Synology 1-Bay NAS Range Compared (DS120j, DS118, DS124)

Hardware Specifications

 

Model DS120j DS118 DS124
Estimated Price $100 (Aug. 2023) $179 (Aug. 2023) $185 (Aug. 2023)

 

 

Model

DS120j

DS118 (now replaced with ds124)

DS124

CPU Model Marvell Armada 3700 88F3720 Realtek RTD1296 Realtek RTD1619B
CPU Quantity 1 1 1
CPU Architecture 64-bit 64-bit 64-bit
CPU Frequency 2-core 800 MHz 4-core 1.4 GHz 4-core 1.7 GHz
Hardware Encryption Engine
Memory
System Memory 512 MB DDR3L non-ECC 1 GB DDR4 non-ECC 1 GB DDR4 non-ECC
Storage
Drive Bays 1 1 1
Compatible Drive Type* (See all supported drives)
  • 3.5″ SATA HDD
  • 2.5″ SATA HDD (with optional 2.5″ Disk Holder)
  • 3.5″ SATA HDD
  • 2.5″ SATA HDD (with optional 2.5″ Disk Holder)
  • 2.5″ SATA SSD (with optional 2.5″ Disk Holder)
  • 3.5″ SATA HDD
  • 2.5″ SATA SSD (with optional 2.5″ Disk Holder)
Hot Swappable Drive*
External Ports
RJ-45 1GbE LAN Port 1 1 1
USB 2.0 Port 2
USB 3.2 Gen 1 Port* 2 2
Notes The USB 3.0 standard was renamed to USB 3.2 Gen 1 by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) in 2019.
  • This device’s 1GbE LAN ports have a maximum transmission unit (MTU) size of 1,500 bytes.
  • The USB 3.0 standard was renamed to USB 3.2 Gen 1 by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) in 2019.
File System
Internal Drives
  • EXT4
  • EXT4
  • BTRFS
  • EXT4
External Drives
  • EXT4
  • EXT3
  • FAT
  • NTFS
  • HFS+
  • exFAT
  • EXT4
  • EXT3
  • FAT
  • NTFS
  • HFS+
  • exFAT
  • Btrfs
  • EXT4
  • EXT3
  • FAT
  • NTFS
  • HFS+
  • exFAT
Appearance
Size (Height x Width x Depth) 166 mm x 71 mm x 224 mm 166 mm x 71 mm x 224 mm 166 mm x 71 mm x 224 mm
Weight 0.7 kg 0.7 kg 0.7 kg
Others
System Fan 60 mm x 60 mm x 1 pcs 60 mm x 60 mm x 1 pcs 60 mm x 60 mm x 1 pcs
Fan Speed Mode
  • Full-Speed Mode
  • Cool Mode
  • Quiet Mode
  • Low-power Mode
  • Full-Speed Mode
  • Cool Mode
  • Quiet Mode
  • Low-power Mode
  • Full-Speed Mode
  • Cool Mode
  • Quiet Mode
  • Low-power Mode
Brightness Adjustable Front LED Indicators
Power Recovery
Noise Level* 16.9 dB(A) 16.7 dB(A) 19.0 dB(A)
Scheduled Power On / Off
Wake on LAN / WAN
Power Supply Unit / Adapter 36 W 36 W 36 W
AC Input Power Voltage 100V to 240V AC 100V to 240V AC 100V to 240V AC
Power Frequency 50/60 Hz, Single Phase 50/60 Hz, Single Phase 50/60 Hz, Single Phase
Power Consumption 9.81 W (Access)
4.68 W (HDD Hibernation)
9.4 W (Access)
4.22 W (HDD Hibernation)
10.69 W (Access)
3.44 W (HDD Hibernation)
British Thermal Unit 33.47 BTU/hr (Access)
15.97 BTU/hr (HDD Hibernation)
32.1 BTU/hr (Access)
14.41 BTU/hr (HDD Hibernation)
36.50 BTU/hr (Access)
11.75 BTU/hr (HDD Hibernation)
Temperature
Operating Temperature 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F) 5°C to 40°C (40°F to 104°F) 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)
Storage Temperature -20°C to 60°C (-5°F to 140°F) -20°C to 60°C (-5°F to 140°F) -20°C to 60°C (-5°F to 140°F)
Relative Humidity 5% to 95% RH 5% to 95% RH 5% to 95% RH
Certification
  • EAC
  • CCC
  • KC
  • FCC
  • CE
  • BSMI
  • VCCI
  • RCM
  • FCC
  • CE
  • BSMI
  • EAC
  • CCC
  • KC
  • RCM
  • FCC
  • CE
  • BSMI
  • VCCI
  • RCM
  • UKCA
  • EAC
  • CCC
  • KC
Warranty 2-year hardware warranty, extendable to 4 years with Extended Warranty Plus 2-year hardware warranty, extendable to 4 years with Extended Warranty Plus 2-year hardware warranty, extendable to 4 years with Extended Warranty Plus
Environment RoHS Compliant RoHS Compliant RoHS Compliant
Packaging Content
  • Main Unit X 1
  • Accessory Pack X 1
  • AC Power Adapter X 1
  • RJ-45 LAN Cable X 1
  • Quick Installation Guide X 1
  • Main Unit X 1
  • Accessory Pack X 1
  • AC Power Adapter X 1
  • RJ-45 LAN Cable X 1
  • Quick Installation Guide X 1
  • Main Unit X 1
  • Accessory Pack X 1
  • AC Power Adapter X 1
  • RJ-45 LAN Cable X 1
  • Quick Installation Guide X 1
Optional Accessories
  • 3.5″ SATA HDD: HAT3300
  • Surveillance Device License Pack
  • Disk Holder: Type C
  • 3.5″ SATA HDD: HAT3300
  • Surveillance Device License Pack
  • Disk Holder: Type C
3.5″ SATA HDD: HAT3300
DSM Specifications
Storage Management
Maximum Single Volume Size* 108 TB 108 TB 108 TB
Maximum Internal Volume Number 1 1 1
SSD TRIM
Supported RAID Type Basic Basic Basic
File Services
File Protocol SMB/AFP/NFS/FTP/WebDAV SMB/AFP/NFS/FTP/WebDAV SMB/AFP/NFS/FTP/WebDAV
Maximum Concurrent SMB/AFP/FTP Connections 50 200 200
Windows Access Control List (ACL) Integration
NFS Kerberos Authentication
Account & Shared Folder
Maximum Local User Accounts 512 2,048 1,024
Maximum Local Groups 128 256 256
Maximum Shared Folder 256 256 256
Maximum Shared Folder Sync Tasks 2 4 4
Hyper Backup
Data & Folder Backup
Log Center
Syslog Events per Second 100 400 400
General Specifications
Networking Protocols SMB1 (CIFS), SMB2, SMB3, NFSv3, NFSv4, NFSv4.1, NFS Kerberized sessions, iSCSI, HTTP, HTTPs, FTP, SNMP, LDAP, CalDAV SMB1 (CIFS), SMB2, SMB3, NFSv3, NFSv4, NFSv4.1, NFS Kerberized sessions, iSCSI, HTTP, HTTPs, FTP, SNMP, LDAP, CalDAV SMB1 (CIFS), SMB2, SMB3, NFSv3, NFSv4, NFSv4.1, NFS Kerberized sessions, iSCSI, HTTP, HTTPs, FTP, SNMP, LDAP, CalDAV
 
