Final thoughts, HEXUS.awards & HEXUS.right2reply
Let's start with a blinkered view of the N2050. With the N2050 on eSATA DAS, it's as though you're using an internal RAID array. Performance is impressive, and the reliability that RAID 1 brings is always welcomed. Based on the N2100 case, it's as well built and reliable as it is quick, so a pat on the back for Thecus.
Take off the blinkers, though, and consider some of the other external storage solutions. A single external drive enclosure, like an Icy Box is a hell of a lot cheaper than the N2050. £20 trumps £100, for sure. Pay a little more than £20 and you can probably get a single drive eSATA enclosure, and they're probably quite good too. Still, the N2050 is well constructed, and it does its own RAID management... no extra CPU load for speed/security, thanks.
While reviewing the N2050, I couldn't help but wish the N2100 performed nearly as well. N2050 blows the N2100 out of the water. Of course, the N2050 isn't network attached. Still, despite the N2050's DAS nature, if you have a machine you can keep on all the time, you can set up the host machine to deliver the same services as a YES Box, if you know how. Given that you're saving £130, it's an appealing prospect for a home user, perhaps thinking of putting their digital home together.
Do we like the N2050? Hell yes, it's great. You do have to fork out a fair bit for it, though, when you consider £100 will get you a drive-less product. Then you've got to make sure the drives you buy are compatible. Still, we like the idea and the implementation.
Bottom line time. Thecus' N2050 is a great product. If you need an external storage solution that performs well, while giving the option of data security, and can live with DAS instead of NAS, the N2050 is definitely worth it. Make sure you're going to benefit from the features it provides though; ensure it's £100 well spent, or else get something simpler and cheaper. Recommended to the media enthusiast who needs somewhere to keep their overflowing collection of encoded files and highly commended for its performance over eSATA.
HEXUS Awards
HEXUS Right2Reply
HEXUS invites the manufacturers and vendors that supply HEXUS with products for evaluation to comment on the reviews and previews that we publish. HEXUS invited Thecus to comment on this article and H. C. Yen, PM Director, kindly replied with the following:
Thanks for looking at another Thecus product. Thecus N2050 is designed to be a hassle-free, plug-n-play storage. With flip of a switch, user can decide what RAID level you like for your data, It is painless for people to expand their storage and take the advantage of high-speed eSATA connections on the latest motherboards.
The performance of N2050 is perfect for people who want more, more speed, and more capacity.
We will work with chip vendor to solve hard disk drive compatibility issues that might come up as newer and bigger disks appear on the market.
We hope our users will like N2050 as the reviewers from Hexus.
H. C. Yen
PM Director
