Synology Announces the DiskStation DS1618+ 6-bay NAS

[Raevenlord]

Synology today launched the DiskStation DS1618+, a 6-bay NAS featuring the Intel Atom C3538. For tech enthusiasts and small to medium-sized businesses, the DS1618+ is a solution for file serving, application hosting, data backup, and real-time collaboration.

DS1618+ is powered by a quad-core Intel Atom processor C3538 and 4GB DDR4 non-ECC SODIMM, expandable up to 32 GB in ECC SODIMMs. The storage capacity can be upgraded to 192TB when connected to two DX517 expansion units, providing fast-growing companies a data storage solution that scales with their business.





"Modern-day companies compete based on the speed at which they generate, process, and use data to drive innovations," said Derren Lu, CEO at Synology. "By integrating Intel technology , we are putting a compact powerhouse in every SMB. It will allow them to take advantage of that untapped throughput to give their companies that extra edge."

With Synology's M2D17 PCIe adapter card, DS1618+ can house dual M.2 SATA SSD, taking advantage of the SSD cache to boost maximum throughput and reduce the I/O latency. By alternatively installing a network interface card via the PCIe slot, DS1618+ supports up to two 10GbE ports to reach a maximum throughput of 1,551 MBps reading and 586 MBps writing.

"Small to medium sized businesses need powerful, secure and scalable storage solutions to efficiently manage their growing levels of digital content," said Dan Artusi, Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Connected Home Division. "Through our collaboration with Synology, their new DiskStation NAS products based on the Intel Atom processor C series have the performance and configurable high-speed I/O to help businesses quickly store and manage their most critical data."



DS1618+ runs on DiskStation Manager, the advanced and intuitive operating system for Synology NAS devices, with quality applications offered to enhance data security and work efficiency. Synology has received numerous media accolades, topping the mid-range NAS category in TechTarget's storage solution survey and winning PC Mag Readers' Choice seven years in a row.

Synology's Extended Warranty add-on service (EW201) can be purchased together with DS1618+, available in select regions worldwide, to provide up to five years of hardware warranty coverage. The product is immediately for sale at $799.99.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[TheLostSwede]

$75 CPU turned into a $799.99 NAS... Hmmm, something is seriously wrong with the NAS market these days when it comes to retail pricing of these things.
Also very poor 10Gbps performance considering the cost.

 

[Solidstate89]

$75 CPU turned into a $799.99 NAS... Hmmm, something is seriously wrong with the NAS market these days when it comes to retail pricing of these things.
Also very poor 10Gbps performance considering the cost.

You're actually more than anything paying for the OS/software experience and warranty.

 

[TheLostSwede]

You're actually more than anything paying for the OS/software experience and warranty.

Sure, you're paying for the software, but you can get as good software for free...
To be honest, having worked for one of the Taiwanese NAS makers, their software leaves a lot to be desired.
Admittedly they've gotten better at patching security issues, but the software is old and clunky and when things can't be easily patched, issues might never get fixed, which is great, no?

And the warranty, well, I get warranty on the parts I bought to build my own NAS which cost far less than this in total.

 

[Octavean]

You're actually more than anything paying for the OS/software experience and warranty.

That is what thought too but now I am not so sure.

I have a Synology DS1815+ 8 bay NAS that uses an Intel Atom c2000 series soc which is susceptible to the AVR54 errata. The Synology official line was that there was basically nothing to worry about but that they would extend the warranty for an additional year for models that use the Intel Atom C2000 series SOC (that were currently still under warranty).

That sounds reasonable if you believe there was no reason to be concerned and a re trusting.

In addition Synology seemed to be modifying their returned units to implement an Intel recommended hardware work around by adding a pull-down resister to the motherboards that used the C2000 series. They also started manufacturing newer models with the fix.

I called Synology and requested a warranty replacement due to this issue which they granted. They shipped a new unit manufactured with the fix rather then a modified one. I view this more as user requested recall whereas some other manufacturers had official recalls.