Synology Chat
Maximum Users 500
Notes When applicable, systems are tested configured with maximum memory and set to allow the maximum number of connections.
Download Station
Maximum Concurrent Download Tasks 50 80 80
SAN Manager
Maximum iSCSI Target Number 10 10 10
Maximum LUN 10 10 10
LUN Clone/Snapshot, Windows ODX
Notes iSCSI Manager has been renamed to SAN Manager in DSM 7.0. iSCSI Manager has been renamed to SAN Manager in DSM 7.0.
Media Server
DLNA Compliance
Synology Photos
Facial Recognition
Notes Facial recognition is unavailable on this model.
Snapshot Replication
Maximum Snapshots per Shared Folder 256
Maximum of System Snapshots 4,096
Surveillance Station
Maximum IP cam (Licenses required) 5 (including 2 Free License) (see all supported IP cameras) 15 (including 2 Free License) (see all supported IP cameras) 12 (including 2 Free License) (see all supported IP cameras)
Total FPS (H.264) 150 FPS @ 720p (1280×720)
120 FPS @ 1080p (1920×1080)
70 FPS @ 3M (2048×1536)
40 FPS @ 5M (2591×1944)
20 FPS @ 4K (3840×2160)
450 FPS @ 720p (1280×720)
180 FPS @ 1080p (1920×1080)
110 FPS @ 3M (2048×1536)
80 FPS @ 5M (2591×1944)
40 FPS @ 4K (3840×2160)
360 FPS @ 720p (1280×720)
300 FPS @ 1080p (1920×1080)
200 FPS @ 3M (2048×1536)
140 FPS @ 5M (2591×1944)
90 FPS @ 4K (3840×2160)
Total FPS (H.265) 150 FPS @ 720p (1280×720)
150 FPS @ 1080p (1920×1080)
130 FPS @ 3M (2048×1536)
65 FPS @ 5M (2591×1944)
30 FPS @ 4K (3840×2160)
450 FPS @ 720p (1280×720)
450 FPS @ 1080p (1920×1080)
210 FPS @ 3M (2048×1536)
120 FPS @ 5M (2591×1944)
60 FPS @ 4K (3840×2160)
360 FPS @ 720p (1280×720)
360 FPS @ 1080p (1920×1080)
240 FPS @ 3M (2048×1536)
200 FPS @ 5M (2591×1944)
140 FPS @ 4K (3840×2160)
Synology Drive
Recommended Number of Concurrent Sync Clients 5 (the number of connections that can be maintained when the recommended number of hosted files was reached) 200 (the number of connections that can be maintained when the recommended number of hosted files was reached) 200 (the number of connections that can be maintained when the recommended number of hosted files was reached)
Recommended Number of Hosted Files 500,000 (applies to files indexed or hosted by Synology Drive. For file access through other standard protocols, refer to the File Services section above) 500,000 (applies to files indexed or hosted by Synology Drive. For file access through other standard protocols, refer to the File Services section above) 500,000 (applies to files indexed or hosted by Synology Drive. For file access through other standard protocols, refer to the File Services section above)
Synology Office
Maximum Users 200 200
Video Station
VPN Server
Maximum Connections 10 20 20

