The UC3200 RackStation NAS from Synology Finally Revealed

Brand New UC3200 NAS Drive from Synology Fully Uncovered

If you are a business owner, enterprise file hosting platform, surveillance NVR user or just generally someone whose infrastructure cannot withstand even minor disconnection (even down to the minute), then the UC3200 Rackstation NAS from Synology (First revealed late last year as the UC300) is definitely device that has alot that appeals you. As we have already established previously here on NASCompares, Synology has been making bigger and bigger moves into the enterprise sector for a while now. The brand that has spent more than 15 years making network attached storage hardware, featuring the popular Diskstation Manager software, with their first Rackmount NAS server back in 2006 (RS-406), have now fully uncovered potentially their most powerful and advanced Rackmount NAS yet for later in 2019. Featuring a unit dual-active controller (dubbed Active-Active) design and 12 Bays of storage, this unified controller system promises the ability to have a combination of redundant RAID storage and (better yet) WHOLE system redundancy. Alongside this, we see the already long established business class hardware, power, speed and support that is already available in the XS series, but even more so! With it’s dual CPU architecture that STILL manages to let users use BOTH processors, yet still gives you a dual controller architecture, this is a really big game changer! let’s take a closer look at this beast!

What is the Synology UC3200 Dual Controller NAS Used For?

The twin controller architecture of the Synology UC3200 Rackstation NAS is designed with one major disaster prevention in mind. We already have multiple systems of protection and redundancy in place from Synology across many RackStation and DiskStation devices. Such as:

• RAID protection for preventing data loss from 1 or more drives in an array suffering a hardware failure
• Redundant Power Suppliers (2 PSUs) that mean you can suffer the breaking/Disconnection of your power supply to a PSU
• Offsite, Remote, Cloud and NAS-2-NAS backups to keep synchronized duplicates of your data off-site
• Uninterruptable Power Suppliers connected via USB that allow your Synology NAS to safely power down during a power cut
• Synology High Availability, allowing you to synchronize two identical NAS servers so that one can act as the other’s safety net in the event of a critical failure

As good as all the above protection is, only the last option can protect you from your NAS CPU, Memory or motherboard suffering a critical failure (breaking) and even then, it requires duplicating your entire setup, connecting the two devices constantly to ensure synchronization and requires all data operations to be doubled, which can also lead to one NAS working twice as hard as it has to make the primary network transactions with users AND sync with the secondary box. The twin/dual controller system eliminates this, as well as ensures a much tighter and compact environment – and the added benefit of a more secure and simplified storage environment. The 12 Bays of RAID-enabled storage is connected to two IDENTICAL controller boards, each of which is such as you would find in a powerful rackmount server individually. These two controllers (with their own CPU, Memory, network controller, network ports, dual PSUs and PCIe slots) are fully synchronized (using a heartbeat system) and in the event of one of them failing, the system will ensure that connectivity is not lost (there will be a momentary delay as this redundancy is taken into effect, but this is very small indeed). What makes this different to the SHA solution, is that the storage array does not need to be duplicated, it is the same array, behind the twin active controller architecture. What makes this a better alternative is that rather than having to feature a ‘safety feature’ that requires double the data handling (the arguably BIGGER task) all the time, it is the configuration/backend that makes the switch – a far, FAR faster and lighter switch by comparison. For those that value high IOPs and a robust server with multi-tiered failure protection, the UC3200 is the most outstanding solution in the Synology product portfolio right now.

What are the Hardware Specifications of the UC3200 Synology NAS Drive?

The hardware found in the Synology UC3200 is quite simply some of the most powerful we have ever seen from them in the entire RackStation range. Featuring two of everything (as you would expect from the Active-Active controller setup), 10Gbe, Redundant PSUs and huge memory and storage expandability, the hardware specifications of the UC3200 are pretty mind-blowing. Take a look:

• Dual Internal Controller board to enable High availability in the event of hardware failure
• Intel Xeon enabled (one on each controller board)
• 16GB DDR4 per board, upgradable to 64GB on each
• The DSM/OS is installed on twin modules on the modules to massively increase setup and aid the transition if the 2nd board is needed
• 12-Bay NAS Supporting upto 14TB 3.5″ Bay HDD and the latest SATA 2.5″ SSD
• Hugely Expandable
• Multiple LED for System, Access and Storage Access
• 4x RJ45 LAN Ports
• PCIe Upgrade Slot

Based on the Synology UC3200 Hardware, What Software Applications Will It Support?

In short, the Synology UC3200 RackStation NAS will do EVERYTHING. Largely every single modern network/internet storage applications in the world right now can be supported by the UC3200 in some degree (mostly very high) with its insanely high IOPS support, high internal/external speeds and hardware architecture. Along with the entire catalogue of applications for business that Synology has produced (with particular focus from this device on Virtual Machines, Active Backup and backups), this device is suited to enterprise-class storage.

• Synology Active Backup
• Synology Moments
• Synology Drive
• Synology Mail
• Synology Chat
• Synology Surveillance Station
• Synology Calendar
• Synology Virtual Machine Manager
• Synology Media Applications
• Plex Media Server
• Emby
• Docker
• Download Station
• Cloud Migration
• DLNA Media Server

However, there is more to this than hardware and software, as the UC3200 also arrives with the Synology Replacement Service (SRS) and the Synology Premium Service. So, this means that you will have at your disposal a robust and multi-tiered lightning fast backup solution, combined with 5 years of the manufacturer’s warranty, advanced replacement support in the event of your NAS/controller/PSU needing replacement and business class product support. This Provides full protection of the enterprise and a service plan that does not interrupt the service. With a guaranteed reply time of the support department according to the severity of the problem, the program also comes with the industry-leading Proactive Care kit, which allows you to proactively monitor system status 7×24 hours, automatically upload technical support tickets if necessary, and contact Synology’s commercial technical support team to ensure your service runs smoothly.

When Will the UC3200 Synology NAS Drive Be Released?

We still do not have a concrete idea of when the Synology UC3200 will be released, however as this is a remarkably unique product in the Synology line up, I think that this is likely to be a solution for very late into 2019. We have known about it for over half a year and with every update, it has only got more interesting. It’s increased focus at the Synology Taipei event and improvements to the software lineup in DSM 7.0 only serve to make this even more attractive to businesses. Therefore it’s release will likely be closely linked to the best time for business buyers and their respective start/end of budgets to spend in 2019/2020.

If I Cannot Wait Till the Synology UC3200 NAS, What Should I Buy?

As stated, the Synology UC3200 is a fantastically unique piece of rackmount storage and therefore hard to compare against the currently Rackstation lineup. If you are looking for a solution right now and the uncertain release schedule of the UC3200 is something you cannot accommodate, then there is already several powerful Rackmount solutions available to you right now. You could look at using the Synology High Availability setup with two RS1619xs+ Rackstation NAS:

Alternatively, using a combination of expansion storage and the RC18015xs+ in a two unit setup will also provide a great degree of robust disaster recovery.

 

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  This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases