A high end price, specifications

A high end price!

The DS508 was put on the market for a price of 899 € taxes included. This is high, but finally in line with the product type. The Thecus N5200B Pro which it rivals costs around 779 € taxes included (829 € for the 4 port switch version). Given that the DS508 has just recently arrived on the market, its price should leave a bit of leeway for future reductions.

Here is a table comparing the prices of the main models on the market (keep in mind that only the Thecus has 5 bays), to which we have added that of the drives in order to have the real final cost of these solutions.


The price of the hard drives is calculated based on the following averages:


Concerning the choice of drives, do not hesitate to consult the available compatibility lists here or here.

Specifications

Presentation, set up

Presentation

Robust and imposing, the metal chassis of the DS508 has impeccable finishing touches. The five chariots for the drives move without forcing and each has a turn screw in order to avoid any accidental unplugging.

The motherboard is fits vertically on the left side of the casing. It integrates a Freescale MPC8543 800 MHz circuit which changes a bit from the omnipresent Marvell processors usually found in NAS. This is helped out by 8 MB of flash memory as well as 512 MB of RAM, or as much as the Thecus N5200BR Pro, two times that of the Qnap TS409 Pro, and four times that of the CS407.


With increased energy needs, Synology was also resolved to integrate a power source which is lodged in the upper part of the casing above the drives. This is obviously not without consequence on the cooling needs of the system – and therefore on noise levels – and the DS508 has no less than… three fans! Two 80 mm models are directly positioned behind the drives, while a third 40 mm one is entirely devoted to the power supply. While we could have legitimately feared for an increase in sound levels compared to the CS407 (with its single 80 mm fan), we can see that Synology did things very well as noise is equivalent for the two machines.

The double network connection serves in relaying the DS508 to two distinct networks, in other words, each port has its own IP address. Unfortunately, the device is not compatible with the IEEE 802.3ad norm, which would otherwise enable load balancing or to increase the tolerance to failover. It’s true that 802.3ad compatible network material is only encountered in professional environments; however, the DS508 precisely targets this type of use.

When asked about this, Synology confided to us that they were working on this function which is planned for the next big firmware evolution next September. Otherwise, its main rival, Thecus, already features this option on the N5200B Pro.

Set up

Setting up this NAS requires the use of the Synology Assistant tool which enables transferring the firmware on the drives and setting the system’s essentials parameters (notably, the IP address). Once this is done, you can connect to the system by simply entering the NAS’ IP address in your preferred web navigator. We didn’t have any problems with Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Once again we find the version 2.0 of the Disk Station Manager which is visually very elegant and boosted by JavaScript (Ajax). It’s obvious Synology has invested a lot in this aspect and it is indeed a success as much in ergonomics as in the variety of options. Of course, it’s true that once the essential parameters are set we do not make a daily visit to the control panel. Nevertheless, as we have seen a number of botched, incomprehensible, bugged, sparse and poorly translated interfaces, we can easily say that the one offered by Synology is a real competitive advantage.


Obviously, the first thing to do is create one or several logical volumes. The DS508 supports Raid 0, 1 and 5, as wells as a Jbod mode. This is the strict minimum and we would have liked to have seen a few more functions that, in our opinion, are indispensable for a product in this category:

- the possibility for Raid migration from one level to another. This enables notably to spread out the costs of getting your NAS up and running, for example, by starting with a single drive or two in Raid 1. Machines such as the Thecus N5200BR Pro or Qnap TS409 Pro offer this capability while saving data during the migration to Raid 5. On the DS508, the only interesting migration function resides in the possibility of increasing the number of Raid 5 units. This therefore implies starting with a minimum of 3 drives.
- it also lacks the possibility of opting for a two drive breakdown tolerance, at best in Raid 6, or at least being able to associate a spare drive (back up) to Raid 5. You may recall that this last option is only activated when a drive breakdowns and it is then integrated to storage. The inconvenience is that the system is left unprotected for several hours, the time for the new drive to be synchronized, although storage is secure following this operation. While Raid 6 support is planned in September’s firmware update, spare drive support is not on the program.

