Brand New Synology DS1621+ NAS Drive Revealed – Ryzen Powered!

The New Synology DS1621+ NAS Drive for 2020

Yes, the DS1621+ NAS is coming! Hot on the heels of the Synology DS1621XS+ NAS (released in early September 2020), we today want to discuss a new Synology 6-Bay NAS that has been revealed, the Synology DS1621+ NAS is a device that a lot of users have been waiting on, as it serves as a neat middle-ground for many between robust storage for a RAID6/SHR-2 environment, whilst still having a decent hardware base to work with. Originally spotted last month (with barely a whisper of details) this new diskstation is one that we kind of expected but still managed to surprise us in a number of key ways (yes, that CPU) and not only a very solid follow up to the DS1618+ in a bunch of ways, but also makes it quite an interesting comparison against the DS1621xs+ too. Arriving in the familiar 6-Bay metal chassis seen in the previous generation, supporting DSM 6.2 (as well as DSM 7 no doubt – keep an eye open for the Public beta) and bringing a number of the more modern conventions of Synology in 2020/2021 in terms of upgradability, improved internal caching improvements, there is also a couple of new things to look out for (yes, the CPU – I’m surprised you stuck with me this long, before just skipping ahead to the specs). The DS16xx+ range is a relatively new part of what was always widely regarded as the Intel Atom/Denverton series (such as the DS18xx+, DS24xx+, RS12xx+, etc) and it will be interesting to see if this new AMD NAS drive will represent a new hardware convention across these devices in follow up generations in the 2020/2021 series moving forward. Let’s take a look at the brand new Synology DS1621+ NAS and see if it deserves your data in 2020.

Synology DS1621+ NAS  – Hardware Specifications

For the most part, the DS1621+ NAS drive is quite familiar. As one might expect from this series, the general building blocks of the device are comparable to the DS1618+, DS1621xs+ and DS3018xs+ in terms of physical build, hardware standards and capabilities. However, the AMD Ryzen based CPU represents a noticeably large shift from the brand in this generation, arguable a noticable jump over the Intel Atom C3538 processor in the predecessor, as well as biting a pinch on the toes of the Xeon D1527 and Pentium D-1508 in those more expensive previous releases. It is worth clarifying though that this is not a Ryzen 3/5/7 based processor, as that would all but assure this system would have a price point more than double at least. No, the Ryzen V1500B featured here is more conservative in design, to provide a much more efficient 24×7 architecture to Small/Medium business users, whilst still providing a good level of throuughput in virtual machine deployment, surveillance, multimedia handling and all the while supporting the entire range of Synology First party collaboration suite applications. Here is how the Ryzen V1500B compares with the Intel C3538 featured in the previous generation:

CPU-WORLD.COM SOURCE – CLICK TO ENLARGE

There is, of course, a great deal more to the architecture of the device that we will cover in more detail in our comparisons later on, but I think it is fair to say that the fact the DS1621+ is the first Synology solution to embrace AMD processors (an often heard request by their audience) is the biggest highlight here and shows a little pinch of flexibility here from Synology. Along with this, we find a few more familiar upgrades in the newer generation (with NVMe SSD caching bays being expected but still welcome) along with the PCIe upgradability opening the doors to 10Gbe down the line and multiple gigabit LAN to work with. The processor itself does not have a reported benchmark online on the usual tracking websites that I would direct to (CPUBenchmark, etc) however the Ryzen V1500B is comparable to the Ryzen V1404I, without the higher burst. This would give it a resulting PassMark in excess of 5000, CONSIDERABLY higher than that of the 1596 rating found on the Intel C3538 found in the previous-gen. Let’s go into the hardware highlights:

• AMD Ryzen V1500B
• 2.2Ghz 64-bit x86 Architecture
• Embedded Ryzen SoC Design
• 4GB DDR4 ECC SODIMM Memory (Max 32GB)

• 6 SATA Media Bays (supporting 3.5” and 2.5″ drives)
• 2x M.2 NVMe Slots for cache (supporting uoto 2280 NVMe)
• 4x 1Gbe RJ45

Image Below is of the Synology DS1618+ NAS for Guidance

• PCIe Gen 3 x8 Slot for Expansion Cards
• 2x eSATA ports to connect 2x DX517
• 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbs)
• 16.6cm x 28.2cm x 24.3cm
• 3yrs Warranty, extendable to 5yr with the EW201 license

So, as you can see, there are a few new things to consider this generation and it will be interesting to see how DSM is able to utilize this new CPU architecture and how the improved chipset is reflected across the device’s performance as a whole. Many users will also be pleased to hear that the device is confirmed to arrive with BTRFS support, as well as Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR).

