Buffalo TeraStation 5400 WSS Review
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Buffalo TeraStation 5400 WSS Review
When I think about a NAS I think Linux and I think web based administration. Well, when I think about Buffalo, I think I love the hardware and I just use the administration. Buffalo, a solid hardware platform, starts to really look dated and unimpressive when comparing their administration to the likes of QNAP, Synology, and ASUSTOR. To address this, Buffalo has released another 5400 NAS appliance and slapped a WSS on the end of its name. If you don’t know what that means… it means that Buffalo has outfitted their WS5400DR2 with Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 and is working at bringing their NAS back under the big lights.
Providing seamless integration with Windows computers and servers, TeraStation 5400 WSS incorporates the powerful dual-core Intel® Atom™ Processor D2550 and 4 GB of installed RAM, for class-leading performance: experience maximum network throughput while NAS and iSCSI targeting operations run simultaneously. Additionally, support for NTFS for very specific file-level security and Native Active Directory support provides integration with large Windows networks. TeraStation 5400 WSS is an economical turnkey solution for highly reliable and continuously available high-performance network storage for a variety of data needs.
High Performance 1.86 GHz Intel® Atom™ processor D2550
Simultaneous NAS and iSCSI operation
Windows Storage Server 2012 R2* Workgroup Edition
Intel® Atom™ processor D2550 (1.86 GHz dual-core / 4 GB RAM)
2 x USB 2.0 ports and 2 x USB 3.0 ports with accessory support
Hot-swap SATA hard drives
RAID 0/1/5/JBOD (Individual Disks)
Seamless Active Directory integration
iSCSI target and initiator
Remote file access via FTP/FTPS
10 licenses of NovaBACKUP® Business Essentials v14 (SQL and Exchange backup agents)
UNIFIED STORAGE
TeraStation 5400 WSS has simultaneous NAS and iSCSI operation in one unit for simple and cost effective storage and device management. Boost resource flexibility and efficiency and increase space utilization.
HIGH PERFORMANCE
TeraStation 5400 WSS Windows Storage Server Appliance features the dual-core 1.86 GHz Intel Atom processor D2550, providing exceptional performance during file transfers and everyday NAS functions. Experience maximum network throughput while NAS and iSCSI targeting operations run simultaneously.
RELIABLE AND SECURE NETWORK STORAGE
TeraStation 5400 WSS offers high capacity, highly available storage accessible among multiple platforms for seamless centralized storage and backup. Create user and group profiles and control folder and file access to protect business critical content and privacy. Support for multiple levels of RAID provides continuous data protection and increased fault tolerance and data availability.
STORAGE VIRTUALIZATION
Configure TeraStation 5400 WSS as an iSCSI target to add affordable virtualized storage to your business network. Storage virtualization serves to decrease IT spending by maximizing the resources offered by modern servers while providing affordable server scalability and reliability. A virtualized environment removes a significant amount of server dependence, shifting the burden to the storage devices.
DATA PROTECTION AND BACKUP
TeraStation 5400 WSS features Buffalo’s replication technology providing easy and high performance data replication from one Buffalo NAS device to another Buffalo NAS device over the network or the Internet. This offers real-time synchronous replication of data, providing easy, continuous data protection in the event of data loss.
Additionally, TeraStation 5400 WSS is bundled with 10 licenses of NovaBACKUP® Business Essentials, providing a complete, all-in-one data protection solution for small and medium businesses serious about protecting digital assets. Back up PCs, storage servers, Exchange servers and SQL databases.
REMOTE FILE ACCESS
TeraStation 5400 WSS offers remote access to share your important data for enhanced collaboration and productivity. With FTP/FTPS servers, you can securely access and share files with anyone outside the local network.
