NAS by stefan @ 2014-04-14
The DS414 NAS from Synology is based on a dual-core Marvell Armada XP running at 1.33Ghz and is paired with a total of 1GB DDR3, which should be enough for home use and small business. Inside the bays we can use both 2.5’’ (HDD/SSD) and 3.5’’ drives (screwless installation). The NAS operates paired with the latest DSM 5.0 version which features a consistent visual redesign for an easier use.
At first I would like to thank Synology for offering a sample of their DS414 High Performance 4-bay 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."
Optimal Price/Performance Ratio
Considering its generous hardware specifications, Synology DS414 is a huge step forward. Featuring built-in floating-point unit in CPU, 1GB RAM, dual LAN, SuperSpeed USB3.0 and the brand new tool-less HDD trays, DS414 stands out as one of the best values in 4-bay NAS devices available today. The built-in floating-point unit enhances the overall capability of the main CPU to enable higher working efficiency. With RAM twice the size of its predecessor, DS414 also exhibits a surprising boost in multi-tasking performance. Under link aggregation, DS414 delivers over 135.63MB/sec writing speed under RAID 5 configuration in a Windows® environment, and over 207.07MB/sec reading.1
Designed with attention to recovery mechanism, DS414 comes with dual LAN failover support to ensure continual network service in case of LAN failure, while hot-swappable design facilitates easy hard drive replacement. For friendly and effortless hard drive installation, DS414 contains the new tool-less hard drive trays, allowing users to fixate 3.5” hard drives without a screwdriver. External storage access is made fast and easy, with two SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interfaces in the back, alongside one USB 2.0 interface in the front panel for quick access.
Windows + Mac + Linux Cross Platform File Sharing
Synology DS414 offers comprehensive network protocol support, assuring seamless file sharing across Windows®, Mac®, and Linux® platforms.Windows® AD and LDAP integration allows Synology DS414 to fit quickly and effortlessly into any existing network environment, with no need to recreate user accounts. Internet file access is simplified by the encrypted FTP server and the web-based file explorer, Synology File Station. HTTPS, firewall, and IP auto-block support ensure file sharing over the Internet is protected at a high security level.
For users who are always on the move, Synology provides a handy app, DS file, for popular mobile devices such as iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ devices and Windows Phone™. Anything stored on Synology DS414 can now be accessed remotely using DS file.
Effective Backup Solution
Synology DS414 offers a centralized backup target to consolidate fragmented and unstructured data across a network. PC users can back up their data to Synology DS414 using Synology Data Replicator software, and Mac OS X® users enjoy native Apple® Time Machine® integration.
A backup wizard is provided for backing up data from Synology DS414 to another Synology NAS, to other rsync server, or to an external drive. Backing up to Amazon® S3 and Glacier cloud service is also supported. The add-on package, Time Backup, keeps DiskStation data in multiple versions, so IT administrators could easily keep track of them and restore to a previous version whenever required.
Shared Folder Sync allows users to synchronize a specific folder from Synology DS414 to another DiskStation – a server-to-client backup mechanism that takes place whenever something is changed on the server side. Users will be able to share documents within their local office seamlessly and safely with encrypted connection. When your DiskStation is down, you will be able to have an immediate backup running in no time.
Rich Office Applications
Synology DS414 runs on the award-winning operating system, Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM), which offers comprehensive applications and features designed specifically for office and business workgroups.
Cloud Station allows users to sync files among multiple devices, including Windows® PC, Mac®, Linux®, iOS and Android™ tablets or phones, effortlessly keeping everything up-to-date. The Mail Server package turns Synology DS414 into a dedicated mail service provider, while Mail Station, provides a webmail interface for users to access emails stored on Synology DS414.
VPN Server package offers an easy VPN solution that turns your Synology DS414 into a VPN server, providing a secure way of connecting to a private LAN at a remote location. RADIUS Server strengthens network security by overseeing wireless access authentication via RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) networking protocol.
As to environment security, Synology Surveillance Station offers a centralized interface to manage IP cameras deployed in your office or home, allowing users traveling miles away to safeguard the environment by watching live views, recording events, and taking snapshots with a computer or iOS/Android device.
Energy Efficient with Cool and Quiet Design
All Synology NAS is designed with energy efficiency in mind. Not only does DS414 provide two 92 X 92 mm fans and the smart airflow to keep the system running cool 24/7, its noise dampening design makes it really quiet compared to PC counterparts. The support of Wake on LAN/WAN, multiple scheduled power on/off can further reduce power consumption and operation cost.
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.
The DS414 NAS from Synology is a 4-bay unit based on the Marvell Armada XP Dual Core CPU @ 1.33 GHz and is equipped with a total of 1GB DDR3, which should be enough for most home and small business applications. The product is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard box which is provided with a handle:
On one of the box sides we will be able to find a sticker which shows a summary of the hardware specs along with the package contents:
As we have seen before, Synology uses to place the NAS along with its bundle in separate compartments for having maximum protection:
Along with the power lead, the manufacturer has included another plain cardboard box which includes the rest of the bundle:
Here we could enumerate the Quick Guide along with the installation disk and the screws, the power brick but also two LAN cables:
The power brick is rated at 90W and is larger in dimensions compared to ones we have found with the previously tested NASes:
The main unit is also fully wrapped in protective packaging:
The chassis of the DS414 is a well-known model, which is proven to be both silent and light:
In the front we have the removable plastic bay cover along with the interfaces on the right:
After the removal of the cover, we will be able to see the four plastic trays, each which have the Synology logo printed in the middle:
The bays have some small dots printed on the top which represent the initialization order during boot-up:
The product code name can be also found on the bottom left side:
On the right side we will find one Status LED along with four Disk activity LEDs:
Further down we have one USB port along with the Power button with LED:
After removing all the plastic trays, we will be able to see the daughterboard with the SATA Data/Power ports for each bay:
This NAS features the updated trays design which means screw-less installation for the 3.5’’ drives:
The lateral plastic covers are easy removable for revealing the anti-vibration rubber grommets:
To install the drive, we only have to remove the two lateral covers, insert the drive inside the tray and afterwards snap-in the covers back; before re-attaching the covers, make sure that the holes of the drive are aligned with the ones of the tray so the plastic pins of the covers won’t be damaged in the process:
Here are some additional shots of the 3.5’’ drive installed inside the tray:
The 2.5’’ drives, however, will use screws for mounting; here we are showing the two test SSDs we have used in RAID 0 during testing:
Let’s go back to the main unit, and to be more precise the lateral sides; some larger Synology logos can be also found here, which also act as ventilation grills:
In the back side of the unit we will find two 92mm silent fans and the rest of the ports further down:
Zooming in again on the ports we will be able to find the dual LAN interface, one Reset button hole, one Kensington port but also two USB 3.0 ports for connecting external storage or other dongles:
The right sticker reveals the product power rating along with the two MAC addresses and a serial number:
Four rubber feet are to be found on the bottom, along with some extra ventilation holes:
Right after installing the drives, connecting the cables and powering up the unit, we can go straight to the DSM download page, get the suitable file for the model and also install the latest version of Synology Assistant:
Synology Assistant will help us detect the unit on the network in just a few seconds and guide through the installation procedure:
First we will be prompted for the file we have just downloaded, which contains the latest DSM version:
Then, we will be able to specify a password for the default “admin” account:
The Installation Progress page will show us the progress and after it has completed, we will be able to log into the web interface:
Surprise! The DS414 NAS already has the DSM 5.0 version available, which continues to be easy to use and the interface is more pleasant for navigation on both PCs and mobile devices. The initial screen will require entering the credentials:
Unlike the previous versions, now we are prompted to enable QuickConnect, which will permit access to the NAS from any location, without setting up port forwarding on our routers:
Next, we will have to create a volume in order to be able to store data on the internal drives:
We are allowed to create multiple volumes or a single volume on the drives:
On the next step we will be shown the detected drives along with their types:
On our test SSDs we have created a single RAID 0 volume:
