Quick look on performance and power usage of Aoostar R1 N150
2088 words, 10 minutes
I bought a noname 2 bays NAS that looks like the Aoostar R1 N150.
And before putting it into production, I had a quick look on how it performs on various OSes and how many watts it eats.
The are quite a few references for this model on AliExpress. The main difference is you can get an Intel N150 or an AMD R7 5825U machine. I choose the N150 because of the price and the fact that its TDP is 6 W when the 5825U is 45 W.
My model is the Intel(R) N150 (4 cores @ 3.6 GHz), should support up to 32 GB of DDR4 and has two Intel I226-V network cards.
2025-09-24: it does indeed supports 32 GB. I use a Kingston FURY Impact 32GB 3200MHz DDR4 CL20 in OmniOS now.
The exact reference in the BIOS is “TianBei WTR N1” and the boot splash screen shows an AOOSTAR logo. So it’s probably not that far from the “original” AOOSTAR machine. The same specs are also available on the Topton NAS R1 PRO, some CHATREEY unlabelled machine and a few other noname models; all looking the same.
To get a first idea on how it performs, I just put an 8GB RAM stick and a 4TB NVMe. I’ll add SATA disks later on when I have decided which OS I want to use.
The power consumption is gathered from a Fibaro FGWP102 connected to Home Assistant.
Debian 13.1
Once installed, the machine IDLEs at 9 W. Using powertop doesn’t seem
to do better that this.
The network tests, using iperf3, used about 11 W.
$ iperf3 -c example.com -n 24G
(...)
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr
[ 5] 0.00-228.00 sec 24.0 GBytes 904 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 5] 0.00-228.00 sec 24.0 GBytes 904 Mbits/sec receiver
Using the stress software drew about 22 W from the wall.
# stress --cpu 2 --io 1 --vm 1 --vm-bytes 4G --hdd 1 --timeout 1m
stress: info: [5290] dispatching hogs: 2 cpu, 1 io, 1 vm, 1 hdd
stress: info: [5290] successful run completed in 60s
The couple of commands used to evaluate storage performance revealed a power consumption of about 20 W.
# bonnie++ -u 1000 -d /home/joel -r 16384
(...)
Version 2.00a ------Sequential Output------ --Sequential Input- --Random-
-Per Chr- --Block-- -Rewrite- -Per Chr- --Block-- --Seeks--
Name:Size etc /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP
nas 32G 732k 99 1.3g 98 587m 93 2748k 99 1.3g 81 6999 150
Latency 12815us 26648us 28074us 6561us 6268us 5726us
Version 2.00a ------Sequential Create------ --------Random Create--------
nas -Create-- --Read--- -Delete-- -Create-- --Read--- -Delete--
files /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP
16 16384 97 +++++ +++ 16384 93 16384 98 +++++ +++ +++++ +++
Latency 546us 1237us 1847us 216us 10us 1153us
1.98,2.00a,nas,1,1758417900,32G,,8192,5,732,99,1409015,98,600857,93,2748,99,1317627,81,6999,150,16,,,,,15537,97,+++++,+++,31206,93,23006,98,+++++,+++,+++++,+++,12815us,26648us,28074us,6561us,6268us,5726us,546us,1237us,1847us,216us,10us,1153us
# dd if=/dev/urandom of=TEST bs=10M status=progress
566+0 enregistrements lus
566+0 enregistrements écrits
5934940160 octets (5,9 GB, 5,5 GiB) copiés, 33,5572 s, 177 MB/s
# dd if=/dev/zero of=TEST bs=10M status=progress
3596+0 enregistrements lus
3596+0 enregistrements écrits
37706792960 octets (38 GB, 35 GiB) copiés, 23,6143 s, 1,6 GB/s
After installing Xfce on Xorg, I could watch, fullscreen, 1080p and 4K YouTube videos in Firefox ESR. This required about 17 W.
FreeBSD 14.3
The installation process used about 12 W.
