Synology DS411+ II NAS

Today we are taking a look at Synology’s DS 411+ II. This 4 disk network attached storage device features their latest version of Disk Manager station (3.1). The amount of features Synology has packed into their past products has been astounding. Take a look:

This will be the second Synology DiskStation I will review, and if you take a look at my last review this product has quite a bit to live up to. Lets see what Synology has to say:

“Synology^® DiskStation DS411+II is specifically designed for small and medium-sized businesses who need a high-performance, easy to manage, and full-featured network attached storage solution to centralize data backups, protect critical assets and share files across different platforms. Synology protects your investment in the DS411+II with a 2-year limited warranty.”

At it’s base a NAS is very simple, and many companies produce fine NAS devices. But What really sets Synology Apart from the other manufacturers, is the DiskStation Manager. In addition to the raw specs of this device we will be taking an in-depth look through software capabilities of the DS 411+ II.

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Packaging:

Th packaging is very sleek, the box has a flat black finish that allows you to absorb all the simple information they have placed on the box. The Graphics are very professional providing details in a friendly format, without detracting from the business impression.

Specifications:

Synology’s specifications are VERY extensive. I highly encourage you to read them, however I will summarize some highlights on the next page.

Hardware
CPU Frequency: 1.8GHz, Dual Core Floating Point Memory: DDR2 1GB Internal HDD²: 3.5″ or 2.5″ SATA(II) X4 Max Internal Capacity: 12TB (4x 3TB hard drives)⁵ (See All Supported HDD) External HDD Interface: USB 2.0 port X2, eSATA port X1 Size (HxWxD): 184mm X 168mm X 230mm Weight: 2.23kg LAN: Gigabit X1 Wireless Support³	Fan: X2(80mmX80mm) Wake on LAN/WAN Noise Level⁴：22.5dB(A) Power Recovery AC Input Power Voltage: 100V to 240V Power Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz, Single Phase Power Consumption⁶: 60W(Access); 20W(HDD Hibernation) Operating Temperature: 5°C to 35°C (40°F to 95°F) Storage Temperature: -10°C to 70°C (15°F to 155°F) Relative Humidity: 5% to 95%RH Maximum Operating Altitude: 10,000 feet Certification: FCC Class B, CE Class B, BSMI Class B
Applications
File Browser File Station FTP Server Bandwidth Control Custom FTP Passive Port Range Anonymous FTP Transfer Log Mail Server Supported Mail Server Protocol : POP3, SMTP, IMAP Web Station Virtual Host (up to 30 websites) PHP/MySQL Alternative HTTP Error Page 3rd-Party Applications Support Surveillance Station Default IP cam #: 1 MAX IP cam # (licenses required): 20⁷ (See All Supported IP Cameras) Total Frames per Second (FPS): 200 FPS @ D1 Recording Modes：Manual, Continuous, Motion Detection, Alarm, Motion Detection and Alarm Event Playback：Sync Mode (4 Channels), Time Slicing Mode Centralized Management Compression Formats：MJPEG, MPEG-4, H.264 Photo Station Supported Image Format: BMP, JPG (jpe, jpeg), GIF, RAW (arw, srf, sr2, dcr, k25, kdc, cr2, crw, nef, mrw, ptx, pef, raf, 3fr, erf, mef, mos, orf, rw2, dng, x3f) Supported Video Format⁸: 3G2, 3GP, ASF, AVI, DAT, DivX, FLV, M4V, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, QT, WMV, XviD, RM, RMVB, VOB, RV30, RV40, AC3, AMR, WMA3 Download Station Supported Download Protocols: BT/HTTP/FTP/NZB/eMule Custom BitTorrent Port Range BitTorrent / eMule Bandwidth Control Audio Station Supported Audio Format: (USB Mode) AAC, FLAC, M4A, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WMA, WMA VBR; (Streaming Mode) MP3, M4A, M4B Supported Playlist Format: M3U, WPL Internet Radio: SHOUTcast, Radioio	DLNA/UPnP Media Server PS3/Xbox 360 Support Supported Audio Format: AAC, FLAC, M4A, MP3, Ogg, Vorbis, PCM, WAV, WMA, WMA VBR, WMA PRO, WMA Lossless Supported Video Format:3GP, 3G2, ASF, AVI, DAT, DivX, DVR-MS, ISO, M2T, M2TS, M4V, MKV, MP4, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, MTS, MOV, QT, SWF, TP, TRP, TS, VOB, WMV, XviD, RV30, RV40, AC3, AMR, WMA3 Supported Image Format: BMP, JPG (jpe, jpeg), GIF, ICO, PNG, PSD, TIF (tiff), UFO, RAW (arw, srf, sr2, dcr, k25, kdc, cr2, crw, nef, mrw, ptx, pef, raf, 3fr, erf, mef, mos, orf, rw2, dng, x3f) Supported Subtitles Format: srt, psb, smi, ass, ssa, sub, idx, ifo iTunes Server Supported Audio Format⁹: MP3, M4A, M4P, WAV, AIF Supported Video Format: M4V, MOV, MP4 Supported Playlist Format: M3U, WPL Printer Server¹⁰ Max Printer #: 2 Printing Protocols: LPR, CIFS, AppleTalk, AirPrint, Multi Functional Print Server Synology Packages Squeezebox Server Mail Station 2 Webalizer phpMyAdmin Time Backup HASP iPhone/Android Applications DS photo+ DS audio DS cam DS file (iPhone only)