Internal Hard Drives Number of Drives 4 x 3.5″ HDD Hard Drive Capacity 1 TB, 2 TB, 3 TB Total Capacity 4 TB, 8 TB, 12 TB Drive Interface SATA II/III 3 Gbps Supported RAID Levels RAID 0/1/5/JBOD (Individual Disks) LAN Interface Standard Compliance IEEE802.3/IEEE802.3u/IEEE802.3ab Data Transfer Rates 10/100/1000 Mbps (Auto Sensing) Connector Types RJ-45 Number of Ports 2 USB Interface Interface USB 3.0 / USB 2.0 Number of Ports 2 x USB 3.0 2 x USB 2.0 Data Transfer Rates 5 Gbps (USB 3.0) 480 Mbps (USB 2.0) Protocol Support Networking TCP/IP File Sharing CIFs/SMB, NFS, iSCSI Directory Integration LDAP, Active Directory Management Remote Desktop or Terminal Services Client Time Synchronization NTP Other Dimensions (L x W x H) 9.1 x 6.7 x 8.5 in Weight 17.6 lbs Operating Environment 41-95°F (5-35°C), 20-80% (non-condensing) Power Supply Internal AC 100-240V Universal, 50/60 Hz Power Consumption 96 W (Maximum) Setup Utility OS Support Windows® Operating Systems Client OS Support Windows® 8 (32-bit/64-bit) Windows® 7 (32-bit/64-bit), Windows® 7 Professional (64-bit), Windows Vista® (32-bit/64-bit), Windows® XP, Windows® 2000, Windows Server® 2012, Windows Server® 2008, Windows Server® 2008 R2, Windows Server® 2003, Windows® 2000 Server, Mac OS® X up to 10.10
On the outside, the Buffalo 5400WSS looks like any other Buffalo 4-bay NAS. It has the same black shell, the same display, and the same locking door.
Up front, the blue back-lit display can inform you of IP address for either NIC, Drive Usage, and Date & Time. To the left of the display is a very large Power Button and to the right is a Display Button. The display button can switch between the different displays mentioned and holding it will stop it from beeping if it decides to go hay-wire.
Just below is a locking front door that hides and protects the four populated drive trays. The door must remain locked to remove the keys and has a decent dust guard installed. Each of the drive trays is numbered, our 4TB 5400WSS is populated with four Seagate Barracuda 1TB drives (ST1000DM003). The drive trays are simple and effective. Next to each drive is a Status LED (Green for good and activity, Red for dead). Additionally, there is a VGA port. Connecting a monitor directly to the TeraStation is only supported for monitoring the progress of Windows Update.
Around back is your power, an 80mm cooling fan, a switch for Boot (USB and HDD – used for recovery only), D-sub 9 pin port for UPS, two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0. and two 10/100/1000 Ethernet Ports.
Buffalo does not try to prevent you from peeking inside. There is no security tape or annoying security stickers covering any screws. In fact, the lid is very easy to take off. Remove five screws and pull the cover off.
Inside, one of the most prominent and immediate features is the Power Supply. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any indication of the Power here, but a device like this doesn’t require much to begin with (it only uses approx 43 watts at full bore).
The motherboard is easy to access. There are only six screws holding it in place and when removed, the motherboard just lifts out.
The back of the motherboard is unexciting.
The other side, on the other hand, is where the meat and potatoes are. First, I do not make a habit of removing the heatsink on devices like this… but from the specifications we know that there is a 1.86 GHz Intel® Atom™ processor D2550 underneath.
The 4GB DIMM is unbranded, but the memory modules are Samsung K4B2G08460.
Ethernet is handled by a pair of Intel® 82574 Gigabit Ethernet Controllers
The 5400WSS has a familiar configuration process in that it uses NAS Navigator2 to find your NAS and kick-off the configuration process.
Once opened, the application presents to you all things Buffalo and a simple right click opens a context menu that can easily launch Remote Desktop (remember, Windows Storage Server 2012R2).
For a more detailed look at Windows Storage Server 2012 R2, Please visit our Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Overview Article
Buffalo doesn’t go crazy with the custom applications within the Storage Server OS. Instead, there are only a few hints of its existence.
The Buffalo Dashboard Launcher launches a taskbar (Buffalo Dashboard) application that provides some basic information about your NAS including System Information, Temps, Fan Speeds, Network Settings, and a drive list.
The other start menu items launch a configuration utility for your RAID, the display settings for the front LCD, and an email notification system for system events and status.
It is a given that using your NAS should be easy, and it is also a given that your NAS should perform well in serving up your files. After all, this is basically what the devices is intended for. To benchmark the NAS, we run synthetic benchmarks as well as benchmark some real world activities.
NAS Benchmarking Hardware & Methodology details hardware used & methodology for conducting benchmarks.
