Synology SNV3400-400G 400GB SSD Review

1. Introduction2. Synology SNV3400-400G3. Testing Methodology4. CrystalDiskMark5. ATTO Disk Benchmark6. AS SSD7. IOMETER8. 128KB Sequential Performance9. 4K Random Read v QD Performance10. 4K Random Write v QD Performance11. 4K 70/30 Mixed Performance12. Throughput13. PCMark 10 Full System Drive 14. Performance Stability15. Real Life File Testing16. Closing Thoughts17. View All Pages

Synology has a number of NAS devices in its Plus range that support SSD caching via M.2 ports. When these were first introduced, they only supported SATA M.2 drives but more recent models have brought with them support for drives using NVMe architecture.

Until now that meant using a 3rd party drive that met Synology's compatibility criteria. But now with the SNV3000 series, Synology has an SSD that is tailor-made for dealing with demanding cache workloads in the company's NAS devices.

Currently (at the time of writing) Synology's SNV3000 range comprises just two drives, the SNV3400-400G we are looking at here built on an M.2 2280 format, and the SNV3500 which is an M.2 22110 drive. Both models are 400GB in capacity. The reason for the SNV3500's longer PCB is that it comes with power loss protection and the extra space is to hold the dedicated power-loss capacitors.

At the heart of the drives is a Phison PS5012-E12DC controller. The DC is the enterprise-focussed version of Phion's very widely used chip. This is used in combination with four 128GB packages of Kioxia BiCS3 64-layer TLC NAND.

The drives can be fitted to compatible Synology NAS boxes, or if the NAS doesn't have M.2 port but does have a PCIe x8 slot, either Synology's E10M20-T1 or M2D20 PCIe adapter cards. The E10M20-T1 is a dual 22110 / 2280 port M.2 SSD & 10GbE combo adapter card while the M2D20 just supports a pair of M.2 22110 / 2280 drives.

As for performance, Synology rate the Sequential performance of the SNV3400-400G (the SNV3500 is the same) as up to 3,100MB/s for reads and up to 550MB/s for writes. Both figures come from the drives being tested at a queue depth of 32. Using the ATTO benchmark we could confirm those figures as the tested drive produced a read performance of 3,180MB/s, with writes at 579MB/s.

Synology rate the random 4K performance of the drive as up to 205,000 IOPS for reads and up to 40,000 IOPS for writes, both figures achieved from testing at a queue depth of 256.  Our standard 4-threaded 4K tests are run at a much shallower QD, the best read figure we saw was 200,197 IOPS (QD32) with the best write performance at 104,189 IOPS (QD8).

When it comes to typical power consumption, Synology rate the SNV3400-400G as 3.2W for active reads and writes while the power loss protected SNV3500-400G is a little higher at 3.7W active reads and 3.4W active writes. Both drives are rated at 2W idle. The TBW endurance of the SNV3000 series is quoted as 500TB (which works out at around 0.68 DWPD) and Synology backs the drives with a 5-year warranty.

We found the Synology SNV3400-400G on Span.com for £164.40 (inc VAT) HERE. The SNV3500-400G costs £189.60.

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Pros

• Sequential read performance.
• Optimised for NAS use.
• Endurance.

Cons

• Single low capacity choice (at the time of writing).
• Pricey.

KitGuru says: As Synology offer NAS devices with M.2 slots supporting NVMe SSDs for use as cache drives, it makes perfect sense for the company to add M.2 NVMe SSDs designed for such a purpose to their product line-up.

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