Synology DS211+ SMB NAS Review
by Ganesh T S on February 28, 2011 3:50 AM EST- Posted in
- IT Computing
- NAS
- Synology
The DS-211+ is not built for an easy teardown (considering that there are no user serviceable parts inside, this is not a surprise). However, we still have photographs of the components laid out bare for analysis.
The DS-211+ runs on the Marvell Kirkwood mv6282 1.6Ghz ARM processor. This processor is beneath the heat sink in the above picture. It has Marvell's own Sheeva core running at 1.6 GHz, though it also has 1.8 and 2.0 GHz variants. The 6282 is a high performance integrated controller (PDF link), with dual GbE MACs and a multitude of SATA / PCI-E / USB 2.0 host and SDIO ports.
The other big chip visible on the main board above is the Marvell 88SX7042, a 4 port SATA to PCI-E x4 bridge. Together with the 2 SATA connections on the 6282, they support the 2 SATA drives and the eSATA port. There are also 2 x8 Hynix DRAM modules making up 512 MB of 16 bit DDR3 SDRAM.
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ganeshts - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
Yes, the NAS has encryption facilities. There is hardware acceleration for encryption, courtesy of the Marvell processor.When you create a shared folder, there are two options:
1. Hide the shared folder in 'My Network Places' in Windows
2. Encrypt the shared folder (provide encryption key)
Penti - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
Well running over iSCSI you could simply use truecrypt for the drive. With the key/secret being in the computer accessing it (or on a USB-key on the user) rather then the NAS-box. It would make it moot steeling the NAS for accessing the data at least.Bitlocker don't support encrypting network drives or shares though. But it's far easier to steel data if it's just on a bitlocker (default) encrypted drive in a laptop that's just tied to TPM.
Any encryption fully implemented in the NAS would be unsafe any way. The built in feature into this NAS is just an AES-encrypted volume/folder where you have to enter the key/password, which should provide some protection. Probably based on ecryptfs any how. http://www.synology.com/us/products/features/Share... is the feature.
Conficio - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
I'd like to know what is the IPv6 support on this?Also what are all the USB ports for? Can it work as a printer server too?
oynaz - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
I have a much older model, from 2006 I believe. The USB ports on that allows external storage (I use a Samsung 1Gb HDD), and printers - yes, it can act as a print server.I would be very surprised if the 2011 model did not offer the same features, and more.
jmelgaard - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
http://www.synology.com/enu/products/DS211+/spec.p...Printer Server9
Max Printer #: 2
Printing Protocols: LPR, CIFS, AppleTalk
Guess that's a yes. Also for UPS', Speakers (Um... o.O) and ofc. USB storage devices.
mino - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
What good is a review of a NAS with CUSTOM softwares without even mentioning this stack's behavior?Thumb down AT, this is another PCWORLD-class review.
ganeshts - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
Thank you for the constructive criticism.We will keep this in mind for future NAS reviews using units from QNAP, Thecus etc.
DSM will also be probably covered in detail in the next Synology review.
7Enigma - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
Wow, you have better composure then I do. :) I agree it would be important to include this in future reviews but the OP could have used a bit more tact.ganeshts - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
mino,Can you let me know what sort of evaluation of software stack you want?
I have already mentioned in the article that DSM is built on a a standard Linux kernel. User visible applications are as shown in the UI pics (Photo Manager / iTunes Media Server / DLNA etc.).
Our aim is to deliver what the reader wants, but it would be great if you could be a little bit more specific.
Thanks!
Nehemoth - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
Maybe someday (I hope sooner than later) we will be able to get a decent 4Bay NAS for less than 200US.I would love to have a NAS, I have already 3 Hard Drives (4TB) almost full of media files, so a NAS its a must for me, sadly I can not afford it right now.
I have the knowledge to build one, sadly is that in my country is very difficult if not impossible to get smart computer parts Like a decent case, everything that arrive here is like the worst things from China or even worst what they're think are the best.
Anyway for now I'll continue dreaming about it.