Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – Which Should You Buy?

Today I want to compare the hardware on offer inside the Synology DS1522+ NAS (released in Summer 2022) and compare it with the much older, but hugely popular Synology DS920+ NAS (released over two years ago in Summer 2020). However, unlike previous comparisons of these two NAS (such as the hardware and software comparison HERE that I published a few months ago) today I want to compare how the DS920+ and DS1522+ perform as a Plex Media Server, with a series of 720p, 1080p and 4K tests. I have already tested these two NAS devices individually, but never directly compared their performance side by side. Now that a number of prominent Synology NAS releases have arrived with AMD Ryzeen embedded processors (such as the AMD Ryzen R1600 and V1500), many are wondering if they should choose to buy the older and more affordable Synology NAS drives that still feature Intel embedded/integrated graphics, such as the DS920+ with it’s J4125 Celeron CPU. So, let’s get this test up and running. First, we need to take a quick look at the individual hardware of these two NAS devices.

Note – a draft version of this article was published in error; apologies if you saw/received the incredibly bare-bones version!

Note 2 – Video Version of this Plex comparison can be viewed HERE on YouTube

Synology DS920+ NAS	Synology DS1522+ NAS

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – Internal Hardware

The 4 and 5-Bay Diskstation releases from Synology have always been one of the most interesting tiers of the brand’s desktop solutions. The reason for this is that all too often this scale of system serves as a bridging point between Prosumer & SOHO systems and the small/medium business hardware in their portfolio. This is demonstrated first in the scale of the available RAID 5/6 storage, but then more so in the scalability and upgradability of these two volumes system, allowing one to two expansions, greater network connectivity (arriving with 2x or 4x LAN ports) and better internal hardware than the more domestic targetted solutions – often with the internal hardware differing considerably between each periodic 2-3yr refresh by the brand. Let’s first look at the internal hardware of these two NAS’ to see how much they differ. The DS920+ NAS first arrived on the scene with some great hardware advantages over the rest of the plus series 2020 systems (DS720+, DS420+, etc), arriving with a 4 Core Intel Celeron Processor that featured integrated graphics, 4GB of DDR4 2666Mhz memory and NVMe SSD upgrade slots. In the two years since its release though, Synology clearly decided to make some big changes in the base level architecture of the plus series and specifically in the DS1522+ to make it considerably more scalable and general business/file-ops focused. The newer DS1522+ features a dual-core AMD Ryzen embedded R1600 that, although arriving with half the cores of the Celeron in the DS920+, has a higher CPU frequency and total achievable frequency in turbo/burst when needed. That said, users will be surprised to learn that this CPU also does not feature embedded graphics, so therefore the DS1522+ will be less CPU efficient at handling multimedia or VM deployment than the DS920+.

Though both systems feature DDR4 memory, the DS920’s maximum 8GB of memory is beaten by the DS1522+ thanks to its use of much more impressive ECC (error code correction) memory to identify and repair any bit level write errors and can also be scaled to a considerably higher 32GB of memory (arriving with 8GB by default).

NAS Model	DS920+	DS1522+
CPU Model	Intel Celeron J4125	AMD Ryzen R1600
CPU Quantity	1	Embedded Ryzen
CPU Architecture	64-bit	64-bit
CPU Frequency	4-core 2.0 – 2.7 GHz	2-core 2.6 – 3.1 GHz
Hardware Encryption Engine (AES-NI)	Yes	Yes
Integrated Graphics	Yes	No
CPU Cache	4 MB cache	1 MB L2 cache, 4 MB L3 cache
Memory
System Memory	4GB DDR4 non-ECC SODIMM	8GB DDR4 ECC SODIMM
Memory Module Pre-installed	(4GB On-board)	8 GB (8GB x 1)
TDP	10W	25W
Total Memory Slots	1	2
Maximum Memory Capacity	8GB	32 GB (16 GB x 2)
System Fan	92 mm x 92 mm x 2 pcs	92 mm x 92 mm x 2 pcs
Power Supply Unit / Adapter	100W External	120W External

You can find out more about the hardware-specific difference between the Synology DS920+ and DS1522+ NAS in the video below OR via the article HERE. This video/article coves everything from the storage capabilities, ports & connections and extent to which they run/perform in DSM 7.1. Although this article is specifically tailored to look at Plex Media Server performance, I would strongly recommend checking out more information on either of these NAS before you make any decision.

Let’s carry on talking about these two NAS and Plex. What difference des the TYPE of media tha you play make on how these two NAS perform in Plex?

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – Understanding MEDIA!

Important Terms to Understand in Plex/NAS/Multimedia that will make the DS1522+ or DS920+ NAS Plex Tests Easier to Understand.

• SD, 160p, 240p, 480p, 720p, 1080p, 4K : This is the resolution that the media is being displayed at. The higher the resolution, the larger number of pixels that are available and depending on the original recording quality of the media in question. High resolutions, such as 1080p and 4K require more work to be done by the NAS hardware in order to playback the file. More often than not, a NAS with weak embedded graphics or no embedded graphics at all will be unable to play 4K very well or indeed at all. It is important to remember that just because a NAS brand like Synology says that their latest NAS can natively play back 1080p or 4K media (natively = played using their own NAS software, software client tools and/or DLNA), that does not mean that the DS920+ or DS1522+ will play to the same standard in Plex, as Plex is a 3rd party tool
• Transcoding, Encoding, Decoding : These are all different techniques/names for when a file needs to be changed in order to be better suited to the connected client device connection, strength or hardware. If you are accessing all your media on the local area network (i.e only accessing your plex media at home), then transcoding will rarely be something you will use (unless your media is largely H.265/HEVC based, see earlier). However, perhaps you are accessing your plex library on the train to work or from a sun bed whilst on holiday. Perhaps you have a smaller data bandwidth/allowed MB/GB, maybe a weaker internet connection, perhaps you are using a smaller phone device and you might not need to watch your 4K 50GB Blu-ray rip of the latest Marvel Movie – in these situations, you might well want to access the media on your Synology DS1522+ or DS920+ Plex NAS at a lesser quality than the original version, so transcoding/re-encoding on the fly (as in, at the same time it is being played) is what you would want to do. Remember, transcoding is by far the most heavy-weight thing you will need to do on a NAS. It is also worth remembering that in order for Plex o be able to use the FULL resources of a NAS CPU (such as embedded graphics) that you will need to enable ‘Make My CPU Hurt’ in the Encoder Menu of the Plex NAS Settings menu – this also potentially requires a Plex Pass subscription, depending on the NAS in question

 

• H.264, HEVC, H.265 :  These are compression techniques that are designed to allow large-scale media presentations that were made for a cinema to be viewable from your sofa (with H.265 being the more effective/powerful compression level). H.264 can largely be played by ALL devices, but many devices do not have permission or a license to play H.265/HEVC (they are the same thing). This is because, where H.264 is an easy license and comparatively free to use, H.265/HEVC licencing and patents are spread across multiple providers and allowing a device license to use this compression technique can be complex, expensive or simply impossible. Therefore HEVC/H.265 media will sometimes AUTOMATICALLY need to be converted/transcoded into H.264 etc in order to be played – therefore eating up more system resources. The DS1522+, much like the rest of the Synology NAS range do not arrive with HEVC support by default
• Bitrate : Bitrate is the amount of data encoded for a unit of time, and for streaming is usually referenced in megabits per second (Mbps) for video, and in kilobits per second (kbps) for audio. Higher quality and higher resolution media tends to be of a much higher bitrate

For more information on the most important terms to understand when discussing/researching a NAS as a Plex Media Server can be found in my video below:

Any further questions, you can use the free advice section at the bottom of the page and ask me and Eddie directly.

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 720p h.264 3Mbps Video File

The first test was with a very low-end 720p media file:

Virtually no difference in performance and you can likely play a considerable number of these files before the system shows even a hint of difficulty.

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 720p h.264 3Mbps Video File

Another 720p file for test two, similar bitrate to test 1:

Once again, both the DS920+ and DS1522+ NAS performed near identically in Plex and zero issues were seen.

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 720p h.264 3Mbps Video File CONVERT to 480p

Test three was our first transcoding/encoding test. Here I wanted to see how well the systems would cope with having a fle format/playback altered on the fly. If you are watching media on smaller devices, over limited internet connections or using a legacy client device that does not support the file format, compression, codec or scale (size), then transocding is going to be very important. This was 720p down to 480p

Both played the file and transcoded it very easily. Despite the lack of embedded graphics on the R1600 CPU inside the Synology DS1522+ versus the Intel J4125 Celeron inside the DS920+, things were great on both in this test.

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 720p h.264 3Mbps Video File CONVERT to 240p

Time for ANOTHER transcoding test, but this one was s much bigger and more extreme transcode/encode. I wanted to change a 720p file to a 240p file format. This is a pretty aggressive change and one that was mainly picked to simulate heavy Plex NAS use generally (not specific to this format of file/change).

This was the first (and not last) time that the clear advantage of an embedded graphics Intel Celeron CPU inside the DS920+ would prove much more effective in Plex versus the AMD embedded Ryzen R1600 CPU inside the DS1522+ NAS. Both NAS devices did the job, but the R1600 / DS1522+ had to work much, much hardware with software transcoding and raw power.

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 1080p h.264 3Mbps Video File

On to 1080p Plex Tests on the DS920+ and DS1522+ NAS. This was a fairly domestic HD 1080p file test, played native.

Once again, like the early 720p tests, the DS920+ and DS1522+ performed perfectly well.

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 1080p h.264 3Mbps

A slightly more dense 1080p file this time, using the Jellyfish test files.

Once again, very clear and even performance by both NAS systems in the 1080p 2nd test without any transcoding on the R1600 and J4125 CPU-powered devices. A clear draw.

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 1080p h.264 3Mbps Video File CONVERT to 160p

Time for more transcoding! Transcoding/re-encoding the 1080p file in Plex to an incredibly lowly 160p. Again, I am aware that few users will actually watch 160p, but many will want this support for audio media equivalent workload and/or for large numbers of streams. Ultimately, we want to know the impact on the DS1522+ and DS920+ NAS in plex with these.

Once again, the onboard/embedded graphics that the Synology DS920+ (Intel Celeron J4125) has over the non-integrated graphics DS1522+ (AMD R1600) clearly resulted in the older 4-Bay NAS getting this job done with very little fuss. Whereas the Neewer 5-Bay NAS was unable to complete the task.

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 1080p h.264 100Mbps

Switching things up to an incredibly DENSE 1080p file, I selected the 100Mbps file format (h.264) to see how the DS1522+ and DS920+ would play this natively.

Very similar results on both NAS playing the file natively, which was very positive. The DS1522+ used the tiniest bit more, but in the grand scheme of things, both of these NAS performed exceptionally well in Plex and this heavy-duty 1080P FILE.

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 1080p h.265 – HEVC 10bit 10Mbps

Now we move towards a very different ball game. Although the next test was a 10Mbps bitrate 1080p file (remember, the previous test was 10x this density), this time we selected the H.265 / HEVC 10bit file. As mentioned earlier, HEVC (highly efficient video codec) requires licensing by the client hardware manufacturer and software provider (with many/most not including it, relying on the hardware to convert the file to H.264 by default). HEVC is much more space efficient than H.264 and alot more media in 2022+ is arriving in this format. However, converting it (aka Transcoding by another name technically) is a demanding task. Here is how the DS920+ and DS1522+ performed:

Once again, the Synology DS920+ and it’s Intel Celeron J4125 CPU got the job done with little-to-no fuss, whereas the AMD embedded Ryzen R1600 CPU inside the DS1522+ immediately hit 100% CPU Utilization and failed (taking longer to convert the file per second than an actual second!).

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 4K h.264 120Mbps

Next one, time for some 4K PLAYBACK! Now, it is worth highlighting that we ARE looking at quite high-end 4K media here, at 120Mbps – so the odds of you having much media in this format/scale is quite small. Still, 4K TVs and the affordability of 4K media is growing, so we need to test 4K, as well as scale it up for years to come. I wouldn’t normally recommend either of these NAS for 4K Plex use (recommending at least an Intel Pentium, i3 or higher generally), but here is how they performed:

Yep, both NAS devices failed. But again, remember that this is a 120Mbps file. Had we tested 4K at the bitrate of many of the 1080p files, it would have been better. We have some 4K dedicated Plex content coming soon on these NAS devices, so stay tuned!

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 4K h.265 – HEVC 120Mbps

Next we tested the same dense 120Mbps 4K files as before, but in the HEVC version. Again, due to the support of this compression level on each of these Synology NAS being limited, converting the file was needed by default. Here is how the DS920+ and DS1522+ NAS performed.

Yep, thanks to the introduction of converting the 4K file being needed, the embedded graphics of the DS920+ CPU saved the day hugely and the result was that although it played (after a small delay) on the Intel-powered DS920+, the DS1522+ and ADM Ryzen hit a wall very quickly.

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ Plex NAS Comparison – 4K h.265 – HEVC 200Mbps

Our final test was a 4K file in HEVC, much like the previous test. However this was a HENCH 200Mbps – a herculean task compared with all other tests in this article. Here is the DS920+ and DS1522+ tackled the task.

