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Synology DS414slim 4-Bay NAS Review

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<http://www.eteknix.com>

 

Synology DS414slim 4-Bay NAS Review

 

When looking at bulk storage and consequently network storage, the

generic blueprint that virtually every vendor follows is a desktop or

rackmount system with an even number of drive bays, each with the

capacity to hold the largest drives that can be bought on the market

today – which come in a 3.5″ format, although we do find a few

situations where 2.5″ SSDs are used based on the application of the

storage array. Whilst this blueprint is perfectly fine, on the

consumer end of the market where we are not always looking at jaw

dropping capacities and performance, a typical 4-bay system is not

exactly the easiest of things to tuck away under the desk or in the

closet and then we have to factor in the cost of getting up and

running. 3.52 drives are the only way to go if you want large

amounts of storage on hand, but if you want a more modest setup with a

system the doesn't end up acting like a foot rest under your desk,

there are barely any options out there to choose from.

 

2.5″ drives are, for the most part, forgotten about when it comes

to mass storage. Unless you are talking about solid state drives, we

generally find people taking the 3.5″ route, without even

considering 2.5″ spinning platters, which are left for the

entry-level notebooks and budget ultra-SFF systems and this is

reflected [as highlighted above] in the NAS market from bottom to top.

Wanting to break away from this generalised blueprint, Synology have

made an ambitious move to shrink down their popular DS414 line of

systems into a tiny, baby-NAS like package which runs solely on 2.5″

drives, making the presence of a NAS in the home a lot more subtle

than before.

 

With a top end raw capacity of only 4TB, Synology's DS414slim is not

going to be a storage monster for those who have tons of films, music

and photos to store, but for the average Joe who is looking for a

tidy, compact system to blend in with their minimalist desktop setup

with a nice and reasonable storage capacity of 3TB (when in RAID5),

the slim does start to sound like an interesting investment. It's size

is not a sign that we are working on skeleton features either. Whilst

we only find a pair of USB3.0 ports and a pair of GbE ports alongside

four drive bays, the number of software features that are at your

disposal are virtually the same as those found on a full-on NAS such

as the DS414 which this is related to. By the time we factor in the

lower cost of drives; around £55 / $76 each for one of Western

Digital's 1TB Red drives which are build primarily for the consumer

NAS market and what you can have here is a tidy little system that

offers just as much as its larger siblings.

 

Whether or not this move turns out to be a successful move by

Synology comes done to the build, features, ease of use and ultimately

the performance. After all there is not point in getting such a tiny

system if the performance is not worth the cost.

 

URL - http://www.eteknix.com/synology-ds414slim-4-bay-nas-review/

 

 

 

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