While the server was IDLE, with USB dock and HDMI connected, it also
used about 12 W. When disconnecting both, it went down to 11 W. Using
powerd didn’t change the power consumption.
The network tests, using iperf3, used about 11 W.
$ iperf3 -c example.com -n 24G
(...)
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr
[ 5] 0.00-220.01 sec 24.0 GBytes 937 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 5] 0.00-220.02 sec 24.0 GBytes 937 Mbits/sec receiver
Using the stress software drew about 21 W from the wall.
# stress --cpu 2 --io 1 --vm 1 --vm-bytes 4G --hdd 1 --timeout 1m
stress: info: [1799] dispatching hogs: 2 cpu, 1 io, 1 vm, 1 hdd
stress: info: [1799] successful run completed in 60s
The couple of commands used to evaluate storage performance revealed a power consumption of about 21 W.
# bonnie++ -u 1000 -d /tmp -r 16384
(...)
Version 1.98 ------Sequential Output------ --Sequential Input- --Random-
-Per Chr- --Block-- -Rewrite- -Per Chr- --Block-- --Seeks--
Name:Size etc /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP
nas 32G 449k 99 1.7g 96 1.2g 96 1044k 100 2.9g 99 +++++ +++
Latency 19235us 6055us 7214us 9375us 272us 1386us
Version 1.98 ------Sequential Create------ --------Random Create--------
nas -Create-- --Read--- -Delete-- -Create-- --Read--- -Delete--
files /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP
16 +++++ +++ +++++ +++ +++++ +++ +++++ +++ +++++ +++ +++++ +++
Latency 905us 43us 60us 891us 25us 57us
1.98,1.98,nas,1,1758396880,32G,,8192,5,449,99,1783834,96,1285588,96,1044,100,3023117,99,+++++,+++,16,,,,,+++++,+++,+++++,+++,+++++,+++,+++++,+++,+++++,+++,+++++,+++,19235us,6055us,7214us,9375us,272us,1386us,905us,43us,60us,891us,25us,57us
# dd if=/dev/urandom of=TEST bs=10M status=progress
^C4928307200 bytes (4928 MB, 4700 MiB) transferred 17.005s, 290 MB/s
472+0 records in
472+0 records out
4949278720 bytes transferred in 17.120202 secs (289089971 bytes/sec)
# dd if=/dev/zero of=TEST bs=10M status=progress
^C32893829120 bytes (33 GB, 31 GiB) transferred 14.001s, 2349 MB/s
3256+0 records in
3255+0 records out
34131148800 bytes transferred in 14.535346 secs (2348148308 bytes/sec)
I couldn’t have Xorg working. It seems the Intel GPU is not recognized and has no DRM device attached.
NetBSD 10.1
The installation process used about 17 W. When the server is in IDLE mode, it used about 13 W.
The network tests, using iperf3, used about 15 W.
# iperf3 -c example.com -n 24G
(...)
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr
[ 7] 0.00-267.01 sec 24.0 GBytes 772 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 7] 0.00-267.02 sec 24.0 GBytes 772 Mbits/sec receiver
The couple of commands used to evaluate storage performance revealed a power consumption of about 19 W.
# bonnie++ -u 1000 -d /home/joel -r 16384
(...)
