The ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 10 (AS6510T) NAS is a budget-friendly, enterprise NAS designed for organizations of who have high-capacity needs. Its 10-bay configuration makes the AS6510T a scalable storage solution; organizations with reduced budgets or storage requirements can purchase a smaller number of hard disks at first and then add more as their needs grow. The NAS also supports online capacity expansion and features ASUSTOR’s MyArchive, a plug-and-play storage technology that allows hard disks to be used as removable storage archives. Simply add an “archive” and swap it out for a different one whenever you need, making it a hugely flexible device.
The ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 10 (AS6510T) NAS is a budget-friendly, enterprise NAS designed for organizations of who have high-capacity needs. Its 10-bay configuration makes the AS6510T a scalable storage solution; organizations with reduced budgets or storage requirements can purchase a smaller number of hard disks at first and then add more as their needs grow. The NAS also supports online capacity expansion and features ASUSTOR’s MyArchive, a plug-and-play storage technology that allows hard disks to be used as removable storage archives. Simply add an “archive” and swap it out for a different one whenever you need, making it a hugely flexible device.
The Lockerstor AS6510T is powered by an Intel Denverton-based Atom C3538 Quad-Core CPU. This is part of Intel’s third generation of SoC-based CPUs manufactured on 14nm process technology, which is ideal in networking, storage and IoT use cases due to its exceptional performance per watt, low thermal design power, and configurable high-speed I/O. The AS6510T also features 8GB DDR4-2133 SO-DIMM, which is expandable to a decent 32GB, and can be outfitted with 10x 3.5-inch SATA hard drives and two M.2 NVMe SSD ports for fast caching. With these 10 storage bays, maximum internal raw capacity can reach up to a massive 160 TB (using 10x 16TB HDDs). This can further scale to 288TB using two of the company’s 4-bay expansion units. For networking connectivity, the Lockerstor NAS is highlighted by its dual 10-Gigabit Ethernet and dual 2.5-Gigabite Ethernet ports, which helps to eliminate performance bottlenecks for the NVMe SSDs.
The AS6510T also features “Wake on WAN”, a technology that allows users to remotely wake up (and turn off) the NAS through a variety of mobile apps such as AiMaster, AiMusic, AiVideos and AiData. As such, users will be able to power down their NAS whenever they want without having to worry about starting it back up again. This helps keep data safe when the NAS isn’t in use and protects data integrity by remaining powered off during power failures.
We have a video overview here:
In addition, the new AS6510T upped its game when it comes to keeping the system cool and running smoothly in a 24/7, always on environment. For example, it uses PWM fans with smart speed controls and heatsinks with push-pin mounting. This feature allows the NAS to optimize its airflow and heat dissipation, which promotes reliability and helps to maintain performance under high loads. Moreover, The Lockerstor NAS has uses heatsinks that are taller than the last gen models.
Backed by a 3-year warranty, our build is equipped with 10 x 8TB Toshiba drives and 8GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM RAM.
ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 10 (AS6510T) Specifications
| Hardware Specifications | ||
| CPU | CPU Model | Intel ATOM C3538 |
| CPU Architecture | x64 64-bit | |
| CPU Frequency | Quad Core 2.1GHz | |
| Memory | Memory | 8GB SO-DIMM DDR4 |
| Memory Module Pre-installed | 8GB (1 x 8GB) | |
| Total Memory Slots | 2 | |
| Memory Expandable up to | 32GB (2 x 16GB)
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| Flash Memory | 4GB eMMC | |
| Storage | HDD | 10 x SATA3 6Gb/s; 3.5″/2.5″ HDD/SSD |
| M.2 Drive Slots | 2x M.2 PCIe (NVMe) or SATA SSD for SSD Caching *Support M.2 2280, 2260 and 2242. |
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| Maximum Internal Raw Capacity | 160 TB (16 TB HDD X 10, Capacity may vary by RAID types) | |
| Maximum Drive Bays with Expansion Unit | 18 | |
| Maximum Raw Capacity with Expansion Units | 288 TB (16 TB HDD X 18, Capacity may vary by RAID types) | |
| External Ports | Expansion | USB 3.2 Gen 1 x 2 |
| Network | 10 Gigabit Ethernet x 2; 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet x 2 | |
| HDMI Output | N/A | |
| Others | System Fan | 120mm x 2 |
| LCD Panel | ||
| Power Supply Unit / Adapter | 250W x1 | |
| Input Power Voltage | 100V to 240V AC | |
| Certification | FCC, CE, VCCI, BSMI, C-TICK | |
| Operation | Power Consumption | 76.8W (Operation); 41.1W (Disk Hibernation); ² |
| Noise Level | 22dB (HDD idle) | |
| Operation Temperature | 0°C~40°C (32°F~104°F) | |
| Humidity | 5% to 95% RH | |
| Size and Weight | Size | 215.5(H) x 293(W) x 230(D) mm |
| Weight | 6.4 (kg) / 14.1 (lb) | |
ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 10 Design and build
Not only is the ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 10 (AS6510T) NAS a sturdy NAS, it also sports a very slick build and has some design features that we really like. Sporting an all black/charcoal chassis, the new Lockerstor weighs in at 14.2 pounds (roughly three times the weight of an average laptop) and measures 22cm (height) x 29cm (width) x 23 cm (depth). All drives are easily accessed from the front, which are horizontally stacked in five rows of two.
