Synology 5bay Expansion Unit DX517 (Diskless)

For decades, both professionally and at home, I've used data storage products. I used to make my own before switching to Synology almost a decade ago. Synology has so far surpassed my (extremely high) expectations. br>br>Several metrics should be used to evaluate a product: br>1) the item - 2) Life cycle of the item you buybr> 3) support - the item you buy over the time you own itbr> can you get help when (not if) you have issues?br>br>First, the product. br>Synology DX1517: I added this DX1517 to my DS1517 at home, and I'll focus on the DX1517 (this product) rather than Synology as a whole. br>br>Synology storage products are based on the Linux operating system. DSM, or Disk Station Manager, is a Windows-based program that runs on their DS (Disk Station) line and is extremely powerful in a home or small office setting. DSM has a strong foundation that can be supplemented with a large number of applications from both Synology and third-party vendors. Many of those applications are free, just like Apps for your PC or phone. However, not all applications, like Microsoft Office for Windows, are free. Surveillance Station is one of the DSM services that requires payment after a certain period of time. Surveillance Station allows you to run up to two cameras for free; after that, you must license Surveillance Station per camera (and, contrary to some false reviews, purchased camera licenses can be transferred to other Synologies). It's been accomplished by me. Furthermore, if you can't find the app you're looking for, Synology also offers Docker, which allows you to add generic third-party apps that are available in Docker containers. That way, I can start and stop as many apps as I want. DSM and any installed application can operate on any system volumes that DSM recognizes. br>br>It's easy to add the DX1517: Turn everything on after making sure everything is turned off, the disks are installed in the expansion unit, and the eSata cable is properly inserted and tightly screwed in on both ends. You've got more disks than magic. Create a new volume in DSM for the new expansion disks. The volume will then be checked for consistency, and you'll be all set. Done. br>br>As a result, I now have 50TB spread across two volumes in RAID 6 on both the main and expansion units. Yes, I'm wasting four of ten disks. Read on. Here's how it works: br>br> SPREADING A VOLUME ACROSS eSATA CONNECTED DEVICES IS NOT A GOOD IDEA. I have two volumes, one on the main DS unit and one on the DX unit (all, and I mean ALL, storage vendors strongly recommend this setup), so I have two volumes, one on the main DS unit and the other on the DX unit. DSM doesn't seem to mind, and I don't have a database or anything else that requires more than a single volume. Is it possible to have just one volume that spans multiple devices? Yes, that is possible. Most modern cars can also go faster than 100 miles per hour. However, there is a distinction to be made: Using an eSATA connection to run a volume is the equivalent of only being able to drive your car at 100 mph all of the time. When (not if, but when) something goes wrong (which could be your fault, but could also be someone else's), the results aren't always pleasant. br>br>RAID 6 only allows for the redundancy of two disks. If something happened to either my DS or my DX, the power cords connecting them, or the eSata cable connecting them, I'd lose 5 disks in the volume. As a result, if I had a single volume on both devices, that volume would lose five disks. there are five disks 2 disks. RAID 6 won't be much of a help. Best wishes to you. (For purists, depending on the nature of the failure, there's a chance I might be able to re-create the failure. ) set up a read-through Only if I can get all drives spinning again will I be able to access the volume. But where would I put 50TB of data if I were to rebuild it? )br>br>TL;DR; TL;DR; TL; TL; TL; TL; TL; TL; The expansion unit is exactly what it says it is, and it works flawlessly. It's undetectable, and as long as it's installed correctly, I don't give it a second thought. I only use DSM as a means of communication. br>br>Second, Product Life-Cyclebr>Synology does an incredible job of keeping DSM and the core Synology Applications not only up to date for security and reliability issues, but they also increase functionality over time as you own your product. This isn't just for the first year or while the product is under warranty - they do it all the time. However, for the DS series, it has taken about 5 years or more after the product has been released to market. This is a significant benefit. br>br>Many companies release a good product, then rush to develop a new product that they can sell, leaving the previous products with outdated, buggy, and insecure firmware. What was once a good product becomes incompatible, insecure, and effectively unsupportable after a while (many lower-cost products). This is done by Android phone manufacturers - When they're focused on their next product, they simply don't provide updates, despite Synology's excellent product life-cycle record. Is this going to be the case in the future? Who knows, but past success is the best predictor of future results. Third, product support. br>Storage device support is and should be focused on data loss prevention. I had first-hand experience with Synology live support on a DS1511 that I used to own, and it was fantastic: I had power issues in my house, which caused my DS to restart repeatedly, eventually preventing it from booting from disk. I contacted Synology support, and within a day, a human was manually logging into my system and uninstalling the software. I messed it up, but I was good to go after that. The real kicker is this: They were aware that the DS1511 was no longer under warranty at the time. I was blown away, and I continue to be. Look for a replacement. Then look for someone who will do it after the product has passed its warranty period. This level of service is only possible if the company keeps its products current - If the underlying product life-cycle is sound, that is. Synology excels in this area. br>br>I have to make a comment about the guy who is yelling on Amazon that the product will no longer be supported after the warranty period has expired. To begin, Synology offers a three-year standard warranty. Second, if you want a longer warranty, Synology offers two-year extensions, bringing the total to five years. Finally, replacing a three-year-old failed device is usually preferable and, in the long run, less expensive than having it repaired, especially at these prices. What goes wrong is a factor: PSUs, on the other hand, are easily repaired by locals. More than that, and even for a PC, I'd recommend getting a replacement device; the old drives will work with the new one, and if Synology SHR RAID is a concern, just use RAID 6. After that, you can go to any Linux-friendly location. However, if you get a replacement Synology, all you have to do is plug the drives in, turn it on, and you're good to go. br>br>I'm happy for a storage vendor to prioritize data loss issues for real support, and there's a solid ecosystem in place for getting help setting up Photo Station and other Synology products. site (forum, wiki), as well as other places (reddit, SynoForum, and so on). br>br>Overall, Synology gets 5 stars from me.

