Question 1

Do I have to have this plugged into a router to use or can I simply connect the ethernet cable to my laptop directly?

Accepted Answer

It depends on what you want to do with it. If you plug it into your laptop, it is effectively another external hard drive. But it's called a Network Accessible Storage unit, so  if you want to access it from other devices, you would need to connect it to a router.

Question 2

Can you use this as a dlna media server?

Accepted Answer

Yes....
UPnP AV Media Server
The UPnP AV Media Server app can turn your NAS into your home’s multimedia streaming server. As
long as you have devices that support UPnP or DLNA (for example, SONY BRAVIA TV or
PlayStation3®), you can directly browse and stream the pictures, music and videos stored on your
NAS.
Additionally, you can use UPnP/DLNA compatible applications on your mobile device (for example, a
notebook, iPhone or iPad) to stream multimedia files from your NAS.

Question 3

Does it support RAID ?

Accepted Answer

Yes.....
RAID 0,1,5,6,10

Question 4

Will this work with both Windows and MAC OS (time machine)?

Accepted Answer

Yes, It supports all versions of Windows, OS X 10.6 ( and up ), Unix, Linux and BSD.... You can either directly connect to it with your file system, or remote into it via your web client of choice.

Question 5

What hardware is needed to install two 4TB drives in the NAS? Thanks

Accepted Answer

You will need the drives of course, but the Asustor came with everything else needed to mount the drives and the installation is quite easy. Even the screws have extended grips that can be turned in by hand, but having a small Phillips head screwdriver will help.

Questions & Answers