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Synology’s DSM 7.1 Is Now Available as Beta

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Synology today officially announced the availability of the DSM 7.1 Beta, which it first announced in early December last year.

"Official" is the key here since the software has been made available for over a week to the general public.

But you're not missing out much. Considering this is a beta version, you shouldn't install it on a production server anyway.

Synology DS1821+
The Synology DS1821+ NAS server is a perfect candidate to run DSM 7.1.

DSM 7.1: The last upgradable version for many servers

Nonetheless, the release of DSM 7.1 Beta means it's time to upgrade to DSM 7 if you're still using DSM 6.

And speaking of which, according to Synology, DSM 7.1 is also the last major upgrade for servers of the model year 2015 and older. Specifically, the following servers will not get DSM 7.2 or later:

  • XS Series: RS3413xs+, RS10613xs+, RS3614xs+, RS3614xs, RS3614RPxs, RC18015xs+, DS3615xs, DS2015xs
  • Plus Series: DS2413+, DS1813+, DS1513+, DS713+, RS2414RP+, RS2414+, RS814RP+, RS814+, DS214+, RS815RP+, RS815+, DS2415+, DS1815+, DS1515+, DS415+, DS215+
  • Value Series: RS814, RS214, DS414, DS214, DS214play, DS114, RS815, DS1515, DS715, DS415play, DS115
  • J Series: DS213j, DS414slim, DS414j, DS214se, DS215j, DS115j, DS216se

But that's relatively far into the future. For now, DSM 7.1 will keep all DSM 7-supporting servers up-to-date with the latest and a slew of improvements.

Bare-metal backups and a lot more

The most significant improvement of DSM 7.1, according to Synology, is the support for bare-metal level backups and restoration for the entire system, powered by Synology Active Backup for Business.

This new capability means users can now clone and replicate the entire server, significantly reducing the recovery time in case of hardware failure or disaster.

This new backup and restore capability is similar to using Macrium Reflect on a Windows computer or Time Machine on a Mac. It will make the job of a system administrator a lot easier.

On top of that, together with DSM 7.1, Synology will introduce the following enhancements:

  • Active Backup for Business: bandwidth control, expanded monitoring and reporting capabilities, and support for DSM backups
  • Active Insight: centralized login activity monitoring and Hyper Backup task statuses
  • Synology C2 Hybrid Share: server-side snapshots for better file protection
  • Directory Server: support for read-only domain controllers to improve deployment security and flexibility
  • Synology Drive: revamped mobile user experience and improved monitoring/auditing capabilities
  • MailPlus: Virtual DSM support, expanded management options, importing and migration improvements
  • Virtual Machine Manager: storage I/O performance improvements and QoS capabilities
  • Surviellance Station 9.0: The latest verison of a popular apps that turns a NAS server into a robust surveillance system.

Among these, Surveillance Station 9.0 might be the most exciting for some users.

The current 8.2 version has been available since DSM 6.2 and proved to be one of the best tools for home IP camera-based surveillance. Version 9.0 promises cloud-recording and Monitor Center to manage a multi-site camera setup with map integration.

Synology DSM 7.1 Beta
Here's Synology DSM 7.1 Beta running on a DS1517+ with Surveillance Station 9.0

Availability

DSM 7.1 Beta is available now via this link. Just enter your NAS model number, and you'll get the OS download link for a manual update.

Keep in mind that once updated to DSM 7.1 Beta, you can't go back to an older build. That said, refrain from upgrading your production server.

I tried upgrading a DS1517+ running DSM 7 to DSM 7.1 Beta, and the process was the same as upgrading to any DSM 7 minor build. It took less than 10 minutes. Afterward, apps and packages were automatically upgraded to the newer beta versions.

Synology told me it had no timeline yet in terms of when DSM 7.1 will be out of Beta, but my take is it will be at least a couple of months from now. And then, like usual, the final version will be a simple subsequent build.

That said if you have a fun server—one not used for work, that is—you can afford to mess around with, give DSM 7.1 Beta a try.

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4 thoughts on “Synology’s DSM 7.1 Is Now Available as Beta”

  1. When will Synology be able to accommodate more than 108TB of storage? I’ve heard two stories; that it is a software limitation and I’ve also heard it is a hardware limitation. Do you know what the true story is and why they are limited to 108tb?

    Reply
    • That’s the limit of Plus and lower-tier servers (108TB or 16TB), but only per single volume, Randy. So if you use two volumes, you can double that, etc. The limit is due to the hardware itself. More in this post.

      Reply

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