Yep, once again, that Intel J4125 Celeron CPU and it’s integrated graphics was able to get the converting/encoding done on the fly and win here. The AMD embedded Ryzen R1600 COULD have off-line transcoded for sure, but when it came on on-the-fly conversions, it just lacked the right tools on board. Want to watch more tests on either of these NAS drives IN PLEX? You can visit the links below to view the individual Plex Media Server tests for each of the DS920+ and DS1522+ NAS. These videos and articles include several more tests and go into more detail on the difference between H.264 and H.265/HEVC media, as well as further 1080p and 4K testing:

Written Plex Test Articles	YouTube Plex NAS Test Videos

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ NAS – Conclusion and Verdict

Comparing the DS920+ from 2020 and DS1522+ from 2022 did seem a little unfair at first, as ALOT can happen in two years (technology moves FAST!). However, in terms of supporting multimedia, if you are looking at these two NAS drives SPECIFICALLY for Plex Media Server and Multimedia use, the older generation device with its Intel embedded graphics CPU just wins the day over the Embedded Ryzen R1600 from AMD. But either of these NAS devices presents a decent-sized financial investment and I think most users need to think about using them for MORE than just multimedia. Synology has clearly done a lot of thinking in the two years between the release of the DS920+ and DS1522+, deciding to change the latter into something more ‘business-y’. When the DS920+ first arrived, it did so to almost universal praise (barring a few concerns at the time about 1GbE) and it has pretty much always been in the top 3 NAS since its launch for most users. Although the details regarding a DS922+ or DS923+ are still not available at the time of writing, many wonder if it would emulate the change in direction that the brand has taken on the DS1522+ and whether the DS920+ is now even more attractive. Synology has clearly taken a rather different tactic in the release of their newest 5-Bay system, making changes to the expected hardware configuration and architecture that set it on a very different path than its predecessor. Those with longer memories will know that the Diskstation 5 Drive portfolio used to be very much this kind of design (i.e a file transfer focused CPU, more memory scaling, optional 10GbE, etc) and rather than building off the design of the 4-Bay (as the DS1520+ did against the DS920+), the DS1522+ seems to scale itself against the DS1621+ in it’s shape and abilities. If you were already looking at Synology NAS systems that being a heavy emphasis on scaling their architecture notably down the line in efforts to remain future proof, the DS1522+ is going to tick ALOT of boxes for you. Whereas if you were looking at a Synology NAS for home use, a Plex Media server, low client/user use and generally as more of a setup-and-forget solution, then the DS920+ will likely suit your needs better and will have the added benefit of a more palatable price point in 2022. How far Synology will extend the build logic of the DS1522+ towards other solutions in the diskstation/rackstation portfolio still remains to be seen. Most business users will want to opt for the DS1522+ though. Cheers for reading!

NAS MODEL ID	Synology DS920+ NAS	Synology DS1522+ NAS
Where to Buy:

 

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How Much Electricity Does A Synology DS1621+ NAS Use and How Much Does it Cost to run 24×7?

“The Bigger the NAS, the BIGGER the electricity bill!” – THAT was what a fellow visitor of a trade show I attended back in 2019 said to me as I waxed lyrical about the hardware of a new Xeon Powered Synology solution that was being previewed at the time. I have never really forgotten about that. Not only because (at least, at the time) I thought that it was rather cynical, but also because, sadly, he was absolutely correct. As different NAS servers arrive, with bigger and better CPUs, greater and great bay numbers and larger and larger chassis – the more power they will end up consuming when in operation 24×7. Even in Standby/Idle, they are still acting away at your mains powers and ultimately adding small 0.0001s to your energy bill. Right now, in this energy-aware climate, it can be appreciated that a NAS drive (a 24×7 appliance) seemingly has its cost to the end user in terms of electricity as something of a vague number. With so many kinds of NAS available in the market, featuring a mix of CPUs, PSUs, Bays and utilities, PLUS the wide range of HDD/SSD drives in the market to choose from – there are just so many variables when trying to work out how much power your NAS drive is using and how much that is translating to in your monthly energy bill! So, today’s article is about working out how much electricity the popular Synology DS1621+ NAS and four WD Ultrastar 10TB HDDs will consume, as well as how much that equals to you in £, $ or € per day, month and year! We tested the popular 2020 generation desktop 6-Bay NAS system, connected them to an energy monitor and worked out how much power they used in full active use and in idle. Let’s begin.

The Synology DS1621+ NAS Current Price/Availability on Amazon –$999+	The WD Ultrastar 10TB HDD (x5) Current Price/Availability on Amazon –$259
AMD Ryzen V1500B CPU, 4-Core 2.2hz Celeron CPU 4GB 2400Mhz ECC Memory, 1GbE	10 Terabyte Capacity – SATA 3.5″ Form Factor 7200RPM – 256MB Cache – 6x Platters

NAS Power Use Test Setup

Choosing the appropriate NAS drive for these tests was always going to be tough. I DO intend on repeating these tests with several different NAS drives after this in some follow-up articles (the larger article that I will be adding to can be found HERE), but wanted these first few tests to be focused on one of the most POPULAR NAS setups (and the DS1621+ is still one of the most popular Synology NAS the brand has ever produced and the WD Ultrastar 10TB HDD has been popular for around a 4 years), as well as identifying the difference between using newer gen CPUs and Larger drives vs using older generation devices and smaller capacity media. This will involve 2x tests on each NAS+Media configuration. Here is a breakdown of the hardware configurations and test architectures:

• Synology DS1621+ NAS, AMD CPU+4GB Memory Setup over 1GbE
• 5x WD Ultrastar 10TB (RAID5)
• During ‘ACTIVE’ 24hr Tests, the NAS was prevented from going into standby/idle. 1 VM running, 1-Core and 1GB Memory, 2x IP Cameras recording non-stop, drive S.M.A.R.T tests scheduled to be hourly
• During IDLE 24hr Tests, the VM was deleted, VM and Surveillance Software disabled, ALL S.M.A.R.T tests disabled and network cable (1GbE) disconnected.
• The first day of operation (which includes initialization and RAID creation) not counted (but visible at the start of the graph).
• Power was monitored with a GOSUND SMART KIT Smart Plug, Mini 13A – Find HERE

The initial 24 hours (used for system initialization and RAID configuration) were NOT included in the power usage monitoring, as although they appear on the graph they are one-off single-event scenarios. Each test (Active vs Idle) was conducted for 24hrs and the overall electricity usage was displayed in kw (kilowatt). But what is the difference between Active and Idle activity? Why does it matter?

What is the Difference Between a NAS Drive ‘Active’ and in ‘IDLE / Standby’?

Although a NAS is designed to be in operation 24×7 and is consuming electricity when running, the actual reality of this and the extent to which it is consuming it is actually alot more nuanced. Most home users who have a NAS system will use the NAS directly for a significant;y smaller portion of time per day than it is actually powered on for. Perhaps to stream a movie or a couple of TV episodes, run a daily backup, have a couple of cameras in/outside their home that are sending recordings (or more likely just alerts and associated captures) to the NAS and that is about it. They will periodically do more than these, maybe a VM, more sophisticated backup or use some of the other services ad hoc, but the result is that in most domestic/bog standard home scenarios, a NAS will be switched internally to Idle/Standby after no pro-active use quite quickly and spend 80-90% of the time in low power modes. Business users might well be using the system 24×7 for sync’d tasks and on-going camera recording, but even then, this will be a lower %  of system resources in use. So, in order to find a comparable and relative means to study the electricity use of a NAS and it’s cost, I have conducted two tests per NAS+HDD configuration. The first, a 24 Hour Active test, with the system using a decent % of it’s CPU+Memory, a swell as the HDDs not being given the chance to switch to Idle/Standy (by constantly writing AND performing S.M.A.R.T tests hourly). The idle tests involve all of those apps, services and scheduled operations being cancelled and the network cable being disconnected from the NAS (for another 24hrs). From here we can work out the cost of an hour of power usage by either setup in high activity and near-zero activity. But how can we work out the COST of the electricity used by the NAS in that time period?

How Energy Costs in these NAS Tests were Calculated?

The results of the energy usage are then cross-referenced by ‘sust-it.net’ and calculations of the cost of the used electricity per day, month and year was calculated for the UK, U.S, Germany, Australia and Canada. Now, using a select energy tariff is much harder, as there are quite literally thousands of different energy providers globally, each with their own pricing on the cost of energy per ‘kWh’. So, I used the national average calculations that were provided by ‘sust-it’ for each of those areas. Some are clearly more up-to-date than others (i.e the United Kingdom Avg Energy cost tariff is dated October 2022, whereas the Canada’s average energy cost is from way back in March 2020), however, these will still provide a good basis for understanding what a NAS drive is going to cost you in electricity when it is in operation. The national tariff averages used in this article for each region are as follows:

UK: Energy Price (October 2022) electricity rate of 34.00 pence per kWh.

USA: Average (Feb 2022) electricity rate of 14.80 cents per kWh.

Germany: Average (June 2021) electricity rate of 31.93 Eurocents per kWh.

Australia: Average (March 2022) electricity rate of 23.59 cents per kWh.

Canada: Average (2020) electricity rate of 8.50 cents per kWh.

Source – https://www.sust-it.net

There are the rates that we will be using to calculate the running costs of the Synology NAS system (and more importantly its Drive setup and CPU usage).

Test – Synology DS1621+ NAS and 5x WD Ultrastar 10TB Drives

I set the Synology DS1621+ NAS and WD Ultrastar 4TB Hard drives up in the following configuration for the Active tests:

• Synology DS1621+ NAS PSU = 100W External PSU, Intel Celeron J4125 Quad Core 2.0-2.7Ghz, 4GB DDR4 2666Mhz Memory
• WD Ultrastar 10TB HDD, SHR
• Surveillance Station 9 and 2x Reolink Dome IP Cameras (24hrs Active)
• Synology Virtual Machine Manager, 1x Windows VM, 1 Core, 1GB Memory (24hrs Active)
• Synology Storage Manager (DSM 7.1) and S.M.A.R.T Tests per Hour (24hr Active)
• Reported Average power requirements of a WD Ultrastar 10TB (Single):
  • 9.2W Active
  • 8.0W Idle

Then, 24hrs later, I disabled all these processes, disconnected the RJ45 LAN and let the NAS fall into idle/standby mode. The results were as follows:

The 0.80kW that was used in the initialization of both the NAS and the drives in the RAID was NOT included in the respective Actie/Idle tests.

Synology DS1621+ and WD Ultrastar 10TB HDD Test Results:

0.0479kW use per hour active and 0.0266kW use per hour idle = 

1hr Active Use (KW)	UK Power Use £	U.S Power Use $	Germany Power Use €	Australia AU$	Canada CA$
Per Hour	0.016	0.007	0.015	0.011	0.004
1hr Idle Use (KW)	UK Power Use	U.S Power Use	Germany Power Use	Australia	Canada
Per Hour	£0.01	0.003	0.008	0.006	0.002

1.15KW over 24 hours Active = 

24hr Active Use (KW)	UK Power Use £	U.S Power Use $	Germany Power Use €	Australia AU$	Canada CA$
Cost Per Day	£0.38	0.168	0.36	0.264	0.096
Cost per Month	11.68	5.11	10.95	8.03	2.92
Cost Per Year	140.16	61.32	131.4	96.36	35.04

0.64KW over 24 hours idle = 

24hr Idle Use (KW)	UK Power Use £	U.S Power Use $	Germany Power Use €	Australia AU$	Canada CA$
Cost Per Day	£0.22	0.072	0.192	0.144	0.048
Cost per Month	6.57	2.19	5.84	4.38	1.46
Cost Per Year	78.84	26.28	70.08	52.56	17.52

So, what about if you were to only use the NAS at active use for around 25% of the day (i.e 6hrs of active with backups, multimedia, etc) and 75% of the day as idle (i.e 18hrs unused):

25%/75% Active/Idle Use:

6hr Active Use / 18hr Idle	UK Power Use £	U.S Power Use $	Germany Power Use €	Australia AU$	Canada CA$
Cost Per Day	£0.26	0.096	0.234	0.174	0.06
Cost per Month	7.8475	2.92	7.1175	5.2925	1.825
Cost Per Year	94.17	35.04	85.41	63.51	21.9

Now it is worth keeping in mind that the costs for each region have a notably different price per kW rate, so even after factoring in currency conversions between different units (eg Pounds vs Dollars), there is a significant degree of difference in the costs per day, month and year of the exact same NAS+HDD setup above. Stay tuned, check below to see if other NAS power tests have been published and recommended to you, or watch the video version of these tests (which goes into more detail on the current predicaments in the energy crisis facing many of us in 2022, 2023 and beyond.

VIDEO

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7]     Terms and Conditions Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.  

 

How Well Does the Synology RS422+ NAS Perform as a Plex Media Server?

The rise in popularity of rackmount NAS servers being used as Plex Media Servers by home users has been surprisingly swift, largely thanks to more and more NAS brands releasing affordable (yet powerful and efficient) rack solutions. The Synology RS422+ Rackstation solution is once such solution, comparable in price to many desktop solutions, but arriving in a compact rackstation form. Combine that with the availability of mini rack cabinets or deploying servers in attics/garages/basements means that many users look at NAS such as the RS422+ as an ideal scale Plex server solution. But why Plex? The appeal of accessing all the movies, boxsets, music and home movies that you physically/digitally own in the style popularized by Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video (flashy GUI, summary, all the box art, trailers, cast details, reviews and more) is undeniable. The rise in popularity of streaming platforms like Netflix has also been accompanied by rising monthly subscription costs and rising concerns about never truly owning the media that you want o watch. Even when you buy movies and TV boxsets in digital download forms from Amazon Video etc, you are still at the mercy of 1) needing somewhere to store it if you do choose to download it and 2) potentially losing access to it if the site/platform you purchased from has lost the license to host it (a common complain of the increasingly digital world of PC/Console gaming, as games are pulled from eStores). Hosting your media in a subscription-free form, whilst it still being presented in the universally accessible and premium GUI form of Plex is one of the most compelling reasons for many home/prosumer users deciding to make the jump towards buying their own plex media server. However, NAS drives have grown incredibly diverse in terms of hardware design and therefore one NAS might not play media in plex as well/efficiently as another – and the Synology RS422+ NAS is no exception to this. Today I want to detail my tests of the RS422+ as a Plex Media Server and I hope this will help you decide whether a Synology NAS deserves your Multimedia in 2022/2023.

What is the Hardware of the Synology RS422+ NAS Drive?

The Synology RS422+ NAS drive is quite similar in architecture to most PCs or Laptops (in that it features a CPU+Memory+Storage), but differs in that it’s components are designed to be more efficient (as they will be in operation 24×7) and have a larger degree of focus on storage-related applications (whereas the hardware in a PC/Laptop is designed more for the applications you run with storage service concerns/provisions being far more rudimentary). The RS422+ is made up of a popular mid-range server CPU, DDR4 memory and supports Hard Drive and SSDs in SATA. although most of the specifications of Synology NAS drives are unrelated to Plex, below I have picked up the hardware specifications of the RS422+ that are relevant to Plex:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen R1600, Dual Core, 2.6-3.1Ghz
• Embedded Graphics: No
• Memory (Quantity & Maximum): 2GB (Max)
• Number of Storage Bays: 4 SATA Bays
• M.2 NVMe Caching Bays: No
• Network Connectivity: 2x 1GbE (Optional 10GbE adapter)

Next, let’s quickly touch on how we measure how good/bad the Synology RS422+ NAS is for Plex Media Server.

Understanding the Plex Media Server Tests of the Synology RS422+ NAS

Important Terms to Understand in Plex/NAS/Multimedia that will make the RS422+ NAS Plex Tests Easier to Understand.

