Page 6: Performance, Video Review, Conclusion
Performance
Since we've upgrade to gigabit, we were hoping to see what the DS211 can do. Synology states that the DS211 should pump 100MB/s on reads and 50MB/s on writes. Sadly, our network seemed to be capping our throughput to 25MB/s in both directions. It seems that we need some better network equipment to handle high-throughput gigabit speeds. Still 25MB/s is nothing to balk at and is double what you would get with Fast Ethernet.
The 1.6GHz ARM CPU coupled with 256MB of RAM is much, much faster than the slower DS210j setup. Even with the upgraded speed and RAM, the power draw didn't change that much. The highest reading was 29 watts on boot and nominal draw was 17 watts. As you saw from the images, the hard drives weren't even pushing near 104 degrees F at load. Most of the time they were near 95 F (35 C).
Video Review
The video portion has two parts since it is a bit over 26 minutes long. Please give us some feedback on the video review by leaving a comment here or at the forums.
Conclusion
While the DS211 is an excellent unit, it is in a market against its own brother. The »DS210j is a worthy system, but not for moderate or heavy use. The DS211 is simply a better and faster design. The added horsepower allows for all kinds of speed improvements, some very noticeable. Whether you'll need to have that extra speed is up to you and your wallet. The DS211 is $100 more than the DS210 at $300 (Newegg Link, Amazon Link). Still, for a step above the SOHO product, this is an excellent price. The speed and support you get are really amazing.
The DSM 3.0 is really the focus on this review and any Synology product you get will have this. Take your pick of devices based on whatever your needs are. We happen to like the faster speed of the DS211 and consider it a worthy upgrade. We highly recommend the DS211. It simply gets the job done and more if you need a network server.
ASE Labs would like to thank Synology for making this review possible.
Since we've upgrade to gigabit, we were hoping to see what the DS211 can do. Synology states that the DS211 should pump 100MB/s on reads and 50MB/s on writes. Sadly, our network seemed to be capping our throughput to 25MB/s in both directions. It seems that we need some better network equipment to handle high-throughput gigabit speeds. Still 25MB/s is nothing to balk at and is double what you would get with Fast Ethernet.
The 1.6GHz ARM CPU coupled with 256MB of RAM is much, much faster than the slower DS210j setup. Even with the upgraded speed and RAM, the power draw didn't change that much. The highest reading was 29 watts on boot and nominal draw was 17 watts. As you saw from the images, the hard drives weren't even pushing near 104 degrees F at load. Most of the time they were near 95 F (35 C).
Video Review
The video portion has two parts since it is a bit over 26 minutes long. Please give us some feedback on the video review by leaving a comment here or at the forums.
Conclusion
While the DS211 is an excellent unit, it is in a market against its own brother. The »DS210j is a worthy system, but not for moderate or heavy use. The DS211 is simply a better and faster design. The added horsepower allows for all kinds of speed improvements, some very noticeable. Whether you'll need to have that extra speed is up to you and your wallet. The DS211 is $100 more than the DS210 at $300 (Newegg Link, Amazon Link). Still, for a step above the SOHO product, this is an excellent price. The speed and support you get are really amazing.
The DSM 3.0 is really the focus on this review and any Synology product you get will have this. Take your pick of devices based on whatever your needs are. We happen to like the faster speed of the DS211 and consider it a worthy upgrade. We highly recommend the DS211. It simply gets the job done and more if you need a network server.
ASE Labs would like to thank Synology for making this review possible.