Synology DiskStation DS214Play review

1. Introduction2. Synology DiskStation DS214 Play3. The DiskStation Manager Operating System4. Testing Methodology and Performance5. Acoustics, Power Consumption and Temperatures6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

Today we are taking a look at the latest NAS system from Synology, the DS214 Play. This unit is optimised for multimedia processing and has been designed to handle high quality images, music and video streaming.

The DS214Play is a media centric two bay NAS from Synology, with a maximum support for 8TB storage (2x4TB). They claim the DS214 Play has enough power to handle full HD video transcoding being powered by Intel's dual core Evansport CPU running at 1.6ghz. It has 2 USB 3.0 ports, a single USB 2.0 port, a single SD slot and full support for Gigabit Ethernet.

Highlights:

• 1080p Full HD Video Transcoding on the Fly.
• Dual Core CPU Powered by Floating-Point Unit.
• 111 MB/s Reading, 101 MB/s Writing.
• Features SuperSpeed USB 3.0.
• DLNA Ready Media Server.
• Screwless Drive Bay Design and Hot-swappable Support.
• Running on Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM).

The DiskStation DS214Play ships in a small green and white box – this is a generic box with a product sticker located on top.

Inside is a welcome pack, with regional specific power supply, mounting screws and a ethernet cable.

The DS214Play is a modest design, plain black with the company name engraved into the side panels (this also acts as venting). It is constructed around a metal shell, but the outer materials are all matt plastic. This material is very resilient to finger prints and feels like it could survive some bumps and knocks along the way.

There is no digital display on the unit which means you need to check a browser window to get details, such as remaining storage capacity.

The unit measures 233 x 165 x 108mm and weighs 1.27kg.

Alongside the activity and status indicators is an SD card reader, alongside a ‘C' button, which is basically a data replication feature to the NAS itself.

At the rear is an eSATA port, as well as dual USB 3.0 ports. Synology have not included a secondary Gigabit port, so there is no support for Link Aggregation.  A single fan is placed above the ports, shown in the image above.

The front of the DS214Play is easily removed to get access to the two drive bays. The holding clips are plastic and a little fiddly to release the bays.

Fitting a 3.5 inch hard drive is very straightforward and doesn't require any tools. 2.5 inch drives will need to be screwed into the bays. These are also of a plastic construction.

Synology have said that the Intel processor is much faster and will speed up thumbnail processing and can handle 1080p video transcoding.
We have looked at the Synology DiskStation Manager many times in the past. It is one of the finest operating systems on the market for a NAS system/server, and doesn’t need a high specification list of hardware to run well either. The multitasking support means that multiple tasks can be handled simultaneously.

It is important to ensure that the newest software package is downloaded directly from the Synology website over here.

It would take a dedicated indepth review to cover all of the options in this software, but we highlight some of the areas interesting to the DS214Play.

Today we used a Macintosh Pro Tower Desktop system running Mavericks OS, just for a little variety. Synology supply software for both Windows and Macintosh platforms, and it works flawlessly.

Synology Assistant ensures that there is no need to locate the NAS IP on your home network for direct connection. Simply double click the DS214 Play identifier and your browser will automatically open prompting for initial setup (and subsequently the login/password you set up). There is support for Windows XP onwards, Mac OS X 10.5 onwards and Ubuntu 9.04 onwards.


Setting up the NAS system takes around 5 minutes and is almost foolproof. The NAS supports JBOD, Raid 0, Raid 1 and Synology Hybrid Raid.

Over the last year Synology have been continually tweaking the interface to make it easier for inexperienced users to get to grips with. The default layout style now automatically opens windows for an overview of the configuration. The software gives a first time guided tour, so it is a good idea to spend some time reading the information before clicking close.

Most of the interface and facets of the operating system will be accessed from the control panel window, shown above. You can pin shortcuts to the desktop and there are widgets for NAS drive health, CPU/Ram usage and connected devices.

The interface is intuitively laid out and it responds quickly to commands. Playing media across the network to Apple devices without native codec support is an incredibly tempting proposition, especially as Apple support is so strong. It worked flawlessly throughout for us.
We are testing the Synology DS214Play 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.

All tests are performed ten times to ensure that no abnormalities can creep into the final results.

Performance from the unit is strong, although we couldn't get close to the rated 101 MB/s write speeds, peaking at 78 MB/s. Still a strong result considering there is no Link Aggregation support.

Mixed file performance is strong, hitting 68 MB/s read and 45 MB/s write.
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 a meter away.

The NAS system is generally almost inaudible, although if both 2TB hard drives are active the fan will spin up a little to counteract any rise in temperatures. Very impressive results however and ideal for a living room, or bedroom environment when low noise is crucial.

When both drives are idle the system consumes 5 watts at the socket. This rises to 18 watts under load.

During our 5 hour test period both hard drives were held at 30c (room environment was 24c).
The Synology DiskStation DS214Play is a very attractively designed NAS which will appeal to the wide audience of media centric users. The move to Intel's snappy Evansport chip will be welcomed, especially considering the native hardware transcoding capabilities.

We tested Synology's claims of 1080p video transcoding and found that it worked as advertised, without a hitch. Playback is smooth and will be a wonderful companion for devices without native support for specific codecs. We had only one media file recorded in H.264 which failed to play properly across the DS214 Play.

Synology are keen to point out the DS214 Play's quick processing of photo thumbnails (through Photo Station) and our tests highlight that it certainly couldn't be faulted.

Performance across our network was commendable, rating at over 100 MB/s when reading large single files and dropping to around 78 MB/s when writing.

The DS214Play also ships with a high level of connectivity, incorporating USB 3.0, eSATA and SD card slots, useful if you frequently use multiple storage devices.

We rate the DS214Play highly, it is a very capable and responsive NAS featuring one of the most versatile and intuitive operating systems available. The only real downside is the overall cost of ownership, which can extend to over £500 by the time you add two 4TB hard drives. You can pick up the bare bones DS214 Play for around £287 inc vat right now.

Pros:

• responsive.
• fantastic operating system.
• solid network performance.
• well built.
• USB 3.0 ports.

Cons:

• expensive.

Kitguru says: The DS214 Play is an excellent NAS system, but it is expensive.

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