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Review: |
Plextor were kind enough to
send me their PX-NAS4 four bay NAS unit for review.
NAS is becoming very popular
for sharing media and files around the home and office via a network. In this
review I will examine how the PX-NAS4 performs as a NAS, and its usability.
The PX-NAS4 is a 4 bay, four
HDD NAS solution, employing a very handy HDD caddy system with 2x gigabit LAN
ports, 2x USB2 connectors for print sharing and an external USB2 HDD or pen drive.
The unit also hosts a couple of SATA connectors for connecting external SATA
drives.
Plextor company
information
I’m sure everyone here at MyCE
will be familiar with the Plextor brand name, they became legendary for their
range of optical drives, and more recently they branched out into other
products such as NAS, and now SSDs.
If you would like to find out
more about Plextor, you can visit the Plextor website.
Packaging
The device I received for
review was the retail package.
The packaging consisted of a
large plain cardboard box, with internal foam packing. It’s a plain affair so I
will skip the screenshots.
NAS hardware system
Now let’s take a look at the Plextor
PX-NAS4 NAS box itself, and the supplied accessories.
As we can see from the above
screenshot, the package contained the following items.
- PLEXTOR PX-NAS4
- European power supply
- UK mains cable
- European power cable
- CAT6e Gigabit LAN cable
- Quick start book
- Software CD-ROM
PX-NAS4 NAS box
PX-NAS4 front
On the front of the box we can
see a power switch, several status LEDs including status LEDs for the HDD
caddies, and we can also see two USB2 ports. The Plextor PX-NAS4 is also
attractively styled, perhaps understated, but very tasteful.
PX-NAS4 front view with door open
Opening the front door exposes
the four HDD caddies. Just pull down a lever and the caddy pops open, and it’s
very easy to remove an HDD, or indeed fit a replacement. Each caddy has its own
power and alarm LED, and supports hot plugging of drives.
Now let’s take a look at the
back of the box.
PX-NAS4 rear
On the rear of the unit we can
see following connectors and switches.
- 2x Gigabit LAN sockets
- 2x eSATA connectors
- DC power connector
- 2x 80mm cooling fans
PX-NAS4 side view
The case itself is about the
size of a micro PC systems, standing 305mm high, 140mm wide, and 300mm deep.
Construction of the case is solid, and the build quality is excellent.
Status LEDs, buttons,
and front connectors.
Software CD-ROM
To complete the package, the Plextor
PX-NAS4 is also supplied with network utility and backup software which can be
installed onto the host PC from the supplied CD-ROM, and there is also an
excellent manual in multiple languages, in the form of a PDF file.
Let’s head
to the next page where I will have a look at the features of the Plextor
PX-NAS4...
