Thecus W4000+ Windows Server NAS Review

Storage/NAS by stefan @ 2016-01-09

Thecus has made an interesting variation on the market with their W4000/W4000+ NASes (a 2-bay and also a 5-bay version is also available) considering that we no longer have a Linux distribution on our server but Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials and the product can be used from scratch like a regular PC. Windows Server 2012 is quite complex for entry-level users and we can clearly say that we would not recommend this product for home use simply because it is not as easy to set up as a Linux-based NAS and also requires a Connector software to be installed on each and every station in order to integrate the client with the server (and implicitly the newly created internal domain).

  • prev
  • next

Test Setup and Test Results

Test Setup

 

CPU : Intel I5 4690K Retail

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard : BIOSTAR GAMING Z97X

RAM : GeIL EVO CORSA 16GB 2400MHz C11

(2GB Exceleram DDR1333 for NASPT compatibility)

Video : HIS 280X

Power Supply : Cooler Master 850W

SSD : OCZ Vertex 4 256GB

Case: Cooler Master ATCS840

 

To test the NAS performances, the Thecus W4000+ NAS was populated with one OCZ Vertex 4 SSD along with one KingFast SLC E-Drive in RAID 0, formatted with a single volume and the NAS was connected directly to the computer, to avoid any limitations by implying additional hardware like a router. The first simple test was performed by loading the test file onto a RAM drive and then it was copied to the NAS, on its shared folder. The speed was recorded with Total Commander:

 

 

The second test was to copy the same file back to the computer; for eliminating any HDD speed limitations, the file was copied back to the RAM drive:

 

 

For performing a more advanced test, the Intel NAS Performance Toolkit was used, for performing 5 different test runs. Here are the results:

 

 

As extras, we have also included ATTO Disk Benchmark and Anvil:

 

ATTO Disk Benchmark

 

 

Anvil

  • prev
  • next