To most people a stacked NAS might refer to being able to physically place one NAS box atop another. Not Thecus.

Thecus’s Stacked NAS feature, introduced to the 5200 Pro/1U4500 via free firmware update, allows users to stack up to six Networked Attached Storage (NAS) boxes so that they can appear as one single large NAS unit. Put in perspective, this would allow one NAS unit to appear as over 25TB of storage. Wow.

To make administering quick and easy, Thecus have set up the system so that it can be controlled by one single master NAS unit which can be used to monitored the entire array.

And as this clearly isn’t a big enough update(!) Thecus have also added IP Camera functionality to the N5200/N5200Pro. This allows users to plug in a compatible IP Camera to periodically send snapshots to an email account, right from the NAS box. No PC required.

As we are currently evaluating the D-Link DNS-323 NAS device, we are keen to take a look at one of Thecus’s stackable monsters to see how it compares. Stay tuned.