ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 6 Gen2 (AS6706T) six-bay NAS review

The ASUSTOR LOCKERSTOR 6 Gen2 (AS6706T) is the original six-bay member of ASUSTOR's Gen2 desktop NAS family. This assessment is tied to manufacturer product ID 78 and to the separate U.S.-English comparison entry for AS6706T. It is not the later LOCKERSTOR 6 Gen2+ (AS6706T v2, product ID 96), and no exact U.S. retail suffix or seller package was established. ASUSTOR's support table currently labels the original AS6706T Generally Available, with software and technical support supported; that is a manufacturer status reference, not evidence that a particular shop has stock or honors a specific warranty.

Six SATA trays, plus a separate M.2 layer

The exact specification lists six internal SATA III positions for 2.5- or 3.5-inch hard drives and SSDs. It also lists four M.2 2280 NVMe slots on a separate PCIe interface. Those four connectors can be part of a cache or storage plan, but they are not extra SATA bays and do not turn the chassis into a ten-bay NAS. For matching or planning a mirror, count the six native SATA positions only.

ASUSTOR's stated maximum internal raw capacity is 108 TB, shown as six 18-TB drives, with a warning that RAID changes usable capacity. Treat that as manufacturer arithmetic, not a promise of usable space, compatibility with every current drive, or a disk bundle. The specification separately says an expansion unit can raise the combined bay count to fourteen. That does not make the base AS6706T a fourteen-bay enclosure, and no specific expansion-unit package or seller configuration was verified here. Compare the actual chassis count and any external shelf as separate choices.

Two 2.5-Gbps ports are not one 5-Gbps port

The original AS6706T has two built-in Ethernet ports, each listed at 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet. For a requirement about one built-in port, the documented ceiling is 2.5 Gbps. Two ports may support link aggregation or SMB Multichannel in a compatible setup, but the client, switch or router, cabling, storage, operating system and workload all affect what happens. A combined-link capability is not a single 5-Gbps socket or a tested file-copy rate.

ASUSTOR lists one PCIe slot for an optional 10GbE network card, which may be relevant to a workstation or network designed around a faster link. The exact AS6706T datasheet adds an important installation restriction: fitting the NIC requires removal of the M.2 daughterboard. Do not assume you can add the card and retain the daughterboard's M.2 positions in the same configuration. The card is optional, not pre-installed, and does not make 10GbE a built-in interface. Verify the exact card and decide which expansion path matters before choosing drives or paying for accessories.

A mirror is possible, but the owner creates it

ASUSTOR lists RAID 1 among the supported volume types for this model. A possible plan is to buy two compatible SATA drives, create a RAID 1 volume, and use one of the built-in 2.5-Gbps ports. That arrangement consumes two of six native SATA bays and leaves four positions open. It is a supported configuration scenario, not a factory-installed array or a claim that any particular drive pair has been tested here. Check each drive's exact model and firmware against ASUSTOR's current compatibility resources before ordering.

A mirrored pair can help a volume remain available after a supported member-drive failure, but it does not provide a separate copy against accidental deletion, malware, theft, fire, enclosure failure or an administrative mistake. Keep a restorable backup on another device or location and test that recovery plan. The manufacturer's package page lists no data drives or configured volume, so the buyer must supply and initialize the storage. ASUSTOR's Quick Installation Guide warns that initialization erases data on the disks; preserve a separate copy before installing previously used drives.

Memory, physical fit and the package list

The U.S.-English comparison and exact datasheet list an 8-GB DDR4-2933 memory configuration, expandable to a stated 16-GB maximum. They identify a quad-core Intel Celeron N5105, HDMI 2.0b output, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and a listed 250-W power rating. These are specifications, not a prediction that a particular container, virtual machine, transcoding job or media workload will perform at a given speed.

The listed body measures 185.5 × 233 × 230 mm (height × width × depth) and weighs 4.4 kg before drives and cables. Allow additional room for airflow, cable routing and access to the trays. ASUSTOR's datasheet publishes reference power figures of 48.5 W in operation, 27.7 W in disk hibernation and 0.81 W in sleep; these are manufacturer figures, not measurements from this review, and an installed drive set or workload can change consumption.

The product-ID-78 package list names the NAS unit, a Quick Installation Guide, an AC power cord, two Cat 5e network cables, twenty-four 3.5-inch HDD screws and twenty-four 2.5-inch HDD screws. It does not list data drives or a prepared RAID volume. A seller may add a different bundle, but that cannot be inferred from the manufacturer page or the exterior image. Check the exact model label, drive models, included accessories, return terms and seller warranty on the offer you are considering.

Keep the original and v2 configurations separate

The model name deserves a suffix check. Original AS6706T has two 2.5-Gbps ports. The separate AS6706T v2 datasheet identifies two 5-Gigabit ports and adds a rear USB 2.0 port while retaining its own six SATA bays, four M.2 slots and 8-GB memory profile. Do not copy the v2's faster port figure onto an original AS6706T listing, or assume a seller's title identifies which chassis is in the carton. The two product pages and datasheets are separate manufacturer records.

Who should consider this profile?

The AS6706T is a plausible shortlist candidate when six native SATA positions, a separate four-slot M.2 layer and two individually rated 2.5-Gbps links fit the plan. A two-drive RAID 1 option leaves four SATA trays available for later choices, but consumes half the bays immediately and still requires a separate backup. Someone prioritizing a faster single built-in port should compare a model documented with that port rating or carefully assess the optional card and its daughterboard tradeoff. Someone who needs a guaranteed drive/firmware pairing, exact retailer bundle, current offer, seller coverage or measured workload speed needs evidence beyond this model-level review.

This is an original, source-based assessment of the AS6706T specification, U.S.-English comparison, package list, Quick Installation Guide, status table and model datasheet. No hands-on use, ownership, installation, benchmarking, acoustic test, power measurement or customer experience is claimed.

Primary references: ASUSTOR's AS6706T product record, its exact hardware and package specification, the AS6706T datasheet, the 2026 U.S.-English comparison, and the separate AS6706T v2 datasheet.