• SD, 160p, 240p, 480p, 720p, 1080p, 4K : This is the resolution that the media is being displayed at. The higher the resolution, the larger number of pixels that are available and depending on the original recording quality of the media in question. High resolutions, such as 1080p and 4K require more work to be done by the NAS hardware in order to playback the file. More often than not, a NAS with weak embedded graphics or no embedded graphics at all will be unable to play 4K very well or indeed at all. It is important to remember that just because a NAS brand like Synology says that their latest NAS can natively play back 1080p or 4K media (natively = played using their own NAS software, software client tools and/or DLNA), that does not mean that the RS422+ will play to the same standard in Plex, as Plex is a 3rd party tool
• Transcoding, Encoding, Decoding : These are all different techniques/names for when a file needs to be changed in order to be better suited to the connected client device connection, strength or hardware. If you are accessing all your media on the local area network (i.e only accessing your plex media at home), then transcoding will rarely be something you will use (unless your media is largely H.265/HEVC based, see earlier). However, perhaps you are accessing your plex library on the train to work or from a sun bed whilst on holiday. Perhaps you have a smaller data bandwidth/allowed MB/GB, maybe a weaker internet connection, perhaps you are using a smaller phone device and you might not need to watch your 4K 50GB Blu-ray rip of the latest Marvel Movie – in these situations, you might well want to access the media on your Synology RS422+ Plex NAS at a lesser quality than the original version, so transcoding/re-encoding on the fly (as in, at the same time it is being played) is what you would want to do. Remember, transcoding is by far the most heavy-weight thing you will need to do on a NAS. It is also worth remembering that in order for Plex o be able to use the FULL resources of a NAS CPU (such as embedded graphics) that you will need to enable ‘Make My CPU Hurt’ in the Encoder Menu of the Plex NAS Settings menu – this also potentially requires a Plex Pass subscription, depending on the NAS in question

• H.264, HEVC, H.265 :  These are compression techniques that are designed to allow large-scale media presentations that were made for a cinema to be viewable from your sofa (with H.265 being the more effective/powerful compression level). H.264 can largely be played by ALL devices, but many devices do not have permission or a license to play H.265/HEVC (they are the same thing). This is because, where H.264 is an easy license and comparatively free to use, H.265/HEVC licencing and patents are spread across multiple providers and allowing a device license to use this compression technique can be complex, expensive or simply impossible. Therefore HEVC/H.265 media will sometimes AUTOMATICALLY need to be converted/transcoded into H.264 etc in order to be played – therefore eating up more system resources. The RS422+, much like the rest of thte Synology NAS range do not arrive with HEVC support by default
• Bitrate : Bitrate is the amount of data encoded for a unit of time, and for streaming is usually referenced in megabits per second (Mbps) for video, and in kilobits per second (kbps) for audio. Higher quality and higher resolution media tends to be of a much higher bitrate

For more information on the most important terms to understand when discussing/researching a NAS as a Plex Media Server can be found in my video below:

Any further questions, you can use the free advice section at the bottom of the page and ask me and Eddie directly.

How was the Synology RS422+ NAS Tested in Plex?

The setup for testing the RS422+ NAS for Plex was as follows:

• The Synology RS422+ NAS was accessed over a 1GbE network, however in order to test how the NAS would cope with transcoding/encoding, I would force the Plex Player client to transcode the file manually
• The RS422+ NAS was used in the default CPU+Memory state that the base model arrives in (no upgraded memory or upgraded caching media)
• Tests were performed one after the other with a short break between each test, so you might see the tail end of the previous test on a CPU graph, but I have pointed at the are of the % utilization that is important as per each test.

Regarding test results, CLEAR PASS means that the file successfully played and there were sufficient resources for the NAS to continue to do other things comfortably, PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU % means that the file played, but it utilized a significant amount of system resources in order to do so in a heavier use situation (i.e other NAS users connected) it might not play and FAIL AND-OR DID NOT PLAY means that the file either did not play or the time taken to play back the files was outpaced by the natural playback of the file – i.e. the file would stop-and-start constantly in order to try and catch up. If you want to watch the FULL video recording of all the Plex tests that I performed on the Synology RS422+ NAS, you can watch the video below. Be warned, it is quite long! Alternatively, you can scroll past and see each of the test results, one-by-one, detailing which ones worked and which ones didn’t:

What % System Resources did the Synology RS422+ NAS Use in Plex when Idle?

Running the Plex Media Server application, even when no multimedia is being played on the RS422+ is still going to require a % of system resources to be occupied, in order to ensure that PLEX can play media from the Synology NAS as soon as it is requested remotely. Additionally, although Plex runs at its best with at least 2 Cores of CPU power and 2GB of Memory, many NAS also reserve areas of CPU/RAM for the system itself. So, therefore, knowing how much system resources are being consumed by the Synology RS422+  NAS when Plex is idle is going to be useful to know how much system power is available when playback actually starts. Here is a screenshot of the RS422+ when Plex is running, but no media is being played/accessed:

Plex Test 1 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 Original Playback

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS 

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 2 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 transcode to 480p 1.5Mbps

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 transcode to 480p 1.5Mbps File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 3 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 transcode to 240p 0.3Mbps

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Matrix 720p 0.7Mbps h.264 transcode to 240p 0.3Mbps File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 4 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Original Playback

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 5 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Transcode to 480p 1.5Mbps

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Transcode to 480p 1.5Mbps File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 6 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Transcode to 160p 0.2Mbps

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – LSOH 1080p 1.9Mbps h.264 Transcode to 160p 0.2Mbps File Performed:

RESULT: FAIL AND-OR DID NOT PLAY

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 7 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 3Mbps H.264 Original Playback

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 3Mbps H.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 8 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 3Mbps H.265 – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 3Mbps H.265 – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264 File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 9 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 10Mbps H.264 Original Playback

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 10Mbps H.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 10 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 10Mbps H.265 – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 10Mbps H.265 – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264 File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 11 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 30Mbps H.264 Original Playback

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 30Mbps H.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 12 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 30Mbps H.265 – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 30Mbps H.265 – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264 File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 13 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 100Mbps H.264 Original Playback

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 100Mbps H.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 14 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 100Mbps H.265 – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 1080p 100Mbps H.265 – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264 File Performed:

RESULT: PLAYED BUT HIGH CPU %

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 15 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 4K 120Mbps H.264 Original Playback

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 4K 120Mbps H.264 Original Playback File Performed:

RESULT: FAIL AND-OR DID NOT PLAY

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 16 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 4K 120Mbps H.264 Convert to 1080p 120Mbps

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 4K 120Mbps H.264 Convert to 1080p 120Mbps File Performed:

RESULT: FAIL AND-OR DID NOT PLAY

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 17 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 4K 200Mbps H.264

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 4K 200Mbps H.264 File Performed:

RESULT: CLEAR PASS

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Plex Test 18 – Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 4K 400Mbps H.265 10bit – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264

Here is how the Synology RS422+ Plex NAS – Jellyfish 4K 400Mbps H.265 10bit – HEVC CONVERTED TO H.264 File Performed:

RESULT: FAIL AND-OR DID NOT PLAY

Extra Notes: None

---

 

Is the Synology RS422+ NAS Any Good outside of Plex and Where Can I buy It?

If you are interested in learning more about the Synology RS422+ NAS Drive, I am pleased to confirm that the review here on NASCompares is already live and you can find out more about this device below.

Quick Verdict of the Synology RS422+ NAS – What We Said in the RS422+ Review:

What Synology has produced in the RS422+ Rackstation NAS is an intriguing middle ground between their more cost-effective ARM-based rackmount solutions and their more expensive scalable and upgradable servers. On the face of it, you are getting a tremendously compact but capable 1U 4-Bay rackmount server that, as soon as you factor in the included DSM software and services, is very good value for businesses that want to move their data out of 3rd party cloud and into something they have full control over. Additionally, that CPU (though a fraction divisive when compared previously vs Intel chips in the desktop DS1522+) makes more sense here in this more affordable Rackstation solution. The lack of NVMe M.2 SSD slots, fixed 2GB memory and lack off rails I am less keen on here (and I am still a little on the fence about the way they have pursued 10GbE upgrades in this system) but you are still getting a very well built and small scale NAS solution here and Synology have found a good price point here for this complete solution. Additionally, the fact that Synology has not been so restrictive on HDD use in this system than in more enterprise solutions in 2022 is welcoming too, though they are still taking an odd stance on some drives nonetheless. Ultimately, I can recommend the Synology RS422+ Rackstation NAS to smaller business users, though looking for a compact and very easy-to-deploy NAS solution for surveillance, central business storage, additional backup layers and for DSM as a whole. Though multimedia users might want to give it a miss.

Read the Rest of the Review HERE. Alternatively, you can find out the Pros and Cons below, as a few retailers that sell the Synology RS422+ NAS. Thanks for reading and if you need any further help choosing the right NAS for your Plex Media Server, use the free advice section linked below. Have a great week.

 

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7]     Terms and Conditions Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.  

How to Install TrueNAS Core on an Asustor NAS Drive – Step-By-Step Guide Most new or relatively inexperienced NAS users can be separated into two clear categories. There are those that want to get their hands dirty, spend sensibly on a DiY system in order to take advantage of community-built platforms such as TrueNAS Core, […]

How Much Electricity Does A NAS Use and How Much Does it Cost to run 24×7?

Energy AIN’T Cheap! If you have been keeping an eye on your electricity bill recently, you will have noticed that the amount you are paying per kilowatt has steadily increased month after month for several years now.  Because of any one of about a hundred different global factors (local conflict, slow renewable energy uptake, monopolizing energy companies with powerful lobbying – take your pick!) most of us in 2022/2023 have seen increases in energy costs. In this energy-aware climate, it can be appreciated that a NAS drive (a 24×7 appliance) seemingly has its cost to the end user in terms of electricity as something of a vague number. With so many kinds of NAS available in the market, featuring a mix of CPUs, PSUs, Bays and utilities, PLUS the wide range of HDD/SSD drives in the market to choose from – there are just so many variables when trying to work out how much power your NAS drive is using and how much that is translating to in your monthly energy bill! So, today’s article is about working out how much electricity the popular Synology DS920+ NAS and four WD Red Plus 4TB HDDs will consume, as well as how much that equals to you in £, $ or € per day, month and year! We tested the popular 2020 generation desktop 4-Bay NAS system, connected them to an energy monitor and worked out how much power they used in full active use and in idle. Let’s begin.

The Synology DS920+ NAS Current Price/Availability on Amazon –$550+	The WD Red Plus 4TB HDD (x4) Current Price/Availability on Amazon –$79
Intel J4125 CPU, 4-Core 2.0-2.7Ghz Celeron CPU 4GB 2666Mhz non-ECC Memory, 1GbE	4 Terabyte Capacity – SATA 3.5″ Form Factor 5400RPM – 128MB Cache – 4x 1TB Platters

NAS Power Use Test Setup

Choosing the appropriate NAS drive for these tests was always going to be tough. I DO intend on repeating these tests with several different NAS drives after this in some follow-up articles (the larger article that I will be adding to can be found HERE), but wanted these first few tests to be focused on one of the most POPULAR NAS setups (and the DS920+ is still one of the most popular Synology NAS the brand has ever produced and the WD Red 4TB HDD has been popular for around a DECADE), as well as identifying the difference between using newer gen CPUs and Larger drives vs using older generation devices and smaller capacity media. This will involve 2x tests on each NAS+Media configuration. Here is a breakdown of the hardware configurations and test architectures:

• Synology DS920+ NAS, Default Celeron+4GB Memory Setup over 1GbE
• 4x WD Red WD40EFZX 4TB (Synology Test in SHR – 1st party fluid equivalent to RAID5)
• During ‘ACTIVE’ 24hr Tests, the NAS was prevented from going into standby/idle. 1 VM running, 1-Core and 1GB Memory, 2x IP Cameras recording non-stop, drive S.M.A.R.T tests scheduled to be hourly
• During IDLE 24hr Tests, the VM was deleted, VM and Surveillance Software disabled, ALL S.M.A.R.T tests disabled and network cable (1GbE) disconnected.
• The first day of operation (which includes initialization and RAID creation) not counted (but visible at the start of the graph).
• Power was monitored with a GOSUND SMART KIT Smart Plug, Mini 13A – Find HERE

The initial 24 hours (used for system initialization and RAID configuration) were NOT included in the power usage monitoring, as although they appear on the graph they are one-off single-event scenarios. Each test (Active vs Idle) was conducted for 24hrs and the overall electricity usage was displayed in kw (kilowatt). But what is the difference between Active and Idle activity? Why does it matter?

What is the Difference Between a NAS Drive ‘Active’ and in ‘IDLE / Standby’?

Although a NAS is designed to be in operation 24×7 and is consuming electricity when running, the actual reality of this and the extent to which it is consuming it is actually alot more nuanced. Most home users who have a NAS system will use the NAS directly for a significant;y smaller portion of time per day than it is actually powered on for. Perhaps to stream a movie or a couple of TV episodes, run a daily backup, have a couple of cameras in/outside their home that are sending recordings (or more likely just alerts and associated captures) to the NAS and that is about it. They will periodically do more than these, maybe a VM, more sophisticated backup or use some of the other services ad hoc, but the result is that in most domestic/bog standard home scenarios, a NAS will be switched internally to Idle/Standby after no pro-active use quite quickly and spend 80-90% of the time in low power modes. Business users might well be using the system 24×7 for sync’d tasks and on-going camera recording, but even then, this will be a lower %  of system resources in use. So, in order to find a comparable and relative means to study the electricity use of a NAS and it’s cost, I have conducted two tests per NAS+HDD configuration. The first, a 24 Hour Active test, with the system using a decent % of it’s CPU+Memory, a swell as the HDDs not being given the chance to switch to Idle/Standy (by constantly writing AND performing S.M.A.R.T tests hourly). The idle tests involve all of those apps, services and scheduled operations being cancelled and the network cable being disconnected from the NAS (for another 24hrs). From here we can work out the cost of an hour of power usage by either setup in high activity and near-zero activity. But how can we work out the COST of the electricity used by the NAS in that time period?

How Energy Costs in these NAS Tests were Calculated?

