LincStation S1: Affordable and compact NAS unveiled with dual 2.5G networking and up to 112 TB storage

LincStation has unveiled a brand-new NAS (Network-Attached Storage), dubbed the S1. The product is yet to enter the crowdfunding stage, although it has already been previewed on Kickstarter. In terms of specifications, the S1 appears to be a decently equipped system on paper. The S1 NAS will arrive with a retail price of $610, although early-birds on Kickstarter will be offered a 30% discount.

At its core, the LincStation S1 will be powered by the Intel N97 'Alder Lake-N' processor with four cores and four threads, allowing for pretty decent performance that should easily meet the system's requirements. Of course, as with any NAS, storage is undoubtedly the most important aspect, and the S1 NAS delivers in that regard. The system boasts room for four 2.5-inch drives (SATA 3.0), as well as dual M.2 2280 slots (NVMe), allowing for a maximum of 112 TB raw storage. Of course, depending on parity configuration, the actual usable storage space will vary.

The system utilizes the well-reputed Unraid OS, and LincStation provides a starter license with every unit. However, 10G networking is not provided with the S1, which has to settle for dual 2.5G. For folks who mainly want to use the S1 for archival storage, the lack of 10G networking should not be much of a hassle. The S1 NAS sports 128 GB of eMMC storage for the OS and other utilities, as well as 8 GB of DDR5 memory. The port selection is also pretty decent, boasting dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, Type-C, and USB 2.0 Type-A ports.

As with all crowdfunding campaigns, potential customers are advised to practice caution and be aware of the risks involved before backing the project. For those unwilling to wait for the campaign, however, will likely be better served by the 4-bay Ugreen NASync DXP4800 NAS, currently available for $700 on Amazon.