Synology DS1522+ vs DS920+ NAS Drive Comparison

Comparing the Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ NAS – Which Should You Buy?

The Synology DS920+ NAS was first released in the Summer of 2020 and it has been, arguable, one of the most popular NAS drives that the brand has ever produced. In the two years since then, it has continued to remain popular, has become much more affordable (a regular pop up in seasonal sales) and is pretty much the brand’s ‘go to’ prosumer and feature-rich solution for many. Whereas, the new Synology DS1522+ have arrived with very different hardware specifications than what many expected, features significant improvements in scalability throughout the system, optional 10GbE and is different to the DS920+ in so, so many ways more than just simply having an extra HDD bay! So, if you are in the market to buy a new Synology NAS drive and are looking at a solution with a decent amount of longevity and future-proofing in its specs, these two systems are clearly going to stand out from the crowd (though for different reasons, that we will get into). Today I want to compare the DS920+ and DS1522+, look at the strengths and weaknesses of each and hopefully help you decide which one deserves your money and your data! Let’s start.

Note – Depending on when you are reading this, the availability of the DS1522+ or DS920+ will be different. So, regardless of which one of these two NAS systems best sounds like it suits your needs, it is paramount that you remember that your data should be backed up at all times. So do not just leave your data in an insecure or unsafe state in favour of waiting for either of these NAS to arrive. Unless your data is in at least 2 separate copies (NAS, close, USB, etc), it is NOT backed up! If you need help, you can use the free NAS advice section HERE.

Comparing the hardware of the Synology DS1522+ and DS920+ NAS

The 4 and 5-Bay Diskstation releases from Synology have always been one of the most interesting tiers of the brand’s desktop solutions. The reason for this is that all too often this scale of system serves as a bridging point between Prosumer & SOHO systems and the small/medium business hardware in their portfolio. This is demonstrated first in the scale of the available RAID 5/6 storage, but then more so in the scalability and upgradability of these two volumes system, allowing one to two expansions, greater network connectivity (arriving with 2x or 4x LAN ports) and better internal hardware than the more domestic targetted solutions – often with the internal hardware differing considerably between each periodic 2-3yr refresh by the brand. Let’s first look at the internal hardware of these two NAS’ to see how much they differ. The DS920+ NAS first arrived on the scene with some great hardware advantages over the rest of the plus series 2020 systems (DS720+, DS420+, etc), arriving with a 4 Core Intel Celeron Processor that featured integrated graphics, 4GB of DDR4 2666Mhz memory and NVMe SSD upgrade slots. In the two years since its release though, Synology clearly decided to make some big changes in the base level architecture of the plus series and specifically in the DS1522+ to make it considerably more scalable and general business/file-ops focused. The newer DS1522+ features a dual-core AMD Ryzen embedded R1600 that, although arriving with half the cores of the Celeron in the DS920+, has a higher CPU frequency and total achievable frequency in turbo/burst when needed. That said, users will be surprised to learn that this CPU also does not feature embedded graphics, so therefore the DS1522+ will be less CPU efficient at handling multimedia or VM deployment than the DS920+.

Though both systems feature DDR4 memory, the DS920’s maximum 8GB of memory is beaten by the DS1522+ thanks to its use of much more impressive ECC (error code correction) memory to identify and repair any bit level write errors and can also be scaled to a considerably higher 32GB of memory (arriving with 8GB by default).

NAS Model	DS920+	DS1522+
CPU Model	Intel Celeron J4125	AMD Ryzen R1600
CPU Quantity	1	Embedded Ryzen
CPU Architecture	64-bit	64-bit
CPU Frequency	4-core 2.0 – 2.7 GHz	2-core 2.6 – 3.1 GHz
Hardware Encryption Engine (AES-NI)	Yes	Yes
Integrated Graphics	Yes	No
CPU Cache	4 MB cache	1 MB L2 cache, 4 MB L3 cache
Memory
System Memory	4GB DDR4 non-ECC SODIMM	8GB DDR4 ECC SODIMM
Memory Module Pre-installed	(4GB On-board)	8 GB (8GB x 1)
TDP	10W	25W
Total Memory Slots	1	2
Maximum Memory Capacity	8GB	32 GB (16 GB x 2)
System Fan	92 mm x 92 mm x 2 pcs	92 mm x 92 mm x 2 pcs
Power Supply Unit / Adapter	100W External	120W External