A disk check can be also scheduled after the volume has been created:
Finally, we will be asked to confirm the selected options:
The newly created volume will show up in Storage Manager, with its health status and remaining storage space:
One or multiple shared folders must be created in order to be able to access the data much easily:
For accessing the newly created folder much easily, we have set read/write permissions for both admin and guest accounts:
The new DSM 5 intro screen will display besides the credential section the current weather, date and time:
The GUI has been completely revamped for ease of use and now the desktop is touch-interface friendly for use on tablets and laptops:
The widget display is completely customizable, for showing System Health, Resource Monitor, Connected Users, Scheduled Tasks and more:
On the top bar we are able to see multiple background processes which are currently running; in this example we have the thumbnail creation progress which can take quite a while, depending on the number of photos present on the drive:
The Main Menu button which is placed on the top left corner will open up another set of icons:
As the rest of the interface, the Control Panel section is revamped for faster access; as soon as we will click on one of the sections, the menu will re-organize itself on the left column so we never have to go back as when the menus were opening in separate windows. The Shared Folder menu will allow us to define new ones; at the same time we will have to specify on which volume they should reside, along with the file permissions for each one:
The next menu allows enabling different file services, but also FTP, TFTP/PXE and more:
Inside the User menu, we will be able to create new login credentials besides the default “admin” and “guest” accounts:
The next menu allows the creation of new user groups:
Directory Services can be enabled from the next menu:
Remember QuickConnect? In this menu we will be able to configure this feature so we will be able to access the unit from any location, without the need to go to more complicated options like port forwarding on our router:
DDNS services or port forwarding rules can be specified in the next menu:
From the Network menu we will be able to modify the current LAN settings, customize the network interfaces, create traffic control rules or customize the DSM settings:
The Wireless menu will be accessible when we have a Wi-Fi dongle attached to the NAS; here we will be able to set multiple functionalities of the Wi-Fi like Hotspot, Router or Client; a similar menu is available for Bluetooth dongles:
Inside the next menu we will be able to customize security options:
The Info Center shows hardware details, uptime, date/time and more:
Inside the next tab we will be able to see network information details for the both LAN interfaces:
The Storage tab will show us some info regarding the installed drive and remaining free space:
The currently running services are also shown inside the next tab:
The log-in mode can be customized from the next menu:
The time, interface language and NTP service menu can be accessed inside the next section:
We can also enable Terminal and SNMP services:
As with the previous DSM, we are permitted to have notifications via email, SMS or Push Services:
Different tasks can be scheduled from the next menu:
The Hardware & Power menu allows us to modify options regarding Power Recovery, Beeps, but also the current Fan speed mode:
We can also define a Power Schedule along with HDD Hibernation settings:
UPS support is also configurable inside the next tab:
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If we have external devices like storage or printers, they will be shown in the next menu:
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The Update & Restore menu allows us to perform an automatic update or manual via a specific downloaded file; here we can also save and restore current DSM settings:
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Some applications will require having certain web services activated and we can do so inside the specific menu:
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The Privileges menu will be able to set which applications could be accessed by a user:
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With Application Portal, we can configure the connection settings of various applications, allowing us to access and run these applications in independent browser tabs or windows:
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From Media Library, we will be able to restart the indexing service if some recently added data is not accessible by applications like Audio Station, Photo Station, iTunes Server and more:
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The Conversion Settings tab will allow working with the thumbnail creation settings along with the video conversion settings for mobile devices:
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We can specify different other folders to have indexed besides the default ones:
Resource Monitor is a separate application from where we can watch the distribution of system resources:
Inside the next tab, we will be able to see the running processes along with the CPU usage, list of connected users and more:
