What each of them have different?
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https://nascompares.com/answer/synology-4-bay-5-bay-nas-range-compared-which-one-is-the-best-ds420j-vs-ds418-vs-ds420-vs-ds923-vs-dva3221/
DS420j vs. DS418 vs. DS423 vs. DS420+ vs. DS423+ vs. DS923+
DS420j – Good for multimedia, but limited to one or two things running simultaneously
DS418 (replaced by DS423) – Good for multimedia using Synology Apps (h264 + h265 support)
DS423 Good for multimedia using Synology Apps (h264 support) (Plex and h265 seem to be an issue)
DS420+(replaced by DS423+) Good for multimedia and easy backup functions and is upgradeable. Has high availability option
DS423+ Good for multimedia and easy backup functions and is upgradeable. Has high availability option. Now two extra CPU cores for faster speeds and VMs./ Dovker
DS923+ Good for multimedia and easy backup functions and is upgradeable, expandable, has high availability option. Good for video editing and VMs/ Docker.
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A Comparison of Synology 4-Bay NAS: DS420j, DS418, DS423, DS420+, DS423+, DS923+
When it comes to network-attached storage (NAS) devices, Synology is a well-known brand for delivering reliable and high-performance solutions. Their 4-bay NAS devices are popular among home and small business users who need to store and manage data efficiently. In this article, we will compare the specifications and features of the following Synology 4-bay NAS models: DS420j, DS418 (replaced by DS423), DS423, DS420+ (replaced by DS423+), DS423+, and DS923+.
DS420j
The DS420j is a budget-friendly NAS device that is suitable for multimedia usage. It is powered by a Realtek RTD1296 processor with a clock speed of 1.4 GHz and has 1 GB DDR4 non-ECC memory. It supports 3.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA HDD, and 2.5″ SATA SSD. The DS420j also comes with a hardware encryption engine and a hardware transcoding engine that can handle 10-bit H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, VC-1 with a maximum resolution of 4K (4096 x 2160) and a maximum frame rate per second (FPS) of 60. However, it is limited to running only one or two things simultaneously.
DS418 (replaced by DS423)
The DS418 is now replaced by DS423, but it is still worth mentioning. It is similar to DS420j in terms of hardware specifications, but it has 2 GB DDR4 non-ECC memory and supports 3.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA HDD, and 2.5″ SATA SSD. It also has a hardware encryption engine and a hardware transcoding engine that can handle 10-bit H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, VC-1 with a maximum resolution of 4K (4096 x 2160) and a maximum frame rate per second (FPS) of 60. DS418 is good for multimedia using Synology Apps with h264 + h265 support.
DS423
The DS423 is an upgrade to DS418 and is good for multimedia using Synology Apps with h264 support. It is powered by a Realtek RTD1619B processor with a clock speed of 2.0 GHz (base) / 2.7 GHz (turbo) and has 2 GB DDR4 non-ECC memory. It supports 3.5″ SATA HDD and 2.5″ SATA SSD. It has a hardware encryption engine and a hardware transcoding engine that can handle 10-bit H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, VC-1 with a maximum resolution of 4K (4096 x 2160) and a maximum frame rate per second (FPS) of 60. However, Plex and h265 seem to be an issue.
DS420+ (replaced by DS423+)
The DS420+ is a mid-range NAS device that is good for multimedia and easy backup functions. It is powered by an Intel Celeron J4025 processor with a clock speed of 2-core 2.0 (base) / 2.9 (burst) GHz and has 2 GB DDR4 non-ECC memory (upgradable up to 6 GB). It supports 3.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA SSD, and M.2 2280 NVMe SSD. The DS420+ also has an Intel HD Graphics 600 GPU for hardware-accelerated 4K video transcoding, and it can handle up to two concurrent 4K video streams. It has a hardware encryption engine that can achieve read/write speeds of up to 225/174 MB/s. The DS420+ also features dual 1GbE LAN ports, which can be aggregated for faster transfer speeds, and it supports Synology’s Snapshot Replication for easy backups.
DS423+
The DS423+ is an upgrade to the DS420+ and is a powerful NAS device suitable for small businesses and demanding multimedia applications. It is powered by an Intel Celeron J4125 processor with a clock speed of 4-core 2.0 (base) / 2.7 (burst) GHz and has 4 GB DDR4 non-ECC memory (upgradable up to 8 GB). It supports 3.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA SSD, and M.2 2280 NVMe SSD. The DS423+ has an Intel HD Graphics 600 GPU for hardware-accelerated 4K video transcoding and can handle up to two concurrent 4K video streams. It also has a hardware encryption engine that can achieve read/write speeds of up to 451/415 MB/s, making it one of the fastest 4-bay NAS devices available. The DS423+ has dual 1GbE LAN ports and supports Synology’s Snapshot Replication for easy backups.