Version 1.98 ------Sequential Output------ --Sequential Input- --Random-
-Per Chr- --Block-- -Rewrite- -Per Chr- --Block-- --Seeks--
Name:Size etc /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP
nas.home.arpa 32G 788k 99 617m 88 540m 93 2304k 99 1.6g 75 4766 174
Latency 12568us 140ms 235ms 2981us 3707us 174ms
Version 1.98 ------Sequential Create------ --------Random Create--------
nas.home.arpa -Create-- --Read--- -Delete-- -Create-- --Read--- -Delete--
files /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP
16 +++++ +++ +++++ +++ +++++ +++ +++++ +++ +++++ +++ +++++ +++
Latency 2427us 14us 30us 2401us 17us 34us
1.98,1.98,nas.home.arpa,1,1758406732,32G,,8192,5,788,99,631614,88,553225,93,2304,99,1695531,75,4766,174,16,,,,,+++++,+++,+++++,+++,+++++,+++,+++++,+++,+++++,+++,+++++,+++,12568us,140ms,235ms,2981us,3707us,174ms,2427us,14us,30us,2401us,17us,34us
# dd if=/dev/urandom of=TEST bs=10m
^C168+0 records in
168+0 records out
1761607680 bytes transferred in 33.233 secs (53007783 bytes/sec)
# dd if=/dev/zero of=TEST bs=10M
^C3897+0 records in
3896+0 records out
40852520960 bytes transferred in 37.021 secs (1103495879 bytes/sec)
Xfce on Xorg worked but only in VESA mode; I got a 1024x768 resolution on my 4K monitor. Because it was using VESA, I didn’t even try watching 1080p or 4K video.
OpenBSD 7.7
The installation process used from 13 W to 21 W depending on what it was doing. The 21 W were consumed when the kernel was prepared.
When the server is IDLE, it gets 11 W from the wall.
The network tests, using iperf3, used about 15 W.
# iperf3 -c example.com -n 24G
(...)
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr
[ 4] 0.00-219.02 sec 24.0 GBytes 941 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 4] 0.00-219.21 sec 24.0 GBytes 940 Mbits/sec receiver
Using the stress software drew about 19 W from the wall.
# ulimit -d unlimited
# stress --cpu 2 --io 1 --vm 1 --vm-bytes 4G --hdd 1 --timeout 1m
stress: info: [88494] dispatching hogs: 2 cpu, 1 io, 1 vm, 1 hdd
stress: info: [88494] successful run completed in 60s
The couple of commands used to evaluate storage performance revealed a power consumption of about 18 W.
# bonnie++ -u 1000 -d /home/joel -r 16384
(...)
Version 1.97 ------Sequential Output------ --Sequential Input- --Random-
Concurrency 1 -Per Chr- --Block-- -Rewrite- -Per Chr- --Block-- --Seeks--
Machine Size K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP /sec %CP
nas.home.arpa 32G 1057 99 921985 99 449441 71 1215 99 686757 69 4465 260
Latency 7972us 26737us 101ms 8120us 703us 172ms
Version 1.97 ------Sequential Create------ --------Random Create--------
nas.home.arpa -Create-- --Read--- -Delete-- -Create-- --Read--- -Delete--
files /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP /sec %CP
16 11150 26 +++++ +++ 22585 27 13661 22 +++++ +++ 15747 42
Latency 11260us 319us 6552us 6160us 16us 304ms
1.97,1.97,nas.home.arpa,1,1758397515,32G,,1057,99,921985,99,449441,71,1215,99,686757,69,4465,260,16,,,,,11150,26,+++++,+++,22585,27,13661,22,+++++,+++,15747,42,7972us,26737us,101ms,8120us,703us,172ms,11260us,319us,6552us,6160us,16us,304ms
# dd if=/dev/urandom of=TEST bs=10M
^C359+0 records in
359+0 records out
3764387840 bytes transferred in 25.516 secs (147530484 bytes/sec)
# dd if=/dev/zero of=TEST bs=10M
^C2661+0 records in
2660+0 records out
27892121600 bytes transferred in 25.965 secs (1074219973 bytes/sec)
Running Xfce on Xorg, Firefox ESR displays 1080p YouTube videos correctly. 4K videos drop a few frames. When using mpv with vaapi, the Buck Bunny 4K video renders properly in fullscreen. None of those used more than 17 W.
OmniOS
I first tried installing the Stable r151054r release but it kept crashing while creating the bootable environments. When I used Bloody 20250902, everything went good.
Post testings update: I could install r151052b, then upgrade to
r151054r using pkg. So there may just be a bug in 54r installer.
The installation process ate between 16 W and 19 W, depending on moments.