General Specifications
Networking Protocols CIFS AFP FTP WebDAV iSCSI Telnet SSH NFS SNMP File System EXT4 EXT3 FAT¹¹ NTFS¹¹ Volume Management Synology Hybrid RAID Max Volume # : 512 Max iSCSI Target：32 Max iSCSI LUN：256 Volume Type: Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 5+Spare, RAID 6, RAID 10 RAID Migration: from Basic to RAID 1, Basic to RAID 5, Basic to RAID 5+Spare, RAID 1 to RAID 5, RAID 1 to RAID 5+Spare, RAID 5 to RAID 5+Spare, RAID 5 to RAID 6 Expand RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 5+Spare or RAID 6 with Larger Hard Drives Expand RAID 5 by Adding a Hard Drive On The Fly File Sharing Capability Max User Accounts: 2,048 Max Groups: 256 Max Shared Folder: 256 Max Concurrent Connections(SAMBA, FTP, AFP): 512 Windows Access Control List (ACL) Windows ADS Domain Integration Domain Users login via Samba/AFP/FTP/File Station Backup Solutions Network Backup Shared Folder Sync Local Backup Desktop Backup (using Synology Data Replicator 3 or Apple Time Machine backup application) Time Backup – Max task number：8 3rd-Party Backup Support Security FTP over SSL/TLS IP Auto-Block Firewall Encrypted Network Backup over Rsync HTTPS Connection	Management Auto DSM Upgrade Administrator Group Email Notification SMS Notification Customized User Quota DDNS Support IPv6 Support PPPoE Resource Monitor UPS Management Scheduled Power On/Off Custom Management UI HTTP/HTTPS Ports HDD Management HDD Hibernation S.M.A.R.T. Dynamic Bad Sector Mapping Utilities Synology Assistant Synology Data Replicator Supported Clients Windows 2000 onward Mac OSX 10.3 onward Ubuntu 9.04 onward Supported Browsers Internet Explorer 7 Internet Explorer 8 Internet Explorer 9 Firefox 3.5 Firefox 3.6 Safari 4 (Mac) Safari 5 (Mac) Chrome Supported Mobile Devices (Photo Station, File Station) iPhone OS 2.2.1 onward Android OS 1.5 onward Windows Mobile (IE Mobile or Opera 9.0 onward) Symbian OS 9.1, S60 3rd Edition onward Language Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese Brazil, Portuguese European, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, Turkish
Environment And Packaging
Environment RoHS Compliant Package Content DS411+II Main Unit Installation CD/DVD Welcome Note Assembling Kit AC Power Cord 2M RJ-45 LAN Cable	Optional Accessories Remote Camera License Pack
The performance figures are achieved in Synology lab by using very powerful client computers with extremely optimized network settings, and could vary on different environments. A regular office desktop/notebook may not be able to achieve these high performance figures. Hard drive not included. Wireless dongles not included. Please check http://www.synology.com/ for supported wireless dongles. Fully loaded with Seagate 1TB ST31000520AS hard drive(s) in operation; Two G.R.A.S. Type 40AE microphones, each set up at 1 meter away from the DiskStation front and rear; Background noise: 17.2 dB(A); Temperature: 23.6°C; Humidity: 58.2%; More details about dB(A) value, check: http://www.quietnoise.com/facts.htm The actual capacity will differ according to volume types. Measured with 4 Seagate 750GB ST3750640NS hard drive. The figures could vary on different environments. 1 free license to install 1 IP camera. Additional licenses can be purchased to expand the license quota. User can click and download the following video formats: RM, RMVB, VOB, RV30, RV40, AC3, AMR, WMA3, but not able to play it in Photo Station as compressed Flash video. The music in WAV and AIF format can be streamed, but the metadata (ex: title, album) may not be indexed on the iTunes. For Mac users, DS411+II supports PostScript USB printers only. Primary partition only.