Multifunction server

Multifunction's server

The DS508’s functions are essentially identical to those of the CS407. Therefore, you can consult our test of the latter for a more detailed presentation. Otherwise, here is a brief summary of the main features:

- multi-user support with authorizations for each repertoire (no access, access in reading, or total access), drive space quotas, and interfacing with Microsoft’s Active Directory;

- local access via SMB/CIFS (Windows), AFP (Mac) and NFS protocol. The activation of the last, however, is not too user-friendly because you have to connect in command line via Telnet/SSH. At any rate, the support of this function directly in the interface is planned for the end of the year;


- secured long distance access in HTTPS (we can access storage via an Internet interface) and FTP with optional SSL/TLS encrypting;


- Rsync compatibility for saving the content of the NAS on other network storage with the possibility of encrypting data along the way;

- the downloading of files via HTTP, FTP or Bittorrent. This very practical function enables carrying out downloading when your PC is off and thereby the DS508 will consume much less energy than an entire machine. For Bittorent, however, we cannot unfortunately set file sharing (seeding) options;

- theAudio Station, which enables transforming the DS508 into a Hifi stereo system. You plug in a pair of speakers on the USB port and control the playing of music files stored in the NAS via an Internet interface. Another possibility is the Synology Remote (sold separately for roughly 40 €) enables navigating through playlists and setting the volume. On the other hand, it does not allow us to chose the playlist (although without an LCD screen this would be difficult), while the radio receiver occupies the second USB port. This means only the eSATA port is open;

- the Photo Station function allows displaying your photo albums in the form of a website with the automatic creation of HTML pages and a vignette for each image. It is then possible to comment on photos, add Exif tags, rotate images, create user accounts with access to different albums, etc. And all you have to do is simply transfer your images into a specific NAS folder and then it takes care of all the rest! This system also works for videos, although poorly (mediocre quality and high conversion times) ;

- a PHP/MySQL server enables housing dynamic websites (blogs, forums, etc.). However we would have liked to see the capability of creating several Apache Virtualhosts from the interface, even if this is theoretically possible after a Telnet/SSH connection and then a manual change of the httpd.conf file;

- a printer server gives you the possibility of transforming a USB printer into a network printer. Note that the system does not support multi-functions (impossible to scan) while certain driver options disappear (notably, controlling ink levels) ;


- finally, a multimedia server enables sending sound, video and photos to compatible peripherals such as the Playstation 3, home network DVD players, Hifi systems, etc. If they are not DLNA certified, the system nevertheless also relies on UPNP AV protocol and functions particularly well. It’s notably the only in its category capable of sending to players all of the sub-title formats commonly associated to video (SRT, Sub, Sub/IDX, etc.). Note that Synology also offers an ITunes server, but it only processes sound files.

We should also point out that in order to connect to the DS508 commands line interface, it’s necessary to download the dedicated patch on the manufacturer’s website. It is applied to the system in the same way as a firmware update and enables activating Telnet and/or SSH services.

New functions: startup planner and IP cams

New functions: a startup planner and IP cams

The DS508 thus offers one of the most complete functions panels that can currently be found on NAS (Thecus and Qnap nevertheless are very solid rivals here), all the more so since the addition of two new functions: the startup planner and IP camera management (Surveillance Station).

The first has been awaited for some time on Synology’s NAS. Unlike most firmware evolutions, it will only be to the benefit of the DS508 most likely for material reasons. It enables precisely setting the hour at which the system will turn on and off and to what days of the week this will apply. It’s a bit unfortunate this feature doesn’t go all the way and we would have liked to have been able to set different time periods for each day of the week (for example, setting different times the system is ON on weekends). Instead, we can only decide which days the set time period will be activated.

We should also mention that there was a bug in the firmware version (0590) which we tested and it will probably still be on the CD that comes with the product. When the DS508 is configured in the GMT+1 time zone, the startup time will be an hour behind. You will therefore have to set the time to 8h00 for wake up at 9h00, for example. Note that the bug does not affect the shut down time.


IP camera support enables you to transform the DS508 into a surveillance station. The idea is simple: after activating this service, a web configuration tool allows you to add cameras relayed to the network. The number of cameras you can control depends on two factors:
- the power of the processor integrated to the NAS. According to Synology, the DS508 has enough resources to manage 10 cameras. Otherwise, this means 5 for the CS407 and DS207+, 2 for the majority of other compatible models (CS407e, CS406, CS406e, DS207, DS107+, DS107 and DS106), and finally a single one for the DS108j, DS107e and DS106e/j ;
- the number of camera licenses you have. By default, Synology only provides one and you should buy as many as you have supplementary cameras for a fee of roughly 35 € taxes included ($49.90). While we aren’t surprised about being charged (development has to be paid for), the price of the license seems a bit high.

So does it work? We didn’t try it with 10 cameras, but with one it actually functions rather well. The list of compatible cameras is rather small at the moment with only 18 models officially supported, and a dozen of others being tested by users.

For us, we had a D-Link DCS-900 which the system immediately recognized. We then defined the parameters of the camera by choosing the recording time based on the day of the week and hour. Recording will be either continuous or only activated when it detects movement. We can also set the amount of time video will be conserved as well as specifying the zone for detection of movement.

