NAS by stefan @ 2012-10-31
The new DS213air NAS from Synology is quite an interesting product, offering a WiFi interface that can be used as a wireless hotspot, a wireless router or to join a wireless network. Besides the good performance on wired LAN, we can also enjoy the DSM 4 interface, which is really easy to use. The price, however, is a bit high so we would recommend it more in small business environments rather than for homes.
At first I would like to thank Synology for offering a sample of their DS213air NAS Server for testing and reviewing.
"Founded in 2000, Synology is a young and energetic company dedicated to developing high-performance, reliable, versatile, and environmentally-friendly Network Attached Storage (NAS) products. Our goal is to deliver user-friendly solutions and solid customer service to satisfy the needs of businesses, home offices, individual users and families."
Simplify Network with One Device
Synology DS213air is not only a NAS, with built-in Wi-Fi® adaptor, DS213air can serve as a wireless access point and provide Wi-Fi coverage in hard to reach locations such as rooms too far away from the router, or different floors. The included software components make it easy to build a fast, robust and secure wireless IP network from scratch. The DS213air is all the gear needed for your home/office wireless networking environments, plus terabytes of storage and cloud applications.
Build Your Own Cloud
With Synology DS213air, you can centralize and share up to 8TB of data and files with coworkers and friends. If you find this way of managing files useful, you can have your own cloud by using Cloud Station to access and sync files across different computers. There is no need to configure a router to remote access the DS213air, by using Synology’s ezCloud, you can easily extend coverage to the Internet.
Manage your files on your Synology DS213air with File Browser which provides browser based file navigation on your DiskStation, allowing you to copy, move, delete, rename, upload, or download files without boundaries.
If you are always on the move, Synology provides a handy app, DS file for iPhone®, iPad® and Android™ users. Anything stored on Synology DS213air can now be accessed remotely using DS file via the Internet.
Optimal Price/Performance Ratio
Synology DS213air delivers an average 108.07 MB/sec reading speed under RAID 1 configuration in a Windows® environment, and 58.66 MB/sec writing1. DiskStation DS213air provides a reliable solution for data sharing with an easy to use interface, and comprehensive office applications, including a complete backup solution making it one of the best values in 2-bay NAS devices available today.
Coming with USB 3.0 support which offers transmission speeds of up to 5 Gbps, namely 10 times faster than USB 2.0, DS213air takes less time for data transfer for external hard drives and consumes less power.
Multimedia Center at Home
DS213air brings innovative and enjoyable multimedia entertainment to your home. Enjoy sound and sensation while enriching your life with personal online albums and blog services. Your social life just gets better.The iPad®, iPhone® and Android™ App, DS audio, allows DiskStation users to stream music stored on DiskStation with their mobile devices wherever Internet access is available.
Media Server allows you to stream multimedia files with a DLNA/UPnP® compatible Digital Media Adapter (DMA) to a stereo system or a TV-set. Sony® PlayStation® 3 and Microsoft® XBox 360 are also supported.
iTunes® Server is an easy way to share music with other iTunes® clients over the network. You can use iTunes® as a multimedia player to browse and play music stored on your Synology DiskStation.
Back Up Your Precious Data
Desktop backup provides Windows® PC users with the Synology Data Replicator for backing up desktop data to their DiskStation, while Mac OS X® users can use Apple® Time Machine® to back up their critical data to DiskStation.
Server backup includes several alternatives: Local Backup and Network Backup. You can back up data in shared folders or sub-folders and choose between incremental backup options or other flexible scheduling choices. All can be easily configured with a step-by-step wizard to make it simple to create an automated backup solution.
Hassle-free System Installation with Mobile Devices
Web Assistant is a web-based utility to make DS213air as easy to install as possible. It is even possible to install the whole system just with mobile device, by setting up all vital system components in few simple steps. Combined with a quick start widget, users can simultaneously tour the DSM operating system and set it up to use right away.
Peace of Mind with Data Encryption
The Synology DS213air is equipped with an encryption engine which offloads the encryption calculation task away from the main CPU, helping to improve file transfer speeds of the DiskStation.