Synology DS1621+ NAS – Software Specifications

In terms of software performance on the DS1621+ NAS, even without the unit in front of us, we can make some educated guesses on the applications and output of this device. The newly introduced processor in this device (and hopefully series as a whole) does bring an element of the unknown though in terms of total throughput. I have no doubt the DS1621+ will outperform the older gen by a noticeable degree in practically every meaningful way (1st party and 3rd party tools alike) but the extent to which is something that is hard to confirm without the unit on the test bench here. The Ryzen in the DS1621+ IS an x86 64bit processor and its multi-core architecture will lend exceptionally well to the Synology Diskstation NAS software catalogue with little or no limitations, so the more graphically led software that may have struggled a tad on the Atom previously or flat out wasn’t supported by more value Realtek’s SHOULD all work great on the DS1621+ NAS. Below are the first party (i.e Synology) based applications that should run fine on this NAS architecture, as well as the 3rd party tools:

When Will the Synology DS1621+ NAS Be Released and the Price?

Given the amount of information that is available on this device and the stage of development that it appears to be at, it would certainly point towards a 2020 release window. This year has been rather unusual for the technology sector (as with every sector in the supply chain for obvious reasons) and therefore even the most certain of predicts are drought with uncertainty. Still, I nevertheless think we are looking at a release for relatively soon, as Synology have clearly committed to this new choice of CPU+Chipset and they would not have entered into this with a large degree of R&D already established, so will be keen to show off the results in a prompt enough window for it to make the best impact. It is no coincidence that network appliances are one of those that have seen a tremendous increase in popularity in 2020. With so much of business being conducted remotely worldwide, along with the scale of data quantity and speed growing with it, Synology would be keen to provide this solution to end-users at a time most suitable to them. Regarding pricing, as we have seen from the recently released DS1621xs+ and DS920+, DS220+, etc in recent months, I think it wholly likely that this device is going to arrive around the £780-800+ mark (includes your local tax).

How Does the Synology DS1621+ Compare with the DS1621xs+ NAS?

In the coming weeks, we will be looking at how the new DS1621+ compares against the current generation of Synology NAS solutions, as well as how it compares against the previous generation (which may suddenly arrive at a bargain price). Though as the DS1621+ have an arguable Prosumer-SMB business target in mind, there is the more current comparison between it and the DS1621xs+ NAS (the enterprise option). With hard drive capacities becoming quite substantial (with 18TB NAS hard drives in the market now and 20TB on the horizon) there is the flexibility for users to leverage their spending towards fewer physical HDDs and more on the internal hardware power. With the DS1621xs+ likely arriving at 50-70% more expensive to buy, many will want to know they are making the best long term choice for their storage.

Synology DS1621+ NAS Drive	Synology DS1621xs+ NAS Drive
AMD Ryzen V1500B Quad Core 2.2Ghz 4GB DDR4 ECC SODIMM (32GB Max) 6-Bays (Supporting up to160x with 2x 5-Bay Expansion) 4x 1Gbe 3x USB 3.0 PCIe Gen 3 x8 SHR Support BTRFS Support 3 Year Warranty (Can be Upgraded to 5yrs)	Intel Xeon D-1527 Quad-Core CPU 2.2Ghz (can be burst to 2.7Ghz) 8 GB DDR4 ECC SODIMM (32GB Max) 6-Bays (Supporting up to 16x with 2x 5-Bay Expansion) 1x 10Gbe 2x 1Gbe 3x USB 3.0 PCIe Gen 3 x8 No SHR Support BTRFS Support 5 Year Warranty

 

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