A few network attached storage (NAS) device companies tend to corner the market. Lately, QNAP and Synology have been putting out great products that are hard to beat speed-wise. However, Western Digital has entered the race with the Sentinel DX4000 4TB NAS box. This contender offers up top speeds in addition to decent over-all performance. For Western Digital, the devil is indeed in the details. If you’re in the market for a new NAS box, the DX4000 4TB offers many appealing features.

Inside the DX4000 4TB

Gone are the days of trays. Instead of trays, Western Digital has equipped the DX4000 NAS box with drives that can be slid in or out. These quick-change drives make it very easy to change drives without any kind of hassle or tray trouble. Not only has Western Digital give the DX4000 quick-change drives, this NAS box also comes with two USB 3.0 ports, dual AC jacks and dual Ethernet ports. The two Ethernet ports that Western Digital has added ensure that this box works lightning fast.

You’ll also find that the dual-core Intel Atom D525 CPU inside of this NAS box helps the box to perform exceptionally well. While not as fast as some other NAS boxes on the market, this one certainly holds its own. In addition to a fairly impressive inside, the DX4000 is also an cinch to configure, which is a nice change of pace from earlier Western Digital models.

Interface and Configuration

Western Digital did something very smart and clever when creating the DX4000. Instead of sending out software to be loaded into the box, this NAS box has all of the software you’ll need directly added. In short, you won’t have to mess around with any installation discs when it comes to configuring this box – a real time saver! Setting up this box is easy too. The only thing you’ll really need to do is head to the DX4000’s IP address, follow the prompts, and you’ll be good to go. The one piece of software that does come with this box is the Connector software that will allow you to set up the box for iTunes and some other configurations, though this software is intuitive and simple to work with.

You’ll likely find that Western Digital’s DX4000 doesn’t have the most features out of all the NAS boxes on the market. However, it is one of the fastest multibay NAS boxes going with speeds of up to 57 MBps. The DX4000 is an ideal box for those who have some experience working with NAS boxes, though might prove a tad challenging for users who have never worked with NAS boxes before. All-around, the DX4000 earns top marks for simplicity, user-friendliness, and speed.

At the time of this writing, the DX4000 retailed for around $855, which places it in the mid-range category price-wise. There are certainly cheaper boxes on the market, but this one is a solid box that will provide high speeds and overall great performance for a fair price.