It’s not nice, but this cheap NAS
device has all the powerful features of Synology’s more expensive products.
The DiskStation DS413j is one of Synology’s
cheapest four-bay NAS devices, and it has all the supports for the latest
features of Synology’s DSM 4.1 operating system.
Unlike other Synology’s more expensive
products, there are no accessible drive trays on the front, but then installing
the hard disc is a simple process. You just have to unscrew all the nails at
the back of the device to take off the rear cover, and then the drive trays can
be removed. The main part of the dull metal layer can also be removed to
provide larger access. Though the case feels a bit delicate when you slide it
on and off, it proves to be sturdy enough.
Synology
DiskStation DS413j
On the inside there is a simple four-bay
drive box with sliding plastic trays for hard discs. The tray at the bottom is
a bit complicated to remove due to the fans installed on the back cover, but we
could easily install 3½-inch SATA hard discs in the drive trays. It is very
convenient, but still there are some other points installed on the trays for
2½-inch drives.
Vital connection
Once you’ve installed the hard disc, you
have to connect this NAS device to the network and run the program provided in
the CD that accompanies it. It installs the Synology assistant, which allows
you to install the DSM operating system on your NAS device. The discs are
automatically formatted by suing Synology Hybrid RAID, which chooses the
optimized RAID configuration for your discs.
We have checked DS413j by using a set of
four 3TB Western Digital Red hard discs in SHR and also in RAID5 modes. In each
mode, we performed transfer speed tests by using big and small files, with the
device set up as both an SMB shared folder, which creates a shared folder
available to other PCs on the same network, and an ISCSI target, which can be
used by the PC as if it were a local hard disc.
We
have checked DS413j by using a set of four 3TB Western Digital Red hard discs
in SHR and also in RAID5 modes.
Using the default SHR file system
configuration with an SMB shared folder, we had the average strafe speed of 61.7MB/s
for big files and of 14.9MB/s for small files, whereas an ISCSI target saw
speeds of 48.3MB/s and of 25.7MB/s. Though ICSSI configurations give more speed
than SMB, the limited memory of DS413j means that it can’t compete with the
fast ISCSI speed of other expensive devices with more RAM. We have also checked
the NAS device in a RAID5 configuration, which creates a slightly faster
transfer speed in two tests. The SMB transfer has the average speed of 62MB/s
for big files and of 14.9MB/s for small files, the same as SHR, while the ISCSI
average transfer speed of 51MB/s for big files and of 30.2MB/s for small files.
This is not the fastest transfer speed
compared to that of other devices such as the Thecus N550, but DS413j costs $160
less than Thecus’s devices. The DiskStation has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 2600 processor
and 512MB RAM. On the back panel there is a Gigabit Ethernet port for network
connectivity and two USB ports, which you can use to connect your USB printer
or any external hard discs. This NAS device can use up to four 4TB hard discs
to have the maximum of 16TB of storage at the RAID 0 configuration.
The security of the spare storage provided
by the RAID configuration means that your precious data can be restored even if
one of the hard discs is broken. The DS413j supports RAID 1 for configurations
for two discs, RAID 5, which is the most common configuration for arrays of
more than two discs, RAID 6, which gives you less storage but more security
against failure, and RAID 10, which is a two-disc RAID 1 array, fully backed up
to a second pair of drives.
The best thing about Synology’s NAS device
is perhaps the interface. The DiskStation DS413j runs Synology’s 4.1 DiskStation
Manager (DSM) operating system. Our review model is accompanied with a
pre0installed 4.0 DSM 4.0, but it’s easy to upgrade automatically the NAs
device via internet, or manually by using a file on a USB disc. When you
connect the NAS by using a web browser, you are provided with a windowed GUI
with user-friendly access to all the features of the NAS. By default, the DiskStation
has the necessary tools to manage your storage, shared folders and ISCSI targets,
as well as an FTP server, web-based remote access for users and an HTTP web
server.
Pack supply
Plenty of optional tools are available from
Synology’s on-line Package Center. They include CloudStation, which allows you
to sync data from your mobile devices and computers with the NAS no matter
where you are, tools which help you manage back-up strategies, and add-ons for your
web server, including MySQL and PHP management. Some server-level features are
Asterik IP telephony, a VPN server and a DHCP server.
The DS413j’s transfer speed and memory are
not as good as some other business-oriented NAS devices we have checked, but
its price has made it a wonderful choice for small office and home office users.
It’s fast enough for almost all the popular business purposes. It benefits from
Synology’s brilliant DSM operating system and many easy to install software
packages. It can handle everything, from streaming media to anywhere on your
network or running am additional program of a commercial website. It won a Budget
Buy award.
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Information
·
Price: $422.5
·
Supplier: www.morecomputers.com
·
Ranking: 4/5
Specifications
·
Connection: 10/100/1000Mbit/s Ethernet, two USB2
ports
·
Additional: UPnP media server, iTunes, print
server, USB, web, FTP
·
Warranty: two years RTB
·
Size: 184x168x230mm
·
Power consumption: 25W stand-by, 26W active
·
Big files: 61.7MB/s
·
Small files: 14.9MB/s
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