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Before performance testing, we wanted to refresh a look at the excellent Synology Diskmanager Software suite, which is multitasking capable. This is accessed via an internet browser and an IP address.
It is important to ensure that the newest software package is downloaded directly from the Synology website over here.
The Synology Assistant is a networking tool which can find all the Synology drives installed on a network. The DS1511+ needs to be configured once.
Using the software disc (or locating the file downloaded from the Synology support site) the .pat file can be located and installed to the NAS.
The complete procedure takes only a couple of minutes.
The DS1511+ is now ready for software configuration.
The default login is user :admin with no password. A welcoming screen awaits, once the software is loaded. The installed hard drive(s) can then be configured.
Once the drives are configured as desired (Raid 0) in this case, then the shared folder(s) can be initialised. Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 5+Spare, RAID 6 modes are available.
This software can handle a maximum of 2048 user accounts. 256 user groups and 256 shared folders with a total of 512 concurrent connections.
Shared folders can be accessed across the network after the configuration is set up. A point worth noting is that every Synology device on a network defaults to the identify of ‘diskstation' meaning that the network will only recognise one of the NAS units.
It is therefore important to give each Synology device a ‘unique' name via the control panel. The windows network will then recognise the individual NAS devices.
Top right is an alert menu which flags anything that the software deems as an important notification. On the left is a popup menu for the plethora of settings available.
The control panel is the main window, leading into various subsections of the software …
… from configuring specific media support …
… to monitoring, or seeking an overview of the hardware inside the NAS.
There are also options to adjust the interface colour scheme and seek help on any aspect of the interface, via an indepth help system.
The Macintosh operating system is fully supported, allowing for a compliant mixed Windows/OSx networking experience. For those who seek maximum security and backup support, the system can also be hooked directly into a UPS device.
wozzers, thats outperforming my internal hard drive, over a network lol.
Its way out of my price range for home, but fantastic performance.
Our company bought two of the 1010’s last year and they are incredible. this is even better, didnt think it was possible, especially not for under 1000.
I bought their 211 last year as well after reading reviews here, ive been very happy. This is lovely to look at, but my missus would hack my legs off If I bought it 🙂
Its always embarassing when you buy a cheap SSD and a networked NAS system is faster :p
nice indeed. bit expensive for me, but good for business
They seem to have a good update schedule on their products. especially on a software level.
I never get it why they dont offer lockable drive bays on these business models. its the first thing the IT department will want.
Their software is great, I bought an entry level model last january and its such a pleasure to use. my mates windows server system runs like a dog with the same hardware
Actually the DS1511+ supports drive sizes up to 3TB and natively can house up to 15TB raw therefore and up to 45TB raw via the two optional expansion cabinets.
Andre, you are absolutely right, I just called Synology to confirm and ive appended the review.
Just bought it, along with 2 3TB hard drives… a little afraid to tell the wife…
These seem to be impressive numbers but realistically I would say that the majority of people run their NAS in RAID-5 mode not RAID-0 since the point of a NAS is to have high availability even if some performance is sacrificed as a result. It would be more interesting if you could show up the RAID-5 performance results.
Also, it seems a bit unfair to compare a Synology NAS containing a D525 with Qnap NASes containing a D510 especially since the the D525 Qnap NASes have been available for several months already. Is there any reason to believe that the DS1511+ would out-perform the equivalent QNAP TS-559 Pro+ since they seem to contain very similar hardware?
Hi Mark,
I wouldnt argue about Raid 5, but the problem is two fold. Firstly we only have a specific amount of time we can dedicate to each review, so we opt for Raid 0, as the lower end systems can handle this mode and therefore results are directly comparible across the ranges.
Its not a matter of being ‘unfair’, we have only a specific amount of systems we have tested. We only can test what we get sent.
Hi Zardon,
How can you reach 199 MB/s read and 166 MB/s write? I can’t get that speed with link agregation, I always get no more than around 120MB/s read and write.
Would you please share the setting you use for the network, is there any special setting? Or any setting to get 199 MB/s read and 166 MB/s write.
Best Regards,
Henry
Hi Zardon,
How can you reach 199 MB/s read and 166 MB/s write? I can’t get that speed with Link Agregation, I always get no more than around
120MB/s read and write.
Would you please share the setting you use for the network, is there any special setting? Or any setting to get 199 MB/s read and 166 MB/s write.
Best Regards,
Henry
opps, I am really sorry for double post
There are comments about the fact that the drive bay mounts are plastic and that they don’t offer the security of a lock.
Considering the size of this NAS device I think this is a very minor quibble. A thief could just as easily pick up the whole thing. In a home / SOHO environment this would be a very likely scenario as opposed to a single drive being lifted. Given its cost (value) the NAS would likely be locked in a secure location. In a business environment it could easily find a home in a lockable rack mount case inside a secure server room.
This is a very impressive unit I am hoping to acquire soon.
Nice work Synology!
I agree William, it is a minor quibble. Their business models, released recently have metal bays and locking systems in place.
Good luck with the purchase, I am positive you will be very happy. It is exceptional.
Zardon,
One of the best reviews I’ve read ever!
I am very advanced home user who is interested in such stuff. Currently, I own Drobo Pro (DAS) attached to my MAC. I was very pleased with everything (using iSCSI), but with a penalty when rebooting my iMAC, my other home users lose connectivity to my storage.
I like the NAS solution, I am tempted to buy this box. My only question that I could not get any answer toward, if I buy this box with three HD and using RSH (synology RAID5), can i expand in the future online without impacting data? will Synology takes care of balancing data?
I am used to this from my drobo pro, I expand by adding bigger disks as I go and Drobo will balance data for me.
Thanks, Mo
Hi Mo,
I haven’t tried it to be honest, but going on the data I received from Synology it should handle the addition of extra drives without impacting data and balancing out the content, yes.