Next up, let us discuss storage on the 5 drive DS1522+ and 4 drive DS920+, as these two systems are near enough identical on that one. Both arrive with SATA storage bays, though you can deploy either NAS with as little as a single drive if you want. From there you can go ahead and install enough drives to accommodate a RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6 or Synology’s own flexible RAID configuration, SHR. Both systems can be initialized to operate with either a BTRFS or EXT4 file system, as well as supporting the wide range of services and features of the Synology Storage Manager. Finally, as mentioned, both systems feature M.2 NVMe SSD bays and both only allow these to be used for caching with DSM and its services/storage. However, in terms of expandability, these systems have one key difference, with the DS920+ supporting a single expansion (allowing a maximum 9 bays of storage) whilst the DS1522+ supports two DX517 expansion chassis and reaches a total potential 15 bays of storage. As both systems support the latest version of Synology DSM, the maximum volume, simultaneous volumes, active storage shares and hybrid storage support are largely identical. Much like previous comparisons of the DS920+ and DS1520+ that were released a couple of months apart, the initial 1 drive bay difference between the 4-bay and the 5-bay isn’t a vast amount, but the scalability with those expansions makes much more of an impact (especially if you are looking at using caching with those NVMe Bays or want to scale up your network connectivity and want to ensure it gets saturated).

Model	DS920+	DS1522+
Size (Height x Width x Depth)	166 mm x 199 mm x 223 mm	166 mm x 230 mm x 223 mm
Drive Bays & Storage	1x SATA	5x SATA
Maximum Drive Bays with Expansion Unit	15 (DX517 x 1)	15 (DX517 x 2)
M.2 Drive Slots	2 (NVMe) for Read/Write Caching	2 (NVMe) for Read/Write Caching
Hot Swappable Drive	Yes	Yes
RAID Support	JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, SHR	JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, SHR

Now in terms of the external connectivity and how it can be upgraded, this is another big area of difference between the DS920+ and DS1522+ NAS. Both systems arrive with 1GbE RJ45 LAN ports, which can be combined via link aggregation/Port Trunking to allow up a larger degree of network connectivity. But the DS920+ arrives with 2x 1GbE and the DS1522+ arrives with 4x 1GbE. This is only really a big deal if you are looking at smart switch supported environments or have larger shared bandwidth concerns though. However, the big difference in bandwidth potential between these two NAS centres around the DS1522+ features the option to upgrade it’s network connectivity to 10GbE by installing an E10G22-T1-mini 10G network upgrade in the available proprietary slot.

Now, this is not a connection that is available in the default DS1522+ and is an optional upgrade, but still, it is good to know that the option of adding 1,000MB/s bandwidth is available down the road. The DS920+ does not include an option to increase the network connectivity in this way (though unofficial and not officially supported USB-to2.5GbE and 5GbE connectivity via 3rd party adapters are possible (but I wouldn’t trust their long term stability really) and for many, this will be a deal-breaker between these systems in the same way the CPU differences between these two NAS’ does. Both systems see a very similarly sized chassis and the 10GbE upgradable slot on the DS1522+ using a smaller M.2 sized connector rather than the PCIe 3×8 slot of other Synology NAS, so it does not impact the size of the chassis either.

