Synology 2GB DS418 4 Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

Product Information

This means that you can only officially upgrade the DS423+ via the single SODIMM slot towards 6GB with a single extra 4GB SODIMM module in the available bay. Aside from 6GB being an odd amount, people are most certainly going to make comparisons with the DS920+ having 4GB on Day 1 and 8GB max. Synology does not allow upgrading that memory beyond 6GB in this configuration (so, you cannot work around the 6GB limit by installing a 8GB in the SODIMM slot and hitting 10GB with 8GB+2GB), stating that using the system in an unsupported fashion can lead to weakened/invalidated support by the brand when you need it (as you are using the device in a configuration they did not verify and/or cannot replicate). This also includes using 3rd party memory, instead of their own branded modules I can partially see their point – they want to run a smooth, reliable and stable platform. Just a shame that Synology Memory modules are a noticeable degree more expensive than alternatives from Crucial and Kingston. Next, we need to discuss the CPU inside the DS423+ NAS – something of a hot point for some. My thoughts: This is a no-brainer. The DS220+ is not only my favorite Synology NAS, but also my all-time favorite enclosure period. It has everything you need for a solid mid-tier, great-value server.

CPU: Intel Celeron J4025 | Drive bays: 4 | RAM: 2GB DDR4 (max 6GB) | Features: 2x 1Gb LAN, 2x USB 3.0, upgradable RAM Synology SNV3400 series M.2 NVMe SSD drives can be installed through the built-in M.2 slots to enable SSD caching or create SSD storage pools. Drives are sold separately.All NAS drives can be accessed locally over the network, as well as secure remote access is possible with brand supported services (at no additional cost) RS822+/RS822RP+ supports up to 8 drives with the addition of a Synology RX418 expansion unit, sold separately. Choosing a drive depends on your budget and how much data you plan on storing. For data protection, it's best to run at least two drives in some form of redundant array of independent disks (RAID), which will help prevent any data loss. Thus, should you buy two 2TB drives and run them in RAID1, you'll only have 2TB of space for all your files. The best storage drives for NAS

Thank you for the time you have put into these comparisons. I have had a lifetime Plex pass for over 10 years, but switched to Jellyfin two months ago. Maybe my observations will help someone, sorry if it gets a bit wordy..

What Have All the Best 4-Bay NAS Drives Have in Common?

The Synology 2023 and Beyond video event went live on the 27th October 2022. Here is a guide to everything that was revealed on DSM 7.2, WORM Support, Volume Encryption and much, much more – https://nascompares.com/news/synology-2023-online-reveal-everything-they-covered/ Otherwise, extremely good YouTube channel on which I spent well to much time ( 🙂 ). Thanks for doing this great job. Should I buy an SSD for the drive slot number one {1ssd &5hdd}? My assumption is that will help with performance because the system will utilize that drive slot for the OS.

The slightly better integrated GPU might be helpful for Plex users I personally always try to buy media players that won’t require transcoding but I also know that not everyone has that option and Plex can sometimes decide to transcode when not needed and can have a major impact, even when just transcoding the audio and not the video. Support for Both SATA and M.2 NVMe SSD Bays**: All top 4-Bay NAS drives this year feature this essential hardware capability. Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) – An intuitive hypervisor that supports Windows, Linux, and Virtual DSM virtual machines. Its powerful disaster recovery tools help users achieve maximum service uptime. Could this Nas handle Usenet ? And would i be able to control all those needed programs with my phone ? Personally I am running a 918+. Even though I am not worried at all about this 7.2 update or any update soon after that from being able to be updated on my NAS … when can I assume I will be unable to install an update? What’s Synology’s history here.

Then there’s the included support for expansion units to add a further 9 drive bays to the mix. This enclosure is future-proof and would make for a solid investment for those looking for a server to last them for years before needing to find a replacement. They have tonnes of media that they want to ONLY access locally and on powerful media devices that support ALL File formats and/or have client side hardware transcoding supported It is worth remembering that although there are ALOT of different 4-Bay NAS drives available to buy, they are by no means created equal! With numerous super budget brands popping up online, it can be tempting to consider these alongside the premium NAS brands. However, all too often they offer solutions righty seem ‘too good to be true’ and then are gone from the web before your warranty even gets cold! So, whether yo are looking at the three best 4-Bay solutions that I am recommending below OR are looking at another 4-Bay NAS you saw on offer/recommended elsewhere – the best NAS system ALWAYS include the following software and services: Update 28/02/23– For those who have been following the world of network Attached Storage (NAS) and more precisely, the developments of Synology, it might not come as a huge surprise that the brand is now in the process of rolling out a new series of HAT3300 Hard Drives for 2023. Now, you might well be thinking “hold on, they have had their own range of HDDs for a few years now!” and that is correct. However, the existing HAT5300 and HAT5310 series of drives are very much targeted at Pro and Enterprise users (5yr warranty, 5400rpm, 550TB workload, etc) and Synology users who were looking to keep things ‘single ecosystem’ in their more modest scale systems (e.g DS920+, DS1522+, etc) were not won over by these bigger, noisier and more expensive drives in their systems. Therefore, it was somewhat inevitable that the brand would eventually get around to launching a more home/SMB-friendly range Of storage media that is better suited to smaller NAS systems of around 5-8 Bays at most. Enter the Synology HAT3300 Plus hard drive series, eventually rolling out in 4 (possibly a 5th in 16TB) different capacities and built on Seagate Ironwolf HDDs (whereas the Synology HAT5300 and HAT5310s are built on Toshiba Enterprise MG drives). Given Synology already has their other HDDs in the market, 2 types of SSD media, numerous types of memory media, upgrade cards, routers and even their own Surveillance IP cameras now – this really is one of the final steps for them to complete their own 1-brand hardware ecosystem of networking equipment.