The results of the energy usage are then cross-referenced by ‘sust-it.net’ and calculations of the cost of the used electricity per day, month and year was calculated for the UK, U.S, Germany, Australia and Canada. Now, using a select energy tariff is much harder, as there are quite literally thousands of different energy providers globally, each with their own pricing on the cost of energy per ‘kWh’. So, I used the national average calculations that were provided by ‘sust-it’ for each of those areas. Some are clearly more up-to-date than others (i.e the United Kingdom Avg Energy cost tariff is dated October 2022, whereas the Canada’s average energy cost is from way back in March 2020), however, these will still provide a good basis for understanding what a NAS drive is going to cost you in electricity when it is in operation. The national tariff averages used in this article for each region are as follows:

UK: Energy Price (October 2022) electricity rate of 34.00 pence per kWh.

USA: Average (Feb 2022) electricity rate of 14.80 cents per kWh.

Germany: Average (June 2021) electricity rate of 31.93 Eurocents per kWh.

Australia: Average (March 2022) electricity rate of 23.59 cents per kWh.

Canada: Average (2020) electricity rate of 8.50 cents per kWh.

Source – https://www.sust-it.net

There are the rates that we will be using to calculate the running costs of the Synology NAS system (and more importantly its WD Drive setup and CPU usage).

Test – Synology DS920+ NAS and 4X 4TB WD Red Drives

I set the Synology DS920+ NAS and WD Red 4TB Hard drives up in the following configuration for the Active tests:

• Synology DS920+ NAS PSU = 100W External PSU, Intel Celeron J4125 Quad Core 2.0-2.7Ghz, 4GB DDR4 2666Mhz Memory
• WD Red Plus 4TB HDD, SHR
• Surveillance Station 9 and 2x Reolink Dome IP Cameras (24hrs Active)
• Synology Virtual Machine Manager, 1x Windows VM, 1 Core, 1GB Memory (24hrs Active)
• Synology Storage Manager (DSM 7.1) and S.M.A.R.T Tests per Hour (24hr Active)
• Reported Average power requirements of a WD Red Plus 4TB (Single):
  • Read/Write: 4.7
  • Idle: 3.1
  • Standby Sleep: 0.3

Then, 24hrs later, I disabled all these processes, disconnected the RJ45 LAN and let the NAS fall into idle/standby mode. The results were as follows:

The 0.42kW that was used in the initialization of both the NAS and the drives in the RAID was NOT included in the respective Actie/Idle tests. The 24 hours of Active use energy consumption was 0.51KW

Synology DS920+ and WD Red Plus 4TB HDD Test Results:

0.51KW divided by 24 (hours) = 0.02125kW use per Hour

24hr Active Use (0.51KW)	UK Power Use	U.S Power Use	Germany Power Use	Australia	Canada
Cost Per Day	£0.1734	$0.0755	€0.1628	AU$0.1203	CA$0.0433
Cost per Month	£5.27	$2.29	€4.95	AU$3.65	CA$1.31
Cost Per Year	£63.29	$27.55	€59.42	AU$43.90	CA$15.80

0.18KW divided by 24 (hours) = 0.0075kW use per Hour

24hr Idle Use (0.18KW)	UK Power Use	U.S Power Use	Germany Power Use	Australia	Canada
Cost Per Day	£0.0612	$0.0266	€0.0575	AU$0.0425	CA$0.0153
Cost per Month	£1.86	$0.80	€1.74	AU$1.29	CA$0.46
Cost Per Year	£22.33	$9.70	€20.98	AU$15.51	CA$5.58

So, what about if you were to only use the NAS at active use for around 25% of the day (i.e 6hrs of active with backups, multimedia, etc) and 75% of the day as idle (i.e 18hrs unused):

25%/75% Active/Idle Use:

6hr Active Use / 18hr Idle	UK Power Use	U.S Power Use	Germany Power Use	Australia	Canada
Cost Per Day	£0.08925	$0.0387	€0.0838	AU$0.0618	CA$0.0222
Cost per Month	£2.7146	$1.1786	€2.5496	AU$1.882	CA$0.6775
Cost Per Year	£32.57	$14.14	€30.59	AU$22.58	CA$8.13

Now it is worth keeping in mind that the costs for each region have a notably different price per kW rate, so even after factoring in currency conversions between different units (eg Pounds vs Dollars), there is a significant degree of difference in the costs per day, month and year of the exact same NAS+HDD setup above. The idle power use was just 35.29% of the power use of the active testing in the same 24hr time block. I will be conducting more tests with more NAS configurations in the coming months and either adding them to this article, or creating their own articles. Stay tuned, check below to see if other NAS power tests have been published and recommended to you, or watch the video version of these tests (which goes into more detail on the current predicaments in the energy crisis facing many of us in 2022, 2023 and beyond.

 

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Les NAS Synology proposent de nombreuses possibilités pour les notifications : e-mail, SMS, Push… Ces dernières sont importantes, car elle vous alerte ou vous informe suite à un évènement précis dans votre boîtier. Aujourd’hui, nous allons voir ensemble comment utiliser les notifications avec ntfy sur un NAS Synology. Synology et notifications Tout d’abord, il est important de faire une distinction entre une alerte ou une information. Une alerte, c’est que quelque chose qui mérite une attention particulière voire une action […]

What is the Best Way to Backup Your Data Every Day?

I know it is not going to be shocking news when I say that Data is really, really important. That should not come as a staggering fact. If you found this article thanks to a rather perceptive google search, then clearly you think data is very important too. It is all too easy to rely on your data living on multiple machines in your office or home. Centralized backup is a very unappealing idea. For a start, it is expensive. You will spend hundreds, if not thousands of pounds on storage, then you find out that you need to have it in ANOTHER location too (as otherwise, it isn’t truly a backup) and then worse still it isn’t even being spent on making more space, but actually to duplicate your old data and not be used. You are spending all this money on what can be described as a remarkably large insurance policy. Worse still if you have all the machines in your home or office backing up to a device in that same location, almost all data safety and storage experts will scream to high heaven that this is still not enough. Sadly this is true, because not only do you put yourself at risk of complete critical loss in the event of fire or flooding, but also in the case of theft you end up having all your eggs in one basket and making the thieves lives much easier. So ultimate you have to stop thinking about this only in terms of how much this storage is going to cost. If you think like that, you will never move past stage one. No, you have to think about how much will this data cost you to LOSE. Your personal media (family, events, memories), your client’s data or perhaps your surveillance data. Take a moment and think how much it would cost your business right now if you lost your data – hundreds? Thousands? Close the business? The ideal backup solution should always be based on the cost of loss, not gain! Although a little trite, it is still a reliable rule of thumb to have a 3-2-1 backup solution operation that looks like this:

1. Primary Data (Where data is initially created/collected, the PCs, the Macs, the Phones, etc)
2. On-site Backup solution (where multiple devices are backup’ed up to internally, also more commonly referred to as the bare-metal backup)
3. Off-site/different location Backup (where the copy of the on-site backup lives that is separate network and/or physical location. This can range from another NAS, to a cloud provider and even a USB drive)

Stages 2 and 3 should be encrypted in case they are stolen/entered, as well as feature login credentials and an admin system in the event of them being occupied/accessed illegally. Today I want to focus on the 2nd and 3rd stages of your backup routine and help you decide the best ways to spend your budget on the most effective safety net and recovery system for your needs.

Backup and Redundancy – DO NOT GET THEM MIXED UP!

Way, WAY too many NAS (network-attached storage) or DAS (direct-attached storage) owners think their data actually have a backup layer in place when they refer to their RAID configuration, their versioning or their snapshots. These are NOT backup methods and are actually designed primarily as a means of recovering your data in the event of an HDD/SSD dying, an accidentally deleted file or rolling a file back to a previous revision. Think of RAID/Snapshots/Versioning as ‘safety nets’, The only work from INSIDE the infrastructure NOT outside of it. If the NAS server or RAID enabled DAS box does, then there is a very high chance that your data cannot be recovered via these methods (not impossible, just touch and certainly not foolproof). Below is a video that breaks down a number of different Backup and Redundancy methods inside a single NAS system:

How Expensive is a 2-Stage Backup and Do I need it?

The cost of a 2-stage backup (i.e having 2 backups of your data) operation can be measured by the amount of data you/your company produces on a daily basis. Additionally, depending on your commitment to holding onto your data (so, for business, you might have a 6 year or 12-month retention policy) there are ways to make economies in between the stages. However, whether you are a home user of a business user, there are few instances where a double-layered backup is not ideal. Let’s look at this from a business and home user point of view:

Why Business and Enterprise users need an Extensive Data Backup Plan

Example. Your company has 10 employees. Each has their own workstation and they contact clients on a daily basis to drum up new sales, fulfil existing quotes and maintain a customer relationship manager (CRM). You have both #1 AND #2 stage backups (so local PCs and A NAS in-house maybe) covered. Plus you have business insurance in case of a fire or flood. One morning you arrive to find your office has been flooded/burnt/burgled/struck by lightning and everything is fried. At first, you think, lucky we have insurance. They will pay up for whole new office equipment, PCs and your server. However, what about all that customer data? Not only can the insurance company not replace it but they will not pay its consequential value (with VERY few insurance policies covering data recovery services). So now you have to start from square 1. Plus now you also have a bundle of rather angry customers from the previous days and weeks whose requirements go unfulfilled. This coupled with starting your business network from scratch, employees salaries continuing as normal and several IT guys (or 1 guy working for days) setting everything up from scratch again (this WILL be the case from fire, flood or theft) could easily KILL a company. Now, in that context, isn’t a few thousand put towards an off-site #3 Backup so bad? Thought not.

Why Home and Private users need an Extensive Data Backup Plan Too

Ok, so a home user has a smaller ecosystem to maintain and now the mission-critical data and the life or death nature of your information is less so. Or is it? Example #2. What about all those important house documents you’ve scanned? Those TV shows and movies you bought on a one time download? What about your wedding picture or those of your children growing up? Those videos of your friends and relatives that are no longer with us? Not to be bleak, but it is often the case that although much of a person’s data is not of huge financial value, it is still utterly and completely irreplaceable in the literal sense.

Likewise, if your many devices (phones, computers, hard drives) get corrupted, hacked with malware/ransomware or simply broken, don’t you want the peace of mind of knowing that there is always a backup of EVERYTHING? If you are copying the data of all your devices to a large hard drive enclosure in your home, this is NOT a perfect backup. It just protects you from the loss of one or more of your mobile/individual devices. Additionally, the minute you start deleting files on your phone/laptop to ‘make some space because it is already backed up on the NAS‘, your NAS is not a backup, it is the single repository for that data!  So, as you can see, the need for a reliable true backup is paramount regardless of whether you are a home user or business user. However accepting that you need a backup is not enough, you need to know what to consider when choosing the right backup. Home users and their data volume/frequency can always consider USB backups of course, which can be good but only upto the time that the last backup took place AND on the assumption that the USB drive is stored offsite periodically.

What are the factors I need to take into account when considering my Backup Solution?

Choosing the best full backup for your data can be a little difficult. With so many variables ranging from cost to size to speed and more, it can be easy to go around in circles and still end up choosing nothing. In almost all cases, the deciding factor is cost. However, this is closely followed by speed. Having a backup is all well and good, but if it takes too long to finish, it can often be slower than the speed at which you create data and create a bottleneck. Likewise, if you choose an unsuitable connection of choice between your primary backup storage and/or off-site 2nd backup storage, then they may communicate inefficiently. Below are the main overheads to consider when choosing your backup.

Distance & Speed – How far is the 2nd backup going to be from the primary backup and/or primary data source? Unless you are considering fibre cabling between different physical sites, you are going to be limited by your upload/download speed and if your network is busy with multiple users, then you will need to provision priority of service to these backup connections, or else risk it affecting day to day operation (particularly VoIP connections – a growing necessity in 2022 with shifting patterns in the way we are working during/ost pandemic). The local connections between your client devices in-house and the primary backup may well only be using an internet network/LAN to communicate, but that can still become oversaturated. So be sure to provision switches where appropriate too (we will touch on 10GbE later)

Power (Watts etc) – The power of the hardware inside the primary (bare-metal) data storage device, secondary backup target and (depending on your setup) even the power of your client hardware in house is also an important factor to take into consideration when scaling and provisioning an appropriate backup strategy. Critical power failure (i.e a power cut) in one or more of these locations can not only result in some data not being backed up, but more importantly can compromise the backups themselves, with some systems suffering critical hardware failure and SSD/HDD damage in the process. It is HIGHLY recommended for users who are considering a private server for their data have it connected to the mains power via a USB device, in order to allow the system to still operate in the event of power failure AND shut itself down safely.

Physical Media – The server of choice for your primary backup is only half of the battle. The media that you are storing the data too can make a huge impact too. Many have their own maximum speed or capacity, so even with a super-fast enclosure and/or connection, you will be bottlenecked by the drives themselves. All media types e.g. HDD, SSD or Tape have their own maximum performance and some are lower than the connection maximum and some are faster and therefore end up creating a limited speed inadvertently. This can be negated in a number of ways. These range from the use of RAID (redundant array of independent disks) that combines media into single storage pools that benefit from redundancy (i.e a safety net if one drive dies) and/or increases in performance. Additionally, you can look at SSD caching, a service that is particularly popular in private NAS servers released after around 2018 and continues to be included in most systems. SSD caching allows the system to have one of more SSDs installed and then utilize the increased performance they offer to benefit write actions (i.e you write data onto the SSDs first and then the NAS moves it over to the slower HDDs afterwards) and/or read actions (where the most frequently accessed files are cloned onto the SSDs and it speeds up their access to client devices) though this is less useful for backups, it is still a useful option.

The Media connection internally – As mentioned, the SATA port on most commercial HDD/SSD has a maximum of 6 gigabits (Gbs) in SATA III – SAS at 12 Gigabits. All of these are internal and are maximum bandwidths available to each media drive installed in each bay. However, realistically, most typical Hard Drives max out at 272MB/s at the very top end (and even then, this is using enterprise-grade HDDs) and most conventional 2.5″ SSDs (with the exception of U.2 and U.3) max out at about 550MB/s). So you are going to need several of these drives inside your primary backup system in a decent RAID configuration to facilitate performance AND redundancy (like a RAID 5 or RAID 5). For your external/2nd backup target, a lot of enterprise users take advance of cold storage such as tape drive media. Designed to be used for data that needs to be held for insurance/archive for years and years, the current highest generation of tape architecture is is LTO-9 = 400MB/s in uncompressed/RAW form and 1000MB/s in compressed, with storage capacities per tape hitting 45 Terabytes! However, a full backup would take (at best, so with everything at full!) over 12 hours to transfer. Additionally, tape backup is fantastically expensive and therefore largely enterprise only as an option.

