Asusor Reveal the Lockerstor Gen 3 NAS series in 4, 6, 8 and 10-Bay

With the recent reveal of the Asustor Flashstor Gen 2 and a recent refresh of a number of their cost-effective units being refreshed to Gen 2 versions, you would be forgiven for thinking that this slightly smaller brand in the world of NAS might have little more to offer in 2024. However, alongside the Flashstor Gen 2, Asustor have also revealed the Lockerstor Gen 3 – the 3rd iteration of their very popular Prosumer Desktop series (first launched back in 2020). Asustor has tended to scale up and double many elements of their devices with each refresh, and the Lockerstor Gen3 is no exception to this rule. Arriving in 4, 6, 8 and 10 Bay configurations, the AS68 series features a more raw performance-focused CPU, DDR5 ECC Memory, scaled-up network bandwidth and four faster M.2 SSD support. All the while arriving in the family enclosure design as it’s predecessors and supporting the full range of ADM’s software and services (with promises of ADM 5 rolling out later this year). Let’s discuss this new desktop HDD and M.2 NVMe SSD Hybrid NAS for 2024.

What Are the Hardware Specifications of the Asustor Lockerstor Gen 3 NAS Series?

The previous release in the Lockerstor series (the AS67 range) was an Intel Celeron base system that, although provided popular features such as integrated graphics opening the door to improved plex transcoding and Intel QuickSync , also reduced the available number of PCI lanes across the system architecture and also lowered the overall system performance potential notable. The Locksterstor Gen 3 sought to remedy this with a significantly more capable processor that provided much more power, more lanes to play with, Gen4 architecture and support of ECC memory – which in a system that features such a bulk of storage and m.2 SSD bays, is going to be very desirable! Let’s take a look at the reported internal specifications fo the Lockerstor Gen 3 NAS:

Model	Asustor Lockerstor Gen3 Series
Model	AS6804 / AS6806 / AS6808 / AS6810
CPU	AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14 (2.3-3.8Ghz) Zen3 Processor
Integrated GFX	N/A
Cores and Threads	4 Cores / 8 Threads
TDP	15W (Configurable to 10-25W at CPU level TBC)
CPU LANES	20 Lanes, Gen4
MEMORY	TBC – But DDR5 and ECC Support Indicated (32GB TBC)
M.2 DRIVE SLOTS	x4 Gen 4×1 via a sister/riser card
HDD	4 / 6 / 8 / 10 SATA
MAXIMUM DRIVE BAYS WITH EXPANSION	Additional 8 Bays via Offical Expansion
SUPPORTS SINGLE VOLUME LARGER THAN 16TB

Choosing the right CPU for a NAS is, frankly, not easy! It would be SO easy to just lump in some beast desktop gamer PC processor, but the reality is that the CPU is a NAS that needs to be able to run 24×7, needs to be powerful enough to get the jobs done but at the same time not be TOO power hungry as it will cost a fortune to run.. oh.. and it needs to manage it’s temperature well and not get too hot that it throttles. Not enough? Oh it also needs to support ECC memory to ensure data integrity from things like bitrot. have plenty of cores and/or vCPUs for VM allocation and needs to be affordable. SERIOUSLY!!!

