Synology DS423+ NAS Review – Next Gen Enough?
The Synology DS423+ NAS drive is a system that, in the short time since it was first revealed, has been quite a hotly debated little system. Over the last 12-18 months, Synology has been getting quite alot of criticism from home/prosumers who are looking for a compact NAS that finds a good balance between home multimedia support, fully featured applications and still enough power to run those small but numerous home-lab services! Now, that isn’t to say that the big name in NAS has not been churning out solutions – quite the contrary, as the last year or so has seen the largest frequency in releases from the brand that I have ever seen. Yet, despite this, there has certainly been a whiff of ‘enterprise’ and ‘bigger business’ in these solutions, with selected components changing gears towards high-end file processes and away from alot of general consumer services. The Synology DS423+ NAS is, arguably, an attempt to supply a solution to those users ‘lower down the server foodchain’, as the brand is clearly redefining it’s portfolio and tiering. The DS423+ is seemingly designed to partially/fully occupy the tier formerly occupied by the 2020 released DS920+ (an exceptionally popular NAS and one that will be referenced ALOT in this video), but at a lower launch price and a little clipping of it’s wings. So, is the DS423+ NAS a great example of Synology giving users what they want? Or something of a compromise? Let’s discuss if the Synology DS423+ NAS deserves your data!
Synology DS423+ NAS Review – Quick Conclusion
There are two ways we need to look at the Synology DS423+ NAS. In one way, the Synology DS423+ DOES support all of the features and services that users demanded in a fully-featured home/prosumer solution. It features an Intel Quad Core processor with embedded graphics, DDR4 memory, multiple gigabit ports, wide HDD/SSD compatibility and m.2 NVMe SSD support. These are all things popular and most certainly what users would want/expect in a fully featured home/prosumer solution (aka SOHO). Then, when you roll in DSM 7 and it’s enormous range of software and services, the DS423+ is an excellent NAS solution that counters a broad range of criticisms that were leveled at the DS923+ at launch. However, there is, of course, the unavoidable way that most long-term Synology users and those looking to upgrade an existing 2016/2018 Diskstation are going to look at the DS423+ – a Synology DS920+ with less memory and no expandability! For those that skipped the DSx20+ generation, the DS423+ is going to feel decidedly underwhelming at best and hugely disappointing at worst! Synology has made no bones that they prioritize their software and services, with hardware being an important but nevertheless secondary concern. The main criticism is that CPU being the same processor used in the 3 years previous generation. Intel has moved production away from the J4125 themselves several times (with most other NAS brands using the N5105 or J6412 right now) and although Synology has been known to move CPU architecture down through the generations previously, this is a particularly egregious example. If they had just scaled something up on this device, such as the network ports from 1GbE to 2.5GbE, add the option of a 10GbE upgrade or more over upgrade the base level memory from 2GB or 4GB. The Synology DS423+ IS a good NAS system and serves as a great means to enjoy the wide-ranging features of DSM privately or professionally! It just feels like more of a stop-gap system in some places and one that existing DS920+ or DS420+ owners will skip.
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Synology DS423+ NAS Review – Packaging
The presentation of the retail box does have more attention to detail than you might expect though (given this is a 99% online purchased device and therefore any glossy/detailed livery is almost a vanity addition!), as alongside the expected Synology logo and sticker for the model ID, the box is printed with tonnes of devices specific details. Synology has always been very, VERY aware of the power of branding with their solutions, as its little details like these (as well as embossed handles and favouring solution/every-man related terminology over cold specifications on the packaging) go a long way to set them apart from the sea of brown-box-rinse-repeat found in most online IT solutions you buy online and not at retail.
Despite the fact the DS423+ NAS is shipped unpopulated from Synology, we still need to grade/review them on the protection this unit is afforded in transit. As solid as a lot of IT kit looks, you cannot ignore the effects of shock or motion damage on them in long-distance travel from their point of manufacture (Taiwan in this case), so I will always give a brand extra points if they have gone the extra mile to spend a little more on protecting their system. In the case of the Synology DS423+ NAS, it’s mostly ok. I wish they used more hard foam/surrounding as you find in their 6-Bays and higher solutions (DS1621+, DS1821+, etc), as the DS423+ NAS arrives in a mostly cardboard structure that I think will be fine for the most part, but wouldn’t stand up to physical pressure tremendously well. Everything is separated very well and the structure/framework is there, it is just mostly cardboard! But I am being a bit petty here… let’s move on!
