Asustor announced two new network storage devices Flashstor 6 Gen2 and Flashstor 12 Pro Gen2, designed to accommodate M.2 SSDs. The devices boast powerful AMD Ryzen Embedded chips, USB4 ports with Thunderbolt support and 10GbE network interfaces.
Image source: asustor.com
Compared to first-generation systems, the latest Asustor Flashstor Gen2 NAS offers a radical upgrade in components that can satisfy the needs of professional and discerning home users. The new network storage devices are equipped with quad-core AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14 chips, which are manufactured using 6 nm technology and operate at clock speeds of up to 3.8 GHz. The devices received network interfaces and two USB4 ports with Thunderbolt support, which are capable of unlocking the high speeds of M.2 drives.
The Asustor Flashstor 6 Gen2 model is equipped with six M.2 slots for NVMe solid-state drives up to PCIe 4.0 x4, 8 GB of DDR5-4800 RAM and a 10GbE port; the Flashstor 12 Pro Gen2 version already has 12 slots for drives, also up to PCIe 4.0 x4, 16 GB of RAM and two 10GbE ports. The devices support up to 64 GB of ECC memory – it is responsible for detecting and correcting errors, increasing system stability and reliability.
It is worth noting here that the processor used in the new products has only 20 PCIe lanes, so it will not be possible to make all six or twelve drives work simultaneously at the highest possible speed. The manufacturer notes that both network storage devices also support the SMB Multichannel protocol, providing read speeds of up to 2331 MB/s and write speeds of up to 2358 MB/s. It is possible to connect an Xpanstor 4 USB expansion device and add hard drives to Flashstor Gen2.
The new NAS features an upgraded cooling system with two quiet fans and efficient heat pipes to dissipate heat from the processor, drives and network ports. Asustor Flashstor Gen2 Runs ADM OS 5.0 based on the Linux 6.6 kernel. The recommended retail price for the Asustor Flashstor 6 Gen2 model is £979 ($1,244), and the older Flashstor 12 Pro Gen2 will cost £1,339 ($1,702).