Data protection is an important matter for businesses of all sizes. High-end features previously available only on enterprise level hardware are now accessible via Synology DS213air to small and medium-sized businesses. DS213air provides share-level AES 256-bit encryption to aid in the prevention of unauthorized access attempts to the hard drives.
Energy Efficient Design
Synology DS213air is designed with energy efficiency in mind. Not only does it provide a 92x92 mm fan and the better airflow to keep the system running cool 24/7, its noise dampening design makes it really quiet compared to PC counterparts. Synology DS213air consumes only 22.44 watts in operation, and its unique Scheduled Power On/Off feature lowers the power consumption to minimum.
All Synology products are produced with RoHS compliant parts and packed with recyclable packing materials. Synology acknowledges the responsibility as a global citizen to continually work to reduce the environmental impact of every product produced.
Product Specifications:
The DS213air NAS from Synology is shipped inside a box having white/green theme and not the usual blue we were used to at the previous products:
On the sides, along with the Synology logo we will also find a sticker with more product details like Hardware, Features, Wireless Specifications and Package Contents:
Also here we will find some of the NAS main functions:
As the last products we have reviewed from Synology, the internal components are carefully packed inside separate boxes:
The bundle is located in two separate enclosures and is composed from:
-power lead
-documentation
-power adapter
-UTP cable
-necessary screws
The power adapter is manufactured by EDACPOWER ELEC and we have on the output 12V at 5.42A:
On the other end of the adapter we will find the DC jack plug:
Besides a small leaflet (GPL) and the Quick Guide, we will also get the installation disk:
The Guide we have just mentioned contains the necessary steps to get the NAS up and running:
The DS213air is also wrapped inside a foam material, for extra protection:
The color scheme of the DS213air is completely different from what we have seen at the DS413, DS412+ or even the small DS112+:
The front side is now white, mixed with a dark grey area on the right:
The status LEDs are placed on the top right side, with the power button further down:
We also get to see the logo on the lower left side:
As the front, the laterals are made from shiny white plastic material, with ventilation grills where the Synology logo is placed:
A quiet 92mm fan is placed on the rear along with additional connectivity ports:
Besides the 2xUSB 3.0 ports, one RJ45 and the DC-IN 12V jack, we will also find a small WiFi On/Off button, a Reset hole and also a Kensington port:
The bottom side has a central sticker which shows the opening procedure, 4 black rubber feet and an additional ventilation grill:
When looking at the insides of the unit, we'll remember the DS112+ internals, which means that we do not have those nice and easy to use plastic trays:
The dual bays are numbered on the side of the cage with small stickers:
Here we will also find the 3-pin fan connector plugged into the motherboard:
When looking more carefully onto the SATA Data/Power connectors, we will see that the one meant for HDD2 is placed on a separate daughterboard:
If we need to check out the internals, we must be careful when lifting the board after removing the four screws from the chassis, in order not to break the WiFi antenna wires:
The wireless antenna wires are linked to some metallic components, on top of the enclosure chassis:
Here is a view of the motherboard components:
The wireless card with two antennas can be seen plugged into the available mini PCI Express slot:
Near the card, we will also find a Hynix H5TQ1G83DFR memory chip, which is rated for DDR3 1333MHz:
The EtronTech EJ168A controller takes care of the two rear USB 3.0 ports:
A lithium coin battery can be also found nearby, with the CR1220 code name:
The main processor is covered by a small heatsink:
The activity LEDs along with the Power On/Off buttons are placed on a separate PCB:
With the supplied screws, we can fix the drives into the bays really easy:
After connecting the NAS to our network, we can start to download the latest firmware from the Synology website:
The Synology Assistant program will help us during the installation procedure; if the NAS will be correctly detected, it will be shown in the "Management" tab. The "Status" of the product will be different, depending if on the drive is a previously installed DSM version or not:
One of the first installation steps implies locating the downloaded firmware file for flashing onto the NAS:
Next, we will have to specify an "admin" password, along with the NAS name on the network:
We can also specify a manual IP for it or leave the DHCP to assign it for us:
During the installation, we will be shown the steps through which the NAS passes through:
When DSM installation is completed, we can login inside the browser interface:
