While not the fastest or most feature packed NAS to come through the 'Labs, the Thecus N2310 delivers a lot of bang for your buck. Designed for small and home offices, this 2-bay NAS is good looking, compact and easy to setup and use. Along with support for multiple RAID modes, the N2310 offers cross platform file sharing, web-based file access, media streaming and remote access via Thecus's DDNS service and T-OnTheGo app. For a 2-bay NAS with a single gigabit network port, the N2310 also performed fairly well, reading and writing at more than 100 MB/s throughout our tests.
That being said, I do have a few issues with the N2310. First and foremost is its construction. To keep costs down, the device is made primarily out of plastic and, at times, feels a bit cheap. The other issue I have is with the N2310's operating system. While ThecusOS 6 has a nice, desktop-like interface that is easy to use, you can only have one window open at a time and, as a result, cannot do multiple tasks at once. This probably won't be a big deal for the average consumer, but it is something that I've taken for granted with NAS devices from QNAP and Synology.
One thing the N2310 definitely has going for it is its price. It currently goes for $134 on Amazon, making it more affordable than comparable 2-bay NAS devices like the QNAP TS-212-E and Synology DS213j.
Highs:
- Energy-efficient AMCC processor
- Two hot-swap drive bays
- Supports RAID 0, 1 and JBOD
- Web-based file access
- File sharing for Windows, Mac and Linux clients
- iTunes, Piczza and Plex Media servers
- Built-in FTP and print servers
- BitTorrent client
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Supports USB 3.0
- Easy to use web interface
- Remote access via DDNS and mobile apps
- Good looking design
- Easy installation
- Two year warranty
Lows:
- Plastic construction
- ThecusOS's single window design does not allow multi-tasking