To see how this NAS compares to others, please visit our NAS Benchmarking Database
For testing the large file transfer speed of the NAS, we transfer a 46.6GB Blu-Ray ISO (Avatar) from the workstation to the NAS and back five times. We pipe the transfer speeds during the benchmark to a .csv file for charting. For more on our Avatar Benchmark please see our Benchmarking application: COD Benchmarking Utility
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For testing the transfer speed of the NAS with smaller files, we use the same method as the Avatar test but instead create two hundred individual MP3’s of specific file sizes for repeatable results. The files are copied from the workstation to the NAS and back 5 times. We pipe the transfer speeds during the benchmark to a .csv file for charting.
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For testing the large file transfer speed of the NAS, we transfer a 2GB file from the workstation to the NAS and back five times. We pipe the transfer speeds during the benchmark to a .csv file for charting.
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For further benchmarking, we test each NAS using Intel’s NAS Performance Toolkit to rate 2 key areas of NAS performance. We measure File Copy speeds to and from the NAS and the Directory Copy speeds to and from the NAS. System RAM is set to 2048MB of RAM to ensure there is no mem caching for transfers.
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For benchmarking the performance of iSCIS, we created an iSCSI connection to the NAS and benchmark the NAS using Intel’s IOMeter. IOMeter has to be one of the most widely used software packages for benchmarking disks. There are an endless number of ways you can build a benchmark, but we chose to limit our benchmarking to 100 percent Sequential Read and Write then 100 percent Random Read and Write. You can emulate our benchmarking by using the following configuration
‘size % of size % reads % writes % sequential % random delay burst align reply 2,097,152 100 100 0 100 0 0 1 0 0 2,097,152 100 0 100 100 0 0 1 0 0 2,097,152 100 100 0 0 100 0 1 0 0 2,097,152 100 0 100 0 100 0 1 0 0
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CrystalDiskMark is another benchmarking utility that determines speeds by measuring 512KB, 4KB, and 4KB (Queue Depth 32) sequential and random read and write speeds. Test data can be Random, 0Fill, and 1Fill. For our purposes, we left the test at Random.
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So… What has Buffalo done here? They have introduced a NAS that can deliver on more than just speeds and feeds. We now have a NAS that provides you with a truly integrated platform for storage. The introduction of Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 to the Buffalo lineup means you can get the NAS you love with the simplicity and elegance that WSS 2012 R2 brings. Additionally, WSS 2012 R2 brings a necessary update to the dated Buffalo web interface we found on the TeraStation 5400.
Let’s be honest here, the WS5400DR2 is not an Indy car when it comes to transferring files, but it did perform well enough in our benchmarks to be considered. To be fair, I tested this NAS with the drives it shipped with. Would it have performed better with the drives I normally benchmark with? I am pretty confident that it would. However, my policy is to use whatever comes in the box.
The hardware is solid and although the NAS may look like something Darth Vader would be storing his family photos on in his Death Star office, it isn’t ugly by any stretch. To be completely honest, I really like its looks. With that, WSS 2012 R2 brings the same sleek function and looks to the administration.
I do like the WS5400DR2… that does come with a “but”, only for the home user though. Here it is. Although many NAS ship with the same hardware specifications as this one, the platform itself is going to require a bit more attention and here is why. Outside of the enterprise, many of us enthusiasts will inevitably like to use our NAS for more than just serving up files. Things like MySQL, Plex Media Server, TWONKY, SubSonic, CrashPlan, Sickbeard, Sabnzbd, uTorrent, and VPN frequently find themselves running on devices in my office. Team those up with anti-virus and it can bring an underpowered system to a screeching halt.
Oh right, it’s a NAS not a server…. NAS serve up files not applications. For the business owner in you, this should be your consideration. Just because this NAS runs Windows doesn’t mean it should run your business.
Bottom line, if you are a business owner or IT administrator looking for a NAS that can integrate itself seamlessly on your network, this one should be on the really short list of products you are looking at. If you are a home user/enthusiast trying to install as much software as you can into a small Atom powered NAS with 4GB of RAM, this may not be the one for you.
When I think about a NAS I think Linux and I think web based administration. Well, when I think about Buffalo, I think I love the hardware and I just use the administration. Buffalo, a solid hardware platform, starts to really look dated and unimpressive when comparing their administration to…
Buffalo TeraStation 5400 WSS Review
Buffalo TeraStation 5400 WSS Review
The 5400 WSS is a breakthrough for Windows junkies. The interface is smooth and Buffalo does a fantastic job of bringing the pieces together.
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