Though not a tool-less process, mounting new hard drives was fairly easy. Simply press the button on the specific hard disk tray to unlock and release the latch, then pull out it out of the disk bay. For 3.5-inch hard disks, you need to secure the drive with four screws, while 2.5-inch HDDs and SSD hard disks must be placed in a specific area on the tray before you secure them via the mounting screws.
The left side of the front panel is home to all the LEDs, including the Power, System Status, Network (1x 2.5 gigabit and 1x 10 gigabit) and USB indicators. At the bottom left is the USB 3.2 Gen 1 port.
At the top of the Asustor LOCKERSTOR 10 is the LCD panel, which is used to configure system settings and check system information. Next to the LCD are the four buttons used to navigate through the menus: up, down, back and confirm. This is a very nice display. It’s bright, easy to navigate/read and the buttons are very responsive; simply press the up or down buttons to navigate through the menu items, press the confirm button to access the specific submenu, and use the back button to return to the previous area. There are a range of useful menus, including Touch Backup, Network, Storage, Temperature, Operation and Configuration.
On the back side of the AS6510T are the dual-fan exhausts, which take up most of the real estate. On the right side, the USB 3.2 Gen 2, dual Intel 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports (which supports up to 20 Gbps under Link Aggregation) and dual Realtek 2.5-Gigabit Ethernet ports (which Supports up to 5 Gbps under Link Aggregation) are stacked on top of each other. The power port is located at the top left.
ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 10 NAS Performance
Enterprise Synthetic Workload Analysis
Our enterprise shared storage and hard drive benchmark process preconditions each drive into steady-state with the same workload the device will be tested with under a heavy load of 16 threads with an outstanding queue of 16 per thread, and then tested in set intervals in multiple thread/queue depth profiles to show performance under light and heavy usage. Since NAS solutions reach their rated performance level very quickly, we only graph out the main sections of each test.
Preconditioning and Primary Steady-State Tests:
- Throughput (Read+Write IOPS Aggregate)
- Average Latency (Read+Write Latency Averaged Together)
- Max Latency (Peak Read or Write Latency)
- Latency Standard Deviation (Read+Write Standard Deviation Averaged Together)
Our Enterprise Synthetic Workload Analysis includes four profiles based on real-world tasks. These profiles have been developed to make it easier to compare to our past benchmarks as well as widely-published values such as max 4k read and write speed and 8k 70/30, which is commonly used for enterprise drives.
- 4K
-
- 100% Read or 100% Write
- 100% 4K
- 8K 70/30
- 70% Read, 30% Write
- 100% 8K
- 8K (Sequential)
- 100% Read or 100% Write
- 100% 8K
- 128K (Sequential)
- 100% Read or 100% Write
- 100% 128K
We tested both CIFS and iSCSI performance using a mirrored configuration, with RAID6 configuration using Toshiba N300 8TB HDDs.
In the first of our enterprise workloads, we measured a long sample of random 4K performance with 100% write and 100% read activity. Looking at IOPS, the ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 10 (AS6510T) NAS showed its best performance in iSCSI, hitting 602 IOPS read and 2,523 IOPS write. In CIFS, it posted slightly slower writes with 2,463 IOPS, though reads were much slower at 322 IOPS
With 4K average latency, the AS6510T showed iSCSI performance of 425.07ms read and 101.442ms write vs. CIFS’s 792.398ms read and 103.907ms write.
In 4K max latency, the AS6510T had 2,217.4 read and 1,483.8ms write in iSCSI and 130ms read while CIFS posted 3,012.7ms read and an improved write performance of 1,404.5ms.
