Page 6: Use, Video Review, Conclusion
Use
One of the best feature of of the Synology NAS devices is the ability to easily copy files from a USB mass storage device. Sadly, The DS712+ does not support USB 3. Hopefully that is coming in a future model since USB 2 can be painfully slow with larger transfers. As you can see, a USB thumb drive is detected and once the green light (above the drive) is on, you can press the green transfer button to copy everything. Once it is done, you can remove it.
The DS712+ supports tons of USB devices. You can share printers, even other USB mass storage devices. You can also hook up additional drives using eSATA for increased speed. Remember that this is a computer, you are free to expand it to whatever you need.
Moving to to the performance of the DS712+, our network doesn't support link aggregation, so we're looking at a single gigabit connection. Performance is rated on link aggregation, so Synology says 180MB/s on reads and 105MB/s on writes. This is with the best possible condition and RAID 0 (no safety).
Using RAID 1, we managed to get a maximum throughput of just about 80MB/s on both directions which is simply fantastic for a network device. The DS712+ can nearly saturate the bandwidth of gigabit and it is great to be able to transfer files at near disk speeds. Even at these speeds, the DS712+ was still very responsive and could handle multiple tasks. The drives were kept cool, even at these high load events. They never reached 100 degrees F thanks to the large and quiet fan in the back. Power draw was excellent as well, for x86-64. On boot, the highest draw was 40 watts. At normal load, it was about 25 watts.
Video Review
Conclusion
It has been a long time since the last Synology product was reviewed here. The Synology DS712+ is a high end device that fits in the small to medium business sector and it is priced to match at just below $500. It has enough storage to get you started on building out a corporate network and the features to continually support the users. A great feature that Synology gives is the ability to increase the storage at any time with expansion units, or even using USB mass storage devices. Future expandability means that you don't need to go out and buy a whole different device just to expand the storage.
The DSM 4.0 software is a step up in the line for Synology. There are constant improvements with the user interface and the fact that you can install the latest software on models that are four years old is proof that if you buy a Synology product, you will be taken care of well beyond the lifecycle of the device. We can easily recommend the DS712+ for small and medium businesses. It has the speed and capability to support larger networks without sweating.
ASE Publishing would like to thank Synology for making this review possible.
One of the best feature of of the Synology NAS devices is the ability to easily copy files from a USB mass storage device. Sadly, The DS712+ does not support USB 3. Hopefully that is coming in a future model since USB 2 can be painfully slow with larger transfers. As you can see, a USB thumb drive is detected and once the green light (above the drive) is on, you can press the green transfer button to copy everything. Once it is done, you can remove it.
The DS712+ supports tons of USB devices. You can share printers, even other USB mass storage devices. You can also hook up additional drives using eSATA for increased speed. Remember that this is a computer, you are free to expand it to whatever you need.
Moving to to the performance of the DS712+, our network doesn't support link aggregation, so we're looking at a single gigabit connection. Performance is rated on link aggregation, so Synology says 180MB/s on reads and 105MB/s on writes. This is with the best possible condition and RAID 0 (no safety).
Using RAID 1, we managed to get a maximum throughput of just about 80MB/s on both directions which is simply fantastic for a network device. The DS712+ can nearly saturate the bandwidth of gigabit and it is great to be able to transfer files at near disk speeds. Even at these speeds, the DS712+ was still very responsive and could handle multiple tasks. The drives were kept cool, even at these high load events. They never reached 100 degrees F thanks to the large and quiet fan in the back. Power draw was excellent as well, for x86-64. On boot, the highest draw was 40 watts. At normal load, it was about 25 watts.
Video Review
Conclusion
It has been a long time since the last Synology product was reviewed here. The Synology DS712+ is a high end device that fits in the small to medium business sector and it is priced to match at just below $500. It has enough storage to get you started on building out a corporate network and the features to continually support the users. A great feature that Synology gives is the ability to increase the storage at any time with expansion units, or even using USB mass storage devices. Future expandability means that you don't need to go out and buy a whole different device just to expand the storage.
The DSM 4.0 software is a step up in the line for Synology. There are constant improvements with the user interface and the fact that you can install the latest software on models that are four years old is proof that if you buy a Synology product, you will be taken care of well beyond the lifecycle of the device. We can easily recommend the DS712+ for small and medium businesses. It has the speed and capability to support larger networks without sweating.
ASE Publishing would like to thank Synology for making this review possible.