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Synology today announced the DiskStation DS1621+ as the replacement to the DS1618+ that came out two years ago. This is its first home NAS server that features an AMD Ryzen chip instead of one from Intel.
Update: The full review of the DS1621+ is available here.
A new era of Synology Home NAS
Synology calls the DS1621+ its "most powerful Plus series yet." The company says the new NAS server runs on a quad-core AMD Ryzen processor, which features the next-gen "Zen" architecture. Consequently, it's slated to deliver more than twice the processing power compared to Intel Atom C3538 used in the DS1618+.
Specifically, Synology claims that the new server will deliver some 76 percent sequential write improvement, or up to 1.1GB/s. On top of that its 4KB random read performance gets some 174 percent improvement, at 110K IOPS.
While for the most part, the new server looks very similar to the previous model, on the underside, it has what most recently-released Synology server do: A set of dual M.2 slots to host two NVM2 SSD for caching.
Out of the box, the new server, very disappointingly, doesn't include a 10Gbps LAN port—it has the same amount of ports as its older cousin, including four Gigabit LAN ports, three USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) ports, and two eSATA ports.
The good news is the server retains the PCIe add-on slot. Via this, you can add a 10Gbps NIC card, including the E10G17-F2 (dual-SFP+), the E10G18-T2 (dual-RJ45), or the E10G18-T1 (single RJ45). But that does increase the cost.
Hardware specifications: DS1621+ vs. DS1618+
Out of the box, the new DS1621+ can handle up to six internal drives. On top of that, you can add up to another ten via two DX517 expansion units.
Since this new server runs on an AMD chip, it's unclear if you can upgrade to it by moving drives over from an older model. If you're wondering the same thing, check back for the answer.
Familiar operating system and feature set, apps galore
The DS1621+ uses the same DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system despite using an entirely new processor. As a result, it has the same core features and settings as the rest of the Synology ecosystem. If you've used a Synology server before, you'll feel right at home with the DS1621+.
Among other things, Synology says the new server is the gateway to enterprise-class data protection with lots of backup options. On top of that, you'll find dozens of useful apps that make owning a pleasant experience.
Pricing and availability
Synology says the DS1621+ is available today with the suggested retail price of $799.99 (diskless).
Oh I know… I’ve had 5 Synology’s and still have two of them. LOVE THEM. This QNAP is a real POS and their QTS Blows. I bought it and set it up to be a media server and it’s nothing but frustrate me. I keep considering dumping the QNAP and running a media server on a powerful computer on the network but I’m afraid network speeds may slow the whole thing down.
Seeing this compared to the DS1618+ that it is replacing is interesting, but is there any chance you can do a comparison with the DS1621xs+ that explains the differences, other than the built in 10GbE, between the + and the xs+? From another article, I saw that this supports SHR where the xs+ does not, but I’d be curious to see what the other key differences are.
My take is, Barry, XS+ is the “enterprise” side of thing and it generally less flexible. In return, it gives you much better hardware specs (at a much higher cost). I think Synology wants to take fewer chances with a business-centric server. So, the + product line is the sweet spot for consumers (and small businesses) in general.
Oh I know… I’ve had 5 Synology’s and still have two of them. LOVE THEM. This QNAP is a real POS and their QTS Blows. I bought it and set it up to be a media server and it’s nothing but frustrate me. I keep considering dumping the QNAP and running a media server on a powerful computer on the network but I’m afraid network speeds may slow the whole thing down.
This is a huge step for Synology but still a long way from the processing power of the QNAP with the Intel i7-7700. I would love to throw my QNAP TVS-1282 in the trash and replace it with an equally powerful Synology.
I totally hear you, Randy. But honestly, QNAP REALLY sucks when it comes to software. Bloated and buggy, with a severe lack of robustness. Software-wise, Synology is light year ahead. There are Syno servers with proper specs, they are just too expensive. But it’s not the specs that matter, but what you can do (well) with the hardware.