Overall and FV

I’m impressed with what Thecus put together with the N5550. Just the hardware alone is well layed out and packed full of features like multiple USB ports and audio/video connections. This is also the first NAS we have had in that has had a USB 3.0 port. I would have liked to of seen two, but even just the one will make a word of difference when backing up to/from a USB 3.0 device in the future. The dual core Atom Processor ended up being more than enough processing power while still being very energy efficient. And the 2 gigs of RAM were helpful as well, not to mention you can upgrade the ram in the future if you need to. I did find the front control panel on the N5550 a little hard to navigate, I ended up only ever using it to verify that the device was booted up, and to check quickly that no drives have failed.

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The N5550’s software was also impressive. Thecus packed in nearly every feature you could ever ask for. The features that weren’t packed in are most likely available as modules as well. The module selection was most impressive between what Thecus had to offer and the third party offerings. You could literally use this NAS for any type of server functionality that you might need. Not to mention the module that allows you to use your N5550 as a basic HTPC when it is hooked to your TV. My only complaint was that the modules could be a little hard to install when you have to log in and out over and over again to access them. With built in integration with Amazon S3, and a wizard or two that allows you to back up to s3, another local NAS, a remote Thecus NAS, or DVD’s. You have a wide selection of ways to make sure that you won’t lose data in the end. On top of that they even include a copy of Acronis True Image, giving you options on how to backup to your N5550 as well.

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When you put it all together, you have a nice package from Thecus. It’s not any one feature that makes the N5550 great. It’s the 5 disc capacity, the software, and the hardware to support it all put together. If you are on the market for a NAS that has room for expansion or if you need a whopping 18BTB’s in capacity, the N5550 is up your ally. With a MSRP of $499.99, it’s not a cheap purchase, especially when considering you still need to fill it with hard drives. But even at that price you would be hard pressed to be able to build a server that will have the same functionality, especially considering there module selection. On top of that, you can find it for considerably (over $120) less if you look around a little online. At that price it’s no question at all.

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Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

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garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #28490 23 Nov 2012 18:04
For those of you who aren't stuck in lines shopping, this is something that should keep you busy for a while. Enjoy!
Wingless92's Avatar
Wingless92 replied the topic: #28491 23 Nov 2012 20:57
o
garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #28492 23 Nov 2012 21:09
It does support 4tb drives and there are people running minecraft servers on them as mentioned in the review :)

It also supports backing up to the cloud via Amazone S3 (and other options when using after market modules)

The price is actually less than other 5 bay devices.
www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?...sNodeId=1&name=5-Bay

I also found it available for $360

www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home...&Q=&is=REG&A=details
Wingless92's Avatar
Wingless92 replied the topic: #28493 23 Nov 2012 22:37
Didn't see the Minecraft item. I wasn't saying let the server back it up to the cloud just that you should have a 3 backup system. One local, offsite and in the cloud.
L0rdG1gabyt3's Avatar
L0rdG1gabyt3 replied the topic: #28494 23 Nov 2012 22:38
On the Pros/Cons, you list the Atom processor and 2GB of ram as Pro's.

How is an Atom processor a pro in any evaluation?
Wingless92's Avatar
Wingless92 replied the topic: #28495 23 Nov 2012 22:47
Not sure, I know when I had my laptop the Atom CPU was a pile of garbage. Then again it was cheap as hell, lol. Kinda get what you pay from. It was a couple of years ago and CPU's have improved but still. I wouldn't say its a pro.

Cool that you can upgrade the memory. It just seems that it's trying to be a full windows server box and a NAS at the same time. I would much rather have it be just a NAS and be done with it.

As for other NAS boxes, people love Drobo's cause they are built like a tank and they have been proven over the years to be great at data redundancy. I would like to know what would happen with this NAS if, lets say, you had all of the drives populated, started copying stuff over to one drive and then yanked it out and stuck another drive in. I know my machine would crash and burn, lol. Would this do the same? I'm guessing so, just wondering.

I have looked at the WD Red's before I built my current WHS box but the read writes are much slower than what I wanted, but that's me.
garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #28496 23 Nov 2012 23:30

L0rdG1gabyt3 wrote: On the Pros/Cons, you list the Atom processor and 2GB of ram as Pro's.

How is an Atom processor a pro in any evaluation?


Low power usage yet still more than enough power to handle everything I did with the box. The D2550 Atom processor used in this NAS was only recently introduced. It is dual core and also includes hyperthreading with a clock speed of 1.86 GHz. This isn't the same Atom processor that you have used in the past, but this also isn't an extremely demanding application. You want your NAS to use very little power as well. Thats where the 10 watt TDP for the CPU comes in handy.

Wingless92 wrote: Not sure, I know when I had my laptop the Atom CPU was a pile of garbage. Then again it was cheap as hell, lol. Kinda get what you pay from. It was a couple of years ago and CPU's have improved but still. I wouldn't say its a pro.

Cool that you can upgrade the memory. It just seems that it's trying to be a full windows server box and a NAS at the same time. I would much rather have it be just a NAS and be done with it.

As for other NAS boxes, people love Drobo's cause they are built like a tank and they have been proven over the years to be great at data redundancy. I would like to know what would happen with this NAS if, lets say, you had all of the drives populated, started copying stuff over to one drive and then yanked it out and stuck another drive in. I know my machine would crash and burn, lol. Would this do the same? I'm guessing so, just wondering.

I have looked at the WD Red's before I built my current WHS box but the read writes are much slower than what I wanted, but that's me.


Also Wingless, have you had a NAS box? These are features that almost all of the companys offer in their NAS's anymore (modules and whatnot). The main thing that stands out between this and what I have seen in the past is the variety of modules that are available. You don't have to run any of the modules if you don't want to and it will still perform fine as a NAS as it sits. I'm not sure why you would be upset that a NAS has more features

This NAS and the Drobo would handle that situation the same as any other device. Pulling a drive out mid data transfer is any situation is going to end badly.
garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #28497 23 Nov 2012 23:35
I also should have mentioned that the Atom CPU used in the N5550 is faster than what is used in most other NAS, that is why it was a pro. On top of the low power usage.
Arxon's Avatar
Arxon replied the topic: #28498 24 Nov 2012 00:14
Been debating on getting a NAS. Are they worth getting?

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