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The Promise Technology SmartStor NS4600 showed a tremendous amount of potential, yet it left us terribly disappointed. At first we were disappointed with how difficult the SmartStor NS4600 was to configure, and then with the lack of flexibility. However it was when we began to test the SmartStor NS4600 that we became even more disappointed with the product, though not because it performed badly, in fact quite the opposite. Rather it was a case of being frustrated with the SmartStor NS4600, because it was only let down by poorly designed software. The build quality of this NAS device is superb, as it truly is one of the best designed 4-bay products that we have come across. Then there is the performance, and while the SmartStor NS4600 might not blow your socks off, it does have some go about it. When compared to the more expensive Synology DS409+ we found that the Promise Technology SmartStor NS4600 was surprisingly competitive. For around $420 US the performance of the SmartStor NS4600 is as good as any 4-bay NAS device. In our subjective testing the SmartStor NS4600 was able to sustain transfer speeds of between 30-40MB/s as advertised. Again, while the SmartStor NS4600 is not going to set any new speed records, the performance does match the price tag, and ultimately that is all we can ask for. Unfortunately, with any NAS device performance is only half of the equation, and without the software to back it up you may not be getting what you paid for. Sadly this is the case with the SmartStor NS4600, as we found the software side of things to be a complete let down. Rather than keep things simple, it seemed as though Promise were trying to make the software too powerful and this is where it all went wrong. Rather than house all the settings and options in the WebPASM software, they tied many of the SmartStor NS4600 functions into the SmartNAVI utility. This means this software must be installed on every computer that plans to use features such as the Download Station, and that quite plainly is a pain in the backside. Ideally we would have liked the option of using either the SmartNAVI or WebPASM software to utilize these features. Furthermore, having the ability to completely disable and remove certain features would have also been nice, particularly if you never plan to use them. Comparing Synology’s Disk Station Manager 2.1 to the SmartNAVI software is like comparing chalk and cheese, the Synology software is just that much better. Given that Synology now offers a non-plus version of the DS409 that carries the same price tag as the SmartStor NS4600, we would have trouble recommending the Promise product simply due to the software issues. Furthermore, the DS409 features twice as much memory, and a processor that operates at twice the frequency, so we can only assume that the performance will be as good or better than the SmartStor NS4600. Overall we were pleased with the performance that the Promise Technology SmartStor NS4600 delivered, we were wrapped with the design and build quality but we were underwhelmed by the software. This has been the case with so many NAS devices in the past, and therefore it is not all that surprising that the SmartStor NS4600 has been let down in this regard. For now we hope that Promise can improve this aspect of the SmartStor NS4600 with further Firmware updates, helping to make it a more competitive product. Reviewed By Steven Walton |
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