suspect the majority of any gathered assembly will be quite comfortable agreeing to differ on the intrusiveness, or otherwise, of a quiet device. The design of the system is quite ‘PS4’ ish, it has to be said. But it IS fantastically compact, considering the scale of storage available here. With 2280 M.2 NVMes now arriving in as high as 8TB capacity, this is a pretty substantial amount of storage in such as small server. The system has a single base-mounted fan, as well as numerous ventilation points all around the sides. As nice as it looks, is does feel a little cheap as they casing is completely plastic. Not unusual for a desktop NAS and certainly for this price tag, understandable.

I simply couldn’t justify the jump in price between the FS6 to FS12 for an extra 6 drive slots and the 10Gb LAN. Ive tried swapping drive slots etc but that 3rd drive just seems different. The only physical difference is the first two drives were manufactured date of 2022 but the 3rd (and replacement 4th drive) are manufactured dated 2023 so presumably newer firmware. Antivirus (ClamAV) – Scheduled Scans, Automatic Virus Definition Updates, Quarantine Infected Files As already mentioned, it has 2 x Superfast 2.5-Gigabit Ethernet ports that allow for high-speed data transfer, making it an ideal solution for businesses and individuals who prioritize speed and efficiency. The switch to M.2 drives has brought about a complete design rethink. The new model looks more like a games console than a NAS drive thanks to its low profile and angular design. It’s the perfect TV unit shape, but it’s also incredibly light should you need to take it with your for work.

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If you require silence, as in Solid State Drive, and wish to eliminate noise, as in Hard Disk Drive, then buying this machine is a straight forward mistake. Silent running is statedly not a design goal of Asustor for the Flashstor. That being the case, what exactly is the unique selling point of it? The case is sturdy, but looks ridiculous and those are fake exhausts on the front, whatever Robbie told you. If the proprietor also spreads the idea that its firmware potentially is written to deny service to those seeking to install other operating systems or scupper rival investment group’s memory modules then at best it is an impressive marketing exercise. Impressive as in pressurised sales loosening your grip on reality and in turn making a big dent in your paltry bitcoin collection. So keep your eye on the pea. Let’s go. I followed the install wizard, making sure to choose the USB drive (and not one of the internal NVMe—though that is an option!). Once I rebooted (removing the install USB), TrueNAS completed its setup process and booted right up! Before we get too far in this review, we have a video review going into both the Asustor Flashstor FS6712X (12x M.2 and 10Gbase-T) as well as the Flashstor FS6706T (6x M.2 and 2x 2.5GbE.) You can find that here: This is still arguably a niche for audio output, but there are certainly users who will be thrilled about this. The HDMI output is utilized with Asustor’s portal application, a complete parallel graphical user interface to access the NAS. It provides a full HDMI user interface that can be controlled via infrared remote control, network remote control, or just a simple USB keyboard and mouse. There are hundreds of available applications and services that can run via this HDMI output, allowing you to run a vast number of local multimedia and business services directly from the device. These range from first-party tools for surveillance and streaming 4K media, to third-party applications for connecting streaming subscription services and virtual machines. Additionally, this system also features an HDMI dedicated parallel GUI, called Asustor portal. This separate user interface and means to interact with the data on your NAS in a far more graphical level is something currently only QNAP provides. The visual out used in conjunction with the two additional USB 3.2/2.0 ports opens up numerous KVM (or keyboard video mouse) applications, such as a stand-alone surveillance system, a stand-alone desktop computer used in conjunction with the virtual machine software, direct output of your movies and box sets from your collection, a retro arcade machine with support for controllers and numerous other first and third-party software options.

To use RAID 5 requires a minimum of three M.2 drives of approximately the same capacity, and one drive will be sacrificed to protect the contents of the other two. If the 12-slot machine had a CPU with more cores and a bit better performance it would have been a no-brainer. It would instantly replace my home lab and store my data. But besides that, failing drives always makes me nervous and in the past when rebuilding an array it happened to me more than once that other drives started to fail while rebuilding. Being throttled by the 8 PCIe while rebuilding an array is something I really do not like… Then again, it has SSDs and not spinning disks, so performance should already be improved compared to what I’m used to. Even with the PCIe x1 for each device that’s almost 60 Gbps available for storage access, so it deserves a QSFP28 port running at 100G or at the very least a couple of 25G ports. But without support for USB 3.2 Gen 2, the fastest transfers to or from external SSDs connected to USB will be around 500MB/s.

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And underneath, you can find M.2 slots labeled 1-6, and peeking closely above those slots, there are a number of ASMedia ASM1480 PCIe multiplexers: The 12-bay unit has an extra heatsink over the 10 Gbps NIC chip, while the 6-bay unit uses two 2.5 Gbps Realtek RTL8125GB NICs. Network Management – Support of LAG, Load Balancing and virtual switches, as well as maintaining top transmission over 2.5/5/10Gbe for editing or gaming over the network. As well as Jumbo Frame control, DDNS automation, Wake on LAN support and internet/external NAS access with EZ Connect The Flashstor 12 just came out, and ASUSTOR sent me one for testing. It has an Intel N5105 CPU in it, and the system is configured as a typical mini PC—just with twelve NVMe slots and 10 Gbps Ethernet. It even has HDMI, USB, and SPDIF optical audio, so it's almost purpose-built to be a quiet media desktop with massive amounts of silent, fast storage.

Are these the correct ports needed for this specification? That’s something we need to discuss in the next section. These include two USB 2.0, a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, a single 10GbE LAN port, HDMI and S/PDIF optical out. When we hear of an Intel N5105 quad-core NAS, one may think that the box is small. It is actually bigger than one might think. The sole USB 3 port on the front of the box should give some sense of just how large this is. Asustor FS6706T Front If the apps on the NAS are indexing data directly, then they are advantaged by the interactions between the N5105 and the drive array. And, should a drive die, the rebuild of an array will be dramatically faster than any with hard drives or even SATA SSDs.In the 6-bay unit, the bottom cover comes off using four screws. One nice feature is that the M.2 drives are installed via tool-less carriers. Asustor FS6706T 6x M.2 SSD Hatch When we first heard about these units, the first question that came to mind was probably the topology. The question was how Asustor fit 12x drives onto an Intel N5105. Here is the topology diagram with everything connected: Asustor FS6712X Topology A NAS device is a great addition to any home or small business network. Here are five things you can do with a NAS:

Knowing the different types of RAID arrays available can help you choose the best one for your needs. Whether you need improved performance or data redundancy, there is a RAID system that can meet your requirements. Design and Connectivity There it is again. That word. Quiet. Which means a degree of noisy as opposed to silent, which still means no noise. I assumed that drive might be faulty so RMA’d it. But the replacement was exactly the same. So i completely deleted the volume and set all 3 drives up a fresh as RAID 5. But that 3rd drive is still getting the ERROR INFORMATION LOG ENTRIES which is odd. The initial two drives don’t have them and they are exactly the same drives. Power up the NAS and you’re presented with an easy to follow setup process that will help you get setup with apps suitable for your use (either personal or business).

The Asustor Flashstor FS6706T is a good launch for the company. It's the first M.2 NVMe NAS from Asustor and could be viewed as a way for the brand to test the waters and see what works. The FS6706T is a powerful NAS that performs as well as other traditional HDD-supporting enclosures, such as Asustor's own DriveStor Gen2 range. It's easy to max out the two 2.5GbE connections with a single M.2 drive and the CPU could be viewed as a little weak for what Asustor installed on the PCB, but with a few drives installed inside the NAS, it runs without a hitch. Apart from that issue im loving the system and its a great price too for such a silent, low powered (energy wise) and rapid system)