The external connection – Lastly and possibly the most overlooked part, is the communication between your primary client devices to send data, the primary backup data and the secondary backup. Not just the speed, but the resilience and future-proofing. You need to consider what connection you are going to use today, tomorrow and years from now. The last thing you want is to saddle yourself with a connection now and later when you upgrade your primary hardware on individual clients or locations, end up with a device you cannot access or use with an unchangeable bottleneck. Then your data just becomes a chore to access at best and potentially days or weeks or time to restore. Popular connections and their speed between host and client devices are:

Network Backups (backups that share a LAN or vLANs in a greater network)

• 1GBe LAN/Ethernet = 1Gbit/s, or 100-109MB/s
• 2.5GbE LAN/Ethernet = 2.5Gbit/s, or 250-270MB/s
• 5GbE LAN/Ethernet = 5Gbit/s, or 500-545MB/s
• 10GbE LAN/Ethernet = 10Gbit/s, or 1000-1024MB/s

USB and local Backups directly connected and stored offsite

• USB 3.0 (3.2 Gen 1) = 5 Gbit/s
• USB 3.2 Gen 2= 10 Gbit/s
• USB 3.2×2 = 20 Gbit/s
• Thunderbolt 3 & Thunderbolt 4 = 40 Gbit/s

Fast Local Backups or Direct Connections over large distances

• Fibrechannel / FC – 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 128 gigabit per second rates depending to start
• Tape Based backups, such as LTO 7,8,9 – 300/360/400MB/s uncompressed and 750/900/1000MB/s compressed
• Cloud storage – dependant on connection. Additionally, factors such as upload and download speeds, fair usage policies and more affect the performance. If you are fortunate to have a 1 Gigabit internet connection, that means around 100MB/s for download speeds and a fraction of that for upload speeds

So, as you can see, there are many choices out there for a means of sending backup between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd parts of your backup environment.

What is the Difference in Speed and Cost between different Backup Solutions?

And so to the meat of the subject. Different solutions cost money and in the interests of SPEED, below i have detailed numerous solutions that will provide a backup solution of upto 10TB of storage. All Costs and speeds are based on a solution that is an acceptable distance away for maximum efficiency. Perfect speed results were provided with http://www.calctool.org/ , however, it is worth noting that these are ‘perfect situation’ based and it would be tough to see this maximum threshold. you will comfortably see around 10-20% below this, but that is fine. Finally, it is always worth remembering that the speeds mentioned below are based on an initial 10 Terabyte backup. After that, there is the likely possibility that future backups will be much more granular (this can also be referred to as differential backups, where only the changed files are backed up each time afterwards). But some users may wish to take advantage of time managed backups, where a full backup per day is kept, for X number of days (when eventually the newest backup will overwrite the oldest on rotation).

ALSO IMPORTANT – In all examples where a 4TB SSD (which average around £350-400 over SATA) is mentioned, you can use a 4TB HDDs at around £75-100 (brand depending) to save a considerable sum – but you will effective quadruple or more the time the initial backups will take. Likewise, future incremental backups will be significantly reduced also.  In examples where the SSD would have been substantially bottlenecked by a connection, I have used HDD as you will not need to spend the extra.

The Best Value 1/2.5GbE based Backup Solution for 10TB of data

For a solid LAN based backup (with optional internet access as needed for off-site work) I would recommend the Synology DS220+ 2 Bay Pentium NAS at around £250. Alongside this, you will need a smart Switch (to take advantage of LAG and 2GbE, 2x 10TB HDD at £230 each as you will not see any speed difference on a network connection with SSD (RAID 1). This will cost around just under £800. Alternatively, there have been other improvements in the base level ethernet connectivity in 2-4 Bay NAS solutions in the last few years, with 2.5GbE or even 5GbE available on the likes of the QNAP TS-x53D, TS-x73A or Asustor Lockerstor 2/4 series. These solutions arrive at only a fraction more and although they can possibly add another £100-200 to the price tag, this can be offset by time saved in the backup operations AND by purchasing a 4-Bay NAS over a 2-Bay and leveraging the price vs the redundancy vs the capacity (eg instead of 2x 10TB in RAID 1, purchasing 4x 3TB and getting better performance and an extra 2TB in RAID 5).

What do CalcTool.org have to say about 1GBe

Over 1 Gigabit per second, in a perfect scenario – just over 20 hours. Realistically closer to 25 or 30 hours. SO the first few backups should be conducted over the weekend but all future ‘difference only’ backups should be fin at 12-hour intervals without harming the bandwidth too much, Likewise, you can scale this down as you utilize link aggregation (also known as port trunking, when ports are combined) and/or 2.5GbE/5GbE to reduce this figure down to 8 hours or just 4 hours respectively.

The Best Value 10GBe Network-Based Solution for 10TB of Data

In order to create the perfect cost-effective yet powerful 10GBe Network-based backup solution (so 10x faster than normal LAN) I would recommend the QNAP TS-431X3 with 10GBe  (at around £450) with SFP+ Connection and  SFP+ Cables with transceivers attached (Cable price dependant on length and transceivers). Additionally, you will need a 10GBe switch (at least £150 realistically), and for MAXIMUM speed 4x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf 125 SSD (at £450 per drive) in a RAID 5 which slows things a pinch but gives you the safety of 1 drive worth of redundancy. Of course, you can downgrade to Seagate Ironwolf 4TB Hard drives (at £85 per drive) and save over £1500, but you will see a noticeable dip in performance of around 200-400MB/s (NAS dependant). So the choice is yours. Lastly, you will need a 10GBe interface on the machine(s) you are backing up from in order to maintain the 10GBe throughput (or alternatively just have the NAS on a 10GbE connection and the clients all on 1GbE with bandwidth being shared as appropriate). In total this will cost around £2400+ for the SSD based solution and just £900-1000 for the HDD solution. None of this is set in stone, of course, you can scale things in a number of ways, using bigger NAS solutions (i.e. more bays) or using multiple 10GbE connections in LAG/Trunked connections.

What do CalcTool.org have to say about 10GBe

The performance will largely be dictated by the distance of the backups, choice of HDD or SSD and types of files. However, over 10 Gigabit per second, in a perfect scenario – just over 2 hours. However this is a little optimistic and in practice, it will realistically weigh in closer to 3+ hours, as the complexity of the files (thousand so smaller emails and documents or fewer BIG media files, everyone is different). This of course is for the first few backups of a FULL 10 Terabytes of data. Later with incremental and ‘difference only’ backups, you will see times slashed heavily for the better.

The Cost of Thunderbolt 1, 2 or 3 Backup Solutions for 10TB of data

Fast becoming a connection of choice for photo and video editors in both the Mac and Windows community, Thunderbolt is the no-fuss connection that promises speed, without the technical nonsense. Much like before you can choose to go with SSD drives for supreme speed (at a hefty price tag) or HDD if you want to make economies. Below are the options best suited for a Thunderbolt 1 (although still legacy, still is in use), Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt 3 Backups:

• TB 1 DAS, 4-Bay, Cable, 4x 4TB SSD, RAID 5 enabled = £3000+ —- 2Hours + Backup time with SSD population / 3.5+ Hour for HDD Population
• TB 2 DAS, 4-Bay, Cable, 4x 4TB SSD, RAID 5 enabled = £3500+ —-  1 Hour + Backup time with SSD population / 2-3+ Hour for HDD Population
• TB 3 DAS, 4-Bay, Cable, 4x 4TB SSD, RAID 5 enabled = £4500+ —- 30-45min + Backup time with SSD population / 1.5 Hour for HDD Population

What do CalcTool.org have to say about Thunderbolt 1, 2 and 3

Thunderbolt does not lose speed over distance, however, most conventional cables you can buy max out around 5 metres and the ones included with the above enclosures arrive at 1-1.8m. In a real-world scenario you can realistically double this length of time listed above in the initial backups. However, it will MASSIVELY improve with subsequent backups. With the exception of a few, most Thunderbolt backups arrive with only Thunderbolt ports, so in order to maintain the speed levels of this backup, you need to either ensure that it is connected to your centralised depositary via Thunderbolt, or if it’s backing up multiple devices, that they are using a good networking device, as Thunderbolt Direct attached storage only allows a single connected device at any one time.

The Price, Speed & Suitability LTO-7, LTO-8 and LTO-9 Tape Backup 10TB Solutions

In the case of LTO / tapes, this kind of storage for 10TB can be incredibly inefficient for an extra layer of storage. You can purchase much smaller 1 and 2 tape frames/storage devices, but for what you are paying and the overall accessibility for all machines involved, it isn’t great. If you were regularly backing up 5x or 10x this amount of storage, it would be a different story. Internal operations can be upto 1000MB/s with compressed data and 400MB for raw uncompressed data. SO unless you are synchronizing between two LTO tape loading machines, you will almost certainly use uncompressed. However these are internal operations and as we are discussing backing up from existing systems to a storage device, we have to focus on the external connection. Most likely 10GBe network or 12GB/s SAS will be the means of backing up to your tape device. But Cost is hard to pin – easily £2000-3000 and upwards, over at least two tapes (capacity differed at each LTO generation) etc. Most likely around over  1-3 hours transfer time, but hugely impractical at this scale and most likely much higher in practice. Definite a good option for those at the enterprise tier, but anything less will be squandering their budgets significant with a weak ROI.

The Best Value USB 3.2 Gen 2 Backup Solution for 10TB of data

The latest available version of USB, also known as USB 3.1 Gen 2, is easily the cheapest way to store a 10TB backup at a very respectable 10 Gb/s (comparable to Thunderbolt 1) speed. You will need to ensure that the connected device(s) that you are backing up too/from use the newer USB 3.1 Gen 2 port to ensure you do not get bottlenecked at 5 Gb/s, but this Highpoint 6124V RAID 5 enabled USB 2 Gen 2 DAS enclosure arrives at £350+ and if populated with either 4x 4TB SSD or 4x HDD (same price difference as before), RAID 5 enabled = £2100+ for an SSD Based solution and just £700+ for a HDD based version

What do CalcTool.org have to say about USB 3.1 Gen 2?

With the best drives available you will have this 10TB localized backup over USB 3.1 Gen 2 finished in just over 2 hours. However taking system overheads into consideration, as well as the RAID 5 into account (something you could counter with a RAID 10 and 4x 6TB HDD perhaps) you are looking at between 2.5 and 3.5 hours completion. Additionally, a number of NAS Drive vendors have started implementing USB 3.2 Gen 2 in their systems, which means that a 10Gb/s USB DAS solution can be used as a means of creating a secondary backup by connecting it with your primary backup and running one of the many free backup/sync tools that NAS systems include with your purchase. Just remember that in order for this to be a truly safe 2nd tier backup, it cannot constantly reside in the same location as the primary backup.

Is Cloud Suitable as a 10TB Backup solution?

You may wonder why I have not suggested the cloud as a regular backup yet. It is certainly appealing. No parts are needed, just a healthy internet connection. You already have all the hardware you will need to establish this kind of synchronised backup – this should be by far the cheapest and easiest backup, right? Well yes and no. It IS cheap – in the short-term. Even if you take into account that your Business internet connection costs, from as little as £10 to £50 a month, reaching much higher once you consider fiber channelling, it is still pretty attractive. However you have to consider the time this backup will take and how it will affect the bandwidth throughout your business – otherwise, you will need to be conducted them overnight due to limit consumption. Some brands, such as Synology with their C2 platform, have rolled in an additional cloud service alongside their bare-metal solution. This is intended to be used as an alternative means of accessing an existing storage area that is synchronized with your NAS/local solution remotely (as well as benefiting from significantly easier remote access to data). NAS+Cloud can serve as a great 2-3/double backup option, as well as ensuring that your backups are in very different physical locations. Lastly, with intelligent caching and background synchronization between the NAS-THE CLOUD-CLIENT HARDWARE happening, a lot of the actual backing up can be hugely incremental and lessen the impact on the end-user, whether they are local to the NAS or remotely communicating with the C2 cloud (or 3rd party clouds such as Google Drive and Dropbox that are synced with the NAS). But what about the cloud on its own, not used in tandem with a NAS/Private server?

The first thing to factor in is the data being sent TO the cloud. Remember we are talking about Uploads, not downloads (downloads and a backup should only be considered during recovery, not day to day operations). Most internet services advertise incredible download speeds, but backups are almost exclusively upload based and upload speeds are normally a 10th or less than advertised download speeds. lastly, we can talk about costs. As although the initial costs are much less, let’s go for £50 a month for a dedicated high upload speed connection privately (closer to £500 for a business line) for your off-site backup. That is £600 a year. In 5 years, that is £3,000 (a cost that is the same or higher than most of the solutions discussed previously). The real kicker is that after those 5 years, you either have to continue paying to maintain this backup OR buy a suitable local storage drive to download it too – something you could have had ALREADY by going for the other solutions and thereby saving you thousands of pounds more.

I took the trouble of using the awesome tool at http://www.thecloudcalculator.com/ and if you have a 30Mbps upload speed (fairly respectable and the entry point outside of central city hubs). backing up 10TB initially would take  33 Days, 22 Hours, and 27 Minutes, 11 Seconds

That is horrendously long and you cannot just assume this is a one-off and negotiable with incremental backups and difference-only changes. You need a reliable and adaptive backup solution – not one that will do the job as long as you work within its limits. If you want to entertain the idea of a cloud-based backup of 10TB on a regular basis, we have to look into fiber and at least 2Gbps (so 2000 Megabits) to get to 12 hours for an overnight full backup (non-incremental). This is going to cost a small fortune and unless you intend to take advantage of this speed during the day-time, is a huge outlay for something that is not hugely accessible or reliable.

So, those are your options. Remember you are not limited to just ONE option and each of these solutions can be used in combinations, depending on your budget, physical environment, internet speeds or volume of client devices. In summary:

	NAS BACKUPS	USB DAS BACKUPS	THUNDERBOLT BACKUPS	TAPE BACKUPS	CLOUD BACKUPS
Price (more ★ = Higher Price)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Value (more ★ = more for your money)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Scalability (more ★ = can grow more)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Complexity (more ★ = more complex)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Speed (more ★ = faster)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
User/Usage Type	Home & Business	Home and Local	Home and Local	Enterprise	Remote
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We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7]     Terms and Conditions Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.  

