ioSafe N2: A Disaster-Resistant Synology DS213
by Ganesh T S on March 4, 2013 12:00 PM ESTMiscellaneous Aspects and Final Words
The ioSafe N2 is a 2-bay NAS, and the applicable disk configurations are JBOD, RAID-0 and RAID-1. Synology makes the RAID level transparent to the user using the Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) feature. SHR can be set up with either single or dual disk failure resiliency, but, in the case of the ioSafe N2 / Synology DS213, only single failure resiliency is supported. Most users of the ioSafe N2 are either going to use RAID-1 (manual) or SHR (which essentially turns out to be the same). Hence, we performed all our expansion / rebuild duration testing as well as power consumption recording with the unit configured in SHR mode.
The disks used for benchmarking (WD4000FYYZ - Western Digital 4TB RE) were also used in this section. The table below presents the average power consumption of the ioSafe N2 as well as time taken for various RAID-related activities.
| ioSafe N2 / Synology DS213 RAID Expansion and Rebuild / Power Consumption | ||
| Activity | Duration | Average Power Consumption |
| Single Disk Initialization in SHR (4 TB) | 11h 27m 17s | 19.44 W |
| RAID-0 to RAID-1 (4 TB to 4 TB / 1 to 2 drives) | 9h 8m 52s | 31.37 W |
| RAID-1 Rebuild (4 TB to 4 TB / 1 to 2 drives) | 9h 9m 17s | 31.00 W |
Coming to the business end of the review, it is clear that there isn't much to complain about with respect to the ioSafe N2. A point-wise summary of the pros and cons of the unit is presented below.
Pros:
- Excellent performance and feature set (including hot swap, multiple iSCSI LUN support etc.) for a non-x86 based NAS
- Hard disks are user-accessible while maintaining disaster resistance
- Reasonably priced
Cons / Nitpicks:
- No in-built support for 2.5" drives
- Restricted pool of HDDs to choose from
- Floor mount / physical theft protection could have been integrated in the chassis (like it was done in the SoloPRO) instead of being made optional
As one can see, the cons listed above do not really affect users who purchase the ioSafe N2 with pre-installed hard drives. Even the physical theft protection aspect can be easily handled with the Kensington lock feature.
Before the ioSafe N2 was announced, I was using the SoloPRO connected to a NAS unit as a centralized disaster-resistant storage device. The only drawback in that configuration was the fact that a failed hard drive in the SoloPRO would have rendered the chassis completely useless for further use. The ioSafe N2 solves this problem in an elegant manner. As such, we can definitely recommended it for users looking to protect their electronic data against unforeseen circumstances. My only regret is the lack of competition for ioSafe in this area to drive down the pricing further.
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Bobs_Your_Uncle - Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - link
I done my durndest, but from nowhere within the article was I able to ferret out a reference price for this Beautiful Beast.ganeshts - Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - link
Diskless is $599 ; Sorry for the oversightwchpitt - Wednesday, May 7, 2014 - link
Wow! So $400 of sheet metal wrapped around a $200 NAS. I believe, I would use the extra $400 to buy a second NAS and drives and then use a second physical location with HSI and sync the two (e.g. office to house with RSync)ssj3gohan - Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - link
I want to see its USPs addressed! Fireproofness, waterproofness, resistance to electrical problems and theft. And honestly, if any problems are worth addressing it's those last two.robb.moore - Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - link
Hi ssj3gohan -The N2 can be used with just about any commercially available UPS. Many of the more popular brands can be used with the USB port on the N2 to intelligently shut it down if power failure is imminent.
Human error ranks as the highest reason for data loss so don't forget that on your list :)
But all issues are worth addressing as they're all reasons for protecting data. Check out the post from me above to Penti regarding the floor mount kit or redundant N2's on the LAN.
Robb Moore
CEO
ioSafe
ShieTar - Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - link
But photos are not really constantly updated. Regular backups with an external harddrive, which you keep at your workplace or some other remote place are a much cheaper solution to your scenario.otherwise - Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - link
I'm very disappointing that a review of a component that claims to be fireproof didn't involve fire. I'd love to see someone test that claim.BrokenCrayons - Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - link
That could be a good excuse for Anandtech's staff to play with fire. BrokenCrayons encourage this manner of testing.tygrus - Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - link
The ioSafe is still just a part of your backup and disaster recovery plans. It's a key element for some but not to be used as the sole storage device on the network. Designed for small business and paranoid home users. Not designed for everyday use nor as the primary location of files. Store them on another server and backup regularly to the ioSafe.random2 - Wednesday, March 6, 2013 - link
I'd be interested in learning more about the WD drives in the Compatibility List that didn't meet temp requirements, the very same model 2,3 and 4TB drives Ganesh is using to test the device."*Note: Drive will not operate in normal working environments above 30°C (86°F)."
30 degrees Celsius? Holy Doodle Batman! These are supposed to be enterprise drives? What am I missing?