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Specification Highlights:

Hardware:
	Dual Core 1.8Ghz Processor Gigabit Ethernet Wireless support Support drive sizes UP TO 3TB 2.5 /3.5 drive compatibility External USB/eSATA expandable

Applications:

We will cover the over ten applications thoroughly in the next section

General Specifications:

Supported Os:
- Windows 2000 onward
- Mac OSX 10.3 onward
- Ubuntu 9.04 onward
Supported Browsers:
- Internet Explorer 7
- Internet Explorer 8
- Internet Explorer 9
- Firefox 3.5
- Firefox 3.6
- Safari 4 (Mac)
- Safari 5 (Mac)
- Chrome
Included Security:
- FTP over SSL/TLS
- IP Auto-Block
- Firewall
- Encrypted Network Backup over Rsync
- HTTPS Connection

These features alone give this device remarkable capabilities, and we haven’t even touched the extensive applications list. Covering virtually every operating system in wide spread use, every modern browser, and a plethora of security capabilities. Synology has ensured that no user will be left behind. I am very excited to get to the capabilities of this device.

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Physical Installation:

Installing this was a breeze. All of the parts were very well machined, the caddies were sturdy and easy to use. One VERY important thing to note. Those are standard fan plugs folks. If one of those fans dies, you can order new ones online at your leisure. Lets fire this Up and get in the software.

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DiskStation Manager:

Disk-station manager is significantly more than a basic user interface. This is a NAS based OS based on a linux kernel. The web accessed interface offers a wide range of customization and feature capabilities. Despite all of the customization security is still paramount. The administrator of this machine has complete control over what features, folders and files a user can access or change.

As you can see from the screen shot we are testing this with 4 Seagate SATA III Barracuda’s. While the DS411 + II is only SATA II capable the extra cache (32Mb) provided by the drives will give the Raid 5 I have them configured in the Extra boost of speed.

Home Office Environment:
ISP: Bright-house Cable 20 MB Download 1 MB upload
Router: Trednet TEW – 691 GR wireless 450MB
Cabling Standard: Cat5e
Primary PC: Intel Based with GB Lan
OS: Windows 7 and Windows XP (mixed traffic)
Browsers Tested: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer 9

Mobile Testing:
OS: Android 2.3.4
Phone: HTC HD2
Network: Tmobile 3G

Hand’s down the biggest attraction of this device should DiskStation manager. This suite of applications makes the difference between a storage device, ans a Small/Medium Business Powerhouse.Unfortunately, the value of the device would quickly dissipate if it you have to hire an expert to manage it. The good news is you don’t have to know anything about networking to start using this device. After Plugging the Synology into the network and power, It beeps to let you know its on. After hearing the beep, you can run the Synology Assistant that will discover the device on your network, it will even discover multiple Synology devices on the same network.

Let’s take a look at the user interface.

After logging into DSM using the default username and password, you are presented with the quick start. From here you can:

Create/Manage volumes
Create/manage Users
access your files
access the control panel

The control panel is the primary method for the administrator to setup and control the device. It offers some self explanatory icons to guide your choices.

I started by creating another user:

Creating a user is very simple, you simply choose a username, create a password (I have also included a screen shot of the password options), and assign privileges and quotas. You even have the ability to create a temporary username with a defined expiration.

Of the numerous methods to share your files, I chose to use FTP, WinFS, and Mobile Device. (I’m especially excited about the Mobile method).

Its simple check boxes to enable the windows/mac file-share capabilities, you also have the ability to have the device authenticate against a domain if necessary. I have also included the screen shot for the individual folder permissions. The level of security customization that Synology has included is very impressive, it rivals active directory.

In Browser usage:

off to a running start I wanted to see what the “new multitasking UI” was capable of. All the features in the world won’t get used at all if the response is sluggish. In this modern age we want everything NOW or sooner. Lets see how it handles it self.

Running several “large” downloads (utilizing bandwidth restriction for optimal network traffic else where) and watching the real time resource monitors barely showed up on the processor.