DS923+
DS923+ comes with an AMD Ryzen R1600 processor with a benchmark score of 3246. It is a 64-bit system with 2-core 2.6 GHz (base) / 3.1 GHz (turbo) and features AES-NI encryption. This version of the DS923+ has no GPU, but comes with 4 GB DDR4 ECC memory (with one slot occupied by a 4GB module and the second slot free), which is upgradable up to 32 GB (16 GB x 2). It supports up to 14 drives with the DX517 expansion unit and can handle 3.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA SSD, and M.2 2280 NVMe SSD Gen3 x1 (2GB/s). The DS923+ also has two NVMe slots with 2GB/s per slot, which can be used for either cache or storage. It features dual 1GbE LAN ports and an additional Gen3 x2 slot for 10gbe NIC2. It supports Btrfs and EXT4 file systems and produces noise at 22.9 dB(A). It has a maximum power consumption of 100W.
Synology 4-bay NAS specs compared
| Model | 
DS420j |
DS418 (replaced) |
DS423 (new) |
DS420+ (replaced) |
DS423+(new) |
DS923+ |
| Estimated Price | $299 (18th Jan) | $369 (18th Jan) | $510 (18th Jan) | $499 (15th March) | $599 (18th Jan) | |
| Processor model | Realtek RTD1296 | Realtek RTD1296 | Realtek RTD1619B | Intel Celeron J4025 | Intel Celeron J4125 |
AMD Ryzen R1600
|
| Number of CPUs | 1 (benchmark score: <1000) | 1 (benchmark score: <1000) | 1 (benchmark score: <1000) | 1 (benchmark score: 1708) | 1 (benchmark score: 2985) |
1 (benchmark score: 3246)
|
| processor architecture | 64-bit | 64-bit | 64-bit | 64-bit | 64-bit | 64-bit |
| processor clock | 4-core 1.4 GHz | 4-core 1.4 GHz | 4-core 2.0 (base) / 2.7 (turbo) GHz | 2-core 2.0 (base) / 2.9 (burst) GHz | 2-core 2.6 (base) / 3.1 (turbo) GHz |
2-core 2.6 (base) / 3.1 (turbo) GHz
|
| hardware encryption | YES | YES | (AES-NI) | (AES-NI) | (AES-NI) | (AES-NI) |
| Hardware Transcoding Engine | 10-bit H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, VC-1; maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); maximum frame rate per second (FPS): 60 | 10-bit H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, VC-1; maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); maximum frame rate per second (FPS): 60 | 10-bit H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, VC-1; maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); maximum frame rate per second (FPS): 60 | H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-2 and VC-1; maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); maximum frame rate per second (FPS): 30 | H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-2 and VC-1; maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); maximum frame rate per second (FPS): 30 | NONE |
| Memory | ||||||
| system memory | 1 GB DDR4 non-ECC | 2 GB DDR4 non-ECC | 2 GB DDR4 non-ECC | 2 GB DDR4 non-ECC | 2 GB DDR4 non-ECC | 4 GB DDR4 ECC |
| RAM slots | soldered | soldered | soldered | 2Gb soldered + 1 slot free | 2Gb soldered + 1 slot free |
1 slot 4GB + second slot free
|
| MAX RAM upgrades | NO | NO | NO | 6 GB (2 GB + 4 GB) | 6GB (2GB +4GB) | 32 GB (16 GB x 2) |
| storage device | ||||||
| Expansion Unit | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | DX517 x 1 |
| Number of HDD bays | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 +5 |
| Compatible Disk Type | 3.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA SSD |
3.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA SSD |
3.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA SSD |
3.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA SSD M.2 2280 NVMe SSD (500MB/s) |
3.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA SSD M.2 2280 NVMe SSD (500MB/s) |
3.5″ SATA HDD
2.5″ SATA SSD M.2 2280 NVMe SSD Gen3 x1 (2GB/s) |
| M.2 Drive Slots | NO | NO | NO | 2 (NVMe) (2GB/s per slot) (CACHE) | 2 (NVMe) (2GB/s per slot) (CACHE OR STORAGE) |
2 (NVMe) (2GB/s per slot) (CACHE OR STORAGE)
|
| PCIe slot | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO |
1 x Gen3 x2 for 10gbe NIC
|
| external port | ||||||
| RJ-45 1GbE LAN port | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| USB 2.0 port | 1 | |||||
| USB 3.2 Gen 1 port* | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| USB / SD Copy | ||||||
| Remark | ||||||
| file system | ||||||
| internal disk | EXT4 | Btrfs EXT4 |
Btrfs EXT4 |
Btrfs EXT4 |
Btrfs EXT4 |
Btrfs EXT4 |
| Power | ||||||
| Noise value* | 20.6 dB(A) | 20.9 dB(A) | 22.9 dB(A) | 19.8 dB(A) | 19.8 dB(A) | 22.9 dB(A) |
| Power Supply / Transformer | 90W | 90W | 90 W | 90W | 90 W | 100W |