The DS423+ arrives with the accessories you would expect. The NAS unit itself, an external 90W PSU, Screws for 2.5″ media (3.5″ media installation is toolless), RJ45 Cat 5e ethernet cables, keys for the storage bays, first-time setup document and information on your warranty. All fairly standard stuff, though I am always surprised by the fact that Synology never include heatsinks for the M.2 NVMe SSD bays, given the high priority of the brand towards caching on these storage bays – something that can get those M.2 SSDs pretty hot.
The external PSU is Synology branded, always a nice touch, and although there is a contingent of users that prefer an internal PSU (less fuss, tidier) I will always prefer an external power supplier, as it is hugely easier to replace, reduces the size of the NAS chassis itself and keeps those internal temps a little lower too. Luckily this NAS is such a low-impact model in terms of power use that a modest external power brick is completely possible.
The retail kit for the Synology DS423+ NAS is all fairly standard stuff in contents, but still a very branded package and completely what we would have expected from this very brand-aware company! Let’s discuss the design of the DS423+.
Synology DS423+ NAS Review – Design
As you might expect, the DS423+ Diskstation casing is identical to that of the DS920+ and DS918+ that came before it. This is a particularly well-designed device, both in terms of aesthetic design AND it’s efficient system operation 24×7, with tonnes of ventilation throughout and very structured component distribution. Also, the chassis is a largely plastic external casing in matt black, that contains a much smaller structure on aluminium internally. The result is a NAS that is pretty low noise when in operation (unless you use HDDs larger than around 10TB and/or enterprise-grade 7200RPM disks). That said, one consistent vibe you get in the design of the DS423+ is that direct/physical interaction with the device is kept to a minimum, preferring almost entirely network/internet-based interactivity. Not a huge surprise for a ‘NAS’ of course, but there are a handful of physical attributes that are intentionally absent here. The front of the chassis lacks any kind of LCD display, instead favouring LED indicators. The bulk of the front panel is occupied by the main storage bays and these have alining of ventilation all around them to act as passive airflow.
Passive airflow is definitely a big focus on the design of this chassis, with almost every side of the case featuring ventilation of one sort of around, with the Synology logo being vented. As this system will be in operation 24×7, it is heavily reliant on the rear fans to push air effectively through the system and over the assortment of internal heatsinks as effectively as possible and this chassis does that very well indeed. The Diskstation series at the 2/4 Bay level has always done a great job of melding modern design with necessary system temperature management and the DS423+ is no exception.
The LEDs on the front of the system use the usual three-colour system to denote drive activity and system status (network activity is absent, but the usual LEDs on the RJ45/Ethernet ports themselves are still present). These can have their brightness adjusted (or deactivated entirely) and although lack alot of the more information abilities of an LCD panel (IP addresses, system temp, alert description), they still serve ok as an initial indicator of system activity.
The main four storage bays of the DS423+ NAS are SATA interfaces and can be fully or partially populated with 2.5″ or 3.5″ media. The HDD/SSD compatibility of the DS423+ is still thinner than that of the DS920+, but Synology softened its stance a pinch on this subject after DSM 7.1 and the negative feedback on stricter HDD compatibility (i.e Synology media only), though drives above 18TB are still absent (at the time of writing) despite 20TB and 22TB hard drives being tested on the DS923+ and DS223 and working immediately.