The QNAP TVS-472XT is a NAS drive that has taken the elite and overpowered attitudes that were previously the hallmarks of the Thunderbolt 3 NAS range and turn it into something a great deal more mature and accessible to mid-range users. Till now, if you wanted access to the full features and functionality of a fully equipped thunderbolt and 10Gbe enabled 4K NAS, you were forced to either compromise too much with the TS-453BT3 or break the bank with the TVS-682T. Thanks to this new QNAP TVS-472XT NAS however, you no longer need to compromise and have access to a much more balanced and well equipped NAS platform for photo and video editing post-production in 2021. The four bays are ideal for SSDs, which further helps this enclosure be used as portable storage. It's handy having an external drive ready for your trip, but these are limited in capacity and expensive. It'll be easier to carry around just one device that can contain everything you need. Bays, 4x PCIe Gen 3×1 M.2 NVMe 2280, Intel N5105 CPU 4-Core Integrated Gfx, 4-16GB DDR4 Memory, 2x 2.5Gbe Port, 1x HDMI 2.0b, PCIe Upgrade Slot, 3-5yr Warranty Well (and this is going to get VERY ‘inside baseball’), those that have been following Synology these last few years will know that this is not the first time the J4125 has been used on a Synology Plus series NAS. Indeed, it has appeared several times in previous NAS systems (DS920+, DS720+, DS620slim, DVA1622 and DS1520+) love the last three years. In that time, not only has Intel moved on a couple of times to new cycles of processors (the N5105, N5095, J6415) which provide better power efficiency, PCI gen support and memory caps, but also competitor NAS brands have rolled out 1-2 more generations of hardware with configurations that capitalizes on Intel’s newer Celeron models. Now, it CAN be argued that because Synology have spent so much time and research exploring the capabilities of this processor, that they can get the most out of it for DSM. Equally, Synology has always been very clear that the jewel in their crown (and indeed the main selling point for their systems) is the DSM software and not the hardware. Then there is the fact that ‘at least it’s an Intel integrated graphics CPU, when Synology has been very ‘AMD Emb.Ryzen’ heavy of late! Finally, there is the argument that when the J4125 was featured previously, it was in their fully-featured ‘SMB’ tier – so the DS423+ in their more affordable Home/Prosumer tier is actually scaled up in having this quad-core Celeron processor. There are ALOT of different ways to look at Synology putting the Intel Celeron J4125 in the DS423+ NAS. But I think it would be fair to say that users of the DSx16+ and DS18+ generation that opted to skip the DSX20+ generation to ‘wait and see’, might be a little underwhelmed. #4 – The Synology DS423+ NAS cannot be Expanded All NAS systems in this guide are compatible with (and can be accessed by) Windows, Mac, Android and Linux operating systems

More ways to harness your NAS

Until the end of 2022 and start of 2023, Synology was pretty rigid on how the M.2 NVMe SSD bays of their NAS could be used. Despite them being one of the first (if not THE first brand) to introduce a turnkey desktop solution with M.2 NVMe SSD bays in conjunction with traditional SATA bays at the SOHO/SMB scale, they limited their use for ONLY caching. Caching does have great benefits, with write caching improving the speed and response from uploading/sent data to the NAS and read caching improving the access and response for connected users to frequently accessed data (arguably mainly I/O and small-scale data that is high in count, but low in volume) – but when users have spent a good chunk of money on M.2 NVMe SSD storage, which is SUBSTANTIALLY faster than traditional HDDs, it’s a real pain for some when you cannot use them for traditional storage pools and volumes! So therefore, it was a welcome surprise that Synology started easing up on this policy in their 2022/2023 releases to allow these bays to be used for storage pools and I am VERY pleased to say that the DS423+ NAS supports this too! Yes, this IS a feature that is available on other NAS systems in their portfolio now AND is it s feature that brands such as QNAP, Asustor and Terramaster have offered for 2-3 years, but it is still great to see it on the DS423+ NAS. Warranty of 2-3 Years, Extendable to 5 Years**: A standard warranty period with an option for extension. This a small but very pertinent update to the potential CPU that will be in the Synology Value series. Alongside ongoing rumours that the first wave of DSx23 series diskstation NAS will arrive in October, a new CPU entry has appeared online with DSM 7.1 support of late 2020 released Realtek RTD1619 ARMv8-A processor. The architecture of which is incredibly likely to be for the DS223j, DS223 and DS423: The best overall NAS from Synology is the DiskStation DS220+. This enclosure has two drive bays, allowing for up to 32TB of data to be stored. This is more than enough for most NAS owners who are new to the market, and the 2GB of non-upgradable DDR4 RAM is brilliantly matched to the Intel Celeron J4025 processor. These highlights alone make it ideal for media streaming. Totaling four drive bays, you can store up to 72TB of data on this unit. It’s got plenty of other cool features too, including an eSATA port as well as M.2 SSD slots for installing flash drives as caching to improve performance.