This is why the processor that the Lockerstor Gen3 arrives with is such a great choice! There will be those of you who will be disappointed in the lack of integrated graphics, but it’s worth highlighting that the Lockerstor Gen 3 does not seem to be ‘replacing’ the Gen 2 model currently (as well as no 2-Bay option in the Gen3 series), but instead expanding the range – so those that want GFX will have the Celeron version. but those looking for a compact and powerful workhorse system will have the Lockerstor Gen 3 version with its AMD Ryzen V3C14 processor to play with. This processor manages to crank to up to 3.8Ghz when needed, on it’s 4 core and 8 thread architecture (so, technically 8 virtual CPUs to play with on your containers and VMs). Likewise, die hard storage enthusiasts will be pleased to note that this CPU not only supports DDR5 memory but also ECC (Error Correction Code / Error Code Correction) up to 32GB. We are still yet to 100% confirm the base included level or memory and if it is soldered or SODIMM deployed, as well as the quantity included in the 6 and 12 Bay models respectively. Power consumption on this processor, despite it’s scale of capabilities, is also an impressively low 15 TDP according to AMD (with configuration possible to allow 15W and 25W TDP – but how much of this will translate to the Lockerstor Gen3 and ADM is still TBC). Also, a minor but important note, AMD have a fantastic reputation in their Embedded Ryzen series and this processor is slated for support till 2032, a HUGE change up for the 3-4yr support cycle by Intel in a number of their Celeron processors. Here is how that CPU is broken down in the specs:

Product Line	AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000 Series
Model	V3C14
Release Date	September 27, 2022
Market	Desktop
Architecture	Zen 3+ (Rembrandt)
Socket	AMD Socket FP7
Foundry	TSMC
Process Size	6 nm
Package	FP7r2
Cores	4
Threads	8
Base Frequency	2.3 GHz
Turbo Frequency	Up to 3.8 GHz
TDP	15 W (configurable between 10-25W)
Memory Support	DDR5, up to 4800 MT/s, Dual-channel with ECC support
PCI-Express	Gen 4, 20 Lanes (CPU only)
Cache	L1: 64 KB per core, L2: 512 KB per core, L3: 8 MB (shared)
Features	AVX, AVX2, AMD Secure Processor, AMD Memory Guard, other performance enhancements
Longevity	Planned product availability until 2032

You might well have also spotted that this system arrives with 20 lanes of PCIe Gen 4 architecture – This is a HUGE scale up for the 9 Lanes of Gen 3 in the Lockerstor Gen 2 series. This means that the AS68/Gen3 has more than double to lane allocation to distribute across the system AND those individual lanes are twice the bandwidth. Here is a diagram layout of this processor series by way of reference:

Interestingly, the range arrives in a decent range of storage profiles too, in 4-Bay, 6-Bay, 8-Bay and 10-Bay of SATA storage. With full support of RAID 0/1/5/6/10, as well as support of BTRFS and numerous backup/archival tools included with the software – this is an impressively broad range of hardware options to arrive with this CPIU+RAM combo. There is support of 3.5″ HDDs and 2.5″ SSDs, also to Asustor’s credit, they are quite responsive and meticulous on their compatibility lists (certainly compared with the bulk of other NAS brands) and 24TB NAS HDDs and 8TB SSDs are already present on their support pages as compatible already.

However, the real kicker in terms of storage is that the 4x M.2 2280 support has been carried over from the Lockerstor Gen 2 series – making each device in the Lockerstor Gen3 series an impressive hybrid NAS system. However, the newer AMD V3000 embedded Ryzen processor means that these individual slots are Gen 4 (so 2000MB/s per lane), double that of the Gen2 series. Now, these ARE Gen 4×1 (almost certainly for reasons of available resources and what can be delivered efficiently), but that does still provide a decent amount of bandwidth per SSD slot which can be combed thanks to RAID storage pool support on these bays (alongside read/write caching of course).

Additionally, as the bays are only x1 speed, there is hope that excessive drive temperatures (leading to throttling) can be avoided. Until we have the unit here for review, we can only speculate on this, but fair play to Asustor, when I raised this concern in the launch of the Lockerstor Gen 2, they published a video specifically on the subject of SSD temperatures on the Flashstor series when it has 6-12 SSDs at x1 speeds (see below) to show that temperatures were notably lower.

Overall, the internal hardware of the Lockerstor Gen 3 is decent-sized jump over the Gen 2 series, but mainly in terms of bandwidth and power across the board (Gen 4 lanes, more CPU threads and higher clock speed). That said, unless you are well versed in the technicals – the scope of these improvements are going to be easy to miss. Let’s discuss the ports and connectivity of the Lockerstor Gen 3 NAS.