Each recording is considered as an event by the system. We then can navigate through events directly in the Web interface by applying various filters (selection of the camera, if the recording was set off by movement detection, time period, etc.) in order to rapidly find the footage you are looking for. An integrated player enables instantaneous playback of video.

In the end, this system is quickly mastered after a short but necessary learning session. On the condition that you correctly set the parameters of the cameras (recording times, the time files are kept, etc.) to avoid having too many files, it should prove very easy to use.

Finally, we should mention that videos are stored in a protected memory, only accessible to the administrator.

Perfs in RAID5

The test

We used the same test protocol as in our previous roundup. Here is the material we used:
– five Seagate 500 GB (ST3500320AS) hard drives;
– a Netgear GS-108 gigabit switch which manages Ethernet packets of up to 9 KB (jumbo frames);
– an Enermax Jazz hard drive casing whose particularity is to offer a double USB 2.0/eSATA interface;
– a sound probe, thermometer and ammeter to measure physical parameters.


Tests essentially consisted of timing the copying of the following groups of files in CIFS/SMB and FTP :
– large sized files (two totaling 1.83 GB), two Divx movies;
– medium sized files (63 totaling 1 GB), a mix of MP3 and Flac files
– small sized files (14,746 totaling 659 MB, all inferior to 1 MB), a website !

Finally, the transfer of files was conducted using a machine equipped with the following:
– Core 2 Duo E4500 ;
– 2 GB of DDR2 667 MHz memory ;
– Asus P5K-SE motherboard ;
– two Western Digital WD5000AAKS-0 hard drives in Raid 0 as the source and destination of files;
- a Gigabit D-Link DGE-530T card (PCI, Marvell Yukon circuit).

Performances in Raid 5

Now we come to performances in Raid 5, a mode in which the DS508 is mainly intended to function. We tested storage with 5 drives and then with 4 in order to be able to obtain measurements that are comparable with the competition.



Synology announced more than 30 MB/s in CIFS/SMB writing and we measured… 31 MB/s in sustained speed with a 4 drive storage! Curiously, the same test on the 5 drive configuration resulted in a little more than 27 MB/s. Adding a drive therefore has an impact on the calculation of parity data, which wasn’t the case for Thecus. For this reason, while the DS508 manages to barely surpass the N5200BR Pro in the above mentioned case, the latter is nevertheless more consistent with a little bit less than 31 MB/s in sustained speed in all situations.

In addition, the N5200BR Pro holds a solid lead in the copying of small files with a speed of 5.5 MB/s. This is almost 5 times faster than the DS508 with 4 drives (1.2 MB/s)! Of course, the writing of small files is always problematic and thanks to its Celeron, Thecus’ NAS always do better than the competition. Nevertheless, Synology also does very poorly in this particular test as the CS407 already had results which were largely inferior to those of its rivals. Even the Qnap’s TS-409 Pro has 33% higher performances than the DS508.

In FTP, traditionally faster than CIFS/SMB on large and medium sized files, sustained speeds were coherent with previous results. We gained slightly in speed (+5% à 33.1 MB/s) and we are still faster with a 4 drive storage. However this time, the Thecus N5200BR Pro benefits more from the change to FTP and it surpasses the DS508 in all cases with a minimum of 36.3 Mo/s.

As for small sized files, the DS508 finishes first! This is somewhat incomprehensible because normally the transfer of small files is slower in FTP. However, we already noticed this curious behavior in the CS407 test and it therefore seems to be normal for Synology. On the other hand, compared to the CS407, the DS508 does not improve (with 5 drives) or only modestly (+13% with four drives 4). In the end, this left us a bit disappointed.



And for reading? Here Synology announces 49 MB/s and we measured 52 MB/s on a 4 drive system! With 5, we were back at a sustained speed of 49 MB/s. This is obviously an excellent result and it places the DS508 very far ahead of its rivals. Synology’s new champion proves to be at least 50% faster than the N5200BR Pro!

More good news is that the reading of small files is now a lot less problematic than writing them. The DS508 is thus on the heels of the N5200BR Pro, which despite everything is still the champ (though only a 20% lead). The gap is still somewhat large, but... it is already better than the 400% lead that we saw in writing!

This improvement is something we already saw with the CS407 which attained 3.2 MB/s versus 0.6 MB/s in writing. However, here there is now some real progress with the DS508 as it doubles the speed (6.8 MB/s for a 5 drives system) or even better (7 MB/s with 4 drives).

