Synology DS414j Review

Leo Waldock May 12, 2014 Highlights-new, NAS

Although the specifications of the DS414 and DS414j are very similar, the two NAS have a number of differences.

The DS414 uses the modern Synology approach where the plastic front panel pops off to reveal the drive bays. This front cover is spaced away from the chassis to allow cooling air to flow across the drives.

By contrast the DS414j uses a ‘retro looking black chassis' which appears to mean that the plastic front panel is louvered to provide airflow and the construction of the chassis is similar to a traditional PC case where you remove the main cover in one piece to expose the innards.

You can see the difference between these two approaches by looking at the back of the two NAS where the DS414j (above right) sports a pair of 80mm fans along with a certain amount of space while the DS414 (above left) fills the area above the ports with two 92mm fans.

Although the two model codes are similar the DS114j has far more going on than a simple change to the processor.

The front of the DS414 shows the power button in the middle of the panel with the LAN and Status lights to the left so you can see the state of the network connection and whether or not the hard drive array is behaving. On the right hand side there are four LEDs, one per drive, where green is good, solid orange shows the drive is filling up and flashing orange indicates a problem.