| power consumption | 21.71 W (Access) 7.88 W (HDD Hibernation) |
26.49 W (Access) 8.78 W (HDD Hibernation) |
32.41 W (Access) 4.97 W (HDD Hibernation) |
28.30 W (Access) 8.45 W (HDD Hibernation) |
28.3 W (Access) 8.45 W (HDD Hibernation) |
35.51 W (Access)
11.52 W (HDD Hibernation) |
| BTU | 74.08 BTU/hr (Access) 26.89 BTU/hr (HDD Hibernation) |
90.39 BTU/hr (Access) 29.96 BTU/hr (HDD Hibernation) |
110.52 BTU/hr (Access) 16.95 BTU/hr (HDD Hibernation) |
96.5 BTU/hr (Access) 28.81 BTU/hr (HDD Hibernation) |
96.5 BTU/hr (Access) 28.81 BTU/hr (HDD Hibernation) |
121.09 BTU/hr (Access)
39.28 BTU/hr (HDD Hibernation) |
| APPs and limits | ||||||
| Maximum number of local user accounts | 1,024 | 2,048 | 1,024 | 2,048 | 2,048 | 2,048 |
| Maximum number of Hybrid Share folders | none | 5 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| The maximum number of cameras | 16 | 30 | 30 | 25 | 40 | 40 |
| The maximum number of snapshots | none | 256 | 256 | 1,024 | 1,024 | 1,024 |
| SSD TRIM | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
| Synology High Availability | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES |
| Synology MailPlus / MailPlus Server | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES |
| Virtual Machine Manager | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES |
| Warranty | 2 years | 2 years | 2 years | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years |
| SHR | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| BTRFS | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Synology 4-bay NAS available apps compared
| DS420j, DS418, ds423 (2GB RAM) | DS420+, DS423+, DS923+ |
| ❌ | Active Backup for Business |
| ❌ |
Active Backup for Business Agent (DSM)
|
| ❌ |
Active Backup for Google Workspace
|
| ❌ | Active Backup for Microsoft 365 |
| Active Insight | |
| Advanced Media Extensions | |
| ❌ | Antivirus by McAfee |
| Antivirus Essential | |
| Apache HTTP Server 2.4 | |
| Audio Station | |
| ❌ | Bitdefender for MailPlus |
| ❌ | C2 Identity Edge Server |
| ❌ | Central Management System |
| Cloud Sync | |
| DHCP Server | |
| DNS Server | |
| ❌ | Docker |
| ❌ | Document Viewer |
| Download Station | |
| exFAT Access | |
| File Station | |
| Git Server | |
| Glacier Backup | |
| Hybrid Share | |
| Hyper Backup | |
| Hyper Backup Vault | |
| iTunes Server | |
| Joomla | |
| LDAP Server | |
| Log Center | |
| Mail Station | |
| MariaDB 10 | |
| Media Server | |
| MediaWiki | |
| ❌ | Migration Assistant |
| Node.js v12 | |
| Node.js v14 | |
| Node.js v16 | |
| Node.js v18 | |
| Note Station | |
| OAuth Service | |
| ❌ | PACS |
| PDF Viewer | |
| Perl | |
| PHP 7.3 | |
| PHP 7.4 | |
| PHP 8.0 | |
| phpMyAdmin | |
| ❌ | Presto File Server |
| Proxy Server | |
| Python 3.9 | |
| Python2 | |
| RADIUS Server | |
| Replication Service | |
| SAN Manager | |
| Secure SignIn Service | |
| SMB Service | |
| SMI-S Provider | |
| Snapshot Replication | |
| SSO Server | |
| Storage Analyzer | |
| Surveillance Station | |
| Surveillance Device Pack | |
| Synology Application Service | |
| Synology Calendar | |
| Synology Chat Server | |
| Synology Contacts | |
| Synology Drive Server | |
| ❌ | Synology Drive Server |
| ❌ | Synology High Availability |
| Synology Mail Server | |
| ❌ | Synology MailPlus |
| ❌ | Synology MailPlus Server |
| Synology Office | |
| Synology Photos | |
| Text Editor | |
| Universal Search | |
| Universal Viewer | |
| USB Copy | |
| Video Station | |
| ❌ | Virtual Machine Manager |
| VPN Server | |
| vtigerCRM | |
| Web Station | |
| WebDAV Server | |
| WordPress | |
Synology 4-bay NAS Performance compared
SMB 1GbE – Sequential Throughput with HDD (64KB)
| MODEL | RS422+ | DS923+ | DS423+ | DS423 | DS420J |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| READ | 225.77 | 225.85 | 226.58 | 223.90 | 112.93 |
| WRITE | 225.87 | 225.83 | 224.00 | 213.54 | 112.62 |
SMB 1GbE – Windows File Transfer with HDD
| MODEL | RS822(RP)+ | RS422+ | DS923+ | DS423+ | DS423 | DS420J |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WINDOWS DOWNLOAD | 87.07 | 89.22 | 89.74 | 87.39 | 78.23 | 81.96 |
| WINDOWS UPLOAD | 76.36 | 79.24 | 80.23 | 76.00 | 65.97 | 68.64 |
1GbE Web Server – Nginx PHP Response Performance with HDD
| MODEL | RS822(RP)+ | RS422+ | DS923+ | DS423+ | DS423 | DS420J |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RESPONSES PER SECOND | 14,469.82 | 9,511.32 | 9,710.53 | 10,706.80 | 3,062.56 | 2,586.49 |
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