Turnkey network-attached storage (NAS) is becoming more expensive, especially as brands look to differentiate their portfolios from one another. Asustor is one such manufacturer, renown for producing some killer enclosures with robust software support, yet slightly higher prices compared to TerraMaster. The Asustor Lockerstor 4 Gen3 (AS6804T) may be quite the mouthful but that's because this is the third generation Lockerstor 4 NAS with some impressive internal components.

Priced at $1,299, this enclosure is designed for those who are serious about upping their network storage game with an AMD Ryzen processor, plenty of fast DDR5 RAM (with ECC), multiple high-speed network ports (including 10Gb), and four M.2 storage slots for expanding capacity or running cache. Although pricey, this super-powerful unit is a joy to use. Setting up Asustor's ADM software is a breeze and the whole process from start to finish takes mere minutes.

Full Docker container support allows you to install just about anything on the NAS. Whether you plan to stash larger files and backups, run a media streaming service, run home surveillance hardware, and launch some websites, the AS6804T will do all that and then some — so long as you don't mind parting with more than $1,000 for the luxury.

About this review: Asustor provided XDA with a sample for this review but had no input to its contents.

Asustor Lockerstor 4 Gen3 (AS6804T): Price, specs, and availability

There's no looking past the price of the Asustor AS6804T. This is one expensive NAS. Costing $1,299, it's likely far outside the budget range of most homeowners, but Asustor positions this model for enthusiasts or power users and businesses. Let's start with the CPU. The AMD Ryzen V3C14 is a capable processor with four 2.3 GHz cores that can boost up to 3.8 GHz. The base model comes with 16 GB of DDR5-4800 RAM and ECC support. This alone makes it worth the jump in cost if working with lots of sensitive data.

Then there's the configuration of four drive bays and four M.2 slots. How you plan to use these depends on your needs, but Asustor does allow for up to three expansion units to be connected to this single device, opening up an additional number of bays for a capacity of 384 TB when using 24 TB drives. That's plenty of space to work with and the processor and RAM combination should be able to handle high throughput and countless clients connected to the network storage.

Everything is powered by Asustor's ADM OS, which is a joy to use with this latest release. But it's the dual 10 Gb and dual 5 Gb network stack that seals the deal with the AS6804T. That's four rapid connections for hooking up your LAN and other devices for ultra-fast data transfers.

Setting up this NAS is a breeze

Setting up a NAS in 2025 is far easier than it was back in the day. Asustor provides the option of using mobile apps and official software to detect and configure a NAS, or you can simply fetch the assigned IP address from your router and load it in your browser. Some Asustor NAS, the AS6804T included, have a small display on the front with a few buttons. This NAS can even run through the setup process without booting up another device. Follow the on-screen prompts and it'll be live in minutes.

The ADM software is just as good too with its streamlined UX and gorgeous design, especially when dark mode is enabled.

That's a testament to how easy Asustor NAS is to use. The ADM software is just as good too with its streamlined UX and gorgeous design, especially when dark mode is enabled. Even once you're up and running, the small front-facing display can be used to display various stats from the NAS, including temperatures and usage. The buttons can manipulate the main menu and you can even perform a few actions without having to connect to the web UI or open an app. It's such features that make the NAS feel premium.

It's much more than a NAS

The Asustor Lockerstor 4 Gen3 AS6804T is the most affordable entry point to the series with 6, 8, and 10-bay models also available with similar specifications. Gone are the days when you'd use such a device to store data. You'd typically find a two or four-core CPU with slow speeds and weak specs inside a NAS, but the AMD Ryzen V3C14 is an absolute unit of a chip. It also helps that Asustor opted to use DDR5-4800 RAM with full ECC support.

It needs to be this powerful with the four M.2 slots. Even though they run at PCIe x1, it's still good for adding more storage to the enclosure. The two 10Gb ports can be fully saturated, depending on the workload, and you've even got two 5Gb ports to fall back on. You won't have any trouble conencting this NAS to a high-speed LAN. Better still (there's more!), Asustor added a single PCI 4.0 x1 slot for good measure. There's plenty of I/O both inside and out the AS6804T.

Powerful internals for self-hosting everything

Using the AS6804T for storing data and backups would do the NAS a disservice, so I went all-out with testing. Firing up Docker Engine, I installed Jellyfin, Frigate, Immich, Home Assistant, and NextCloud. Running everythign together wasn't an issue with low CPU and RAM usage. So I stepped things up a notch with virtualization. Speaking of which, I'll take a moment to call out the lack of any HDMI ports on the rear, which can be used for outputting video and content to a connected screen.

Using the AS6804T for storing data and backups would do the NAS a disservice.

That said, the internal prowess of the AS6804T means you can get away with virtualizing enviornments for remote connection. I then dumped a huge load of files onto the NAS over the 5Gb port and things heated up slightly for system resource usage. It's a versatile NAS though there are ways you can really put it to the test, especially with four M.2 SSD slots and multi-port high-speed LAN connections. This does mean the SSD slots are limited to just x1, but it's better than not having any.

Should you buy the Asustor Lockerstor 4 Gen3 (AS6804T)?

You should buy this NAS if:

• You plan to self-host numerous services from home.
• You require a powerful NAS for enthusiast or business use.
• You can make use of the high-speed network links.
• You plan to use the NAS for much more than storing files.

You shouldn't buy this NAS if:

• You simply plan to stash some files.
• You won't be able to fully utilize the internal specs.
• You don't feel comfortable spending more than $1,000 on a NAS.
• You have the means to build your own for less.

Should you purchase this 4-bay enclosure, which has almost the same performance as a mini PC? That's a good question and one that comes down to whether you feel comfortable spending this amount of money on a NAS. One thing to bear in mind is it's a diskless NAS, which is the same for all enclosures. You'll need to factor in the cost of drives, both HDDs and SSDs. If you're banking on using an expansion unit with this NAS, you'll need to add that (and its drives) to the total cost too.

This is one of the most powerful 4-bay NAS I've tested to-date and it's brilliant.

Asustor has brought its ADM software up to a similar standard as Synology's DSM and QNAP's QTS, but it still feels slightly shallow in terms of advanced features. I'm talking AI-driven functionality and cloud support. This won't be a deal breaker for most, but if you are hoping to utilize the available performance with AI-driven workloads, you may have to look elsewhere. QNAP has been working magic with its AI developments, even offering physical adapters for NAS.

But that's not what Asustor is boasting with the AS6804T. It's simply a very powerful NAS. So much so that you won't notice any system slowdown running countless Docker containers on this thing. It's priced accordingly because this is one of the most powerful 4-bay NAS I've tested to-date and it's brilliant.