ASUSTOR Lockerstor Gen3 NAS Overview

The ASUSTOR Lockerstor Gen3 platform represents the current high performance desktop tier within the Lockerstor NAS family. It continues the Lockerstor design philosophy of combining multi bay SATA storage, integrated NVMe acceleration, and advanced networking in a desktop form factor, while introducing a new processor architecture and higher I/O ceilings.

Lockerstor Gen3 systems are positioned for environments that require sustained throughput, higher memory integrity, and flexible network configurations without moving into rackmount or enterprise only platforms. While the underlying architecture differs significantly from the earlier generations, Gen3 remains part of the same desktop Lockerstor lineage and operates within the same ADM software ecosystem.

Platform Architecture

Lockerstor Gen3 systems are built on an AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000-series processor platform, making a transition away from Intel Celeron based designs used in prior generations. The platform retains full x86-64 compatibility and supports the same ADM operating environment and application ecosystem used across the Lockerstor line.

The Ryzen Embedded architecture emphasizes multi threaded compute performance and high I/O bandwidth. Unlike Intel based Lockerstor systems, Gen3 does not include an integrated GPU. Media processing and transcoding tasks therefore rely on CPU resources rather than dedicated hardware acceleration.

From a platform perspective, Gen3 is designed to prioritize sustained compute availability and I/O consistency across concurrent services, rather than specialization for any single workload type. This approach aligns the platform more closely with multi service, multi user environments where storage, networking, and application workloads operate in parallel.

Above is an image of the ASUSTOR Lockerstor 4, 6, and 10 Gen3 NAS devices at CES 2025. Photo by David Aughinbaugh II for CircuitRoute.

Memory and Storage Architecture

Lockerstor Gen3 introduces a new memory architecture within the Lockerstor family. Systems use DDR5 ECC memory, providing increased bandwidth and error correction capabilities compared to previous DDR4 designs. Memory is user expandable within platform limits, allowing the system to scale for workloads such as virtualization, containerized services, and large scale file operations.

Primary storage is provided through SATA drive bays, maintaining compatibility with high capacity HDDs and SATA SSDs. In addition, all Gen3 models include four internal M.2 NVMe slots. These slots support NVMe SSDs and can be configured either as cache acceleration or as independent high performance storage pools.

The NVMe subsystem operates on a PCIe Gen4 interface, enabling substantially higher throughput and lower latency than earlier generations. As with earlier Lockerstor platforms, NVMe resources may be allocated flexibly based on workload requirements rather than being restricted to a single acceleration role. This architecture supports tiered storage configurations where frequently accessed data, virtual machine images, or active project files can reside on NVMe media while bulk data remains on SATA drives.

Networking and Expansion

Networking is defining characteristic of the Lockerstor Gen3 platform. All Gen3 systems provide multiple multi gigabit Ethernet interfaces designed to support high bandwidth and multi client environments.

The platform supports a combination of 10 gigabit and 5 gigabit Ethernet connectivity, allowing flexible deployment scenarios. These interfaces may be used for link aggregation, SMB multichannel operation, or separation of traffic across different networks, depending on infrastructure design. This enables parallel client access, segmented traffic for storage, backup, or application services, and improved consistency under concurrent workloads.

The intent of the Gen3 networking design is to ensure that network throughput does not become the limiting factor as a storage and application demands scale. Gen3 also expands external connectivity through the inclusion of USB4 ports, enabling high speed external storage and advanced peripheral connectivity. PCIe expansion remains available at the platform level, with expansion capability scaling by chassis size. Larger chassis variants provide greater physical and electrical headroom for optional expansion cards.

Software and Workload Capabilities

All Lockerstor Gen3 systems run on ASUSTOR’s ADM operating system and support the same core software features found across the Lockerstor lineup.

Common platform capabilities include:

• Snapshot based data protection
• Backup and synchronization workflows
• Centralized storage for multi user environments
• Virtualization and containerized workloads within platform limits
• Media services and streaming applications

Gen3 systems support virtualization and container workloads within platform limits. The combination of increased CPU resources ECC memory, and NVMe storage allows multiple services to operate concurrently, including virtual machines, Docker containers, and application stacks that benefit from higher I/O consistency.

Media services are supported through ADM, with architectural differences influencing how workloads are handled. Gen3 systems rely on CPU based processing rather than hardware media acceleration, which is an important consideration for environments with sustained or concurrent real time transcoding requirements.

Model Lineup

The Lockerstor Gen3 desktop lineup consists of four models differentiated primarily by drive bay count and physical scale.

Models:

• Lockerstor 4 Gen3 (AS6804T)
• Lockerstor 6 Gen3 (AS6806T)
• Lockerstor 8 Gen3 (AS6808T)
• Lockerstor 10 Gen3 (AS6810T)

All models share the same underlying platform architecture, memory and NVMe design, and networking capabilities. Differences relate to storage capacity, expansion headroom, and deployment scale rather than core functionality.

Use Case

Lockerstor Gen3 systems are commonly deployed in small business, professional, and advanced home environments where higher sustained performance and reliability are required.

Typical deployment scenarios include:

• Centralized file storage
• Backup and snapshot based data protection
• Virtualization and container hosting
• High throughput collaborative workflows
• Small business and advanced home lab environments

Workload suitability is influenced by storage configuration, memory capacity, and network design rather than by model designation alone.

Relationship to Other Lockerstor Generations

Lockerstor Gen3 builds on the same desktop Lockerstor concept established in earlier generations while introducing a new processor architecture and expanded I/O capabilities. Earlier Gen2/Gen2+ systems remain relevant for deployments that benefit from Intel based media acceleration or lower power profiles.

A separate Gen2 vs Gen3 comparison article examines the architectural and capability differences between the two generations.