Synology DS916+...............
A new generation of NAS boxes is pushing the envelope of what it means to be attached storage. Neil Mohr is impressed.
A new generation of NAS devices are pushing the limits of what that actually means. This mid-range model from Synology even delivers Docker support.
Synology is renowned for its network attached storage (NAS) solutions, and this latest DS916+ model is aimed at professionals and smaller businesses that are looking for a highly adept fourbay storage solution, with power, security and flexibility at its heart.
The Intel Pentium N3710 1.6GHz quad-core processor it’s based on should give you an indication of the ambitions Synology has for this model. It’s a quad-core, 64-bit processor, with VT-x virtualisation, up to 8GB of memory support and QuickSync video encoding. You’re not going to put a powerful processor into a NAS unless you plan to use it.
It offers four hot-swap SATA III bays, with a maximum capacity of 40TB, an eSATA port enables expansion, with a storage pod increasing to a maximum 90TB capacity. Internally, the system uses Btrfs or Ext4, while external drive supports extend to Ext3, FAT, NTFS, HFS+ and exFAT (a paid-for extra).
Supporting its higher-end credibility are the twin Gigabit Ethernet ports, with Link Aggregation and Fall-over support. Full access power usage peaks at 30W and drops to 13W once the drives spin down.
Setup is a snap, either via a ‘search’ URL, directly on port 5000, or via the LinuxSynologyAssistant tool with Deb and RPM packages. Synology provides all its tools packaged for Ubuntu and Fedora, alongside Mac and Windows, which is nice. Using Btrfs by default, Synology Hybrid RAID is the standard option, but JBOD, RAID 0 to 6, plus 10 are all available as options. It also supports full snapshot capabilities, something that comes into its own when you start exploiting its virtualisation capabilities.
A key element to the DSM 6.0 OS is its add-in package system. It enables you to add Synology and third-party features, from backup solutions, video security software, antivirus and Plex media streamer to CalDAV web calendar services. There’s around 50 official packages and about the same number of third-party ones.
Full backup support has always been a key feature and still is. The new HyperBackup tool offers a single point to manage all your backup and recovery tasks – local, remote, Rsync and a host of cloud options are here, with full accelerated encryption. Cloud sync and CloudStation provide further abilities to synchronise data between local and cloud-based accounts.
Managing the device is a cinch, thanks to the ever-improving Synology DiskStationManager6. It’s a webbased graphical interface, effectively a full desktop in your browser. Making it easy to manage, adjust, add and remove services. There’s the option to SSH in, too.
Making the latest build even more flexible is virtualisation support, via its own VirtualDSMManager and, more usefully, a Docker extension. The former enables you to run more than one instance of the Synology DSM, the latter Docker option brings with it a gaggle of pre-built Docker containers, from Ubuntu and CentOS to Ghost and MariaDB, direct from the Docker repository. Just add the one you want, specify resources and stand it up, ready to access.
With the 8GB model costing just £18 or so more than the 2GB one, it’s this type of exceptional feature that helps the DS916+ stand out from the crowd. You might balk somewhat at the seemingly high price (for which you could get an entire new desktop) but the level of features, support and ease of use provided by the Synology is why professionals are willing to pay the price. A superb pro-level NAS that’s hard to fault in any way.