The Storage Manager section will allow us to manage storage spaces like volumes, disk groups, iSCSI targets or iSCSI LUNs;
The Volume section will show us detailed info regarding the current volume health, RAID type and much more:
From HDD/SSD section we can check detailed drive info, along with the Health and S.M.A.R.T. test sections:
A text editor is also present inside the DSM for opening or taking short notes:
Detailed Logs can be checked out from the Log Center application:
Let’s take a short look at the usual applications too; Download Station is the integrated application for downloading files from different sources and it also supports drag-and-drop for torrent files, file search off portals and more. Before using the service we will need to prompt a new folder where the files will be downloaded:
Audio Station is the integrated player which can create playlists with the indexed audio files or can also access Internet Radio streams like Shoutcast:
With the latest version of Photo Station we will be able to create new albums, upload, organize, edit and share our photos in a quick and easy way. Thumbnail creation can take a while and during this process we will get to see some placeholders:
iTunes Server applications can be installed for having multimedia content ready for all iTunes clients:
Cloud Station is a file sharing service which allows to sync data between centralized Synology NASes and multiple client computers, mobile and Synology NAS devices:
The interface will allow us to select privileges for each user, share specific folders or view the client list:
Video Station application will download covers for each identified movie or TV show which has been indexed and will also display extra info:
The video files will be played in a separate browser window and support for subtitles has been also introduced:
The Media Server application will allow the indexed multimedia content to be played on DLNA/UPnP enabled devices:
Different options can be customized like display format, audio transcoding and more:
Antivirus Essential is another Synology application which scans the files for malware and viruses:
DS File is a simple file manager, really easy to use for navigating though the NAS folders:
DS Video is the mobile equivalent of Video Station and with it we will be able to browse through our video collection and the player also supports subtitles:
DS Audio is the equivalent of Audio Station and will help us navigate through the audio content from our NAS:
Same thing goes with DS Photo+, for browsing through the photo albums; the albums which do not have all thumbnails generated will have a small place holder pictogram:
Download Station can be also managed via its mobile variant, named DS Download:
For managing downloads we also have a small integrated browser:
CPU : Intel I7 3750K Retail @ 4.7GHz
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard : ASRock Z77 OC
RAM : GeIL EVO CORSA 16GB 2400MHz C11
(2GB Exceleram DDR1333 for NASPT compatibility)
Video : Sparkle GeForce GTX 560 Calibre
Power Supply : Cooler Master 850W
HDD : OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD
Case: Cooler Master ATCS840
To test the NAS performances, the DS414 was populated with one OCZ Vertex 4 SSD along with one KingFast SLC E-Drive in RAID 0, 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:
As extras, we have also included ATTO Disk Benchmark and Anvil:
The DS414 is one of the latest 4-bay NASes from Synology which is equipped with a dual-core Marvell Armada XP Dual-Core processor running at 1.33GHz and is paired with a total of 1GB DDR3. It comes with support for the latest Seagate 5TB drives, for a total storage space of 20TB when all bays are populated.
While the outside aspect of the NAS remains the same as we have seen at some of the models years back, the trays have been updated in order to perform 3.5’’ HDD installation screwless, while needing screws only when installing 2.5’’ HDDs or SSDs into the bays. The dual 92mm fans in the back can barely be heard and we have a total of 3 external USB ports (two of which are version 3.0), for connecting external dongles, printers or other external storage devices.
In our tests we have succeeded to max-out the Gigabit LAN interface by reaching about 111MB/s when copying data to the NAS and 115MB/s when reading the data back. The NAS also supports Link Aggregation and with it we can boost the transfer speeds even more in enterprise environments. Other aspects like OS loading times, DSM navigation, initial setup and volume creation are slower compared to the previously reviewed DS214play model, which was featuring Intel’s EvanSport NAS platform.
Coming back at the latest DSM version, we are very pleased with what Synology has done by building on the already proven platform and improving the visual aspect massively.
As improvements for the future versions we could remind again the presence of an external status screen (with or without nearby control buttons), a HDMI port for being able to use the NAS on our TV without any other “middle man” equipment but also the inclusion of more USB 3.0 ports.
The DS414 model is available online for about 385 Euros, not very much extra compared to the DS214play unit, considering that the get two more bays to work with.
We would like to thank again to Synology for offering the sample for review.