 

DS120j – Good for backups,  limited to one or two things running simultaneously. No AI functions.

DS118  (discontinued)      Good for multimedia using Synology Apps (h264/ h265 support). Additional RAM will help to do more than a single task. Face recognition included.

DS124       Good for multimedia and easy backup functions.  Face recognition and Docker included.

 

 

 

DS120j
DS118 Face Only recognition
DS124 Face Only recognition

 

Tell me more about this Realtek CPU

The RTD1619B is a SoC (system on a chip) developed by Realtek, a Taiwan-based company that specializes in the design of semiconductor solutions for a wide range of applications, including IoT, multimedia, communications, and more.

The RTD1619B is built on a 64-bit architecture, meaning it can handle 64-bit instructions and data and can address a larger amount of memory than a 32-bit CPU. It has 4 cores, meaning it can process 4 concurrent threads, and it operates at a clock speed of 1.7 GHz.

The RTD1619B is also equipped with a Mali-G51 GPU. Mali-G51 is a part of the Mali family of GPUs developed by ARM. It is a Bifrost GPU, which is the middle tier of ARM’s Mali GPU offerings and has a performance of 1.5 Gpix/s. It also included with NPU (Neural Processing Unit) which is able to perform 1.6TOPS of AI operations.

It’s likely that this SoC is targeted at embedded and IoT applications that require some level of real-time processing and AI capabilities, such as smart home devices, cameras, and other similar products.

RTD1296 vs RTD1619B

The RTD1296 and RTD1619B are both SoCs developed by Realtek, both with 64-bit architecture, and both with 4 cores. However, there are a few key differences between the two:

  1. Clock speed: The RTD1619B has a higher clock speed of 1.7 GHz compared to the RTD1296’s 1.4 GHz. This means that the RTD1619B will generally perform faster than the RTD1296 for tasks that rely heavily on the CPU’s processing power.
  2. GPU: The RTD1619B comes with a Mali-G51 GPU, while the RTD1296 comes with a Mali-T820 MP3 GPU. Both are developed by ARM, Mali-G51 is Bifrost architecture and have a performance of 1.5 Gpix/s, meanwhile, Mali-T820 is Midgard architecture and have a performance of 1.2 Gpix/s. In general, the Mali-G51 GPU has higher performance than the Mali-T820 MP3, thus the RTD1619B is better equipped to handle tasks that require graphics processing, such as video decoding and gaming.
  3. NPU: The RTD1619B comes with a NPU (Neural Processing Unit) that is able to perform 1.6TOPS of AI operations. This gives the RTD1619B an edge over the RTD1296 in tasks that require AI-related processing, such as image recognition and machine learning.
  4. Power consumption: The RTD1619B may have higher power consumption than RTD1296 because of it’s faster clock speed and additional functionality.