Then there is the soon to be arriving HAT3300 Synology/Seagate NAS HDDs coming soon that will most certainly be highlighted as a recommended choice for the DS423+ NAS. These four bays also allow you to use a large range of RAID configurations (redundant array of independent disks – a system of combining multiple drives to benefit storage scale, performance and/or data redundancy/safety-net). The usual configurations are here, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 6, but the system also supports Synology’s Hybrid RAID (SHR) which allows you to mix different HDD/SSD capacities. It’s pretty unlikely that you will mix drive media on day 1, but if you partially populate or want to upgrade your drives gradually a few years down the line, SHR is SIGNIFICANTLY easier to expand and absorb newer/larger drives into an existing RAID. That said, the performance of SHR is a pinch lower than RAID 5, so for those hoping to take advantage of the 10GbE connectivity might do well to think about their Day 1 RAID and it’s impact down the line.
The trays themselves are plastic click-n-load tracks that feature a locking mechanism. It’s worth highlighting that this lock is by no means ‘industrial’ and removing a drive is going to be easy for particularly nefarious individuals, but this lock is more to prevent accidental removal than it is as a meaningful security barrier. The trays have screw holes for 2.5″ media to be installed with screws, but 3.5″ media is installed in seconds with the use of side clips that hold the drive in place via it’s own fixtures. The plastic tray is pretty sturdy and heat/cracking is not going to be any concern here. Also, the plastic trays will lower the ambient noise level when in operation more than metal trays would do, but (sorry to be repetitious) if you use bigger than 10TB HDDs, it is simply not possible to reduce the clicks, hums and whurs of these more industrial drives.
The front of the DS423+ NAS also features a USB port that can be used for connecting an external drive for backups in either direction (i. backup the drive contents to the NAS, or present files and folders to the NAS to the drive). Now, the DS423+ does not feature a front-mounted copy button (bit annoying) but DSM does include a USB copy tool that allows drives to automatically trigger a pre-set USB-to-NAS or NAS-to-USB operation when a drive is connected, which is pretty detailed in its setup (pre-set directories, age of files, exclusions, schedules, versioning, etc).
Looking at the base of the DS423+ NAS shows us those two m.2 NVMe 2280 SSD slots, each with a ventilated top panel. These two slots support a PCIe Gen 2 SSD in each bay (which can be partially/fully populated) in order to take advantage of SSD caching in the Synology storage system. Caching can consist of Read Caching (when more frequently accessed data is copied to the faster SSD to allow faster retrieval later, though the benefits are only really felt/observed in smaller data) and Write Caching (When data being uploaded/sent to the NAS is initially written to the SSDs and then moved to the internal larger/slower HDD RAID array).
Alongside caching, these bays also support use as independent storage pools (a feature beginning to appear on more and more Synology NAS systems). At the time of writing, you cannot initialize the DS423+ and DSM to run directly from these faster drives, though you CAN choose to install individual applications on the NVMe SSD Storage pool after initialization. You can even go a little off-piste and use one bay for Read caching and the other for a storage pool if you choose – quite nice for a 4-Bay SATA NAS to technically have 6 usable storage bays total. Space is a little tight, but there is certainly room for a couple of M.2 $8-10 heatsinks (I successfully tested the Eluteng Dual Design M.2 Heatsinks found HERE on Amazon) and definitely recommend heatsinks for drives in these bays, regardless of their use for caching and/or pools. There is the lingering question of the utility of these NVMe SSD bays for pools if the system only has 1/2GbE network connectivity (lacking any official means to scale up to 10GbE etc), but there is still plenty of room for their use for VMs, high quantity/low volume data bases and for particularly ‘hot’ data internally.
I have always been a big fan of the Synology Diskstation chassis for it’s minimalistic, yet attractive and efficient design. The absence of a USB copy button still irks me a little and the largely plastic design is not going to be to everyone’s taste, but you cannot fault the amount of R&D that has gone into the construction here. Let’s discuss the ports and connectivity of the DS423+ NAS.
Synology DS423+ NAS Review – Ports and Connections
The ports and connections available on the Synology DS423+ NAS are not a huge leap from those found on the DS420+ and DS920+ that came before it (in fact, they are pretty much identical to the DS420+) and the rear is largely dominated by the 2x 92mm fans
These two active cooling fans that will automatically adjust their RPM as the system’s ambient temperature requires. You can adjust these manually if you are especially noise-sensitive, but I would really recommend it (a low system temp = better system efficiency). The fans are not removable (built into the back panel of the system), so cleaning and maintenance are a little fiddly, but thanks to the large amount of ventilation afforded to the system, this is not really an issue long-term.
Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way early doors! Those ethernet ports. The default model of the DS423+ NAS arrives with two-gigabit ethernet ports (the same as the DS920+, DS918+ and DS916+ before it), despite almost other commercial NAS brand producing solutions at this consumer-tier/scale arriving with at least 2.5GbE. Now, the adoption of greater than gigabit connectivity in client hardware (laptops, PCs, routers, switches, docking stations, etc) is by no means as ubiquitous as 1GbE (which has been around for decades at this point), BUT it is growing. ISPs are providing fiber internet connections globally that exceed gigabit speeds, along with 2.5GbE and WiFi 6 routers. We are seeing more prosumer switches, routers and PCs with default 2.5Gb network ports (at the same/similar cost as 1GbE), $20 USB-to-2.5G adapters and even the affordability of 10GbE on some client devices has allowed users to gradually scale up their hardware environment. The fact the DS423+ arrives at the tail end of 2023 and does not feature greater than 1GbE ports by default is quite damning. Even if you have no plans for 2.5G right now in your setup and think it something of a fad (favouring 10GbE), in terms of future-proofing and the general standard or networking hardware right now, gigabit ethernet is a surprising weakness here. This weakness in network connectivity is further highlighted when you consider that the winter 2022/2023 released DS923+ and DS723+ both arrive with the option to upgrade them to 10GbE with the E10G22-T1-mini adapter from Synology. Not having support of this adapter on the DS423+ feels like a big step back. Maybe with the Gen 2 CPU bottlenecking the bandwidth of the Gen 3×2 adapter too much – but then that begs the question of using the Gen 2 CPU at all! If Synology would hurry up and embrace 2.5GbE or at least sanction USB-to-2.5GbE adapters (hell – release their own branded one!), this would mitigate this somewhat.
The DS423+ also have an additional USB Port on the rear and it is here that we should touch on another thing about the device that I am a little less blown away by. The USB ports here are USB 3.2 Gen 1, so 5Gb/s (500-500MB/s max bandwidth). Much like the 2.5G vs 1Gb complaints I made earlier, most other NAS brands at this hardware tier have rolled in USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10G / 1,000+ MB) ports, as well as USB-C in some cases. With the ease with which a user can add a USB tier to their 3-2-1 backup strategy (allowing them to be a little more financially creative with a network/remote/cloud backup tier as well), the slightly old skool USB ports here are a little underwhelming. With significantly more affordable RAID-enabled USB solutions in the market and/or M.2 NVMe external USB drives arriving affordable to comfortably provide faster external storage for backups, this seems like a bit of a misstep by Synology to ignore. Also, DSM 7 and DSM 7.1 (with DSM 7.2 coming soon enough) have reduced the range of use of the USB ports of Synology NAS systems (removing many network adapters, DTV tuners, wireless dongles, office accessories such as printers, scanners and optical drives), and limiting them largely to storage, UPS’ and assigning them to VMs. I am sure Synology has done the market research and observed reduced utilization of USB on their systems to dictate this decision, but it seems to be another move by the brand to prioritize network/remote access only with their systems.
Overall the ports and connectivity of the DS423+ are technically no difference in the base model than the 2.5yrs older DS920+, just a lack of expandability via the DX517. Network connectivity and USB support remains exactly the same too, which is a little ‘meh’. Let’s take a closer look at the internal hardware and discuss the other big changes that the DS423+ brings over its predecessor.
Synology DS423+ NAS Review – Internal Hardware
Most likely, the element of the DS423+ that people will be the most happy/annoyed about is the CPU. Arriving with the 2019/2020 generation Intel J4125 Celeron Processor, this 4 core 2.0Ghz processor can be burst to 2.7Ghz when needed and features UHD HD Graphics 600, so it has a great little transcoding engine on offer too. Surrounding this is an internal structure that is actually surprisingly light. This is not a criticism in the value sense, there is alot of airflow inside and you can see that ALOT of work has gone into the design of the DS423+ in order to keep it powerful, yet efficient. Everything is well spaced out and when there is crucial hardware, it is well deployed internally. Take the SATA bays inside for example.
