There’s no scarcity of alternative if you happen to want a house NAS, and you do not have to depend on typical HDDs both — all-flash NAS servers are gaining momentum, and the F8 SSD Plus is a terrific showcase on this space. But what if you happen to want a conveyable possibility, one which’s tailor-made to work on the go?
You can get an SSD enclosure, slot in a drive, and join that to your cellphone, and whereas that could be a first rate various, you do not get a lot in the way in which of options. That’s the place UnifyDrive’s UT2 is available in; the NAS is designed to be a really transportable answer, and it comes with the flexibility to again up images and movies out of your cellphone, simply make that information accessible on your house community, and even again up SD playing cards.
While UnifyDrive is a brand new entrant on this class, the UT2 will get rather a lot proper from the get-go, and having used the NAS for simply over a month, I feel it’s a nice alternative if you happen to want a dependable option to again up information whereas touring.
UnifyDrive UT2: Pricing and availability
UnifyDrive is crowdsourcing the UT2, with the NAS obtainable on Kickstarter. The UT2 is slated to retail for $599 when it begins basic availability, however throughout the crowdfunding section, you possibly can choose it up for $399 — a $200 low cost. The challenge has obtained $695,062 in funding as of writing, and UnifyDrive notes deliveries will begin going out from November 2024.
UnifyDrive UT2: Design
UnifyDrive did an excellent job with the design of the UT2, and the NAS has a design that is much like an exterior HDD — albeit greater. There’s a silicone case that offers much-needed safety to the chassis, and the diminutive design means the UT2 would not weigh a lot, coming in at simply 350g.
There’s a vent on the aspect to ship passive airflow to the innards, and the UT2 can maintain two M.2 2280 SSDs. The drive slots are positioned on the underside, and the drive cowl has a slotted design to forestall overheating. The design is refreshingly utilitarian, and the dimensions together with light-weight nature of the UT2 makes it extremely handy to take wherever. It is roughly the identical dimensions as a 20000mAh energy financial institution, however would not weigh as a lot.
Considering the dimensions, you get an exhaustive collection of ports. The UT2 comes with a devoted USB-C port to energy the machine and cost the interior battery, and there is a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port together with HDMI 2.1 connectivity. The HDMI port is a superb addition, because it permits you to join the NAS to a TV — UnifyDrive even bundles a distant with the UT2.
On the opposite aspect, you get a USB-C port, CFexpress slot, commonplace SD card slot, and a USB-A port. The connectivity provides the UT2 a sizeable benefit over conventional exterior drives, and the truth that you possibly can add as much as 16TB of whole storage — 8TB in every M.2 slot — makes it extremely engaging. I did not see any usability points with the UT2; the NAS would not overheat even underneath load, and the silicon cowl does an important job defending the chassis.
UnifyDrive UT2: Features
The UT2 has a good set of options, and what I like probably the most in regards to the machine is the flexibility to simply again up SD playing cards with a single button. Just slot in an SD card, hit the PlugBackup button twice, and it’ll begin backing up the contents of that card. It is a nifty use case, and one I utilized extensively within the month I examined the UT2.
You can arrange the UT2 with the UnifyDrive app on Android, and it has a clear design and comes with a ton of helpful options. Considering UnifyDrive is a brand new entrant, I figured it might have a fundamental cell utility, however that is not the case in any respect. You can simply entry the information on the NAS, again up images and movies in your cellphone to the NAS, monitor system and reminiscence use, and a lot extra.
The exhaustive management is a particular edge, and UnifyDrive deserves credit score for getting this proper on the preliminary attempt. Similar to each different NAS server, you possibly can entry the information by way of SMB — that is how I moved information to and from the NAS with my Windows machine — and there is a flash drive mode that successfully turns the UT2 into an exterior drive.
In flash drive mode, information is partitioned into exFAT so it may be readable as a drive on Windows and macOS machines, and what’s nice about this mode is that you could set the quantity of storage you wish to be accessible. Again, this can be a characteristic that is thought out effectively, and also you get all the opposite ordinary connectivity choices to entry information on your house community, together with DLNA, WebDAV, NFS, and so forth.
The UT2 comes with a built-in battery that safeguards information; it mechanically kicks in while you take away the ability connector, and you may set shutdown limits. The battery lasts underneath 90 minutes, and that is greater than sufficient if you could switch images throughout a shoot.
UnifyDrive UT2: Performance
UnifyDrive did not depart something out with regards to the {hardware}, and the UT2 is powered by a Rockchip platform that has 4 Cortex A76 cores mixed with a quartet of A55 cores clocked as much as 2.4GHz. There’s a Mali-G610 that has six shader cores, and 32GB eMMC flash reminiscence. You get 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM, however it’s soldered, and there is no option to enhance reminiscence down the road.
The twin M.2 2280 slots are based mostly on the Gen 3 commonplace, and UnifyDrive bundled two 500 WD SSDs with the package deal for testing — the retail bundle would not embrace any storage. I did not run into any points when transferring information to the built-in SSD, and I received bandwidth much like that of different all-flash NAS gadgets I examined.
The 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port is a welcome addition, and it permits you to slot within the NAS in a house setting with ease. There’s additionally Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, and also you get the choice to arrange the UT2 as a hotspot. It holds up effectively as an exterior drive when utilizing the flash drive mode, and as I discussed earlier than, the flexibility to again up SD playing cards with the press of a single button is simply handy.
There are a number of options lacking; UnifyDrive is including a characteristic that allows you to again up the contents of the NAS to a cloud server, and a built-in music participant and e-reader aren’t obtainable as of writing.
UnifyDrive UT2: The competitors
UnifyDrive has a novel product within the UT2, and there is not one other NAS that does fairly as a lot and is designed to be transportable. If you want an excellent all-flash server to make use of in your house, I like to recommend TerraMaster’s F8 SSD Plus. It has eight M.2 slots, 10GbE connectivity, and higher software program options. But you do not get any portability with the NAS.
If you want a option to again up information on the go, an exterior SSD continues to be the easiest way, and I like to recommend Crucial’s X10 Pro. I used this drive for the higher a part of a 12 months now, and it has been dependable.
UnifyDrive UT2: Should you purchase it?
You should purchase this if:
- You desire a transportable NAS to again up your cellphone information
- You want a dependable option to again up SD playing cards
- You desire a NAS that doubles as an exterior drive
You should not purchase this if:
- You want a strong feature-set
The thought of a conveyable NAS is very alluring, and to its credit score, UnifyDrive delivered the fundamentals. The UT2 makes it simple to again up information, and the inherently transportable design provides it a particular edge. You get all of the connectivity choices you may ask for, and the {hardware} itself is highly effective — rivaling that of home-based NAS gadgets.
The greatest differentiator is its skill to again up SD and CFexpress with a single button, and the built-in battery permits it for use on the go with none problem. It holds up simply in addition to a house NAS due to 2.5GbE connectivity, and if you happen to want an all-flash server that you should utilize on the street to again up images and movies, the UT2 is a superb total alternative.
