Synology DS415+ Performance

On paper the DS415+ promises good things and in reality it delivers as well.

Reading
a variety of large files across our network produces rock solid speeds
of 112MBps in both directions. This is the DS415+ hitting the bottleneck
for Gigabit Ethernet and while both the DS414 and Netgear ReadyNAS 314
achieved this within a margin of error for read speeds this is the
first time we’ve seen a mid-range NAS hit it for write speeds as well.

Furthermore
Synology’s claims that the DS415+ is optimised for encryption are true.
The NAS barely breaks a sweat using its AES-NI hardware encryption
engine and while results fluctuate there is only about a 10 per cent dip
using encryption and it still bumped into the limits of Gigabit
Ethernet regularly.

When it comes to Link Aggregation, this
remains a technology of diminishing returns. Performance increases
fluctuate between 30 and 50% gains but it requires a switch and LA
compliant hardware of which very few PCs are and no laptops. 10GbE (10
Gigabit Ethernet) really could do with coming to the fore but, despite
being around since 2007, it remains prohibitively expensive.

The
DS415+ also excelled when it came to our CPU-crunching small files test.
This drags a 2GB folder of over 2,000 different small files across the
network and produced average reads of 39.5MBps and writes of 38.5MBps.
Again new benchmarks, though only slightly ahead of the DS414. This is
interesting since the DS415 has the meatier processor and
increased RAM, but up to now the Marvell Armada chip has put all
equivalent Intel processors to the sword.

Lastly
we come to noise. This will depend on the number and type of drives you
fit, but using our WD Red test drives we found the DS415+ to be
fractionally louder than the DS414 with idle and load noise of 26
decibels and 31 decibels respectively at one metre. This still means the
DS415+ is easily quiet enough to stick in a quiet office or living room.

Should I buy the Synology DS415+?

The
key question here is one of price. The DS415+ is an exceptional NAS
that improves on the DS414, our favourite mid-range NAS to date. That
said with an RRP of £450 (unpopulated) the new NAS runs about £100 more
than the DS414 and it still performs within touching distance of the
DS415+.

Of course where the DS415+ is a master is encryption. So, if you
need it the new NAS will prove a great buy. If you don’t there’s no
reason not to opt for the ageless DS414. Both are head and shoulders
above the pack.

Verdict

The DS415+ is a stylish,
quiet and intuitive NAS that is very fast, especially using
encryption. It’s only rival is the DS414 which can do everything almost
as well for £100 less but lacks its dedicated encryption hardware. So if
security is a key focus, midrange NAS currently don’t get better than
the DS415+.

Next, check out more Synology NAS Reviews

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