For 4K standard deviation, the AS6510T showed its best read and write performance in iSCSI with 347.951ms and 126.003ms, respectively, while the CIFS configuration had 722.201ms and 135.975ms, respectively.
Our next benchmark measures 100% 8K sequential throughput with a 16T16Q load in 100% read and 100% write operations. Here, the AS6510T results were pretty one-sided as iSCSI posted 92137 IOPS read and 65187 IOPS write, while CIFS showed less than third of that performance with 23,039 IOPS read and 17,575 IOPS write.
Compared to the fixed 16 thread, 16 queue max workload we performed in the 100% 4K write test, our mixed workload profiles scale the performance across a wide range of thread/queue combinations. For these tests, we span workload intensity from 2 threads and 2 queue up to 16 threads and 16 queue. With throughput, the ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 10 AS6510T posted 422 IOPS through 566 IOPS in iSCSI while CIFS had a range of 201 IOPS through 198 IOPS in the terminal queue depths (though it hit 202 IOPS at 8 Threads 4 Queue).
In average latency for the AS6510T, iSCSI showed the best overall performance again (specifically the last half of the queue depths) with a range of 9.46ms through 451.5ms. CIFS posted a range of 19.81ms to 1,281.24ms.
For the AS6510T maximum latency, though iSCSI started off with somewhat similar performance (1,222.25ms), it was soon out-performed by the CIFS configuration, which posted a range of 1,100.41ms through 4,910.5ms.
Next, we move on to the standard deviation where results were much closer iSCSI and CIFS, posting 25.06ms through 617.39ms and 26.95ms through 584.14ms, respectively for the AS6510T.
The last Enterprise Synthetic Workload benchmark is our 128K test: a large-block sequential test that shows the highest sequential transfer speed for a device. In this workload scenario, the AS6510T with the CIFS configuration had the best read performance with 1.81GB/s (and 714.2MB write) while iSCSI had the best write performance with 910.1MB/s (and 1.7GB/s read).
Conclusion
The ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 10 (AS6510T) NAS is viable choice for those in need of a budget-friendly storage solution with high storage capacity. ASUSTOR’s new 10-bay NAS features dual USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and four network ports (two 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet ports and two 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports). It is powered by an Intel Denverton-based Atom C3538 Quad-Core processor and supports up to a generous 160 TB. The NAS can further scale to 288TB via the company’s 4-bay expansion units. One of the things we liked the most about the NAS is its design. This was highlighted by its fantastic LCD on the front panel. The LCD offers users a bright, easy-to-navigate menu to configure system settings and check system information.
The AS6510T also offers comprehensive backup solutions, including Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive, as well as ASUSTOR Backup Plan for Windows, Time Machine for macOS, and MyArchive removable hard drives for long-term storage. ASUSTOR focuses data-loss protection from damage files and attacks with the Nimbustor 2 and 4, which uses a Linux-based ADM that employs a built-in firewall, ClamAV Antivirus, MyArchive and ADM’s backup tools help protect against ransomware attacks. Moreover, ASUSTOR’s “Wake on WAN” feature is very useful technology, as it helps to prevents attacks, protects data integrity, and saves electricity integrity by powering off (and staying off) when not in use. Users simply need to access a mobile app to turn it back on when they need it.
To test its performance, we looked at a RAID6 HDD performance configuration using both iSCSI and CIFS connectivity leveraging our Toshiba N300 8TB NAS HDDs. The AS6510T showed stronger overall performance in iSCSI. During our 4K tests, it hit 602 IOPS read, 2,523 IOPS write, and 25.07ms read and 101.442ms write in average latency. In our 8K 100% tests, results were pretty one-sided with the iSCSI posting 92,137 IOPS read and 65,187 IOPS write compared to 23,039 IOPS read and 17,575 IOPS write with CIFS. In our mixed workload profiles, the ASUSTOR NAS posted 422 IOPS through 566 IOPS in iSCSI while CIFS had a range of 201 IOPS through 198 IOPS in the terminal queue depths while average latency showed a range of 9.46ms through 451.5ms for iSCSI and 19.81ms to 1,281.24ms for CIFS. However, during our large-block sequential 128K test, CIFS recorded noticeably better read performance at 1.81GB/s (and 714.2MB write); though iSCSI had the best write performance at 910.1MB/s (and 1.7GB/s read).
Overall the AS6510T is great-looking 10-bay NAS from ASUSTOR, packing two more bays than most competing platforms. It offers a ton scalability, functionality and features at a very reasonable price point.
Asustor LOCKERSTOR 10 (AS6510T) NAS
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