Inside

The AS500XT NASes are powered by an Intel Celeron J1800 running at 2.4 GHz. The memory is a 1 GB SoDIMM, which is upgradeable to 8 GB.

The chart below shows the ASUSTOR 2, 3, and AS500XT series key components.

Key component summary and comparison

Below is a photo of the component side of the PCB for the AS5004T. The processor is covered by a large heat sink. To the right of the processor is the connector for the drive backplane. While this is clearly a different board than what you find in the 2 and 3 series products, the footprint is identical.

ASUSTOR AS500XT PCB component side

The bottom of the PCB shows the SoDIMM memory slot. Note the slot on the right of the photo has the 1 GB SoDIMM secured with latex caulk. If you want to upgrade to a full 8 GB, you'll have to pull out this RAM to make room for a second 4 GB SoDIMM.

RAM is easy to get at, however. Just remove the case cover and lift the flaps in a protective anti-static plastic cover to get at them.

ASUSTOR AS500XT PCB bottom side

Features

Like all NAS manufacturers, ASUSTOR is constantly upgrading its operating system and adding new features. When we reviewed the 2 and 3 series NASes, both were running ADM 2.1.1. In early December of last year, ASUSTOR announced that all products were upgrading to ADM 2.3. ASUSTOR's Press Release summarizes the new features and apps included in the latest release. To save you a mouse click, here are the new functions taken from the press release.

• Refreshed and modernized user interface featuring enhanced browsing smoothness and speed
• New sign in page featuring customizable styles for the creation of a unique NAS experience
• Support for TFTP server
• Support for proxy server connections
• ACL advanced permissions management provides added convenience for IT professionals
• Smart sleep mode allows the hard disks to automatically enter into hibernation when idle for a specified period of time allowing for effective power saving
• SMB 2.0 support increases Windows networking performance by 30%-50%

To give you a feel for the new user interface, here's a screenshot of the landing page. As with Android devices, if you have more than one page of icons, you can scroll left or right. If you want to check out the new operating system, you can visit ASUSTOR's live demo page and navigate your way through the interface and App Central. In App Central , you can download additional programs that run on the server platform and add functionality to your ASUSTOR NAS.

ASUSTOR ADM 2.3 demo landing page

The feature list for the AS500XT NASes, lines up pretty well with what was published in the "2 series" review. You can also check complete specifications for the AS500XT series.