Thecus N2310 NAS Server Network Storage Review

By Bruce Normann

Manufacturer: Thecus Technology Corp
Product Name: Intelligent NAS
Model Number: N2310
UPC: 884956004004
Price As Tested: $159.00 (Newegg | Amazon)

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Thecus.

The Thecus N2310 Network Attached Storage Server is a product that is breaking new ground for the NAS market. Power to the people, NASes for the masses, whatever you want to call it, the N2310 is about driving the cost of NAS ownership down. Thankfully, Thecus recognizes that no one wants a NAS that runs slow, or one that doesn’t have modern features like mobile access. So, the N2310 is all about providing the lowest-cost, technically-acceptable solution. That’s a fine line to tread, and many companies have tripped over themselves trying to do that. Benchmark Reviews has tested quite a few NAS products in the last few years, and we’re in a good position to evaluate how well the Thecus N2310 meets its mission statement.

The Thecus N2310 is aimed right at the typical home user, by virtue of its size and its form factor. With two bays you can have your choice of capacity or redundancy with RAID 0, 1, and JBOD options. Although a two-bay NAS is still a modest choice, the ability to run RAID 1 and get continued access to your data after a drive failure is a huge increase in functionality. At the heart of the N2310’s value proposition is the fact that Thecus has brought a 2-bay NAS to market for the price of a 1-bay device. They didn’t skimp on features and performance to do it, as you you’ll see in the rest of this article. Compromises had to be made for certain, but the overall product doesn’t lack any of the basic characteristics that make up a useful NAS network storage server.

Benchmark Reviews has tested a wide array of NAS products, ranging from the QNAP TS-119 NAS single-disk offering made for home users, to the Goliath QNAP TS-870U-RP 8-Bay NAS for the storage needs of large businesses. Most recently we tested the 4-bay TS-470 which falls in the middle between those two extremes.  Let’s see how this 2-bay device compares to those large and mid-sized offerings.