Remote Usage:

Setting up all of these services on the Synology is as simple as a check box, but what about your router. Surely with a device this powerful you want the ability to remotely access your files. Take it from me, configuring port forwarding can be a nightmare, testing availability often requires two network connections, and it can be called any of twenty different terms. In the case of my TrendNet TEW – 691GR port forwarding is called virtual server.

Take a look, Synology has a built in utility that will configure your port forwarding rules based in their database of known devices. They didn’t have my specific device, but i chose another Trend-Net device (639 – GR), and it worked like a charm. Synology, once provided with my log-in credentials, programmed the port configurations for all of the services I wished to enable. THIS DEVICE WILL PROGRAM YOUR OTHER DEVICES TO WORK WITH IT. Ladies and gentlemen I just setup sky-net.

To test this I connected to the Synology from my work and my Android Phone. At the time of our last review, Synology had released a photo station APP for iOS, since then they have been very busy. A quick search of the Android and iPhone markets will reveal FREE Synology written apps to utilize your devices full potential on the go.

Connecting from my work would have worked without issue, however there was a severe thunderstorm at my house and I was unable to connect at the precise moment I tried. Immediately after power was restored to the Synology the true culprit was revealed.

Once set up the Synology DS411 + II emails you with notifications. And it’s quite polite about the whole ordeal. With power restored,I was able to test the service from my work.

This was utilizing File Station, which is the multi-browser compatible explorer interface that utilizes Java to provide your current PC’s directory structure. I transferred 80Mb’s worth of photos in approx 1.02 min. The speed of this transfer is purely limited by your internet connection.

Next, I downloaded the Synology applications and began to test the mobile connection.

I was very pleased by the speed and smoothness of the applications, I did manage to lock myself out by attempting the wrong port multiple times. Once reading the help file associated with the android app I determined a different service needed to be enabled. It was literally three clicks and four minutes, before Synology had re-programed my router and I was browsing like a champ.

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Applications:

Web Station:

This device will handle up to thirty separate websites, all hosted from the convenience of your own internet connection. This feature in conjunction with the rest of the features truly make this device a small business power house.

It comes as no surprise that the response time, packed with a Dual core 1.8 Ghz processor and 1Gb DDr2 ram this tiny little unit packs a serious punch. Most budget net books do not ship with specifications this nice.

Surveillance Station:

One of the key features of Synology’s DSM 3.1 is the included one camera license of surveillance station. Early last year I spent nearly 2 weeks researching competitively priced network video recording solutions that work with a wide range of third party cameras. Surveillance Station is easily one of the easiest to use, with the widest range of accepted camera’s I have found. the fact that Synology includes this application at NO EXTRA COST is simply astounding.

Photo Station:

One of the most important files most Home users back-up are photos, this fact has not escaped the people at Synology. Rather than simply uploading your photos to a simple folder structure, Photo station and the up-loader included in Synology assistant make it incredibly simple for users to store, organize, and access their photos using a intuitive Galery Interface.

Download Station:

This application offers the ability to download multiple protocols (BT/HTTP/FTP/NZB/eMule) and also upload your projects and copyright free files without having to leave your computer on.

External Devices:

In addition to the standard features of a NAS and full featured software suite, The Synology has the ability to interface with external devices via USB or eSATA. This allows you to utilize external storage devices for additional space, or as a transfer method. Also, you can use it as a print server. With this ability you can take a simple USB printer and print from your Windows/MAC/Linux Based PC.

For a full list of device compatibility, including USB speakers, wi-fi adapters, routers, and televisions see here

Speed Testing:

Synology boasts this device can reach windows Upload speeds of over 100MB/s

You can see from my results below, that the Synology tested speeds are backed up by my findings. Please take note of the increase in transfer speeds received when connecting the USB 3.0 drive directly to the Synology vs. Using the PC as an intermediary. This was of particular interest as I have a fully capable USB 3.0 Port and I would have presumed the speed would have been closer.

Conclusion:

Every time we review a Synology Disk Station we are shocked at the total package value of these devices. Providing a review that will express the multitude of features DSM is packed with is next to impossible. The DiskStation manager 3.1 offers an even more feature rich user friendly interface than its predecessor. Giving you the ability to share files, host websites, download torrents, upload photos, record video, and all while embracing the new mobile culture? I would be hard pressed to find a product more deserving of the Editors Choice Award.