Taking all four trays out of the NAS reveals the internal board that connects each drive to a single PCB/Circuit board. This board is connected to another main processor board at the corner (the latter featuring the CPU and Memory). The SATA connection board inside is a nice, clean and clear connection. No power cables internally, no unnecessary bumpf – just exactly what you need to do the job well and made to be as frictionless as possible.
You can see above just how much of the area of the HDD bays are going to be covered in ventilation from the rear cooling fans whilst this device is cooperation. Heat is the enemy of most technology and storage media devices are no different on this score. Also in this area is the expandable memory bay. Now, again, this is an area of disagreement! The CPU inside the DS423+ has an officially support memory maximum of 8GB of DDR4, however the DS423+ arrives with 2GB of Memory by default, which arrives pre-soldered to the main board (i.e cannot be removed in any way).
This means that you can only officially upgrade the DS423+ via the single SODIMM slot towards 6GB with a single extra 4GB SODIMM module in the available bay. Aside from 6GB being an odd amount, people are most certainly going to make comparisons with the DS920+ having 4GB on Day 1 and 8GB max.
Now, Synology does not allow upgrading that memory beyond 6GB in this configuration (Intel Max limit on this CPU is 8GB), stating that using the system in an unsupported fashion can lead to weakened/invalidated support by the brand when you need it (as you are using the device in a configuration they did not verify and/or cannot replicate). This also includes using 3rd party memory, instead of their own branded modules I can partially see their point – they want to run a smooth, reliable and stable platform. Just a shame that Synology Memory modules are a noticeable degree more expensive than alternatives from Crucial and Kingston. Next we need to discuss the CPU inside the DS423+ NAS – something of a hot point for some.
There are two very distinct ways to view the Intel Celeron J4125 CPU inside the DS423+. On the positive side, its a new Synology NAS with a very competent Intel CPU inside, quad-core architecture at 2.0-2.7Ghz clock speed, integrated graphics for demanding server-side processing like multimedia conversions, VMs, thumbnail management and increasing AI ops in Synology/3rd party applications. This is the first ‘Plus’ series release by Synology (i.e Prosumer/full-featured) to feature an Intel Celeron processor since summer 2020 – with everything else since either being efficient ARM processors or Embedded Ryzens without integrated graphics. This CPU does a great job of running synology DSM and will comfortably run a large range of applications, supported users, backups and surveillance cameras at any given time. Finally, there is the fact that till now, the DS4xx+ range has always been a dual-core processor and always lived noticeably in the shadow of the DS9xx+ system in the brand’s portfolio. So, the DS423+ arriving with that quad core Intel Celeron processor is definitely good news! Much like previous Synology NAS systems, the Intel Celeron CPU is located under a single, large, passive heatsink (no active cooling fan), which also means that ambient system noise from system cooling is reduced too. So, why would there be any reason to be unhappy about the DS423+ and it’s CPU choice?
Synology DS423+ vs DS920+ NAS Comparisons
Well (and this is going to get VERY ‘inside baseball’), but those that have been following Synology these last few years will know that this is not the first time the J4125 has been used on a Synology Plus series NAS. Indeed, it has appeared several times in previous NAS systems (DS920+, DS720+, DS620slim, DVA1622 and DS1520+) love the last three years. In that time, not only has Intel moved on a couple of times to new cycles of processors (the N5105, N5095, J6415) which provide better power efficiency, PCI gen support and memory caps, but also competitor NAS brands have rolled out 1-2 more generations of hardware with configurations that capitalizes on Intel’s newer Celeron models. Now, it CAN be argued that because Synology have spent so much time and research exploring the capabilities of this processor, that they can get the most out of it for DSM. Equally, Synology has always been very clear that the jewel in their crown (and indeed the main selling point for their systems) is the DSM software and not the hardware. Then there is the fact that ‘at least it’s an Intel integrated graphics CPU, when Synology has been very ‘AMD Emb.Ryzen’ heavy of late! Finally, there is the argument that when the J4125 was featured previously, it was in their fully-featured ‘SMB’ tier – so the DS423+ in their more affordable Home/Prosumer tier is actually scaled up in having this quad-core Celeron processor. There are ALOT of different ways to look at Synology putting the Intel Celeron J4125 in the DS423+ NAS. But I think it would be fair to say that users of the DSx16+ and DS18+ generation that opted to skip the DSX20+ generation to ‘wait and see’, might be a little underwhelmed. Lets discuss the Synology DSM software and what the DS423+ can do for you and your data.
