In addition to the hardware specifications of a NAS device, you have to take into account its software functionality. In recent years, Thecus has evolved well on both fronts. The N4200 comes with a modern, Web-based administration interface that lets you choose from RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10 modes. RAID volumes can be optionally encrypted using AES-256, as well. Additionally, users have the choice of ext3, XFS, and ZFS file systems.
Network Communication
The N4200 can communicate via iSCSI and, if used under Windows, MacOS, or Linux, it can be an iSCSI target. When used with similar (and various other) NAS devices from Thecus, such as the N5200 Pro, N5500, or units from the N7700/N8800 series, the N4200 can even be used as an iSCSI initiator. The device supports SMB/CIFS, FTP, NFSv3, AFP, HTTP, or HTTPS protocols for exchanging data.
For multimedia storage, the Thecus N4200 comes with iTunes, UPnP AV, and photo Web servers installed. It also comes with a print server, as well as support for various UPSes. The server functionality can be expanded. For example, you can add a Web or MySQL server by downloading and installing a module from the Thecus site.
A Web Interface With Delays
Thecus' UI is functional and for the most part logical, although the menu structure could be made somewhat less nested and more accessible. What really struck us when using firmware version 3.00.12 was the sluggishness of the browser-based interface. When clicking on something or performing an action, it took about three seconds before anything happened or you gave visual feedback. During testing, we also noted that the N4200 had to be restarted after the creation of a new folder. The device stopped responding to SMB/CIFS requests, so access through Windows Explorer was no longer possible. A firmware update from Thecus should remedy problems of this kind.
Thecus offers a live demonstration of its GUI. Just follow this link to try it out: Thecus live demo.
Update: Thecus recently released version 3.02.00.2 of the firmware. Using this, we noticed none of the problems mentioned above, so be sure to update your firmware if you run into any issues with the N4200.





not sure what the advantage of the 4200 is over that except for the battery and that is what a UPS is for.
I just built me a data/media server with exponentially more power for only $533 tax/title/license and no freaking rebates.
My build may consume more power than these but it is much more versitle than these NAS boxes and at least a few hundred bucks cheaper. Plus I it will be suited to use as an HTPC or workstation if ever needed.
FTR the build is: LiteOn dvd burner, MicroATX tower case (6 3.5 bays), 2 Samsung EcoGreen 2tb hd (will be raid 1), AMD athlon x2 250 (65w), Gigabyte ga-ma785gm (5 sata2, 6 usb, 1 esata, radeon 4250 integrated graphics, dvi-hdmi-dsub out), Antec EarthWatts Green 380w power supply, 4gb RAM.
I build my ''NAS'' with a low end PC and 2 SATA controllers. I have 8x 1.5 TB HDDs in 2 RAID-5 config.
Seriously a 4 bay NAS cost like 900$ w/o HDDs...
These are foolish and expensive.
Keep in mind to all the home-NAS and custom guys out there, these units are PROFESSIONAL, not SoHo class units. The qNap 410 and 419 are small business/home units, and even those still include native AD integration, and more, and not only operate as NAS systems, but backup systems, media servers, and more (dozens of features). These still are not even in the "personal" NAS class most home users can build on their own for about the same money.
These are professional class systems, with iSCSI, Native AD support, IP multipathing, load balancing, VMWare certification, and more. These are not cheap "file share" NAS systems like you might want for a media server in your house, or simple storage and backup. Simply features like online data migration to larger disks, archive by file age automatically, IP camera support, iTunes servers, TimeMachine support, and more make these very different from what you can do with a mini-NAS or FreeNAS setup on old PC hardware (not to mention the savings in electricity). qNap does sell "home" system that are less capable, but still FAR more than most people need. If all you want is a bid gisk and media server, get a WHS or a home-built solution. if you;re hooking servers or VMs up to it, using it in a high bandwidth or office environment, and care about the NAS ability to protect itself, back itself up, and migrate data to larger drives later, that's what the $300 price difference covers.
Also, cats don't normally chew on wires. Dogs are much more likely too. A cat might knock it off the desk, or spill a glass of water near it, but chew wires? That's what dogs do, not to mention eat homework.
We purchased the Qnap TS-239 Pro for the location. I was able to install BIND on it as well to handle DNS. I was quite impressed with just how flexible the units are.
And so which of those features are unavailable from the open source FreeNAS operating system, and thus validate the $300 hike?
If I had to put a few of these in place I'd probably do it just to have my IT guy (or me) put them all out in a day and be done with it.
It's just the nature that these types of articles on Tom's Hardware are read by us types that like to do it ourselves. No, most likely these would not find a place in our homes or small businesses that we intimately manage. But I don't think that's their target group.
It is a really bad idea to run a RAID box off USB 2 or 3. One bus reset and you stand to have some corrupted data. Stick with Ethernet and iSCSI if you care about your data.