In FTP, Synology literally explodes out of the starting gates with highs in reading of 72.5 MB/s! For this reason, it proudly takes the lead while Thecus and Qnap are pale in comparison with roughly 45 MB/s (which already were excellent results).

On the other hand, there was no improvement in FTP concerning the reading of small files. In fact, the negociation of each new file transfer seems to take an enormous amount of time in FTP. This is why results already differ greatly when processing 2 large or 63 medium sized files. So with thousands of small ones, performances collapse! The problem is the same in writing but Synology’s performances are so bad in CIFS/SMB that even FTP is faster.

For this reason, it’s a bit of a headache to find the optimal solution for the transfer of files. In fact, it’s better to use FTP in almost all situations, except when it involves the reading of small files where an enormous amount of time is lost compared to a simple Windows transfer. Either way, it’s not very practical to ask ourselves before each operation what kind of files we are sending. Nevertheless, we can establish a few basic rules for the most common types:
- Music and movies: FTP ;
- Photos, various documents (Word, Excel, HTML, etc.) : FTP for writing, SMB for reading.

We can also consider the volume of data rather than the type of files. With dozens of gigabytes, obviously FTP is the better choice. Under one GB, SMB gives us a very good compromise whatever the situation.

Drive failure

What happens when a drive breaks down? To find out, we unplugged a drive during file transfer and then verified the integrity of the file once the transfer was finished. There were no problems to report.

Following a few remarks from some of our readers, we also made this test harder. Instead of unplugging a single drive, we turned off the power during transfer, unplugged the drive and then turned the machine back on. It’s true that drive breakdowns frequently involve power cuts (and therefore the interest of using an uninterruptible power supply). Here again we didn’t have any problems. While data during writing was obviously lost, the integrity of the storage itself was not in danger.

Gigabit, Jumbo Frames, USB and eSATA

The interest of Gigabit

If you are not yet equipped with Gigabit network material, this may convince you to make the investment.


The theoretical maximum of a 100 Mbps network is as high as 12.5 MB/s. The DS508 comes close to 10 MB/s which is an excellent result.

Gigabit: the interest of jumbo frames

For more information on jumbo frames, don’t hesitate to take a look at our previous NAS article.


We already saw similar behavior with the N5200BR Pro: the activation of jumbos frames strangely leads to a reduction in performances!

Additional USB and eSATA storage

Besides a printer, speakers or even an IPod, USB ports can take hard drives formatted in Ext3, Fat32 or NTFS (in reading only for the last). An eSATA connection also makes an appearance on the DS508 while Synology formerly reserved this only – and curiously enough –for its one and two bay NAS.


Unsurprisingly, the eSATA enables obtaining the best performances with speeds in writing close to 30 MB/s and surpassing 35 MB/s in reading! Thecus’ N5200BR Pro falls behind even if it still has the advantage in writing. USB results are intriguing with a sustained speed that was lower in reading than in writing.

On the other hand, we saw that the writing of small files is much better on USB/eSATA drives than with a Raid 5 storage. It strongly confirms that the poor performances of Synology NAS in this domain are related to a weakness in Raid support.

Noise levels, temp., power consump.

Noise levels

With its integrated power supply and three fans (two 80 mm for the drives and a 40 mm for the power supply), we expected the DS508’s noise levels to be a delicate subject. However, it is with pleasure that we can confirm that sound is equivalent to that of the CS407 first at rest and then after one hour of functioning with Iometer and in a well aerated place. This is therefore a relatively good result even if we cannot call the CS407 “silent”.

The rotation speeds of the two 80 mm fans were on average 1600 Rpm but slightly varied depending on the temperature. Obviously, sound then depends on the number of drives (we tested with 4 in order to have comparable values), their capacity and potential of heating up, as well as the conditions in which you use the DS508 (for example, it’s not recommended you place it in a cabinet).

Temperature

Even after an hour of intensive use, our thermometers showed a very reasonable temperature on the surface of drives: a maximum of 31.7°. Note that the values displayed on the SMART probes were roughly 2 degrees higher.

On the same systems, the differences in temperatures between the various drives are simply explained by the placement of the NAS’ components. On the DS508, the drive on the left is hotter because it is adjacent to the motherboard, while the one on the right had an open space on one side in our test. Its temperature was therefore less.

In the same way, when drives are placed horizontally, temperature readings on the highest drive are always inferior to those below because the probe is placed on top of the drive. In short, the highest and more representative measurements are obviously taken from drives 2 and 3.

Power consumption

We measured NAS consumption at the power outlet with the help of an ammeter at rest and in drive access with four drives.


Power consumption increases 10 Watts between the CS407 and DS508. This still remains reasonable and lower than the N5200BR Pro’s.