Synology DS423+ NAS Review – Software and Services
At Launch, the DS423+ NAS arrives with the latest version of Synology software, DSM 7.1. However, this does not stop evolving as soon as you get your Synology NAS. DSM has been in continues to be the dominant force in the world of NAS software, providing a massive arrangement of services, applications (first and third-party supported) and a huge number of client applications for desktop, mobile, Windows, macOS and Linux (as well as a bunch of other more home-based tools). These allow management and access to the data on the DS423+ in very tailored ways, as well as the web browser-based access that has the appearance, intuitive design and responsiveness of a local operating system. The DSM interface can be accessed by hundreds of users at the same time (with each user having tailored access, rights and privileges). DSM is available with ALL Synology NAS and the depth and abilities of DSM on any NAS are dependent on the hardware architecture of the NAS itself. In the case of the Synology DS423+, it supports EVERYTHING that is offered by Synology’s platform. DSM is currently in version 7.1, but it looks like we will be seeing beta/full release of DSM 7.2 at the start of 2023, which will be adding WORM (write Once Read Many) support, Volume scale encryption and numerous improvements to individual applications. If you want to learn about the DSM 7 and the software and services that are included with the DS423+ NAS, watch my FULL review below (alternatively, you can read the DSM 7 Full Review HERE):
As mentioned, the DS423+ supports pretty much the entirety of the DSM 7.1 applications and services (DSM 7 and DSM 6.2 are still in circulation and still receive regular service and security updates, though the DS423+ will arrive with DSM 7.1 by default and cannot be rolled back). If you are an existing user of SaaS and PaaS (Software as a service and Platform as a service) from the likes of Google Workspace and Office 365, knowing that you can synchronize these systems or choose to export away from them onto the Synology services is going to be very appealing. Then there is the increasing development of their 1st party cloud platform, Synology C2, which is slowly integrating into all the applications that are available on your bare metal NAS (allowing you to add a cloud layer of backup, synchronization and access to your data storage setup). This is a subscription platform, which can only be used with your Synology NAS system (as well as connected with some 3rd party SaaS services, but for those that are moving away from Google/Microsoft/AWS for security reasons, but still want a Cloud+Metal storage network in place, C2 covers pretty much everything. Indeed, although below I have highlighted a number of the key/best applications that are included in your DS423+ Service with DSM, most of them can be immediately integrated with Synology C2 (with even more being added in 2023 with DSM 7.2). Key business and consumer applications that are included with your NAS are:
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. Drive has become one of the premier applications of DSM and allows uses to create intelligent shared team folders that support versioning, file streaming+pinning, encryption, Windows AD support (soon) and native file system support with Windows and macOS.
Synology Photos – Manage your photos and videos with deep-learning algorithms that automatically group photos with similar faces, subjects, and places. Designed after the merger of Synology Photo Station and Moments, it also includes tailored folder, sharing and categorization features to help photographers manage their photos and share them with clients for feedback or business development.
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. This software also arrives as a specialised Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workspace platform to sync with those platforms and allow a bare metal tier to your cloud office services
Synology Hyper Backup – Backup your 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. With improved AI services being accessible thanks to Synology BC500 and TC500 Cameras arriving in 2023. Additionally, you can connect this platform with Synology’s cloud platform to use ‘C2 Surveillance’ and bolster the odds of recordings being maintained in the event of accidental/malicious damage to your surveillance system.