As for the OS, I think Synology DSM is great but you can also get the same experience with XPEnology on your own hardware.

This particular model, the DS1618+ seems to have a single PCIe slot that can be used either with the 10GbE card or the dual M.2 SATA SSD card. One would think that both would be necessary as the SSD cache would complement the 10GbE. One without the other is almost pointless.

I think what you get with solutions such as this is a relatively reliable ready to go system. The price is high for what you get but this is also true of other manufacturers such as QNAP. Although with QNAP you get a bit more for your $$$.

The QNAP TS-1677X Ryzen NAS units using the RyZen 7 1700 (8-cores/16-threads) starts at about ~$3000 USD. The Ryzen 3 1200 (4-cores/4-threads) version starts at about ~$2500 USD.

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Sure, you're paying for the software, but you can get as good software for free...
To be honest, having worked for one of the Taiwanese NAS makers, their software leaves a lot to be desired.
Admittedly they've gotten better at patching security issues, but the software is old and clunky and when things can't be easily patched, issues might never get fixed, which is great, no?

And the warranty, well, I get warranty on the parts I bought to build my own NAS which cost far less than this in total.

You might be able to get good software for free, but you also dont have the ease of setup/use and youd spend the same if not more building a rig yourself for the amount of hdds you want/need and having ecc ram.

 

[TheLostSwede]

You might be able to get good software for free, but you also dont have the ease of setup/use and youd spend the same if not more building a rig yourself for the amount of hdds you want/need and having ecc ram.

You're aware none of these comes with drives, right?

You might have a harder time finding a nice, suitable chassis, I agree with that, but that's mostly because there are too few case manufacturers interested in building NAS chassis, especially for a reasonable cost. They seem to be more interested in building cases with glass panels these days...

I have a mini-ITX rig with four hot swappable bays and a 10Gbps Ethernet card. It's a great little machine and I'm running OMV on it which allows me to do most of the things you can do on one of the branded NAS models. Software setup is very easy as long as you can read on screen instructions. I did admittedly run into an issue with drivers for the 10Gbps card which was a bit of a headache, but that's what I get for being an early-ish adopter of new hardware.

You can build something similar to this for at least a couple of hundred bucks less, although it's not easy getting hold of Atom C3xxx-series boards as an end user, so you might have to get something a bit more mainstream as the CPU, but then again, getting a Core i3 or something similar would give you better performance for at least some things.

I'm not against ready build NAS appliances, I just think the cost of them have run out of control lately with fairly basic models costing north of $500.

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

You're aware none of these comes with drives, right?

I am aware, yes. But if you build your own you still gotta purchase drives if you're going to do anything other than JBOD. So either way you have to purchase hdds.

 

[CheapMeat]

The point isn't just WHAT the hardware is, it's the convenience of everything packed together in a fairly small box with good software and support. I just do whitebox builds. Even enterprise can just whitebox their solutions. Hell, SuperMicro & Tyan makes it very easy and even they have ready to go solutions. YET companies still pay $$$$ more for HP and Dell. Why? The support contract and extra software involved mostly. If you're the type to just DIY it, why bother looking at this and complaining? Plus plenty of old server gear with 2.5" and 3.5" options on Ebay at $250 or less. Convenience has a premium. I mean, you COULD fix up your car yourself, brakes, belts, oil change, etc, whatever. Or you could pay more and have someone else do it for you. Most pick someone else.

 

[GeoKas]

the DS1618+ seems to have a single PCIe slot that can be used either with the 10GbE card or the dual M.2 SATA SSD card. One would think that both would be necessary as the SSD cache would complement the 10GbE. One without the other is almost pointless.

Serious statement. Do you think it is true?
I think speeds mentioned are with only one or another. 1551 MB/s READ isn't good enough? Doesn't it justify the price?
I have DS1512+ which was more expensive back in 2012 and looking for an upgrade with ASUS XG C100 10Gbe cheap cards in my office