It’s worth noting that these are general comparisons, and the performance of each SoC can also depend on other factors such as the memory, storage, and specific implementation of the software.

 

What apps will not work?

DS120j Will have no Docker, Face or Object recognition.

DS118 has no Docker/Container Manager compared to DS124.

DS120j, DS118, DS124 Extras plus series NAS support

Audio Station

Synology Calendar

Synology Chat Server

Cloud Sync

Synology Contacts

Download Station

Glacier Backup

Hyper Backup

iTunes Server

Synology Mail Server

Media Server

Note Station

SAN Manager

SMB Service

Synology Office

Surveillance Station

Synology Drive Server

Synology Photos

Video Station

VPN Server

Web Station

Plex Media Server

 Docker only on DS124

Hybrid Share

The Replication Service

Snapshot Replication

Active Backup for Business

Active Backup for Business Agent (DSM)

Active Backup for Google Workspace

Active Backup for Microsoft 365

Antivirus by McAfee

C2 Identity Edge Server

Central Management System

Docker

Document Viewer

Migration Assistant

Presto File Server

Synology Directory Server

Synology High Availability

Synology MailPlus

Synology MailPlus Server

Virtual Machine Manager

 

NAS 1-bay range performance compared

 

SMB 1GbE – Sequential Throughput with HDD (64KB)

Model DS723+ DS224+ DS223 DS223j DS124 DS120j
Read 225.72 226.02 112.52 112.42 112.53 113.41
Write 225.46 225.18 112.46 112.52 112.58 102.90

 

1GbE Web Server – Nginx PHP Response Performance with HDD

Model DS723+ DS224+ DS223 DS223j DS124 DS120j
Responses per second 9,624.01 10,859.11 2,976.05 2,992.25 3,050.95 601.01

SMB 1GbE – Sequential Throughput with HDD (64KB)

MODEL DS723+ DS220+ DS223 DS223J DS118 DS120J
READ 225.72 226.01 112.52 112.42 112.89 113.41
WRITE 225.46 224.82 112.46 112.52 112.80 102.90

 

1GbE Web Server – Nginx PHP Response Performance (using HDD)

MODEL DS723+ DS220+ DS223 DS223J DS118 DS120J
RESPONSES PER SECOND 9,624.01 6,659.69 2,976.05 2,992.25 2,524.63 601.01

SMB 1GbE – Windows File Transfer (using HDD)

model DS723+ DS220+ DS223 DS218play DS220j DS118 DS120j
download for windows 86.54 86.79 80.18 82.5 81.85 83.39 67.35
Windows upload 79.21 77.23 67.49 68.56 68.28 69.26 46.51

 

Conclusion

DS120j is the weakest NAS with 512MB memory which basically only allows to use it for file storage and backups. A little bit of multimedia (DLNA only). One thing at a time. Anything else will be a slow and painful experience.

DS118 (discontinued) Can do everything mentioned above. But you also get few extra things like ability to run Plex media server, have face recognition in Photo app.

DS124 has slightly faster CPU. I does everything mentioned above. It also gets a one extra which is Docker / Container manager. H265 might have weaker compared to ds118.

 

 

Model DS120j DS118 DS124
Estimated Price $100 (Aug. 2023) $179 (Aug. 2023) $185 (Aug. 2023)

 

 

 

 


If you like this service, please consider supporting us.
We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you. Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which is used to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H. You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks! To find out more about how to support this advice service check HERE   If you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver   Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
     

locked content ko-fi subscribe

DISCUSS with others your opinion about this subject.
ASK questions to NAS community
SHARE more details what you have found on this subject
CONTRIBUTE with your own article or review. Click HERE
IMPROVE this niche ecosystem, let us know what to change/fix on this site
EARN KO-FI Share your knowledge with others and get paid for it! Click HERE

ASK YOUR QUESTIONS HERE!