April 2017 Small Business NAS Review – Synology DS1815+

Why the Synology DS1815+ for the April Small Business NAS Review?

NAS devices are typically much more cost-effective than enterprise servers. However, by choosing a NAS device over something enterprise-grade, business owners are already sacrificing some level of quality for the sake of cost. Besides less storage, most of this cost-savings comes from using less expensive internal components, such as a scaled-down CPU, less RAM, and so on and so forth. After failing drives, failing internal components is one of the biggest concerns with these devices.

That’s one of the many reasons we’ve chosen a well-built, reliable, albeit more expensive NAS device in the Synology DS1815+. It certainly isn’t the cheapest device you can buy, but that’s not the point of this NAS review. As a data recovery organization that works with failures every single day, our main concerns are with reliability and quality, not price. Having said that, it is still far less expensive than having to shell out $10,000+ for an enterprise device.

Synology DS1815+ Setup

Gillware recommends running the Synology DS1815+ in a RAID-6 configuration, allowing for two of the eight drives to fail before data loss occurs. With eight drives and two parity levels, the total storage capacity with RAID-6 is six drives worth of storage. Users have the option of either setting up their own RAID or using Synology’s own proprietary RAID software, called Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR). If you’re familiar with RAID management, you’re more than welcome to set up your own RAID, otherwise we recommend using Synology’s solution. IMPORTANT: Redundancy is not the same as backup. Just because you have your NAS device set up in a RAID configuration doesn’t make it secure from failure. Use a backup solution, preferably automatic, offsite, and secure, in conjunction with your NAS device.

To set up your Synology DS1815+, use the following instructions:

1. Begin by installing your HDDs into the NAS device. This part should be fairly straightforward. It is suggested that you lock each drive bay after inserting each drive.
2. Once the drives are in, insert a LAN cable into one of the ports on the back as well as the AC adaptor into the power port. Connect the other side of the LAN cable to your switch, router, or hub, and plug the other end of the power cord into an outlet. Hit the power button and your device should power on and be detectable by computers on your network.
3. Now that your NAS is on, you’ll want to download the latest DiskStation Manager (DSM) software. On a computer on the same network as the NAS, open your browser and type “find.synology.com” in the address bar. This should launch Web Assistant, which is used to help you install DSM on your NAS.
4. With Web Assistant open, it should detect the NAS device on your network and show that DSM is “Not Installed.” Simply click “Connect” to start the DSM set up process and follow the instructions on screen.
5. If something goes wrong for some reason, visit synology.com or call their customer service line for help.

Setting Up Notifications on the Synology DS1815+

Many users, in their rush to get their device up and running, neglect to set up notifications. This is just about the worst thing any given user can do, considering notifications are the only thing standing in the way of a total RAID failure. For the right RAID levels, it’s typically not a huge deal when one drive fails, as parity dictates that losing a drive won’t lead to data loss, assuming it is promptly replaced by a healthy drive and the RAID is rebuilt. For RAID-6, two drives can fail before data loss occurs. In either case, failed drives should be replaced as soon as possible as there is no way to predict when more drives will fail, and that’s not a gamble anyone should take.

You should be able to set up notifications through your DSM interface, choosing which forms of contact work best for you, including email, SMS, or other communication services like Skype. Select which options you think are most convenient and most likely to catch your attention in a timely manner. You may also set up multiple points of contact to further increase the likelihood that notifications are received and acted upon quickly.

You might also consider using Nagios, which is a free, open-source software used to monitor and alert for devices, networks, and more. Regardless of which platform you use, just make sure you set up notifications.

Encryption

The Synology DS1815+ comes equipped with AES-NI encryption capabilities if encryption is a factor in your storage requirements. It’s based on AES 256-bit encryption with newer instructions to implement hardware acceleration for certain steps in the encryption process. You can encrypt your NAS device straight from the DSM interface, so it isn’t complicated. One of the advantages of purchasing a Synology NAS is their devices are extremely user-friendly, but not so simple that their interface stifles user customization where necessary.

Other Features

The Synology DS1815+ comes equipped with a 2.4Ghz Intel quad-core CPU and 2GB of RAM, expandable up to 6GB. With four LAN ports on the back, users can opt for multiple connections for failover and link aggregation, protecting against potential downtime if a port fails and improving connection speeds. There are also 4 USB 3.0 ports.

Virtualization is also an option for the DS1815+, with support for VMWare, Citrix, and Microsoft Hyper-V, whichever solution the user prefers. In the same vein, there are countless ways that NAS devices can be utilized depending on a business’s specific requirements, whether that’s by using it as a BDR machine (backup and disaster recovery) or as a server of some sort. Whatever the case, the Synology DS1815+ is flexible to suit just about any need as long as backup is taken into account.

If storage requirements are expected to grow substantially over time, the DS1815+ can be connected to up to two extra DX513 expansion NAS units, which are 5-bay units. With (1) DS1815+ and the maximum (2) DX513s, the total storage capacity is brought up to 18 drive bays worth of storage.

Hard Drives for Synology DS1815+

For the actual storage component of your NAS, we recommend getting the Western Digital Gold Series drives. These drives are designed with 24x7x365 reliability in mind, are rated for 2.5 million hours MTBF (mean time between failures), and are great for enterprise, data center, and just all around high quality storage needs. There’s no reason to get a decent NAS device if it’s going to be paired with subpar hard drives, so these WD Gold drives are a great fit. They also come in capacities ranging from 1TB to 10TB so there’s something for everyone and if something is wrong with any of the drives, 24×7 phone support is available for all WD Gold hard drives, a service that clearly goes above and beyond any average hard drive.

Designed with data centers in mind, the WD Gold line is essentially the replacement for the last-gen line of WD Re hard drives. You can currently still buy both, but it is expected that the WD Re line will slowly be phased out in favor of the newer Gold drives. In terms of reliability, they aren’t brand new (released last year) which is actually favorable because this gives Western Digital time to sort out any ‘new product bugs’ that might have sprung up shortly after release. In all, the WD Gold line offers superior quality and reliability with capacities to suit anyone’s needs, making them a great fit for this month’s small business NAS review.