When IDLE, the server uses between 11 W and 13 W.
The network tests, using iperf3, used about 11 W.
# iperf3 -c example.com -n 24G
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate
[ 6] 0.00-220.00 sec 24.0 GBytes 937 Mbits/sec sender
[ 6] 0.00-220.14 sec 24.0 GBytes 936 Mbits/sec receiver
Using the stress-ng software drew about 20 W from the wall.
# stress-ng --cpu 2 --vm 1 --hdd 1 --fork 8 --timeout 1m --metrics
stress-ng: info: [519] setting to a 1 min run per stressor
stress-ng: info: [519] dispatching hogs: 2 cpu, 1 vm, 1 hdd, 8 fork
stress-ng: metrc: [519] stressor bogo ops real time usr time sys time bogo ops/s bogo ops/s CPU used per RSS Max
stress-ng: metrc: [519] (secs) (secs) (secs) (real time) (usr+sys time) instance (%) (KB)
stress-ng: metrc: [519] cpu 91272 60.01 100.32 0.83 1520.89 902.30 84.28 0
stress-ng: metrc: [519] vm 0 65.63 0.08 1.56 0.00 0.00 2.50 0
stress-ng: metrc: [519] hdd 964791 60.04 18.26 30.10 16068.79 19950.86 80.54 0
stress-ng: metrc: [519] fork 109177 60.00 17.75 38.98 1819.59 1924.42 11.82 0
stress-ng: metrc: [519] miscellaneous metrics:
stress-ng: metrc: [519] hdd 1562.84 MB/sec read rate (harmonic mean of 1 instance)
stress-ng: metrc: [519] hdd 1556.74 MB/sec write rate (harmonic mean of 1 instance)
stress-ng: metrc: [519] hdd 1559.74 MB/sec read/write combined rate (harmonic mean of 1 instance)
stress-ng: info: [519] skipped: 0
stress-ng: info: [519] passed: 12: cpu (2) vm (1) hdd (1) fork (8)
stress-ng: info: [519] failed: 0
stress-ng: info: [519] metrics untrustworthy: 0
stress-ng: info: [519] successful run completed in 1 min, 5.63 secs
The couple of commands used to evaluate storage performance revealed a power consumption from 17 W to 19 W.
# dd if=/dev/urandom of=TEST bs=10M
208+0 records out
2181038080 bytes (2.0 GiB) transferred in 37.192996 secs (56 MiB/sec)
# dd if=/dev/zero of=TEST bs=10M
4430+0 records out
46451916800 bytes (43 GiB) transferred in 21.538544 secs (2.0 GiB/sec)
I still have not yet understood how to install an Xorg desktop environment on an Intel GPU based system. So I have no feedback on this subject.
Overview on numbers
Disclaimer: There are probably specific customizations that could improve those numbers. Filesystem and memory usage also impact numbers. What was important to me was to see if there were huge difference that could justify the choice of an OS.
| Debian | FreeBSD | NetBSD | OpenBSD | OmniOS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IDLE | 9 W | 11 W | 13 W | 11 W | 12 W |
| Network speed | 904 Mbps | 937 Mbps | 772 Mbps | 940 Mbps | 936 Mbps |
| Network power | 11 W | 11 W | 15 W | 15 W | 11 W |
| Global stress | 22 W | 21 W | n/a | 19 W | 20 W |
| Write speed | 1.6 GB/s | 2.19 GB/s | 1.03 GB/s | 1.00 GB/s | 2.15 GB/s |
| I/O power | 20 W | 21 W | 19 W | 18 W | 18 W |
One more thing
The machine has 2 fans. One at the bottom that takes air from beneath and blow it upward, one on the CPU radiator. When the server is IDLE, I can hear them if I really pay attention to those, the machine being like 25cm from my keyboard. During the testing, them became a bit loader but far less than my ThinkPad T480s when I watch a YouTube video. I expect this machine to be silent when it will be stored in the HomeLab space, one meter or so from me.