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Synology's DiskStation DS1817+ is a compact 8-bay NAS powered by an Intel Atom C2538 2.4GHz CPU backed by either 2GB or 8GB of DDR3 memory. Usefully whichever memory option you choose it can be easily upgraded to a maximum supported memory of 16GB. Upgrading the memory is a doddle as the two SO-DIMM slots sit under an easy to get to hatch in the base of the unit.
The DS1817+ offers a couple of useful future proofing features. Should the need for more than 80TB of storage become urgent, the unit supports a pair Synology's DX517, 5-bay Expansion Units (each supporting 5 x 10TB drives) via the two eSATA ports. Adding two of these expansion units gives a total capacity of 180TB.
With the addition of the PCIe (Gen2 x8 slot x4 link) slot comes support for either a SSD adapter card (Synology's M2D17) to add SSD caching capability or a 10GbE card (E10G15-F1, single port or E10G17-F2 dual port) for faster networking capability.
Synology’s DSM (DiskStation Manager) is one of the best NAS O/S out there, quick and easy to install with a lengthy list of features. Synology constantly update the software with more features; the latest 6.1 version of DSM brings Btrfs file system support to more models in Synology’s product line for example and adds more apps to the already impressively large collection of apps in the Package Center.
We found the 8GB version of the Synology DiskStation DS1817+ at Overclockers UK for £989.99 HERE
Pros
- PCIe slot.
- Capacity expansion.
- User upgradable memory.
- DSM software.
Cons
- Still uses eSATA interfaces for expansion units.
- Not cheap.
Kitguru says: A powerful NAS for small business with the ability to add more memory, storage capacity, faster networking and storage access to keep pace with the demands of a rapidly growing business environment.