Synology vient de mettre en ligne DSM 7.1.1-42962 Update 1. Cette nouvelle version du logiciel interne contient (seulement) trois lignes dans son journal des modifications. Regardons de plus près cette liste de problèmes corrigés… Synology DSM 7.1.1 Update 1 Alors que tout le monde attend avec impatience ses nouveaux NAS, Synology annonce aujourd’hui une nouvelle mise à jour de son logiciel interne. Si vous n’êtes pas impactés par les 3 corrections ci-dessous, il n’y a pas d’urgence à l’appliquer. Dans […]

How to Install TrueNAS Core on a QNAP NAS Drive – Step By Step Guide Have you always wanted to test out or run your very own TrueNAS Core NAS setup, but are intimidated by the building of it? It’s understandable. As respected as the ZFS-powered server software is in the IT community, it is […]

I. Présentation

Dans ce tutoriel, nous allons apprendre à créer un compte de stockage dans le Cloud Azure afin de pouvoir sauvegarder les données d'un NAS Synology à partir d'Hyper Backup. Ainsi, les données stockées localement sur le NAS vont bénéficier d'une sauvegarde externalisée, ce qui va permettre de se protéger en cas d'incident majeur : incendie, surcharge électrique, corruption de l'espace de stockage, etc...

Hyper Backup est une application officielle de Synology qui sert à sauvegarder des données, les paramètres d'applications et du système vers une source externe : un autre NAS Synology, un disque USB ou un fournisseur de stockage Cloud. L'application intègre des fonctionnalités de planification et de gestion de la rétention (nombre de versions à conserver). Si vous souhaitez uniquement synchroniser le contenu de votre NAS dans le Cloud, regardez plutôt du côté de l'application Cloud Sync de Synology.

Bien entendu, le stockage dans le Cloud Azure est payant et le tarif va dépendre de la volumétrie de données, du type de redondance, de la région choisie mais aussi du type de niveau d'accès (à froid, à chaud). Vous pouvez utiliser la calculatrice officielle pour avoir une idée du tarif (lien ci-dessous). Voici un exemple, mais vérifiez par vous-même car les tarifs peuvent évoluer.

• Alternative : la sauvegarde de son NAS Synology sur le Cloud Synology C2
• Cours gratuit - Comment sécuriser un NAS Synology ?
• Synology - Hyper Backup
• Microsoft Azure - Calculatrice des prix

II. Préparer l'environnement Azure

Connectez-vous sur le portail Azure (portal.azure.com), et créez un nouveau compte de stockage en accédant à la section nommée de cette façon et en cliquant sur le bouton "Créer".

Choisissez un abonnement, et créez un nouveau groupe de ressources, par exemple "NAS_Synology".

Nommez ce nouveau compte de stockage, par exemple "syno" (ce nom doit être unique) et choisissez la région, donc l'idéal c'est de prendre en France si c'est disponible. Puisqu'il s'agit d'un compte de stockage pour des sauvegardes, nous pouvons utiliser "Standard" pour les performances et "Stockage localement redondant (LRS)" pour la redondance, afin d'optimiser les coûts.

Je ne vais pas passer en revue toutes les options, mais attirer votre attention sur certaines qui me semblent importantes.

Dans la suite de la configuration, choisissez "Froid" comme niveau d'accès, là encore dans le but d'optimiser les coûts. Plus le stockage doit être redondé et performant, plus le prix sera élevé : ce n'est pas pertinent pour une sauvegarde externalisée.

Pour le moment, conservez le mode d'accès réseau "Activez l'accès public à partir de tous les réseaux" et nous verrons par la suite pour affiner cet accès.

Poursuivez jusqu'à la création du compte de stockage. Quand il sera créé, accédez à cette nouvelle ressource.

Maintenant, nous allons configurer le pare-feu de ce compte de stockage pour autoriser l'accès uniquement à partir de l'adresse IP publique utilisée par le NAS. C'est une manière de limiter l'accès à ce compte de stockage. Cliquez sur "Mise en réseau" à gauche (1), choisissez "Activé à partir des réseaux virtuels et adresses IP sélectionnés" (2), puis sous la section pare-feu, indiquez l'adresse IP publique du NAS ou cochez l'option "Ajouter l'adresse IP de votre client" (3) s'il est sur le même réseau que le PC que vous utilisez pour faire la configuration. Cliquez sur "Enregistrer" pour valider (4).

Pour finir, nous devons créer un nouveau conteneur au sein de ce compte de stockage. Sur la gauche, cliquez sur "Conteneurs" (1) puis sur le bouton "Conteneur" (2) pour créer un nouveau conteneur.

Une fenêtre apparaît sur la droite : donner un nom à ce conteneur et conserver le niveau d'accès sur privé. Validez.

Avant de passer à la configuration du NAS, cliquez sur "Clés d'accès" à gauche et copiez la clé "key1" car elle va servir à s'authentifier sur le compte de stockage Azure.

Passons à la configuration du NAS.

III. Créer la tâche de sauvegarde Hyper Backup

Connectez-vous à l'interface de DSM et ouvrez l'application Hyper Backup. Si besoin, vous pouvez l'installer à partir du Centre de paquets si vous ne l'avez pas déjà fait. Cliquez sur le "+" puis sur "Tâche de sauvegarde des données".

En ce qui concerne la destination, sélectionnez "Microsoft Azure" sans surprise.

C'est ici que l'on configure la connexion à Azure. Le fournisseur de service sera bien sûr Microsoft Azure. Indiquez le nom du compte de stockage et l'Access Key, c'est-à-dire la clé d'accès correspondante à la valeur de Key1 sur l'interface Azure. L'assistant va établir la connexion à Azure... Si cela fonctionne, votre container va s'afficher dans "Container name" : choisissez le container créé précédemment. Pour le nom du répertoire, vous pouvez l'ajuster pour apporter une précision sur le contenu de la sauvegarde.

Ensuite, vous devez sélectionner les répertoires à sauvegarder dans le Cloud Microsoft Azure.

À l'étape suivante, il est question de la sauvegarde des applications. Je vous recommande de sélectionner Hyper Backup, mais aussi d'autres applications critiques que vous pourriez utiliser comme Synology Drive Server ou Synology Photos. Ceci permet de sauvegarder les paramètres de l'application, mais également ses données (dépends des applications), par exemple le dossier "photo" de Synology Photos.

Poursuivons avec le nom de la tâche, mais aussi la planification : à vous d'ajuster selon vos besoins. Pour sécuriser vos données et protéger vos sauvegardes, je vous recommande d'activer l'option "Activer le chiffrement côté client" et de définir un mot de passe de protection. Vous devez le stocker en lien sûr, car sans lui impossible de restaurer une sauvegarde !

Sur son site, Synology précise : "Hyper Backup chiffre les données sauvegardées avec une clé de version et la technologie de chiffrement AES 256 bits de niveau militaire. Une clé de version est générée de manière aléatoire pour chaque version à chaque démarrage d'une tâche de sauvegarde. Par conséquent, chaque version de sauvegarde possède une clé de version unique. Par la suite, la clé de version créée est chiffrée par la technologie de chiffrement ECC Curve25519 et stockée dans la destination une fois la tâche de sauvegarde terminée. La technologie ECC Curve25519 est un algorithme de chiffrement asymétrique : une clé publique est utilisée pour chiffrer les données et seule une clé privée peut déchiffrer les données."

Dernière étape, les paramètres de rotation. En cochant l'option "Activer la rotation des sauvegardes", vous pouvez choisir un nombre de versions à conserver. Forcément, plus vous conservez de versions, plus cela va consommer de l'espace dans le compte de stockage Azure, et plus cela sera coûteux.

Finalisez la création de la tâche, et vous avez la possibilité de la démarrer dans la foulée. Ensuite, il ne reste plus qu'à patienter pendant que le NAS travaille... Le contenu de la sauvegarde est "visible" dans l'interface de Microsoft Azure, au sein du conteneur.

Selon la quantité de données à sauvegarder, la première sauvegarde sera longue. Le tableau de bord d'Hyper Backup permet de suivre l'état de la tâche de sauvegarde.

Si l'on clique sur le bouton "Liste des versions", on peut voir les différentes sauvegardes et les parcourir dans le but de restaurer un ou plusieurs fichiers. Si vous avez activé le chiffrement côté client, il sera nécessaire de saisir la clé secrète avant de pouvoir visualiser les sauvegardes. C'est un plus en terme de sécurité.

Désormais, vous bénéficier d'une sauvegarde externalisée des données de votre NAS Synology ! Pensez à surveiller les coûts côté Microsoft Azure pour éviter les mauvaises surprises en fin de mois. Je vous recommande d'y aller doucement sur la rétention et d'ajuster avec le temps afin de maitriser votre budget.

The post Sauvegarder les données de son NAS Synology sur le Cloud Azure first appeared on IT-Connect.

Synology Planning on a New RT3000ax WiFi 6 and 2.5GbE Router for 2022/2023

Yes, Synology is working on a new WiFi 6 and 2.5G router – The Synology RT3000ax. Before I go any further though,a little bit of background. I think it would be safe to say that Synology has been quite successful in their range of prosumer routers. When they first introduced the RT1900ac 6 years ago, it was seen as something of an experiment to see if they could bring the same level of software, design and experience that they had learned in network attached storage to one of the most common devices in all our homes and offices worldwide. Fast forward to now and they are on the 3rd Generation (technically, a little bit of overlap) and we have seen both the standard of Synology Router and the functionality of Synology Router Manager (SRM) evolve considerably – with the router arm of their portfolio getting stronger all the time. Which brings us to the newly revealed RT3000ax router, a more compact 802.11ax router that seems destined to serve as the refresh for the MR2200ac or (more likely) the RT2600ac at some point in the future. With a new and intriguing design (definitely looks like what the most recent star wars trilogy did to stormtrooper helmets, but ok) and borrowed elements of the recently released RT6600ax router, the RT3000ax would appear to be designed to be in a tier of their router portfolio serving as the middle-ground (when the OTT RT6600ax seems a bit pie in the sky). Let’s discuss this new router, the hardware we know about, the software and whether this device is worth waiting for.

Hardware Specifications of the Synology RT3000ax Router

The Synology RT3000ax router is quite comparable to the RT6600ax in a number of ways when it comes to it’s general hardware specifications (those the details on the qualcomm processor and on board RAM remain a mystery at the time of writing), with the system supporting 2.5GbE on a WAN/LAN port (as well as 4 more 1GbE LAN ports, with one being dedicated WAN), failover support, WiFi 6 support and USB storage compatibility that allows the use of applications (modified Synology DSM NAS apps) to be used on the system with SRM. However, there is always clear build choices here that show that the RT3000ax is designed for slightly more modest deployments. It’s a dual-band (2.4/5G design), uses internal antennae, is more verticle in it’s shape, is wall mountable and I have yet to hear if mesh support is available (assume yes, but still TBC). Here are the specifications that I know about so far:

Synology RT3000ax Router
Wireless Standards	2.4GHz: 802.11 b/g/n/ax 5GHz: 802.11 a/n/ac/ax
Frequency/Bandwidth	802.11ax (2.4GHz): Up to 600 Mbps 802.11ax (5GHz): Up to 2400 Mbps
5.9Ghz Support	TBC
WAN	Gigabit WAN x 1 2.5G WAN / LANx 1 (Dual WAN)
LAN	Gigabit LAN x 3 and 2.5G LAN x 1
USB	USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-A) x 1
File System	EXT4, EXT3, FAT, NTFS, HFS+ (Ext Drive)
Physical Buttons/Switches	• Power • WPS • Wi-Fi On/Off • Reset
Wireless Modes	Wireless Router Wireless AP (Access Point)
Antenna	Internal 2T2R Omni-directional high-gain dipole (2.4GHz) Internal 4T4R Omni-directional high-gain dipole (5GHz)
Size	233 x 194 x 66mm

Setup of the Synology RT3000ax router is largely the same as that of the rest of the RT and MR series from the brand, with it being usable as a primary router point or as an additional access point. The dual WAN design allows users to connect their ingoing/outgoing internet connection to an upto 1GbE (1000Mb/100MMB) connection, or use the 2.5GbE connection for greater than gigabit external connections. This also means that the support of failover is available, with the option to connect more two internet connections to the system (either both via WAN connection and/or with use of a 4G/5G LTE SIM connection via a supported USB device). Something I tested (along with other recovery features of SRM and the RT6600ax) in the video lower in the article.

These are still questions surrounding some SRM supported features and recent Synology router services that are available on the RT6600ax router and whether they will be available on the RT3000ax, such as:

• Will the RT3000ax Router use/access the 5.9Ghz Band, allowing larger 160Mhz connections? Almost certainly yes, but still TBC
• Will Mesh connectivity with other Synology Routers (RT6600ax, RT2600ax, MR2200ac) be available, and at launch? Again, almost certainly yes, but still TBC

We will update this article and the larger Synology 2023 Hardware Page as soon as we know more. You can visit the BIG Synology 2023 Page HERE

How Does the Synology RT3000ax Compare with the RT6600ax Router?

Many users who are considering buying the Synology RT6600ax right now in Autumn 2022 might hear the news of a new RT3000ax WiFi6 router coming at some point in the future and be thinking about whether to buy now or wait. It’s a very good question! However, the more you look into the specifications (even based on the few we know right now comparatively) it is clear that the RT6600ax router is the more powerful and capable price. So, if you were already about to buy the RT6600ax as it sounded ideal for your needs, then waiting for the release of the RT3000ax will not be worth it for you. However, if you were only considering the RT6600ax for its WiFi 6 and 2.5G capabilities and you were not looking to upgrade your setup until the end of 2022 or the first quarter of 2023 (when this new outer is likely to arrive realistically), then here are how the Synology RT3000ax and RT6600ax compare:

Model	Synology RT3000ax	Synology RT6600ax
Price	TBC	$309 – £260 – €299
Wireless Standards	2.4GHz: 802.11 b/g/n/ax 5GHz: 802.11 a/n/ac/ax	2.4GHz: 802.11 b/g/n/ax 5GHz: 802.11 a/n/ac/ax
Frequency/Bandwidth	802.11ax (2.4GHz): Up to 600 Mbps 802.11ax (5GHz): Up to 2400 Mbps	802.11ax (2.4GHz): Up to 600 Mbps 802.11ax (5GHz-1): Up to 1200 Mbps 802.11ax (5GHz-2): Up to 4800 Mbps
5.9Ghz Support	TBC	YES
WAN	Gigabit WAN x 1 2.5G WAN / LANx 1 (Dual WAN)	Gigabit WAN x 1 2.5G WAN / LANx 1 (Dual WAN)
LAN	Gigabit LAN x 3 and 2.5G LAN x 1	Gigabit LAN x 3 and 2.5G LAN x 1
USB	USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-A) x 1	USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-A) x 1
File System	EXT4, EXT3, FAT, NTFS, HFS+ (Ext Drive)	EXT4, EXT3, FAT, NTFS, HFS+ (Ext Drive)
Physical Buttons/Switches	• Power • WPS • Wi-Fi On/Off • Reset	• Power • WPS • Wi-Fi On/Off • Reset
Wireless Modes	Wireless Router Wireless AP (Access Point)	Wireless Router Wireless AP (Access Point)
Antenna	Internal 2T2R Omni-directional high-gain dipole (2.4GHz) Internal 4T4R Omni-directional high-gain dipole (5GHz)	2T2R Omni-directional high-gain dipole (2.4GHz/5GHz-1) 4T4R Omni-directional high-gain dipole (5GHz-2)
Size	233 x 194 x 66mm	65 x 280 x 180 MM

So, as you can see, the main difference here is the scope of bandwidth, coverage and distance that is covered between the RT6600ax and RT3000ax – with the RT6600ax clearly being the larger (thanks to that tri-band support and larger external antenna coverage. But if you are looking for a smaller deployment and are not in a big rush right now, the RT3000ax router will provide most of the other features on offer!