Lockerstor Gen 3 Series, Ports and Connections

People’s demands for their private server storage have certainly scaled up in recent years. Part of this is the improved speeds afforded to internet speeds thanks to Fibre and even cellular 5G coverage – but also, the standard of consumer client hardware and it’s network connectivity has also scaled up, allowing access to WiFi 6/6e at 1.2Gb and 2.5GbE connectivity becoming ‘baseline’ in 2024 for a lot of current tech. Then you have the increasing affordability of 10GbE and 2.5/5GbE network adapters in the market (with USB-connected adapters starting at as little as $15) meaning that a NAS device arriving now with ‘simple’ Gigabit/1GbE connection is going to look a touch bottlenecked. When your internet speed crosses the gigabit speeds, then the idea of your LOCAL network storage capping at the gigabit speed is at best annoying, and at worse hugely impactful on your workflow. So, it was always going to be the case that Asustor would roll out the Lockerstor Gen 3 with greater than gigabit connectivity – hell, they were possibly the FIRST turnkey NAS brand to roll out a 2.5GbE desktop NAS (the Nimbustor series in 2019). However, they kinda went a bit bananas on the Lockerstor Gen3. Here are the ports and connections:

Now, I can say that in more than a decade following NAS releases, I have NEVER seen a desktop system arrive with twin 10G ports AND twin 5G network ports – maybe a rackmount, but even then, given the relative lack of 5GbE integration in the market, 5GbE system are still surprisingly rare. There are also going to be users who say “Hold Up, NOTHING I use is 5GbE!”. So, why is the inclusion of 5GbE alongside those 10G a good thing? Well, much like the use of 2.5G ports by brands in recent years, the point is to allow the potential to FULLY use the full extent of the bandwidth on offer from the system architecture. Thanks to ‘auto-negotiation’ in most )(but crucially, not all) 10GbE connections, it means that if you were to connect a copper 10GbE switch/router/client to these 5GbE ports, you would still be able to get 550MB/s or so max bandwidth. Sure, it’s not 10GbE – but better that beating hugely throttled down to standard gigabit connectivity and the available bandwidth on the system going to waste!

Although 5GbE support in switches natively is pretty thin on the ground, there are several different USB to 2.5GbE and 5GbE adapters you can buy on the market that allow you to make the most fo this bandwidth – especially if you are going to bypass the use of a switch entirely and opt instead for a direct connection between your client Mac/Windows/Linux machine and directly connect them to the NAS. This is something often used by photo/video editors that was to action post-production on projects directly on the NAS (rather than occupying local storage space). The 10GbE and 5GbE ports open up the external network connectivity on the Locksterstor Gen 3 towards 30Gb/s (shared across those connections of course – 5G+5G+10G+10G), and thanks to older combination services such as Link Aggregation and Port trunking, as well as newer and simplified services like SMB MultiChannel, that means that it is more than possible that a single client devicewith the right connections can open the flood gates to the bulk of this bandwidth! Add to that the potential RAID performance benefits afforded to 4-10 bays of SATA storage and the 4x Gen4x1 M2 NVMe storage, the potential to FULLY saturate that 30Gb/s external connectivity is also pretty good too!

All that positivity aside though, we do need to address that Asustor’s choice to opt for a less graphically enabled CPU means that HDMI and/or multimedia outputs (eg S/PDIF etc) are not available and no opportunity to add a GFX card to add them. So, the multimedia flexibility afforded to the Lockerstor Gen 2 is absent here. However, the Gen3 series DOES arrive with USB 10G connectivity for 1,000MB/s backup SSD drives, as well as supporting USB 4, which means 4,000MB/s bandwidth external drives too (though, in reality, most external USB 4 SSD drives will max around 3,300-3,500MB/s). The extent to which this USB 4 port can be used for non-storage peripherals (eg docking stations) is unknown right now, but the option to add a high performance USB4 Docking station and add further USB connections, network connections and more would certainly be something! Bottom line, the Locksterstor Gen 3 seems to be much more focused on file transmission and harnessing high bandwidth enabling, and the ports and connections are reflective of that! Let’s discuss the software and 3rd party NAS OS’.