Model	DS920+	DS1522+
RJ-45 1GbE LAN	2 (with Link Aggregation / Failover support)	4 (with Link Aggregation / Failover support)
2.5GbE LAN	No	No
10GbE LAN	No	Optional
USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gb/s)	2	2
USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gb/s)	No	No
eSATA Port	1	2
PCIe Expansion	No	Yes (currently supports E10G22-T1-mini Adapter)
Supported File System	Btrfs EXT4	Btrfs EXT4
Size	166 mm x 230 mm x 223 mm	166 mm x 282 mm x 243 mm
Weight	2.24 kg	5.1 kg

Overall, I think the differences between the DS920+ and DS1522+ are some of the most notable that the brand has ever delivered between two NAS just two years apart in the same series! The option of 10GbE later in the system’s lifespan, along with a huge 32GB of ECC memory on the DS1522+ I think narrowly put that NAS ahead, but it is by no means an unquestionable victory, as not only are those advantages of the DS1522+ more centred around additional purchases, but also the DS920+ features that quad-core graphics embedded CPU – which means that a number of common Synology NAS desktop uses for entertainment such as Plex Media Server and Video Station are going to run much more efficiently on the older system. Then you have to also factor in that the DS920+ is going to be available at a more affordable price thanks to its longer time at retail (with the DS1522+ almost certainly remaining close to its RRP for the bulk of 2022. I still think the DS1522+ is the better business and mission-critical performance choice overall, but the DS920+ is going to be better suited to home and prosumer users overall.

Expected Performance of the Synology DS1522+ vs DS920+ NAS Compared

The performance of Synology DSM services and supported 3rd party connected appliances is going to be very similar on both the DS920+ and DS1522+ NAS when it comes to utilizing the respective systems in low volume/frequency client tasks. By that, I mean that the scale of the operations that you need the NAS to action (from simple file sharing and downloading, to more intensive multi-site backups, file streaming, databases and surveillance for example) will largely dictate which NAS will perform better for you. As mentioned, the DS920+ and its embedded graphics supported CPU will use fewer resources to perform graphically focused tasks such as transcoding, as well as running applications that have a high volume of visual data such as live camera feeds in Surveillance Station 9. Whereas the file handling and general transfer performance of traditional data exchanges are going to use fewer resources on the DS1522+ embedded Ryzen processor, as well as have a much, MUCH higher ceiling for total processes thanks to that larger memory scalability already discussed. Below is a breakdown of the most popular applications and services that are included with either the Synology DS920+ or DS1522+ NAS:

Synology Office – Create documents, spreadsheets, and slides in a multi-user environment. Real-time synchronization and saving make collaboration a breeze.

Synology Chat – Aimed at businesses, Synology Chat is an IM service that transforms the way users collaborate and communicate.

Synology Drive – Host your own private cloud behind the safety of your NAS with 100% data ownership and no subscription fees.

Synology Moments – Manage your photos and videos with deep-learning algorithms that automatically group photos with similar faces, subjects, and places.

Synology Calendar – Stay on track, share calendars, and schedule meetings, while ensuring sensitive information remains safely stored on company premises.

Synology Active Backup for Business (ABB) – Consolidate backup tasks for virtualized environments, physical servers, and personal computers, and rapidly restore files, entire machines, or VMs – license free.

Synology Hyper Backup – backup you NAS safely and efficiently to multiple destinations with deduplication, integrity checks, compression, and versioning.

Synology Surveillance Station – Safeguard your business, home, and other valuable assets with reliable video surveillance tools.

Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) – An intuitive hypervisor that supports Windows, Linux, and Virtual DSM virtual machines. Its powerful disaster recovery tools help users achieve maximum service uptime.

Synology High Availability – Synology High Availability (SHA) combines two Synology NAS servers into one active-passive high-availability cluster, alleviating service disruptions while mirroring data.

Synology Central Management System (CMS) – Synology CMS allows you to manage multiple Synology NAS servers quickly and conveniently from a single location.

Synology Video Station – Manage all your movies, TV shows, and home videos. Stream them to multiple devices or share them with friends and family.

Synology Photo Station – Built to help photographers manage their photos and share them with clients for feedback or business development.

Synology Audio Station – Manage your music collection, create personal playlists, stream them to your own devices, or share with family or friends.

