Aoostar TB4S-OC USB4/Oculink SSD Box Review - Unreal NAS Expansion?

[@Andy_Panda]

Finally! I've been asking for hardware like this since oculink branched out of the Enterprise arena and came to consumer products.

[@TRD_2zz]

They need to make one for 3.5" drives!

[@blatcher2]

Can you test 2 of these on one system? Love This. Perfect for turning a Gem12 into a flash NAS.

[@CalvinHenderson]

Curious about MacOS support for this (the official page says Thunderbolt 4 support but makes no mention of the port being Thunderbolt 4. Intel gave much of the technical to USB4 specs but USB4 ≠ Thunderbolt4. Curious also if there is any Linux support and if so which distros.

[@PsgPrime]

Please review terramaster f4-424 and f6-424!!

[@garkoi5907]

can i use 4 m.2 to sata adapters and have a total of 24 sata ports ?

[@nascompares]

I mean ..yes...probably...you fucking mad scientist loose cannon! I think I love you!

[@werecow68]

Aoostar. Weird name, but absolutely killing it with their products lately. Showing the NAS/DAS makers how it should be done!

[@PaulCrawhorn]

Which is it, 4TB per slot (16TB total)? or 8TB/32 ?

[@dustojnikhummer]

I don't see a single reason why 8TB drives wouldn't work.

[@vishwanathbondugula4593]

Removing the networking advantage, would you recommend the minisforum ms-01 over Aoostar gem10 with this bay? I am asking this since it costs the same when you add the extra bay

[@frankwong9486]

Looks like using ASM2464PDX ?

[@dktol56]

If so, it should support the slower USB3.2 ports according to the ASMEDIA spec sheet. NASCompares says it doesn't. Maybe that functionality can be disable by the OEM.

[@TheSaadtut]

Can you post pictures of the underside of the PCB? I am curious as to what IC they are using th do the USB-C to PCIE conversion. Is it a TB4 IC by intel or an Asmedia variant?

[@nascompares]

There should be more pics in the article, but if the one you need isn't there, buzz me on Robbie (at) nascompares and I'll email you what you need bud

[@annebokma4637]

Ok so.. one of these m2 expansion boxes connected with occulink to mini pc. The two mini pc usb4>sfp28 adapters. And put 10 bay hdd cases to the usb3 ports. Should make an interesting NAS 😂

[@InspectorGadget2014]

Nice! Okay, no blazing speeds and a few caveats but in a SOHO environment, it could be a welcome addition. BTW, I have a few subjects you may want to cover in future videos; - The malware often found embedded (Intel ME) in several Chinese (mini) MB's - QNAP's upcoming Airgap+ - UnifyDrive Portable NAS

[@nascompares]

That 3rd one will come on Wednesday. Airgap I was trying to figure out HOW to cover. And the malware (ace magic etc) I WANT to cover, but trying to find an angle that isn't already covered online. Leave that one with me, been on the 'to do' a whole!

[@InspectorGadget2014]

@@nascompares No worries, no rush! As for that malware, maybe limit it to a "service" (i.e. short) video just to make your channel-members aware and refer them to some of your other channel-friend's video(s) that dive a bit deeper into the matter? As for the Airgap+ maybe QNAP can provide you with some material? I myself would be interested into how it works and what an investment it would typically take. (and the possible limitations) Just thinking out loud, and again, no rush!

[@nascompares]

I gotta ask, how did your head about the unifydrive? I filmed my vid like a month ago (you'll see from the timestamps when it goes out), but held out publishing till a software update and a new feature being added - that is now going into a 2nd video on it). Surprised it's especially public yet? Fairplay to the brand for marketing so soon.

[@InspectorGadget2014]

​@@nascompares Sure! No problem! I'm truly omni-interested in NAS to the broadest sense and via YT algorithms (I guess) ran across several videos about it, next to the announcement for a k1ckstarter campaign about (I believe) a month ago? PS: I believe WD had a similar solution back in the day?

[@Frankvegastudio]

“Great video! Just a heads-up for everyone considering products from companies like Aoostar. While their tech is innovative and affordable, it’s important to be aware of potential security risks. Given the influence of the Chinese Communist Party over private companies, there are concerns about possible backdoors and data privacy issues. Make sure to research independent reviews, use robust security software, and keep your firmware updated. Stay safe and informed! 👍”

[@shabadabadoo4326]

I want that, but 4-6 3.5" bays. No point in doing it with nvme, IMHO

[@nixxblikka]

There is plenty of options on the market go soemwehre else then

[@DaveChurchill]

The most important part of your written review: "Limited PCIe Lanes (x1): Each SSD slot is limited to PCIe Gen 3 x1, capping individual drive speeds at around 800MB/s" What is the point of having 4 nvme drives when you don't get to use even a fraction of their potential?

[@dktol56]

I think both USB4/TB4 and oculink support exporting only 4 PCIe lanes at this time - it's hard to see how you're going fully utilize more than one NVMe drive with that bandwidth. The next TB standard is supposed to double that, but still not enough for 4 drives. Not sure what the future of oculink is. Personally, I like where this is going (and the price). You just have to temper your expectations.

[@maxbls16]

Compact cheap flash storage. It’s often cheaper to grab a nvme M.2 than a sata device of the same capacity.

[@PaulCrawhorn]

capacity, for nearline backups, versioning or other use cases that do not require highest speeds. As a RAID array via OCuLink, faster than JBOD.

[@fwiler]

No noise, small, and useful. Goes perfect with a mini PC. It isn't about max performance with NAS, especially when most people are capped at 10Gb anyway. Alternative is Sata SSD but requires awkward amount of space due to power cable needing to go to each drive, plus they are more expensive than m.2 now.

[@miha493]

Type C power for not battery powered or 5V 2A are disastrous. Usb power, as all usb in general, are mess of functions, standards, protocols and others crap. As workaround of this they using handshakes. But sometimes charger, that forced to constantly consider existence of several dozens of different charging standards, decided to check wtf he is doing and for this he dropping power to 5v 0.5a and just repeating handshake. Or if charger has more than one port, than also each time something plugged he checked all devices. And for laptop or smartphone it's fine, because battery backup, but for pc it's kinda bad. And it's all before fact that sometimes charges was "borrowed" without asking permission by father, sister, uncle, friend of sister. And DC barrel jack are perfectly reliable, easy to replace connection that would 100% work, without thinking about 30 different types of charging. If you want so much to use type c than just buy for 3$ type c trigger with barrel jack. But problems with handshakes would still be here.

[@TimHunold]

DAS != NAS. Big but slow compared to say a TB4 single NVME enclosure?

[@hpsfresh]

Hm… nice

[@iDok]

Help please. Is there a device that can be bought that provides some, most or all of the features that Jellyfin, Plex or emby provide? I would really like to access my media (at home or away) without being under the thumb of these companies. I'm so tired of unwanted media taking priority and being pushed on us, ads, costs, unwanted changes and updates limiting or completely removing our ability to customize things the way we want. I have Fire TV's and Firesticks throughout my home that I would like to access my media... You just get used to it, then something changes. So frustrating. I don't really even care about the internet so much. (If I have access while away, great but not necessary) Just something that I can run from home and have networked throughout. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thx

[@GroundDwellerStudioS]

Must be desperate if you're asking in KZbin comments. Anyways, it's not a device but have you looked into Kodi? It's less a service and more just skin that kinda sits on top of something else that serves up your media. It's free as far as I'm aware. But hopefully someone else has a better answer for ya.

[@annebokma4637]

​@@GroundDwellerStudioSkodi is great 👍

[@Andrew_Thrift]

Jellyfin is not a "company", it's an open source project. I would suggest taking another look at it.

[@PaulCrawhorn]

Just put Jellyfin on a portable PC or laptop. This box is just dumb storage expansion

[@SamuHell782]

Pinch me... Is that real?