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 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. This tool allows complete file management and contains all the features and services of your own native file management platform (archiving, extracting, Copy, Cut, Paste, Sharing, native file format opening, integration with the rest of the Synology applications, property/metadata access, etc)
You cannot really fault the software and services that are included with the Synology DS423+ NAS, as you are going to get the very best experience available on the platform, thanks to the hardware and architecture of this NAS. DSM 7 is an ever-evolving platform, so if you are reading this now at the time of publishing or years later, there is always going to be something in DSM for everyone. That said, Synology in recent years has been increasing its priorities towards first-party software and services. This does make sense, as they want to promote their systems and software as a complete ecosystem for your home or business data storage needs (going on in the last few years to release even more Synology alternatives to popular software AND releasing non-NAS hardware accessories such as Routers, Network Adapters, HDDs, SSDs and now IP Cameras). This can occasionally lead to the compatibility lists of hardware or software that you wish to use in conjunction with the DS423+ NAS being a little smaller/restricted than you might like. A specific 3rd party software/service or physical accessory (HDD, Memory module, Network Upgrade) might not appear on the Synology compatibility pages, but that does not mean it will not function with the DS423+ NAS. It is more a case of Synology choosing not to test/evaluate a particular setup (in their defence, there are ALOT) and therefore until stated otherwise is therefore listed as incompatible and is therefore being used without their full, guaranteed support long term. In short, you can DEFINITELY feel that DSM 7/7.1 is a fantastic NAS platform, but it comes with a certain degree of rigidity by Synology on the DS423+ NAS. A little more relaxed than entries in the Enterprise XS or SA systems, but it is definitely still there.
Synology DS423+ NAS Review – Conclusion & Verdict
There are two ways we need to look at the Synology DS423+ NAS. In one way, the Synology DS423+ DOES support all of the features and services that users demand in a fully-featured home/prosumer solution. It features an Intel Quad Core processor with embedded graphics, DDR4 memory, multiple gigabit ports, wide HDD/SSD compatibility and m.2 NVMe SSD support. These are all things popular and most certainly what users would want/expect in a fully featured home/prosumer solution (aka SOHO). Then, when you roll in DSM 7 and it’s enormous range of software and services, the DS423+ is an excellent NAS solution that counters a broad range of criticisms that were levelled at the DS923+ at launch. However, there is, of course, the unavoidable way that most long-term Synology users and those looking to upgrade an existing 2016/2018 Diskstation are going to look at the DS423+ – a Synology DS920+ with less memory and no expandability! For those that skipped the DSx20+ generation, the DS423+ is going to feel decidedly underwhelming at best and hugely disappointing at worst! Synology has made no bones that they prioritize their software and services, with hardware being an important but nevertheless secondary concern. The main criticism is that CPU being the same processor used in the 3 years previous generation. Intel has moved production away from the J4125 themselves several times (with most other NAS brands using the N5105 or J6412 right now) and although Synology has been known to move CPU architecture down through the generations previously, this is a particularly egregious example. If they had just scaled something up on this device, such as the network ports from 1GbE to 2.5GbE, add the option of a 10GbE upgrade or more over upgrade the base level memory from 2GB or 4GB. The Synology DS423+ IS a good NAS system and serves as a great means to enjoy the wide-ranging features of DSM privately or professionally! It just feels like more of a stop-gap system in some places and one that existing DS920+ or DS420+ owners will skip.
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Choosing the right data storage solution for your needs can be very intimidating and it’s never too late to ask for help. With options ranging from NAS to DAS, Thunderbolt to SAS and connecting everything up so you can access all your lovely data at the touch of a button can be a lot simpler than you think. If you want some tips, guidance or help with everything from compatibility to suitability of a solution for you, why not drop me a message below and I will get back to you as soon as possible with what you should go for, its suitability and the best place to get it. This service is designed without profit in mind and in order to help you with your data storage needs, so I will try to answer your questions as soon as possible.
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