Software and Security of the Synology RT3000ax Router

The Synology RT3000ax router will arrive with Synology Router Manager (SRM), as well as a range of client applications, Synology DSM-built tools that have been modified to work on their router platform and compatibility/support of all the usual OS’. You can find out more on the latest release of SRM (version 1.3) in my FULL SRM REVIEW HERE on YouTube and in my long written review of SRM1.3 here on NASCompares, but the highlights are:

SRM Features	LAN/WAN management – Port forwarding – Network segmentation – Traffic Control – IPv4/IPv6 Dual Stack – Smart/Auto WAN Switching – Failover and load balancing – Policy routing – IPTV & VoIP Support – MAC address filtering – Set up web filtering – Router Bridge Mode Support Monitoring – Live view per device – Application statistics – Bandwidth Device Control – Client Application QoS – User QoS – Detailed Report Generation (PDF,CSV,HTML etc) Synology Safe Access – User & network profiles – Access Time management – User Internet schedule & Time quota – Highly-customizable Web filters – Site Access Schedules – Safe Search integration (YouTube, Google, Bing and more) – User Unblock/Access Request and Control GUI – DNS over HTTPS Available – Let’s Encrypt integration – Dual-stack firewall – Automatic blocking and two-factor authentication – 5 Network and 15 SSID Creation for Network Layers – Automatic security database updates – DNS & IP threat intelligence Database – Google Safe Browsing – VPN Plus Application Service – Site-to-Site VPN – Access your network without VPN client – TLS 1.2/1.3 support – Supports the ChaCha cipher – Validated by Microsoft Azure – Bandwidth control & block list – Active Directory and LDAP support Add On Apps (Requires a USB Drive) – VPN Plus Server – Download Station – Media Server – DNS Server – RADIUS Server – Threat Prevention QuickConnect and DDNS for Encrypted/Secure Remote Management
Supported Clients (for SRM)	Windows 7 onwards, Mac OS 10.12 onwards
Security	WPA2-Personal, WPA/WPA2-Personal, WPA2-Enterprise, WPA/WPA2-Enterprise, Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE), WPA3-Personal, WPA3-Enterprise, WPA2/WPA3-Persona

Find out more on the automated recovery of connectivity in wired/wireless configuration, how the system handles failover, mesh self healing and more in my Synology Router Experiments video below:

When Will the Synology RT3000ax Router Be Released?

Right now, the information we have on the RT3000ax router is a long way from complete and that, combined with the relatively recent release of the Synology RT6600ax, likely means that this new router will not see release particularly soon (though I would expect it to be highlighted at the Synology 2023 digital event). More likely, the Synology RT3000ax will be looking at a VERY later 2022 release or (more likely) a Q1 2023 release. As more information on this device becomes available, I will update this article, the Synology 2023 SUPER ARTICLE and comparisons with the current generation of Synology Routers as information arrives. Subscribe to the NASCompares blog OR just chuck your email in the notification box below (no sign-up needed, you just get the alerts to updates to this article) to stay informed on the Synology RT3000ax router Have a great week!

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Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

We want to keep the free advice on NASCompares FREE for as long as we can. Since this service started back in Jan '18, We have helped hundreds of users every month solve their storage woes, but we can only continue to do this with your support. So please do choose to buy at Amazon US and Amazon UK on the articles when buying to provide advert revenue support or to donate/support the site below. Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7]     Terms and Conditions Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.  

 

 

Review of the WD Red Pro 22TB Hard Drive for NAS Remember when everyone said that hard drives would be dead by 2020? Yes, to say that statement has been debunked so incredibly thoroughly that it seems a bit comical to think that HDDs were going to go away any time soon. Yes, SSDs still […]

Synology est actuellement en train de renouveler son catalogue de NAS (DSx22 et DSx23). Récemment, nous avons réalisé le test du DS1522+. Nous ne pensions pas faire un article sur la prise sécurisée de la nouvelle alimentation externe, mais certains semblent en savoir plus. Comme cette nouvelle alimentation se retrouvera certainement dans les prochains serveurs, voici un rapide aperçu. Synology et nouvelle alimentation Avec le nouveau NAS DS1522+, une nouvelle alimentation externe est fournie. Il s’agit d’un petit boîtier noir […]

Disponible en Realase Candidate début août (voir notre article), la version finale est enfin arrivée. En effet, Synology DSM 7.1.1 (42962) est disponible pour tous en téléchargement. Cette mise à jour est importante, car elle intègre plusieurs de nouveautés, des améliorations pour le système et surtout des corrections à des vulnérabilités. Regardons de plus près cette nouvelle version de DSM… Synology DSM 7.1.1-42962 Synology DSM 7.1.1 version finale vient tout juste d’arriver et nous vous recommandons de l’installer dans les […]

En 2014, nous avions fait plusieurs tests de performance du SHR (avec 3 disques) versus RAID 5. Ces mesures avaient faisait ressortir qu’il n’y avait pas d’écart probant entre ces deux types de RAID. Nous avons décidé de refaire nos tests afin d’actualiser les résultats et de les compléter avec le RAID 1, RAID 6 et le SHR2. RAID ou SHR, lequel choisir ? Nous profitons d’avoir un DS1522+ en test pour mettre à jour notre comparatif entre le RAID […]

DSM 7 Installation Guide – Setting Your Synology NAS Up Right – FIRST TIME!

If you have purchased your new Synology NAS (or it is soon to be arriving and you want to be prepared to set it up), then congratulations! You are on your way to enjoying your very own private storage solution that can allow you to access your data in your home, business or remotely anywhere in the world. However, it is worth noting that although a lot of the setup of a Synology NAS is quite straightforward, there are a number of early choices during the initial installation that, if made incorrectly or in haste, cannot be reversed without restoring the system to factory settings. Therefore it is understandable that when setting up your Synology NAS for the first time, that you want to get it right the first time too! So today I want to start my 5 part series here on NASCompares where I will be guiding yoU through setting up your Synology as smoothly as possible. This guide has been made using a number of setup elements from Synology’s own resources, along with my own recommendations on your setup and links to more unique tutorials you may find helpful. In part 1, we will be going through setting the NAS up physically, initializing the DSM 7 software and services, creating a storage area, multiple users, customizing the security settings to your needs and establishing safe remote access to your Synology NAS. The following guide (part one at least) should take you a little under over 30 minutes to do EVERYTHING, with the remaining parts being a little more optional and centred around more user-specific applications and services. If you would prefer to follow the video guide on this, I have released a 9 Part video guide series for Synology NAS in 2022 available below. Otherwise, let’s get started on setting up your Synology NAS.

Here are the 9 Parts of the Synology Video Guide Series

Synology NAS Setup Guide 2021/2022 Part I – 2021/2022 – DSM 7 – RAID – VOLUMES – SHARES – MAPPED DRIVES

Synology NAS Setup Guide 2022 #2 – Snapshots, NAS to NAS/CLOUD/USB, SaaS Backups & Sync

Synology NAS Setup Guide 2022 #3 – Photography, Indexing, Sharing & Moving from Google

Synology NAS Setup Guide 2022 #4 – Music Audio, Indexing, Sharing and Streaming over DLNA

Synology NAS Setup Guide 2022 #5 – Video Station, Stream to Fire TV, DLNA and Indexing TV/Films

Synology NAS Setup Guide 2022 #6 – Setting Up Plex Media Server Right First Time

Synology NAS Setup Guide 2022 #7 – Setting Up Surveillance Station, Cameras, Control and Alert

Synology NAS Setup Guide 2022 #8 – Setting Up an iSCSI Target and a Storage LUN

What you will need when setting up your Synology NAS the first time.

• A Synology NAS (duh!)
• An active internet connection and Router/Modem (not essential, but will make initial setup and firmware 10x easier)
• Access to a Router or Switch that is also accessible with a client computer/mobile device
• An available mains power outlet

That is all you need for Part 1 of this guide. Let’s begin.

Physical Installation of a Synology NAS

Physical Installation of the hard drives or SSD into the Synology NAS is very, very easy and is completely toolless (for Hard drives, SSD require you to use 4 screws for each that are in the accessories box). Once you have unboxed all the accessories, you need to remove the trays (all of them, or as many as you need for your hard drives).

Then each tray has removable clips on either side. Once removed, you can slot the hard drive into the tray, with the connector facing out and the manufacturer label facing up.

Then put the clips back, ensuring the 4 plugs are inserted into the holes on the drive. Then just slide each tray+drive back into the NAS. Once this is done, connect the power brick into the rear of the NAS and then the mains power lead into the power brick and the wall socket.

Finally, you need to connect the network LAN cable into the network port on the rear of the NAS and connect the other end to your router, modem or switch (in simple speak, the box your internet service provider have you or the box the other internet things are connected to. You can now click the power button on the front of the NAS and you will hear a beep and the device will take around 2-3mins to initialise. If you are having difficulty with the physical installation of your Synology NAS, you can use the first part of the video below, where I will show you each step of the physical installation and then move on to the DSM 7 setup with the Synology Assistant and Web GUI via your browser.

The Synology NAS runs on its very own operating system, known as Diskstation Manager (DSM) and this is what separates it from most traditional USB direct-attached storage (DAS) and network drives that are just brainless storage. DSM allows users to run hundreds of applications, each with their own user interface (UI) on the NAS, that they can access on desktop computers, mobile devices and media devices. After you have installed hard drives and booted the device up, and found the device in your network (using the free Synology Assistant application for PC/Mac or DS Finder mobile app) you will be asked to proceed with the Synology DSM installation.

Install DSM 7 using a desktop Web Browser with the Web Assistant

Your Synology NAS comes with a built-in tool, Web Assistant, which helps you download the latest version of DSM from the Internet and install it on your Synology NAS. To use Web Assistant, follow the steps below:
1. Power on your Synology NAS.
2. Open a web browser on a computer within the same network where your Synology NAS is located, and go to “find.synology.com”. The status of your NAS should be Not installed.
3. Select your Synology NAS and click Connect on Web Assistant.
4. Click Install to start the installation process and follow the on-screen instructions

• Both your Synology NAS and computer must be on the same local network.
• We suggest using Chrome or Firefox as the browser for DSM installation.
• For more information on the setup of Synology NAS and DSM, please refer to the Hardware Installation Guide for your Synology NAS models available via Synology’s Download Center

Install DSM 7 with Your Mobile with the DS finder Application

You can also install DS finder (App Store/Google Play Store) on your mobile device to install DSM as demonstrated below:
1. Power on your Synology NAS.
2. Connect your mobile device to the local network where your Synology NAS is located, and launch DS finder.
3. Tap SET UP NEW NAS to start the setup process.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to establish the connection between your mobile device and Synology NAS, and tap SEARCH. DS finder will search for your Synology NAS. The status of your NAS should be Not installed.
5. Select your Synology NAS and tap INSTALL to start the installation process and follow the onscreen instructions.

Notes:
• We take Android 10 as an example in this chapter. The actual steps may vary across OS versions and devices.
• Both your Synology NAS and mobile device must be on the same local network.
• DS finder can only run on Android and iOS devices.
• DS finder supports installing DSM on most Synology NAS models (except rack-mount models and desktop models of FS/XS series).

How to Configure storage space on your Synology NAS with the Storage Manager

This section guides you through the steps of storage pool creation using the built-in package, Storage Manager. When it’s your first time launching Storage Manager, Storage Creation Wizard will help you create and configure storage pools and volumes. A storage pool is a single storage unit consisting of multiple drives. A volume is a storage space created on a storage pool. You have to create at least one volume to store data on your Synology NAS.

How to Create a Storage pool and Volume

1. Launch Storage Manager in the Main Menu. Storage Creation Wizard will pop up to lead you through the steps below
2. Choose a RAID type to protect your storage. Some RAID types are available on certain models according to the number of drive bays. To know which RAID type is proper for your storage pool, you can refer to the Understand RAID types section or this article.
3. Deploy drives to constitute the storage pool.
4. Allocate the volume capacity.
5. Select a file system. We recommend Btrfs for its data protection features. To learn more about the differences between Btrfs and ext4, you can refer to this article

Btrfs – Supports various data protection features, e.g., snapshot, replication, point-in-time recovery, and data integrity check.

ext4 – Features wide compatibility with Linux operating systems. It has fewer hardware requirements than Btrfs.

1. Confirm the settings. The system will automatically run the storage creation and optimization process in the background.

How to Access and Navigate the Synology DSM 7 GUI

After installing DSM on your Synology NAS, you can sign in to DSM using the DSM user account you have just added during the first-time installation. Follow the steps below to sign in via a web browser:
1. Make sure your computer and Synology NAS are connected to the same local network.
2. Open a browser on your computer and enter one of the following in the address bar:

• find.synology.com: Enter this URL only if your computer and Synology NAS are connected to the same local area network.
• IP address of your NAS:5000: If the IP address of your Synology NAS is “192.168.48.14”, type “192.168.48.14:5000”. The IP address depends on the settings made during the initial setup

1. Enter your username and click the rightward arrow.
2. Enter your password and click the rightward arrow again to sign in.

Key Navigation Options Options, A Brief Overview

The DSM Browser-Based Desktop GUI

After signing in, you can see the DSM desktop, where your application and package windows are displayed. You can also create desktop shortcuts to frequently used applications. why are you copying me!

The DSM 7 Tasks, Activity & Notification Panel

The taskbar is located at the top of the screen and includes the following items:why are you copying me!

