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If you’re a fan of Synology NAS server, you’re well aware of the software that powers your storage machine, the DiskStation Manager (DSM). Here’s some great news, the NAS maker announced today the beta availability of the latest version, DSM 7.0.
The first major release in more than four years
This is the first major release since DSM 6.0 came out in March 2016. It’s fair to say the new version will improve all aspects of a Synology NAS server, from the user interface to all other hardware functions.
Here’s the short list of what you can expect, according to Synology.
- Redesigned storage management functionality for higher performance, reliability, along with more maintenance options to empower IT administrators
- A host of usability and functionality improvements matched with improved security features such as a more secure and convenient authentication process
- Added support for the Fibre Channel protocol to achieve the lowest-latency and overhead deployments
- An all-new photo management experience with Synology Photos that is combining the AI-powered features of Synology Moments with the organizational flexibility of Synology Photo Station
- New solutions, such as Hybrid Share that integrate cloud and on-premises storage, Active Insight that monitor aggregated performance and usage from a single portal, and backup solutions that combine bare-metal data protection with the convenience of the cloud.
At the same time, existing applications, available in DSM 6.0, that have been working great with likely remain or updated to compatible versions. In short, you will not need to pick and choose.
Existing servers supported
Like previous versions, DSM 7.0 will support a large number of existing Synology NAS servers, going back as far as models released in 2013.
Here’s the complete list:
- 21-series: DS1621xs+, DS1621+
- 20-series: FS6400, DS1520+, FS3600, SA3400, DS620slim, SA3600, RS820RP+, DS420+, DS720+, DS920+, FS3400, DS220+, RS820+, SA3200D, DS220j, DS420j, DS120j
- 19-series: DS419slim, DS119j, RS1219+, RS1619xs+, DS1819+, DS2419+, RS819, DS1019+
- 18-series: DS218play, DS218, DS418, RS818+, RS818RP+, FS1018, DS218+, DS418play, DS918+, DS218j, RS3618xs, DS3018xs, DS1618+, RS2818RP+, DS118, DS418j, RS2418+, RS2418RP+, DS718+
- 17-series: RS18017xs+, DS1817, DS1517+, DS1817+, DS3617xs, RS3617xs, RS3617RPxs, FS3017, RS4017xs+, DS1517, RS3617xs+, RS217, FS2017
- 16-series: DS216play, DS916+, DS116, DS216, RS2416+, RS2416RP+, DS216j, DS416slim, DS216+, DS216+II, DS416play, DS716+II, RS18016xs+, DS416, RS816, DS416j, DS716+, DS216se
- 15-series: RC18015xs+, DS715, DS115j, DS115, DS215j, DS1515+, RS815RP+, DS3615xs, DS215+, DS415+, RS815+, DS1815+, DS2415+, DS1515, DS2015xs, DS415play, RS815
- 14-series: DS114, DS414slim, DS414, DS214se, RS3614RPxs, RS814, DS214+, RS3614xs, RS3614xs+, RS814+, DS214play, RS814RP+, RS2414+, RS2414RP+, DS414j, DS214, RS214
- 13-series: DS213j, RS10613xs+, RS3413xs+, DS2413+, DS1813+, DS1513+, DS713+
Needless to say, all future models will also run DSM 7.0 out of the box.
Availability
You can download DSM 7.0 Beta right now (no registration necessary) and manually install it on your server, the same way you’d update the current OS version.
A few things to keep in mind if you want to try out the beta:
- It would be best if you tried the beta only with a non-essential server.
- Depending on the server model and the number of apps, the update will take between 10 to 40 minutes.
- You will not be able to roll back to DSM 6.0, even when you reset the server. Technically, there are tricks to make this happen, but it’s a lot of work. Consider this a one-way approach.
- Apart from the OS itself, the update will also place beta versions of all Synology apps.
- Some beta versions will not work as intended. As a result, not everything you can do with DSM 6.x will work with DSM 7.0 beta.
- Some third-party apps might not work with DSM 7.0 beta.
The operating system’s final release will be available in mid-2021 as a free update to all supported servers.
Hi Dong Ngo,
First of all, I wanna thank you for your blog and the time you take to share with us interresting news about Synology universe. That’s really great!
I find your blog ’cause I was looking for the release date of the very first public beta. You wrote it was December 8th 2020 and do you remember what was the build number?
Thank you again!
The build number varies from one model to another, Didier. The final version will be available in a couple of months.
They need full disk encryption.
You already have encryption with DSM 6.0, C. Make sure you use the Btrfs file system.
@Dong Ngo, thanks for the reply. Big fan of you.
From what I read, the encryption Synology offers is based on eCryptfs, only works on directory level no not full disk. Such implementation is worst in performance and has limitation like file name length.
Sure, C. Thanks for the tip. 🙂