If the login was correct, we will be presented with the DSM main interface, which looks like a regular OS desktop:
The GUI also has a wizard which helps getting through the initial steps faster:
To be able to use the available storage space, we first have to create volumes onto the disks:
The Volume Creation Wizard will let us choose different options like Single/Multiple Volumes on RAID, RAID types and we can also choose to check the disk surface after volume creation:
Creating a volume is not enough; to get the drive space utilized easily throughout the network, we must create one or several shared folders:
During the creation of a shared volume, we can specify different options:
Also, we can assign permissions for different account types for each shared folder:
To see if the shared folder installation procedure went correctly, we should see the NAS as a separate folder on the network along with the newly created folder:
The DSM Control Panel allows us to modify several options regarding FTP access, Users, Shared Folders, Web Services, Firewall and many more:
Compared to the previously tested NASes, the Network configuration section comes with more available options, thanks to the WiFi capabilities:
The NAS can connect to the current network and will create a separate network with the IP range specified by us; it also comes with DHCP Server capabilities and in the Hotspot tab we can also adjust Wireless Modes, operating Channel, Transmit Power or the Maximum number of connections:
The WiFi connection can be secured with different encryption types like WEP or WPA-PSK (and its different modes):
If the MAC Filtering option is enabled, we can allow only some of the stations to access the interface:
When stations are connected to the DS213air, we will see them in the Connection List tab:
With the File Station service, we can transfer files inside the NAS to one folder to another and if we also have Java installed, we'll be able to access the folders from the computer we are working on:
Here are some of the file operations we can perform with the service:
One interesting section is the Package Center, from where we can install many other modules to enhance the NAS functionality like DHCP server, Directory server, Audio Station and many more. Packages from 3rd party are also available to be chosen:
After the packages have been installed, they will show up inside the "Installed" tab and from here we can choose to start or stop the respective services:
The services have the same appearance as on the previously reviewed NASes:
Antivirus Essential
Cloud Station
Audio Station
Download Station
CPU : Intel I7 3750K Retail @ 4.7GHz
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard : ECS Z77H2-AX Black Extreme
RAM : GeIL EVO CORSA 16GB 2400MHz C11
Video : Sparkle GeForce GTX 560 Calibre
Power Supply : Cooler Master 850W
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.11
Case: Cooler Master ATCS840
To test the NAS performances, the DS213air was populated with a single OCZ Vertex 3 SSD, formatted with a single volume and the NAS was connected directly to the computer, to avoid any limitations by implying additional hardware like a router. The first simple test was performed by loading the test file onto a RAM drive and then it was copied to the NAS, at its shared folder. The speed was recorded with Total Commander:
The second test was to copy the same file back to the computer; for eliminating any HDD speed limitations, the file was copied back to the RAM drive:
For performing a more advanced test, the Intel NAS Performance Toolkit was used, for performing 5 different test runs; here are the results:
We have also tested the WiFi speed capabilities of the NAS and have obtained on average 25Mbit Upload/Download. The speeds may differ considerably depending on the model of the Wireless LAN card we have connected on our test computer.
The new DS213air NAS from Synology comes with a different color scheme compared to the products we have tested from them in the past, is driven by the advanced DSM 4.1 Operating System and features wireless capabilities.
The internal NAS design is similar to the one we have found with the single-drive DS112+ model which means that we do not get the handy plastic trays that are to be found on more expensive models, for easy installation of both 3.5'' and 2.5'' drives.
Thanks to the Synology DSM, the NAS becomes a feature-rich product that can be customized in many ways; the new services can be installed from the Package Center menu and when a function is not needed anymore, we can either uninstall the specific service or stop it for the moment.
For a 2-bay drive, the performances of the model are quite good (on wired LAN), but if we use the included Wireless interface to connect to the hotspot and start downloading/uploading files to or from the NAS, the speed will drop considerably.
The new DS213air is available online for about 270 Euros, making it an interesting choice in small business environments.
I would like to thank again to Synology for offering the sample for review.