Synology Diskstation DS1010+ and DX510 Expansion unit review

Before we get around to testing performance we wanted to have a look at the new software package which is a big focus right now for Synology.

The Diskstation Manager 3.0 suite is a multitasking software package which allows the user to switch between applications, all in a single browser tab.

It is important to ensure that you get the newest software package from the Synology download center over here.

We weren't able to download faster than 10mbit from the server, so it took a few minutes.

After installing the software from the CD supplied it is a simple case of finding the specific Synology product (in this case the DS1010+) and performing the initial setup.

The DS1010+ is then updated, drives formatted and firmware written. I would rather Synology preinstalled a firmware on the unit so it could be initially accessed via a browser IP like other systems, but this is a configuration they seem to feel works best.

It takes a couple of minutes then you are allowed to enter the OS via user name ‘admin' with a blank password (this can obviously be changed later). Synology NAS systems support FAT, NTFS and EXT3 formats for both USB and eSATA external drives, although you can't format NTFS with the built-in formatter.

The first screen is a welcome panel which directs you to various subsections within the software. Setting up a volume is a step by step process, which you can see in the images below.

This new interface is very responsive and even when tasks are being undertaken the user is able to navigate through the various panels.

The control panel is the main window for general configuration, and there are so many options here that it would take 20 pages to detail them all. There is full support for Itunes and a Media server configuration. You can also add up to 16 IP cameras and use it as a surveillance station with full motion detection and automatic recording. The software supports Macintosh, Windows and Linux as well as local and AD authentication and user storage quotes. Replicator 3 handles scheduled backup and once a full copy has completed it secures new files and modifications to those files, on the fly.

A firewall allows you to specify rules to traffic on either network port and to selected IP addresses. You can define services with port numbers, allow or deny traffic and apply the specific rule to a port.

Synology have thankfully included full support for Jumbo frames which when increased to 9k can help improve transfer performance for larger files. Obviously the rest of the network needs to support this to get the full effect.

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