Synology File Station – Manage your Synology NAS files remotely through web browsers or mobile devices

However, the extent to which you can use all these applications at any single time (both as multiple clients using the same software or multiple applications running in parallel on the same NAS system) is going to be better on the Synology DS1522+ in the grand scheme of things, thanks to that potential 32GB of memory available to scale up down the line. Here is how these two Synology NAS drives compare in volume and features in those 1st party services:

Model	DS920+	DS1522+
Max Single Volume	108TB	108TB
SAN Manager	128 ISCSI Targets and 256 LUNS	128 ISCSI Targets and 256 LUNS
Surveillance Station	40 Cameras Max, 2 Licenses	40 Cameras Max, 2 Licenses
Collaboration Suite	ALL Tools	ALL Tools
Synology Drive	350 Connections , 5,000,000 Files	350 Connections , 5,000,000 Files
Active Backup	FULL Support (Google, 365, VM,  local)	FULL Support (Google, 365, VM, local)
Synology Photos	All Features	All features
Hybrid Share	Full Support of 10x syncs	Full Support of 10x syncs
Accounts	2048 Users, 256 Groups, 512 S.Folders	2048 Users, 256 Groups, 512 S.Folders
SHA	Yes	Yes
VMM	Yes, 4 Recommended Max	Yes, 8 Recommended Max
Hardware Transcoding	Yes	No
MailPlus	100 concurrent users, 5 Licences	100 concurrent users, 5 Licences
SHR Support	Yes	Yes
Snapshots	65,536 Max	65,536 Max
Web Hosting	Upto 30x	Upto 30x
Hyper Backup	Yes, all features and clients	Yes, all features and clients
Max Tested R/W Speed	226.01MB/s – 225.84MB/s	736MBs – 796MB/s

Once again, very similar and indeed, both systems largely provide the building blocks to use each application to the highest extent allowed/recommended by Synology in DSM. Despite these NAS’ having very different CPUs, they still ultimately support the same volume of services (at maximum) in DSM. But the DS1522+ clearly has more recourse scaling possible and that will hopefully mean that you will be able to push several applications in higher frequencies each more on the newer system than the old one. Just don’t overlook how useful that Intel Celeron CPU would be to multimedia tasks.

Synology DS920+ vs DS1522+ NAS – Conclusion and Verdict

Synology has clearly done a lot of thinking in the two years between the release of the DS920+ and DS1522+, deciding to change the latter into something more ‘business-y’. When the DS920+ first arrived, it did so to almost universal praise (barring a few concerns at the time about 1GbE) and it has pretty much always been in the top 3 NAS since its launch for most users. Although the details regarding a DS922+ or DS923+ are still not available at the time of writing, many wonder if it would emulate the change in direction that the brand has taken on the DS1522+ and whether the DS920+ is now even more attractive. Synology has clearly taken a rather different tactic in the release of their newest 5-Bay system, making changes to the expected hardware configuration and architecture that set it on a very different path than its predecessor. Those with longer memories will know that the Diskstation 5 Drive portfolio used to be very much this kind of design (i.e a file transfer focused CPU, more memory scaling, optional 10GbE, etc) and rather than building off the design of the 4-Bay (as the DS1520+ did against the DS920+), the DS1522+ seems to scale itself against the DS1621+ in it’s shape and abilities. If you were already looking at Synology NAS systems that being a heavy emphasis on scaling their architecture notably down the line in efforts to remain future proof, the DS1522+ is going to tick ALOT of boxes for you. Whereas if you were looking at a Synology NAS for home use, a Plex Media server, low client/user use and generally as more of a setup-and-forget solution, then the DS920+ will likely suit your needs better and will have the added benefit of a more palatable price point in 2022. How far Synology will extend the build logic of the DS1522+ towards other solutions in the diskstation/rackstation portfolio still remains to be seen. Most business users will want to opt for the DS1522+ though. Cheers for reading!

NAS MODEL ID	Synology DS920+ NAS	Synology DS1522+ NAS
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