What's inside
Installing the drives is a doddle, but there's no quick setup option, so you'll need to spend some time with the Open-E DSS V6 Lite's web-based interface to get your RAID configuration up and running.
A look inside shows the Intel Atom-based innards, and everything looks tidy enough, with Armari doing a decent job in terms of cable management. The 60mm fan up front looks like it could be detrimental to a quiet working environment - we found both it and the two 80mm fans at the rear to be noisier than we'd like - but it's likely to go unnoticed in an office. Armari tells us the box is built for stability, and is therefore designed to favour air-flow and cooling rather than low-noise operation.
It's a fairly standard NAS box thus far, but Armari's special sauce is the addition of an on-board AST2050 IPMI v2.0 processor, a feature typically found on enterprise mainboards. On a NAS, it allows administrators to remotely connect to the BrontaStor 4TE at all times - even when the server is powered down.
Through the IPMI interface, which is accessed over the Gigabit Ethernet port, an administrator can check system health, remotely power on the server or make use of full KVM-over-IP functionality. It's a feature that's available to few other NAS solutions, and one that may appeal to business users who could have the server powered down on weekends or evenings, but retain access at all times via IPMI.
The retail bundle is fairly basic, including only a 120W external power adapter and a pair of Cat5 cables. There's currently no manual for the BrontaStor 4TE - Armari is in the process of creating a setup guide - but users can turn to the Open-E documentation for help.
That documentation is likely to come in handy, as Open-E DSS V6 Lite will feel foreign to anyone other than networking specialists.
Unlike the user-friendly AJAX-based web interfaces on offer from rival manufacturers, the BrontaStor 4TE's Open-E operating system is geared toward the enterprise user and will come across as daunting to everyone else.
There's ample functionality on offer - including the ability to run anti-virus on the NAS itself - but you may need help in getting the most out of it. Fortunately, help is on hand as Armari provides all would-be buyers with a free training course at its Hertfordshire base, or an over-the-phone setup tutorial for any customers further afield.
It's a huge bonus to have UK-based help whilst you add the BrontaStor 4TE to your network, and Armari backs the box with a standard 24-month return-to-base warranty.
For a complete list of DSS V6 Lite features, head on over to Open-E.com.