Synology RackStation RS3411xs Review (10 Bay NAS)

1. Introduction2. Synology RackStation RS3411xs3. The DiskManager Operating System4. Testing Methodology and Performance5. Acoustics, Temperatures and Power Drain6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

We expected great things from the Synology RackStation RS3411xs after reviewing the DS3611xs recently and we haven't been disappointed.

The rackmount RS3411xs is built like a proverbial tank and it takes a fair bit of strength to move from room to room, especially when fully populated with ten hard drives. This is built to last a long time and it really shows, even the drive bays are metal, with felt lining.

Performance is pretty much on par with the DS3611xs, pushing my custom network to the limit and demanding that I spend more money to upgrade it further. With a fully populated set of hard drives we would love to experience the ultimate bandwidth throughput with a dual 10GbE configuration using an add-on PCI Express x8 Gen2 Network Interface Card. We had to make do with over 500MB/s, which is still impressive.

This new line of products is targeting the serious business user and they certainly don't fail to deliver. The DS1511+ is an incredible home oriented NAS system, and the RS3411xs and DS3611xs take it to the next level.

The RS 3411xs is being sold for £2,000 inc vat in the UK from Scan which might seem like a fair chunk of change. However for the target market and considering the build quality and performance, there is no doubt in my mind that it is a bargain. No corners have been cut and the inclusion of a 3.1ghz dual core processor with 2GB of ECC memory is going to satisfy demanding business network environments. Furthermore, the memory can be upgraded to 8GB if needed.

While it could have been disastrous for Synology to overlook power demands, they have built this product around a top grade 500W Seasonic supply, which is 80 Plus Bronze Certified and will assuredly last for many years.

Pros:

• Built to withstand a strafing run from the Red Baron
• Metal used everywhere, including drive bays
• top grade power supply
• fast processor
• plenty of memory, which is upgradeable
• massive potential storage, 30TB internally and 100TB with expansion bays
• DiskManager is an incredible OS package

Cons:

• It is much louder than DS3611XS so not ideal for home environment.

Kitguru says: Another stellar product from Synology. Can they do any wrong lately?

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