Synology Diskstation DS1010+ and DX510 Expansion unit review

We have reviewed many NAS units on Kitguru – it is a thriving market and one which many enthusiast users have been embracing in 2010. This is competitive industry with manufacturers such as Buffalo, QNAP and ASUS releasing a variety of products for the home sector.

Today we look at a very attractive pairing from Synology, the DS1010+ scalable 5 bay All-in-1 NAS server for small business users and the DX510 expansion unit which delivers another five hard drive bays for a two fold increase in capacity. These units combined allow for 20TB of storage which will more than satisfy the needs of any small business. These are not entry level products, the DS1010+ alone costs £725 inc vat, without any hard drives included so we will be ensuring they achieve justifiable performance levels.

Synology have also been working hard on their operating system and have just released their new DSM 3.0 multitasking operating system, so we will be taking a look at that later in the review.

The Diskstation DS1010+ arrives in a hefty, heavy duty box with the model sticker on the top and ‘for Windows and Mac' branding at the bottom. Synology also make a point that no hard drives are included, so be sure to budget additional funds for storage.

The packaging is pretty much faultless. The accessories are supplied in a thin box with literature resting on top. The unit itself is protected between two very thick layers of foam with a felt wrap to protect against scuffing during shipping.

A UK power cable is supplied, as well as a welcome ‘quick install' guide, drive mounting screws and two high quality Cat 6 cables.

After unpacking our initial impressions were positive – this is a heavy unit at 4.25kg without drives installed. It is 157mm x 248mm x 233mm in size and has clearly been built to a higher standard for the business market with a metal chassis and strong plastic fascia to give it a slightly more attractive appearance from the front.

There are five removable drive bays at the front and along the top are various lights for on the fly report feedback (Status, LAN1, LAN2 and alert). The rear has dual gigabit lan RJ45 connectors as well as 4 USB 2.0 ports, eSATA (more on this later) and a dual fan cooling system. There is also a reset button, bottom right. Lastly they have included a VGA port for console monitor attachment.

The fans are Sunon 80mm units and work in tandem at fairly low speeds to create high airflow while keeping noise levels down. I would prefer to see a single larger fan installed (120mm or 140mm) but I will reserve judgement until I get to dBA noise reading later.

The chassis looks very attractive but it easily marked with fingerprints and we also found that dust adhered to the surface easily. Synology have left the underside naked and on each corner is a strong foot rubber system for rock solid operation.

The five plastic drive mounts are easily removed by a simple button/lever system, however we were slightly disappointed not to see these being constructed from metal. It may sound like a small point, but in the business category QNAP have been using metal for a long time and they offer much added strength and longevity. There is also no key based locking system which is an unusual omission.

After removing all five drive bays we can see the sata controller inside – a straightforward 3GBps 5 array card attached to a motherboard at the side. There is also a fan on the interior to the left, which helps to cool the processor and outlaying components.

The motherboard is home to the dual core Intel Atom D510 1.67ghz processor which is paired up with 1GB of DDR2 800 mhz memory, supplied as standard. This is based around the Intel ICH6 southbridge with a 128MB flash module attached for caching and there is a ITE IT871820F controller for interface operations. A Silicon image SiL3132 SATAlink PCI Express to 2-port Serial ATA II Host controller deal with the eSATA interface. Two Intel 82574L gigabit ethernet controllers handle the throughput.

For those of you looking for upgrade options, Synology do offer a 1GB and 2GB ram module for added performance in specific situations – a full listing of supported modules is available here. That said, the default memory configuration should handle everyday tasks. Unlike QNAP units, there is no plastic layer isolating the motherboard from the side panel, so extra care should be taken when removing and attaching the chassis panel as carelessness could cause irreparable damage.

On the other side is a 250W Seasonic power supply which handles the drives, fans, and all system operations. There are various power and control headers out to the front panel, running across the top of the chassis.

Installing drives is a simple process, there are 3 screws required on either side for locking into the bays. Although we are using 3.5 inch drives, the trays also accommodate 2.5 inch units. Drives can be configured in Single Disk, JBOD, RAID 0/ 1/ 5/ 6/ 5+hot spare volumes.

The Synology DX510 box is the same dimensions as the main DS1010+ product and the only difference is really the sticker on the top with the model name.

Again an identical protection method as the DS1010+, two heavy duty pieces of foam and a cloth based protective cover to protect against scuffing and marks during transportation.

The bundle is similar, except that Synology include a special eSATA cable which allows for the DX510 to be connected directly to the DS1010+ for enhanced storage capabilities.

The chassis is basically identical to the DS1010+ as well, with the dual 80mm Sunon fans at the rear, although obviously the LAN and USB 2.0 ports have been removed. The light readout strip on the front has also changed, replaced with eSATA, RAID, Status and Alert.

The chassis is removed in the same manner, 5 screws at the rear. The 5 drive bays have the same plastic button/lever based mechanism, sadly again without a lockable key based system.