1. Show Desktop: Minimize all launched applications and packages windows.
2. Main Menu: Click the icon to view and open applications and add-on packages. You can also click and drag to create desktop shortcuts.
3. Open applications: Displays currently launched applications and packages. You can right-click and pin the applications or packages to the taskbar for faster access in the future.

4. Upload Queue: Appears when you start uploading files to your Synology NAS. Click the icon to see more details, such as progress and upload speed.why are you copying me!
5. External Devices: This appears when an external device (e.g., a USB flash drive) is attached to your Synology NAS.
6. Notifications: Displays notifications, such as errors, status updates, and package installation notifications.why are you copying me!
7. Options: Click the menu to shut down, restart, or sign out of your Synology NAS. You can also select Personal from the menu to modify personal account settings.
8. Widgets: Show or hide widgets. Widgets are located on the right side of DSM desktop by default, displaying various types of system information, such as storage, system health, etc.
9. Search: Quickly find specific applications, packages, or DSM Help articles.

The DSM Appliations & Services via the Main Menu

You can find a list of applications and packages installed on your Synology NAS here. To create a desktop shortcut, open Main Menu, and click and drag an application or package to the side.

How to Change Personal Settings in DSM 7

You can select the Personal option from the drop-down menu to manage your account settings, such as the password, display language, sign-in methods, and display preferences. The following gives you an overview of tabs under this option:

• Account: Edit account settings, enable advanced sign-in methods, and view recent login activities of your DSM account (refer to this article for more information).
• Display Preferences: Edit date and time formats as well as the appearance of your desktop (refer to this article for more information).
• Email Delivery: Add your email accounts at this tab. These email accounts are used in the following scenarios (refer to this article for more information):
• Deliver files stored in File Station as attachments.
• Send event invitation emails via Synology Calendar.
• Send notification emails when sharing files with others via Synology Drive.
• Quota: View your quota on all volumes set by the administrator’s account, as well as the amount of capacity you have used on each volume. On models with Btrfs support, you can also view the quota and capacity usage of each shared folder.
• Others: Customize other personal account options (refer to this article for more information)

How and Why to Create a shared folder to start sharing files in DSM 7

Through the setup of a shared folder, you can turn your Synology NAS into a convenient and secure file-sharing center. This section explains the role of shared folders on DSM and gives you instructions on file management using File Station and DS file. Understand shared folders A shared folder is a home directory where you can store and manage files and subfolders. You must have at least one shared folder to store files on your Synology NAS. Data stored in shared folders can be kept private or shared with specific users or groups based on custom permission settings. Some packages or services require a dedicated shared folder to ensure functionality (most will create a folder automatically). Removing any shared folder removes all the data and their snapshots within the folder. If you need the data, please back them up first before the removal.

How to Navigate, Manage and Access Files in the DSM 7 Web-Based GUI

File Station is a built-in file management tool on DSM. File Station provides a centralized interface where you can access and manage files and folders with web browsers and grant other users access to files based on the permissions you set. This section guides you through the steps of file management via File Station. Launch File Station and click Settings. You can perform the following actions here:

• Configure general settings.
• Mount shared folders, virtual drives, servers, and cloud service.
• Allow specific users to share file links or make a request for file access.
• Set speed limits for file transfer via File Station.
• Enable converting HTML files to plain text for security reasons.

Search for files or folders. File Station provides regular search and advanced search to meet different requirements:
• To perform a regular search, click the folder where the desired files or folders are located. Type a keyword in the Search field.
• To perform an advanced search, go to the folder where the desired files or folders are located. Click the magnifying glass icon next to the Search field to expand the advanced search menu, where you can set multiple search conditions for a refined search result.

How to Manage files and folders Easily in DSM 7

Select a file or folder and click Action or simply right-click it to perform the following actions:
• To send a file as email attachments: Right-click a file and select Send as email attachments. You can directly send and share files as email attachments in File Station once you have set up email delivery settings in the pop-up Personal window.
• To view or rotate pictures: Double-click a picture to open it in a viewer window, where you can view and rotate pictures.
• To edit the access permissions: Right-click a file or folder and select Properties. You can edit access permissions at the Permission tab.
• To generate file-sharing links: Right-click a file or folder and select Share. A shared link will be automatically generated. You can further specify validity periods or enable secure sharing.

How to Create local Users and Groups in DSM 7

You can grant family members or business associates access to Synology NAS by creating user accounts for them. For the ease of administration, you can create groups to categorize users and manage them together. This section guides you through how to create users and groups in Control Panel.

How to Create a User in DSM 7

1. Go to Control Panel > User & Group > User.
2. Click Create to launch User Creation Wizard.
3. On the Enter user information page, enter the following user information:

• Name
• Description (Optional)
• Email (Optional): Enter the user’s email address. System notifications, such as password reset messages, will be sent to the address specified here.
• Password
• Confirm password

1. On the same page, configure the following advanced settings that will be applied to the
   user:

• Send a notification mail to the newly created user: You have to enable email notifications in Control Panel > Notification > Email to allow the system to send emails. If you have not yet set up notification settings, a confirmation dialog box will pop up and lead you to the setup page when you tick this checkbox. For more information on the notification settings, please refer to the Manage notifications section.
• Display user password in notification mail
• Disallow the user to change account password
• Password is always valid: You will not see this option If Password Expiration at the Advanced tab is not enabled. This option makes this user’s password always valid and the rules of Password Expiration will not be applied to this user.
5. On the Join groups page, specify the groups to which the new user should belong. The default groups are administrators, http, and users. Please refer to the Create a group section to customize groups.
6. On the Assign shared folders permissions page, choose which shared folders the user can access. When the user permissions conflict with group permissions, the privilege priority is as follows: No access > Read/Write > Read only. The Preview column displays the access privileges that will take effect.
7. On the Assign user quota page, you can specify the maximum amount of space the user can use for each volume/shared folder. Enter a value and select the size unit in the User Quota
field.

1. On the Assign application permissions page, you can control which services the user can access. When the user permissions conflict with group permissions, the Deny permission always has priority over the Allow permission.
2. On the Set user speed limit page, you can enable a speed limit for different services (e.g., File Station, FTP, rsync, etc.) to restrict the amount of bandwidth consumed by the user when transferring files. For each service, you can select one of the following:

• Apply group settings: If the user belongs to multiple groups, the group with a higher speed limit has priority over other ones.
• Set up speed cap: Specify upload and download speed limits in the fields to the right.
• Advanced settings: Two customized speed limits and the group limit can be applied to the user according to the schedule you set. You can modify the speed limit settings and set the schedule in the pop-up window.
10. On the Confirm settings page, check and confirm the setting summary.
11. Click Done to finish the settings.

How to Create a User Create a group

1. Go to Control Panel > User & Group > Group.
2. Click Create to launch Group Creation Wizard.
3. On the Enter group information page, enter a group name.
4. On the Select member’s page, add target users to the group.
5. On the Assign shared folder permissions page, specify group members’ permissions to each shared folder.
6. On the Assign group quota page, you can enable the usage quota for each service to control how much storage can be used by each group member.
7. On the Assign application permissions page, you can control which services group members can access.
8. On the Set group speed limit page, you can enable a speed limit for different services (e.g., File Station, FTP, Rsync, etc.) to restrict the amount of bandwidth consumed by each group member when transferring files. For each service, you can select one of the following:

• Set up speed cap: Specify upload and download speed limits in the fields to the right.
• Advanced settings: Two customized speed limits and no limits can be applied according to the schedule you set. You can modify the speed limit settings and set the schedule in the pop-up window.

1. On the Confirm Settings page, check and confirm the setting summary.
2. Click Done to finish the settings.

Creating a Synology Account for Remote Access & Managing Services

As an owner of Synology NAS, you should have a Synology Account to access Synology online services and manage your customer information. Different from DSM user accounts, which can be used to sign in to DSM, a Synology Account allows you to manage your billing information, registered Synology products, requests for technical support, and Synology online services (e.g., QuickConnect, DDNS, and Synology C2). For more information on the differences between Synology Accounts and DSM user accounts, please refer to this article.

Sign up for a Synology Account and bind your Synology NAS during DSM installation or by following the steps below:
1. Go to this website.
2. Complete the form and click Next. Then, follow the on-screen instructions to create a Synology Account

1. Go to the email box you have entered, and click the email titled Synology Account – sign up (sent from “[email protected]”) to get your verification code.
2. Enter the verification code and click Next.
3. Check the terms and privacy policy. Click Submit.

4. Go to Control Panel > Synology Account, and click Sign in or sign up for a Synology Account.

1. In the pop-up window, enter the credentials of your Synology Account and click Sign In.
2. Now you have successfully registered for a Synology Account and bound your NAS to it

Creating and Editing Your QuickConnect ID

QuickConnect allows client applications to connect to your Synology NAS via the Internet without setting up port forwarding rules. It can work with Synology-developed packages, such as Audio Station, Video Station, Download Station, Surveillance Station, Synology Photos, File Station, Note Station, CMS, Synology Drive, and mobile applications. You can either specify your QuickConnect ID during DSM installation, or activate the service by following the steps below:
1. Go to Control Panel > External Access > QuickConnect.
2. Tick the Enable QuickConnect checkbox

1. If you have not signed in to your Synology Account, a login window will pop up. Enter your existing Synology Account information or create a new account in the window.
2. Specify a new QuickConnect ID.
3. Click Apply.

Notes:
• A customized QuickConnect ID can only include English letters, numbers, and dashes (-). It must start with a letter, and cannot end with a dash.

How to Configure & Increase Network Access Security

Once your Synology NAS is connected to the Internet, it is crucial to ensure system security. This section provides you four methods to strengthen the security of your DSM. Configuring a Firewall, utilizing the Security Advisor, Activating 2-Step Authentication and Enabling auto block, Account Protection, and DoS protection.

How to Activate the Firewall

1. Go to Control Panel > Security > Firewall.
2. Tick Enable firewall and click Apply. The default firewall profile will be applied to your DSM.

Utilizing the Security Advisor

Security Advisor is a built-in application that scans your Synology NAS, checks your DSM settings, and provides advice on how to address security weaknesses. Keep your Synology NAS secure by following the steps below:

Scan your Synology NAS immediately
1. Go to Security Advisor > Overview.
2. Click Scan.

1. Fix the security weaknesses according to the scanning results.

Set up an automatic scan schedule
1. Go to Security Advisor > Advanced.
2. Tick Enable regular scan schedule under the Scan Schedule section. Select the time to run scanning from the drop-down menus.

1. Click Apply to save the settings.

How to Activate 2-factor authentication

2-factor authentication provides additional security for your DSM account. Once this option is enabled, you will need to enter a one-time authentication code besides your password when signing in to DSM. The code can be obtained through authenticator apps (e.g., Synology Secure SignIn and Google Authenticator) installed on your mobile device.

To enable 2-factor authentication for your account, please follow the steps below:
• Go to Personal > Account and click 2-Factor Authentication to launch the setup wizard. Enter your password to continue.

• If Secure SignIn Service is already enabled in Control Panel > Security > Account, select from either Approve sign-in, hardware security key, or OTP for the second sign-in step.
• If Secure SignIn Service has not been enabled, OTP is the only available option for the second sign-in step.

How to Enable auto block, Account Protection, and DoS protection

You can safeguard DSM through these three mechanisms: autoblock, Account Protection, and DoS protection.

Autoblock unauthorized access

1. Go to Control Panel > Security > Protection > Auto Block.
2. Tick Enable autoblock.
3. Enter a value in the Login attempts field and a value in the Within (minutes) field. An IP address shall be blocked when it exceeds the number of failed login attempts within the specified duration.
4. Tick Enable block expiration and enter a value in the Unblock after (days) field to unlock a blocked IP address after the specified number of days.

5. Click Apply to save the settings.

Enable Account Protection to prevent login attacks

1. Go to Control Panel > Security > Account > Account Protection.
2. Tick Enable Account Protection.
3. Enter a value in the Login attempts field and a value in the Within (minutes) field. An untrusted client will be blocked if it exceeds the number of failed login attempts within the specified duration.
4. For Untrusted clients, enter a value in the Cancel account protection (minutes later) field. The account protection will be cancelled after the specified duration.
5. For Trusted clients, enter a value in the Unblock (minutes later) field. The account protection will be cancelled after the specified duration.
6. Click Apply to save the settings

Setting up Defence against DoS attacks

A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is a malicious attempt to render network services unavailable by disrupting service functionality. To avoid this type of cyberattack, follow the steps below:
1. Go to Control Panel > Security > Protection > Denial of Service (DoS) Protection.
2. Tick Enable Dos Protection and click Apply

How to Ensure your Synology NAS & DSM 7 is Constantly updated

Synology releases DSM updates from time to time. Updates may include new features function improvements and performance enhancements. This section guides you through the configuration of DSM updates. Perform manual DSM update
1. Go to Synology’s Download Center.
2. Select your model from the two drop-down menus.
3. Go to the Operating System tab of search results and download an update file.
4. Go to DSM > Control Panel > Update & Restore > DSM Update.
5. Click Manual DSM Update.

1. In the pop-up window, click Browse to upload the file

1. Click OK and wait for the file to be uploaded.
2. After reading through the update information and ticking the confirmation checkbox, click Update.
3. Click Yes in the confirmation box. The installation can take 20 to 40 minutes. Please do not shut down the system during the update.
4. The system will restart all services and packages when the update is complete.

How to Setup the NAS to Automatically Install DSM 7 Updates

1. Go to DSM > Control Panel > Update & Restore > DSM Update.
2. Click Update Settings.
3. In the pop-up window, you can configure the following settings to check for DSM releases via Synology’s Download Center.

• Automatically install important updates that fixed critical security issues and bugs (Recommended): Allow the system to automatically install important DSM updates. To ensure that your system is always protected, we recommend enabling this option.
• Automatically install the latest update: Allow the system to automatically install new DSM updates when the system check finds new updates available.
• Notify me and let me decide whether to install the new update: Have the system notify you via desktop notifications when there is a new DSM update available. You can choose whether to download the update after receiving the notification.

• Check schedule: Decide when the system should check for available updates. Specify the check time from the drop-down menus.

• An automatic update only applies to minor updates and not to major updates. Generally, minor updates consist of bug fixes and security patches, major updates include brand-new features and performance enhancement in addition to bug fixes and security patches, and important updates contain fixes for critical security issues or bugs. For more information about important updates, please refer to this article.

 

 

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