Asustor Lockerstor 2 Gen2+ NAS Review: Enterprise Security Meets Compact Hardware

The network-attached storage market has long balanced the scales between consumer-friendly simplicity and professional-grade control. Devices aimed at home users often prioritize straightforward setups, media streaming out of the box, and intuitive user interfaces that require minimal technical knowledge. Conversely, enterprise systems lean heavily into rigorous data protection, granular access controls, and complex administrative frameworks that can easily overwhelm a beginner.

Spending the past few weeks putting the Asustor Lockerstor 2 Gen2+ NAS through its paces reveals a system that firmly occupies the latter category. Priced at an MSRP of $517, this compact two-bay storage solution offers an experience distinct from standard consumer hardware. Focusing primarily on security and enterprise-grade features, the system targets small to medium-sized businesses and advanced enthusiasts, though it may present a steep learning curve for anyone just starting out with homelabbing or self-hosting.

Price and Availability

The Asustor Lockerstor 2 Gen2+ NAS is widely available through major electronics retailers and online storefronts. Customers can purchase the unit starting at $517 from platforms including Amazon, Best Buy, B&H Photo Video, Newegg, and Micro Center.

As a diskless system, this initial investment covers only the base hardware enclosure, meaning users must budget separately for SATA hard drives, high-speed M.2 SSDs, and any potential memory upgrades. The hardware package includes two 2.5/3.5-inch SATA III drive bays, four M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 NVMe slots, an Intel Celeron N5105 quad-core processor running at 2.0GHz with a burst frequency up to 2.9GHz, and 4GB of DDR4-2933 SO-DIMM memory that is expandable up to 16GB. Physical connectivity includes two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, a single USB 2.0 Type-A port, an HDMI 2.0b port, and dual 5GbE RJ45 LAN ports. The unit itself measures 163.5 by 108 by 230 millimeters and weighs 4.41 pounds, operating on the ASUSTOR Data Master operating system.

Solid Hardware, But Missing One Core Feature

Evaluating the physical design of a storage enclosure at a price point exceeding $500 naturally raises expectations regarding build quality and convenience. While the Lockerstor 2 Gen2+ delivers impressive raw specifications in several areas, it makes a notable omission in how standard hard drives are installed.

A storage system in this price tier should feature toolless drive bays without question. While users generally expect to reach for a screwdriver when securing smaller 2.5-inch solid-state drives, installing standard 3.5-inch mechanical hard drives ought to be as simple as engaging side latches on the tray. Competitors in the space, such as Synology, Ugreen, and TerraMaster, successfully incorporate toolless caddies into their designs. Skipping this convenience in a modern two-bay device feels like a surprising oversight.

Beyond the primary drive caddies, the hardware layout offers a clever internal design accessed by removing just three screws located at the rear panel. Once unscrewed, the entire outer shell slides away to expose four M.2 NVMe drive slots alongside a SO-DIMM DDR4 memory slot. This interior accessibility makes upgrading memory or configuring NVMe storage straightforward once the initial panel is removed. Interestingly, the M.2 slots utilize a toolless installation mechanism, highlighting a curious design dichotomy where the smaller solid-state slots benefit from modern convenience while the primary 3.5-inch hard drive bays rely on traditional fastening methods.

ADM Gives You a Lot of Control — And a Lot to Manage

Operating system software plays a defining role in any network-attached storage device, and Asustor’s proprietary ASUSTOR Data Master platform sets this hardware apart from consumer-focused alternatives. Managing Linux network systems for extended periods reveals that ADM ranks among the more complex and feature-rich interfaces available in the consumer and small-business market.

While manufacturers like Synology and Ugreen often tailor their operating systems to everyday consumers, Asustor aims the Lockerstor 2 Gen2+ at a different clientele. The inclusion of extensive business and enterprise features provides administrators with an exceptional degree of control over their data environment. This depth of configuration is comparable to transitioning from a basic consumer router to an enterprise-grade networking setup; the added complexity serves a distinct purpose centered on security and multi-user management.

The initial software setup process immediately reflects this professional orientation, prompting administrators with detailed configuration questions that establish multi-user permissions right from the start. Security management is handled through ADM Defender, a robust suite that integrates a firewall and other defensive protocols. During testing, the security platform actively demonstrated its strict rules by temporarily restricting SSH access until trusted IP addresses or safe ranges were explicitly defined.

Additional security layers include Intelligent Protection, which evaluates traffic against specific behavioral rules to determine whether incoming connection attempts should be blocked. The system maintains an automatic blocklist populated by IP addresses that repeatedly fail authentication across designated services. Furthermore, a Risk Detection Greylist automatically scans online databases to identify potentially malicious IP addresses, neutralizing external threats before they ever attempt to establish a connection with the NAS.

These administrative tools illustrate that ADM is fundamentally an enterprise-focused operating system adapted for hardware that can be deployed in smaller environments. Users seeking a plug-and-play experience with minimal configuration hurdles may find the interface overly demanding. However, work environments that place data security ahead of absolute simplicity will likely find that ADM and the underlying hardware form a cohesive pairing.

Its Older Hardware Doesn’t Hold It Back

Despite utilizing the Intel Celeron N5105 processor, a component originally introduced in 2021, the system defies expectations regarding processing capability. Paired with the base 4GB of RAM, the processor handles routine storage operations without performance bottlenecks.

During homelab testing involving file transfers across two 4TB SATA hard drives configured without an NVMe cache, the hardware easily saturated standard gigabit and 2.5Gb network connections. For users requiring additional headroom, the system supports memory expansion up to 16GB by replacing the existing module.

To evaluate multimedia capabilities, the NAS was subjected to rigorous Plex media server transcoding workloads. The hardware handled simultaneous transcoding tasks with surprising efficiency. Transcoding a high-bitrate 4K video source running at 65Mb/s down to 1080p at 8Mb/s sustained up to four simultaneous streams. Reducing the output resolution to 720p at 4Mb/s allowed for five concurrent streams, while transcoding a 1080p source at 9Mb/s down to 480p at 1.5Mb/s supported an impressive 14 simultaneous streams.

Throughout these tests, the source files maintained their HEVC format during transcoding while viewed through a standard web browser client. Achieving 14 concurrent streams from 1080p to standard definition demonstrates that the quad-core processor retains notable media handling prowess. Asustor markets the system for multi-stream transcoding and livestreaming workloads, and the empirical test results validate those claims.

Should You Buy the Asustor Lockerstor 2 Gen2+ NAS?

Deciding whether to invest in the Asustor Lockerstor 2 Gen2+ depends heavily on intended use cases and technical requirements. With an MSRP exceeding $500, the hardware occupies a higher price bracket for a two-bay configuration, requiring buyers to pay a premium for advanced NVMe expansion options and an enterprise-centric operating system.

For the average consumer looking for a simple home file repository or a basic photo backup vault, the device offers features far beyond standard daily requirements. While it functions admirably as a media server, its true value lies in environments that demand robust security infrastructure and granular administrative controls. Small businesses, enterprise branch offices, and advanced enthusiasts focused on secure, scalable data management will find that the Lockerstor 2 Gen2+ aligns closely with their operational needs.