Synology DiskStation DS1821+ 8-Bay NAS Enclosure
The Synology DiskStation DS1821+ is an 8-bay Network Attached Storage (NAS) enclosure designed for demanding small-to-medium business (SMB) and IT enthusiast environments. It offers robust performance, significant scalability, and a comprehensive suite of data management and protection features.
Key Features & Specifications
- Processor: AMD Ryzen V1500B Quad-Core 2.2 GHz CPU with hardware encryption engine (AES-NI). This provides ample power for various applications and concurrent users.
- Memory: Comes with 4GB DDR4 ECC SODIMM RAM, expandable up to 32GB (via two slots supporting 16GB modules). ECC (Error-Correcting Code) RAM enhances data integrity, crucial for critical data.
- Drive Bays: Features 8 x 3.5″/2.5″ SATA drive bays, which are hot-swappable.
- Scalability: Can be expanded up to 18 drive bays by connecting two Synology DX517 expansion units, providing massive storage potential. The maximum single volume size supported is 108TB.
- Networking: Equipped with 4 x Gigabit Ethernet (1GbE) ports with Link Aggregation and Failover support for increased throughput and network redundancy.
- PCIe Expansion: Features 1 x PCIe 3.0 x8 slot (x4 link), allowing for upgrades such as a 10GbE or 25GbE network adapter card for even faster data transfer speeds.
- External Ports: Includes 4 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (formerly USB 3.0) ports and 2 x eSATA ports for connecting external storage devices or other peripherals.
- RAID Support: Supports a wide range of RAID configurations including Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR), offering flexibility in balancing data protection and storage capacity.
- Operating System: Runs on Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM), a feature-rich, intuitive, web-based operating system that provides a vast array of applications and services.
Performance & Compatibility
- Throughput: Achieves impressive sequential read/write speeds, reportedly up to 2300 MB/s sequential write and 110,000 4K random read IOPS (when using optional aggregated 10GbE connectivity and NVMe cache).
- Drive Compatibility: Supports a variety of 3.5″ SATA HDDs, 2.5″ SATA HDDs, 2.5″ SATA SSDs, and M.2 2280 NVMe SSDs. Synology provides a compatibility list for verified drives to ensure optimal performance and stability. While it generally allows non-Synology drives, newer Synology models have stricter compatibility policies, so it’s always best to check the latest Synology compatibility list.
- Client Compatibility: Works seamlessly with Windows 7 and macOS 10.12 or later systems. It supports common file sharing protocols like AFP, FTP, iSCSI, NFS, SMB, and WebDAV.
Use Cases
- Centralized Data Storage: Serves as a reliable, high-capacity central repository for all your digital assets, accessible from anywhere on the network.
- Data Backup & Disaster Recovery: Offers comprehensive backup solutions including:
- Active Backup for Business: Centralizes backup tasks for Windows PCs, servers, and virtual machines (VMware).
- Hyper Backup: Back up NAS data to local shared folders, external devices, other Synology NAS, rsync servers, or public cloud services.
- Synology Drive: Provides real-time data backups and file synchronization for computers and mobile devices, similar to a private cloud.
- Snapshot Replication: Creates schedulable and instantaneous data protection for shared folders and iSCSI LUNs.
- Virtualization Host: Can run virtual machines using Synology’s Virtual Machine Manager, allowing users to deploy various operating systems in isolated environments for testing or specific applications.
- Surveillance System: With Synology Surveillance Station, it transforms into a robust NVR solution, supporting numerous IP cameras for 24/7 recording, monitoring, and management.
- Multimedia Server: Functions as a powerful media server (e.g., with Plex Media Server) for streaming content to various devices, though hardware transcoding capabilities might be limited for certain media types due to the AMD CPU.
- Application Server: Capable of hosting various applications via Docker containers, web servers, mail servers (Synology MailPlus), and more, expanding its functionality beyond basic file storage.
- Office Collaboration: Features like Synology Drive and Synology Office offer private cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools.
Hardware Specifications
CPU
- Model: AMD Ryzen V1500B
- Quantity: 1
- Architecture: 64-bit
- Frequency: Quad-core 2.2 GHz
- Hardware Encryption Engine: AES-NI (Yes)
Memory
- System Memory: 4 GB DDR4 ECC SODIMM (pre-installed: 1 x 4 GB)
- Total Memory Slots: 2
- Maximum Memory Capacity: 32 GB (16 GB x 2)
Storage
- Drive Bays: 8 hot-swappable bays
- Maximum Drive Bays with Expansion Unit: 18 (with 2 x DX517 expansion units)
- M.2 Drive Slots: 2 (NVMe, for SSD cache acceleration only)
- Compatible Drive Types:
- 3.5″ SATA HDD
- 2.5″ SATA HDD
- 2.5″ SATA SSD
- M.2 2280 NVMe SSD (for cache)
External Ports
- RJ-45 1GbE LAN Port: 4 (with Link Aggregation / Failover support)
- USB 3.2 Gen 1 Port: 4
- eSATA Port: 2
PCIe Expansion
- PCIe Expansion Slot: 1 x Gen3 x8 slot (x4 link), supporting 10GbE or 25GbE network interface cards.
File System
- Internal Drives: Btrfs, EXT4
- External Drives: Btrfs, EXT4, EXT3, FAT, NTFS, HFS+, exFAT
Appearance & Physical Attributes
- Form Factor: Desktop
- Size (Height x Width x Depth): 166 mm x 343 mm x 243 mm
- Weight: 6.0 kg
Key Features & Use Cases
- Accelerated Performance: The AMD Ryzen V1500B CPU and the ability to add NVMe SSD cache significantly boost performance, offering up to 113,458 4K random read IOPS and 2312 MB/s sequential write speeds. This makes it ideal for high-speed file sharing, demanding applications, and large data transfers.
- Scalability: With 8 drive bays expandable to 18 bays using two Synology DX517 expansion units, it offers ample room for data growth. This is beneficial for businesses with increasing data storage needs.
- Comprehensive Data Protection: It supports various RAID levels (0, 1, 5, 6, 10, Synology Hybrid RAID, JBOD) for data redundancy. Synology’s DSM operating system includes robust backup solutions like Active Backup Suite, Hyper Backup, and Snapshot Replication to safeguard valuable data from various sources (PCs, servers, VMs, public clouds, other NAS).
- Virtualization Support: The DS1821+ is certified for virtualization solutions like VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Citrix, making it suitable for acting as a storage backend for virtualized environments.
- Versatile Connectivity: The four Gigabit Ethernet ports with Link Aggregation provide network redundancy and improved throughput.
- Application Hosting (Docker): While its CPU might not be ideal for resource-intensive Virtual Machines (VMs) that require transcoding (like a Plex server for remote 4K streaming), it handles Docker containers very well. Users often leverage it for applications like Home Assistant, various *arrs (Sonarr, Radarr), torrent clients, and other self-hosted services.
- Silent and Reliable Operation: Designed for 24/7 operation in SOHO and SMB environments, it features dual 120mm fans for efficient cooling while maintaining a relatively low noise level (22.2 dB(A)).
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