Web servers

Web servers

Let us remind you of the test methods we use to get an idea of a NAS’ performances in serving as a Web hosting platform:
– « Free PHP Benchmark Script » from the site Free Web Hosting measures the execution time of a group of mathematical functions in PHP ;
– With a script of our making, we simply measured the execution time of the following SQL request: « BENCHMARK(1000000,encode("bonjour","au revoir"))».

Of course, these scripts do not in any way enable us to carry out an extensive test of server performances (there are special applications for this), but this was not our goal. As a reference, we have included the results obtained with a PC equipped with a P4 at 2.4 GHz/2 GB DDR, in Windows XP and with Wamp 2.0.

Here are the installed applications:



While we liked the gain in the execution speed of PHP script, MySQL server performances plummet. The overall balance is still better than the CS407’s as consulting a medium sized PHPBB2 forums appears to be slightly more reactive here.

Perfs in RAID 0, RAID 1

Performances in Raid 0

Now we give you an idea of performances in Raid 0, a mode which we strongly recommend you do not use (especially with a five drive storage).


We find exactly the same behavior and ranking as in Raid 5. However, absolute values are still obviously higher as Raid 0 enables gaining speeds that are 17% higher in writing (sustained speed in SMB). On the other hand, reading performances are almost identical.

Performances in Raid 1

For these tests, we created a Raid 1 storage of two drives.


After the Thecus N5200BR Pro, the DS508 is the second NAS which gave us higher writing performances in Raid 5 than in Raid 1. Obviously, this is logical on paper but given the weak processors that are used in NAS systems we rarely witness this behavior.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Once again, Synology offers a particularly nice high end product with good construction, a fine interface, a variety of quality functions and (especially) the high raw performances. The sustained SMB speeds of the DS508 literally blow the competition away. New functions are impressive and the Surveillance Station is very user-friendly. The cherry on the cake is that the evolution from four to five drives only has a limited impact on sound levels and power consumption. Moreover, this last aspect can be optimized with the startup planner. Overall, the DS508 is a success.

However, we think the DS508 could mature a little more. Indeed, we had the impression that Synology didn’t always go all the way in certain areas: the DS508 takes up to 5 drives but does not offer tolerance for a two drive failure or the support for two spare drives; it has two Ethernet ports but these are not 802.3ad compatible; raw speeds are excellent but this NAS still has a weakness in the transfer of small sized files; a startup planner is finally available but has limited capabilities; and finally, NFS management requires specific operations instead of being directly activated in the interface (and it isn't like there were no efforts made in this domain). In short, the DS508 proves to be a bit frustrating and we almost feel like it is a sports car but stuck in third gear.


Luckily, it was announced that some of these complaints (notably, Raid 6 and 802.3ad) will be taken into account by the next firmware update planned for September. Obviously, good intentions are not enough and we will have to wait and see what actually happens.

So how does the DS508 compare to the competition? The Thecus N5200BR Pro, its direct rival, has the following advantages: iSCSI, Raid 6, spare drive, USB Wifi, and Wake on lan support; evolved Raid migration functions; a third USB port with automatic loading of storage that is connected to it; an LCD display; a complete startup planner; and an integrated 4 port switch (on the “R” version). In addition, it has better performances with small files while the version without the switch enables saving almost 120€ (taxes included) versus 70 € for the version with the switch.

However it does have its disadvantages: a less refined interface with fewer options overall (notably with too few parameters for some functions) which is poorly translated; no encrypted FTP support; no ITunes, Web PHP/MySQL or photo server; no downloading utility or USB speaker support while the sound levels, temperature of drives and power consumption are higher. Performances in reading are also largely inferior.

Finally, we should point out that Synology will also release the DS508 in rack version. The RS408 will thus have a new physical architecture (Freescale circuit and 512 MB of memory) but capacity will remain the same at four drives like the RS407. In addition, another version with an uninterruptible power supply, called the RS408-RP, will be released. Also, keep in mind that there are no plans for a CS408, at least for this year. The CS407 will therefore still be in the catalogue for some time.

We liked:
– the raw performances!
– five drives in hotswap ;
– the interface, the variety and quality of functions, notably the Surveillance Station ;
– the startup planner;
– the eSATA port ;
– the finishing touches, robustness and look ;
– sound levels were equivalent to those of the CS407.

We didn’t like:
– performances with the copying of small files;
– limited Raid migration functions;
– no Raid 6 or spare drive support;
– no 802.3ad compatibility;
– startup planner doesn’t let you set the specific week day;
– activation of NFS requires a Telnet connection;
– not entirely silent yet!