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Synology is well-known for their NAS solutions and today we are taking a closer look at the DS1513+. This NAS is aimed at small to medium businesses and comes equipped with an Intel Atom CPU, 2GB DDR3 and supports up to five 4TB hard drives.
The DS1513+ is nearly identical to the DS 1813+ that Zardon reviewed earlier this year. If you missed his review you can catch up here.
Specifications:
- 5 Hot swappable drive bays.
- Dual Core Intel Atom D2700 @ 2.13GHz
- 2GB DDR3 (up to 4GB supported)
- Link Aggregation support.
- Supported RAID types: Synology Hybrid RAID, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10.
- SSD TRIM support.
- Additional ports: 4 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x eSATA.
- 202.34 MB/sec Writing, 350.94MB/sec Reading
- Box contents: Synology DS 1513+, 2 CAT5 ethernet cables, quick start guide, HDD & SSD screws.
The Synology DS1513+ ships in a brown box with some Synology branding, protected by styro foam.
The DS1513+ has a black metal shell with status LEDs on the front. The single button on the NAS serves to boot, reboot and shut down the system. The plastic caddies are clearly visible.
Moving to the back of the NAS we can see the two 80mm fans, 4 ethernet ports, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports and eSATA ports.
Removing one of the fans reveals that Synology has chosen to use two 80mm Y.S. Tech fans. These are rated to provide 30.7 CFM at 2900 rpm with a maximum noise level of 29 dbA. These fans can also be replaced if needed.
A closer look inside the NAS shows the SATA connectors along the back with the fans aligned to draw air across all bays. On the left-hand side we can see the motherboard's heatsinks.
Removing a handful of screws at the back of the NAS allows access to the system's internals. Above we can see Synology has chosen a fanless design for the motherboard. The 2GB DDR3 memory module is visible at the top right. Synology has chosen to use Hynix memory in this system.
Flipping the motherboard over we can see the additional memory bank. The motherboard is installed with this side facing outwards, making it easy to install additional memory without removing the motherboard.
On the other side of the case we find the 200W Delta Electronics power supply. In order to minimise noise emissions the power supply uses a thick fan design. The cables have been routed along the top and bottom of the case to prevent any obstructions when inserting hard drives.
To take a caddy out we press the top of the front plate and simply slide the caddy out.
The caddies have clips on the side which will keep 3.5″ drives in place. Solid State Drives can be mounted directly onto the cage with the screws provided in the box.
To make life easier for consumers Synology uses their DiskStation Manager to manage the NAS through a browser.
We connected the DS1513+ and accessed it through http://find.synology.com/. Zardon recently took a closer look at the most commonly used features of the DiskStation Manager and not much has changed since. The DS1513+ does have a slightly different interface in some areas.
The initial set-up can take some time and Synology kindly advises users to grab a cup of tea while the NAS does all the hard work. We were up and running after approximately 15 minutes.
Upon entering the DiskStation Manager the Quick Start Wizard is the fastest way to quickly configure a volume, create a shared folder and apply general settings such as firewall rules and ports.
Along the right side of the screen we can see the System Health Monitor and Resource Monitor as well as a quick view of the logs. These widgets can be minimised, removed entirely and configured to display other information such as disk usage and more detailed network statistics.
We used the Storage Manager utility to confirm that our drive functioned correctly. The Parity Consistency Check is time consuming but luckily the system can be used while the check is performed.
After completing the Parity Consistency Check we set up a shared folder called Test Files. Setting up folders is a quick and easy process. Synology has done a great job simplifying the interface and available options to help newcomers come to terms with the system.
Changing folder permissions is just as easy and can be done with a couple of clicks for individual users and groups.
The Package Center is still growing with plenty of applications available to simplify network management and flexibility.
Users who skipped the Quick Start Wizard can still make use of the EZ-Internet Wizard to quickly configure the system's network settings.
Finally, the resource monitor offers detailed insight into bandwidth usage, system load, disk usage and more. The clean interface will help new users easily identify any issues that might arise within their networks.
A local service provider was kind enough to provide us with a Cisco 500 Series Stackable Managed Switch for this review.
We used NetTools to send the DS 1513+ an average of 30 requests per minute to simulate the internal traffic of a small office. We then proceeded to transfer a 5GB file from and to our shared Test Files folder whilst simultaneously accessing the system from two other machines. The NAS was configured to use Synology Hybrid Raid which allows us to use a 120GB hard drive and 128GB hard drive in a raid configuration.
Averaging 101.4MB/s, the DS 1513+ comes close to the 112.42MB/s quoted by Synology.
Synology quotes write speeds up to 108.10MB/s. The DS 1513+ delivered solid performance with 96.8MB/s.
We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components.
Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.
As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.
KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum
Under idle conditions the system was nearly inaudible. Fully stressed the double 80mm fans speed up quickly although it would easily get drowned out by the humming of PCs in an office.
We measured 30 watts when leaving the system to idle and 53 watts under load.
The fans provide a decent amount of airflow and kept the drives cool, peaking at 32°.
We expected this unit to exhibit great performance and it has certainly not failed to deliver. The DS1513+ offers excellent build quality, strong read and write performance and an impressive feature set, all in an attractive looking chassis.
Our only gripe is the use of plastic to hold the drives, we would really expect Synology to be using metal throughout on this higher cost unit.
Although the drives feel secure in their caddies, NAS systems often have to suffer a certain level of abuse within an office environment. Plastic just does not offer the same level of durability as metal in this regard.
Overall though we are very pleased with the DS1513+ as an alternative to its big brother, the DS1813+. The performance is excellent and should satisfy all but the most demanding of office infrastructures. If you find the NAS is struggling to cope with intensive tasks then you can easily pop in another memory module to enhance performance.
The Synology DS1513+ is currently available for £659.49 inc vat. from some retailers, though this does not include the cost of additional hard drives which you need to factor into the overall cost.
Pros:
- Excellent build quality.
- Strong performance.
- Easy to expand.
- Scalable solution.
Cons:
- Plastic caddies.
- The DS1813+ is available for approximately £100 more and offers 3 additional bays.
KitGuru says: It is almost no surprise that the DS1513+ is a great solution. Its pricing does put it in a tough spot when compared against the DS1813+.
