Thecus N4100PRO

[LostinSC]

Now that the AMD Geode based N4100PRO is starting to show up in retail channels, I'm curious if there are any plans to review it? Seems like it may really be an interesting option, but I'm hesitant to buy without any objective reviews.

 

[thiggins]

I am waiting for updated firmware that is supposed to be released by the end of this month.

 

[Prof. Dr. YoMan]

Looking forward for that!

Are you able to already measure powerdraw when idle?

 

[thiggins]

Product hasn't been shipped to me yet.

 

[thatguy435]

I'd be pretty interested in this one, when it comes around. Given the featureset and someone I know who has a Thecus 5200 (and his experiences with it), I'm looking at a N4100Pro for myself.

 

[Prof. Dr. YoMan]

I would like to know if its possible to update the small 256mb ram to 1gb?

Spec looks like DDR400 200pin SO-DIMM.

1gb would be <30€ and bring a big speedup on write i guess.

Would be nice if you could check as soon as you got hold of that thing.

 

[Mike]

Yep I'm looking forward to a review too. I'm thinking of getting a NAS for home and the Thecus n4100PRO looks pretty cool. I'd be interested in how it compares with the DLink 343 which seems to be about the same price and features.

ps The reviews are very informative.

 

[thiggins]

Just came in

The 4100 Pro just arrived. Looks nice.

You undo three thumbscrews on the back and the cover lifts off. Mobo is completely accessible on the side (and slides out) and memory is on an SODIMM that isn't soldered down.

Will start testing shortly. Results should be up in a day or so, depending on how long it takes to sync RAID 5.

 

[Atoyot]

Anxiously awaiting the review!!!

So Thiggins, how is the testing going? I'm waiting on the review before I purchase. Thanks for all of the work and charts that you do. I stumbled upon this site while doing some research and have found it to be very valuable. I've passed it on to all of my coworkers who are also in the market for a good NAS.

Atoyot

 

[thiggins]

So Thiggins, how is the testing going?

Test results just posted in the NAS Charts.
Short review will be up next week.

 

[Atoyot]

Yeah!!!!

Cool, thanks Thiggins.

I'm mostly cross shopping it against the Qnap TS-409 Pro. I'm looking to put all of my media on it for backup and for using my Xbox 360 as a Media Extender from thier built in UPnP / DLNA support.

They seem to be a good match on 100bm Raid5 with the Thecus 4100Pro pulling a bit ahead on reads and the Qnap TS-409 pulling a bit ahead on writes. Where it gets interesting is in the 1000mb Raid5 charts. The Thecus 4100Pro clearly takes a commanding lead for both reads and writes. With the Thecus showing to cost $403.99 and the Qnap at $579, it looks like the Thecus is the winner in this fight unless the full review reveals something bad.

Now, I wonder how loud the fan is?

Atoyt

 

[thiggins]

The fan is pretty quiet.

For this class of NAS, ignore the 100Mbps LAN benchmarks since the performance you are seeing is basically limited by the LAN connection.

 

[Atoyot]

Took the leap

First, thanks for the review. I appreciate your candid thoughts and testing.

I took the leap. Found it online for $403, free shipping. Hopefully it is a good retailer. I'll report what I find, but I'm not sure it is allowed to say who I ordered it from.

I ordered some drives that were not on the Compatible Drive list from Thecus for the 4100 Pro, but were approved for the 5200 Pro, so I'll see how they work.

I'm going to do some playing to see how it works as a media server with my Xbox 360. I'll post what I find.

 

[LostinSC]

I, too, took the leap. Based on the performance numbers and the general impressions from the review, I think I'll be perfectly pleased. Once I get things up and running I'll try to remember to document my experience. I'm planning on loading it with 4x Barracuda 7200.11 500GB drives. Hopefully the fact that that Seagate model doesn't appear on the HDD compatibility list for this particular NAS doesn't turn out to be a problem.

Thanks again for the wonderful site!

 

[thiggins]

I took the leap. Found it online for $403, free shipping. Hopefully it is a good retailer. I'll report what I find, but I'm not sure it is allowed to say who I ordered it from.

Why the secrecy? Grey market?

What were the deciding factors in your choice?

 

[thiggins]

I, too, took the leap.

What were the deciding factors in your choice?

 

[fullroast]

buystor.com?

 

[thiggins]

buystor.com?

Yep. Looks like it.
Only two Pricegrabber ratings, both positive. No ratings on BizRate.
Proceed at your own risk.

 

[LostinSC]

What were the deciding factors in your choice?

Combination of cost, performance and feature set. Wanted to keep the price <$500 without drives. My main performance concern is GigE read throughput with write speed a distant second. That said, I wanted something with enough horsepower to efficiently do RAID 5 XOR if I choose to go that route with my volume(s) and the Geode seemed a better choice than other processors in the price range. Also like Thecus' choice of media server. Overall it just seemed like the best package given cost constraints.

I had also kicked around the idea of building my own around the Chenbro case that's gotten so much attention, but at the end of the day, the performance gains didn't seem to warrant the added aggravation.

For what it's worth, I ordered my unit from Beach Audio. Couple bucks more than Buystor, but good reviews and it got here in exactly two business days via UPS ground.

Now to decide how to configure my volumes.....

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for the report.

I had also kicked around the idea of building my own around the Chenbro case that's gotten so much attention,

Nice case, but way too expensive!