Asustor Lockstor Gen 3 Software and Services

The Asustor Lockerstor NAS arrives with the latest version of ADM included. Additionally, this software receives frequent updates to ensure that the software runs the very best it can on this system, as well as keeping up to date with security patches and application versions.Also Asustor has also highlighted that they will be launching ADM 5 (the latest revision) alongside these devices – still awaiting confirmation on Beta status or full incremental rollout. The NAS software is accessible via a web browser and displayed very much like a normal computer operating system (desktop, user accounts, customizable themes, file management, running multiple tasks in windows that can be switched in the native tabs), but there are also a range of desktop client tools for accessing the NAS on your local machine natively, as well as a whole bunch of mobile applications that allow tailored access from your phone/tablet in more task-specific means (eg a photo app for viewing pictures and creating phone backup routines, a video app for enjoying your movies and boxsets, surveillance app to access your cameras, etc).  There is also a large range of support of 3rd party applications too in the ADM platform. Asustor is not as big a company as the likes of Synology and QNAP, whole put ALOT more money into their software development, but Asustor try to counter this by (when they do not have an in-house app) making native versions of 3rd party tools in their platform (example, they do not have a 1st party Virtual Machine app, but DO include huge support for VirtualBox). The platform is not quite as fully featured as DSM and QTS, but it is still a very smooth and accessible software platform. The app center has a few more 3rd party applications and slightly crowbarred software (eg the Amazon Media and Streaming service plugins) that is not updated up the original uploaders anywhere near enough (leading to running issues on these tools), but the 1st party apps run very well. The big takeaway on the Asustor software and it’s services is that the standard class of expected features of a modern NAS in 2024+ are here and run exactly as you would want, it is just some of the additional ones that other platforms have doubled down on (such as AI-related services in Photography and Surveillance for example) that are a little lacking. That said, the brand has definitely ramped up a number of the key security protocols and settings in the default setup. But what about 3rd party OS? What is the Asustor position on this?

Asustor have been surprisingly fluid on this one in the last 18 months. Originally, they (along with the bulk of NAS vendors) were steadfast in their position of  “if you install a 3rd party OS such as UnRAID or TrueNAS, it will invalidate your warranty”. However, this position has now changed and they are continuing to support users who opt for 3rd party NAS OS installations, but with the caveat that if that software actively harms the system and/or results in the system being deployed in a fashion outside of what they guarantee the system to operate under (eg, the 3rd party NAS OS software automatically or manually overclocks the heck out of the processor and cooks it! Or overwrites the internal eMMC flash module that contains the ADM bootloader) they will not be able to offer support. I think this is pretty reasonable. However, it is ALSO worth keeping in mind that the Lockerstor Gen 3 series is built using a non-integrated gfx CPU, so there is the question of 3rd party NAS installation without a KVM/Visual output and/or BIOS access – but there ARE ways and means to get around this of course!

When Will the Asustor Lockerstor Gen3 Be Released, And How Much Will It Be?

Unlike the previously mentioned Flashstor Gen 2 which seems comparatively early in it’s development, the Lockerstor Gen 3 seems a lot further along in it’s production and I would expect it to arrive somewhere in the first half of Q3 2024 (July-September). Nothing confirmed yet officially however. Pricing-wise, I would expect things to be pretty close to the Gen 2 pricing, but with maybe a$100 or so more on the price tag on each storage capacity tier – perhaps with the 10 Bay commanding a premium. We should know and learn more about the Lockserstor Gen 3 NAS next month at Computex 2024. Stay Tuned!

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