In 2006, Thecus were first to market with the world's first 5 bay NAS, so it's rather fitting that the one we tested was an updated and revamped release of the industry changing original. We particularly liked it because of its unique dual Dom design. For those not with the tech speak, DOM refers to the flash memory where the firmware and hard drive configurations are stored.
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| The Thecus N5500: up close and personal |
The N5500 ships with two of these DOMs, always a handy thing if the first one fails. In data backup, you always need a plan B and Thecus looks to have that well covered with their sturdy multiple bay design.
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| The N5500 features multiple bay options |
Thecus are hoping that the dual DOM feature will differentiate their NAS from others. From what we can tell, there's certainly an advantage to this style of design and it doesn't hurt having the extra firmware backup. The strong black casing is supported by the usual USB 2.0 interface, as well as a handy LCD module which can display the system status and information across the front of the NAS.
The entire unit is slightly heavy, but still fairly portable - key to moving between offices or rooms. A 200W power supply keeps things cranking along, while a set of LED indicators are used to display the various states of activity in the NAS, including WAN, LAN and RAID status.
Data Backup software is provided with the unit in the form of FarStone Drive Clone Pro 5.0, which can perform either incremental data backup and/or useful system disaster recovery actions in the case of you-know-what.
It'll work with XP, Vista, Linux and Mac - a nice list of operating systems to say the least. The Thecus N5500 certainly has what it takes to be a good alternative option when you're selecting your next NAS backup*.
*Local pricing has yet to be determined.