There is no need for a fully fledged motherboard with the DX510, so we have a slave based controller system which handles the data stream between the hard drives and the main DS1010+ unit. It is an elegant system and we love the fact that people can basically double their storage without having to bin the drives, the Raid configuration or even the DS1010+.

Internally, the same 5 slot SATA 3GBps daughter card – although we have no need for a cooling system to the left as there is no dual core CPU and dedicated motherboard configuration.

Synology haven't cut any corners, they are using the same high quality Seasonic power supply to handle power to the front control panel and storage drives.

Our 1TB drives are easily added with a simple screw based system – 3 on each side of the drive for complete rigidity. I would have liked to see Synology using heavy duty drive racks however. They are probably strong enough, but I feel for the business market that they should be using metal rather than plastic.

Both units are connected by the special eSATA cable which Synology supply with the DX510.

We are happy to report that Synology have supplied a cable which is long enough for both units to be connected either vertically or horizontally. Sometimes it can be these small details which can cause a problem, so it is good to see that they have really thought this through. It is an excellent system and one which appeals to me considerably. Let us hope that the software and performance levels are as impressive as the design.

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.

We are testing the Synology Diskstation DS1010+ within our gigabit network which is pretty much as good as you will get for a home or small office environment. It is a mixed network with several 1GBit switches for ultimate performance.

Reference Test PC:
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 @ 4ghz
Storage: Kingston 128GB SSD V+ Series
Motherboard: Asus Rampage II Gene
Graphics: Geforce GTX285 2GB
Memory: Corsair Dominator 1600mhz @2000mhz
Network: 2x Belkin 16 Port Gigabit Switches
Operating System: Windows 7 64 Bit Ultimate

Firstly we perform a native network test to ascertain pure data throughput. The Synology SD1010+ drives are arranged in a Raid 0 configuration with Link Aggregation and we have Jumbo Frames set to 9k.

Data throughput is very impressive indeed, even outperforming our previous leader, the Synology DS710.

Our local PC has a fast Kingston SSD as the main drive and we are using it to ensure no bottlenecks occur on this side of the testing. Our PC is hooked up to the network and we transfer a 10GB MKV file from the PC to the NAS systems. All three NAS systems are using dual drive Raid 0 configurations with mechanical drives.

This is an incredible result from the DS1010+ and is the first time we have seen over 100 mb/s transfer rate in our write testing. The previous leader, the DS710 manages around 92 mb/s.

Both Synology units are way out in front of the pack with a 112mb/s result from the DS710 and a 128mb/s result from the DS1010+.

Next we created a folder of files, 500mb/s in size with a variety of data , from small database documents to larger jpgs and bmps. We expect to pay a slight penalty as we are using Jumbo frames set to 9k, however performance should still be good.

The Synology DS1010+ is consistently outperforming the DS710 in both our read and write tests and it is impressive to see such high throughput with a batch of mixed file sizes.

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

Noise was measured from half a meter away.

The system is very quiet and in a virtually silent room you can hear the fan noise, but only very slightly. In any ‘real world' conditions the fan noise would not be noticeable, and within a business oriented server room the noise would be masked totally.

We measured power from the socket with 2 x 1TB Samsung HD103SI hard drives installed.

The system only uses 27 watts when the hard drives are in hibernation mode, and under load this rises to 56 watts with our dual configured drive array.

Time to test the cooling system. Our room ambient temperatures are 23c which is a reasonable temperature for most people to work and relax within.

The drives remained between 2 and 6 C above ambient with average results recorded above. The cooling system is extremely capable.

There is no denying that the Synology Diskstation DS1010+ is well in excess of what most people will need for a home environment … this is a NAS system primarily developed for the more demanding business audience. That said, for enthusiasts with an ever increasing media collection this is an expandable, capable and well built product.

In regards to performance there is nothing lacking in any area – the DS1010+ is quiet, doesn't consume a lot of power and yet delivers record breaking performance, putting all other NAS systems we have tested so far, to shame.

Finding fault is difficult, however we would like to see the drive bays being replaced with those of metal construction rather than plastic and while they are at it, incorporate a key based locking system. The way it is currently designed, the business audience will find this missing feature a reasonably negative oversight.

The DX510 expansion unit works exactly as advertised and across the eSATA bus speeds are just as impressive when compared against the main DS1010+ control unit. We think this is a fantastic conceptual idea from Synology … after all who wants to replace their main device or lose a raid configuration when storage demands increase? 20TB across ten drives should be more than enough for any small to medium sized business user.

It would be remiss of us not to mention the new operating system, because it is absolutely remarkable. It is a truly capable multitasking package with a very low overhead and we found it an absolute pleasure to use. The fact we could navigate and set up various settings while the RAID configuration was in progress is an aspect that competitors will surely be adopting in the very near future.

Synology really are making a name for themselves as the leading light in the NAS world, and rightly so, if they keep pairing this high level of invention and creativity with exceptional build quality then we can only see their market share increasing.

KitGuru says: A stunning performer which delivers first class storage capabilities with a fantastic upgrade path.

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