Marlee Coleman

| Dec 04, 2021

I recently installed a DS918 and was blown away by its speed, management tools, and Plex performance. I had hard drives laying around after migrating from an older NAS, so this was a no-brainer. br>br>The retail packaging with handle was nested inside a larger Zon box with a ton of paper packing around it, which was fully taped and nested inside a Synology type warehouse box. That was very well done. br>br>It was simple to set up. Because the cable is designed specifically for Synology connectors and is only about 18 inches long, you'll want to keep them together or very close. I've got them vertically on separate shelves on a wire rack and they reach just fine (hopefully the photo is okay for your review). br>br>Like my DS918 review, the unit is light until you put drives in it, but it doesn't have a cheap feel to it. This one has lights in each bay that are distributed evenly. I'll have to check the forums to see if I can mute or turn off the lights that run down the side of the master NAS. The drive trays are spring-loaded, so mounting a couple of disks only took a few minutes. When re- When inserting the tray into the NAS, make sure the spring-loaded cover is not pressed; otherwise, the drive will not fit snugly or be properly mounted. There's no danger here; all you have to do is click it out, slide it in, and lock it in place. Turn it up to eleven. br>br>Once you've connected to a supported NAS device for management, you go to the web interface for that device. I didn't have to do anything, but I could see that there were additional drives available from the 'desktop' admin tool's dash board. As a result, I immediately started up Storage Manager. I set up a Raid 5 volume on my primary NAS. I'm using "Disk Group" with Synology's proprietary raid solution, SHR, to test this set of disks. The most significant advantage of SHR over a traditional raid with single disk protection is the ability to add hard drives indefinitely. I started with three 4TB drives because there are five bays, and the usable space is approximately seven. 4 TB. I'll add another 4TB after I move some data around, bringing the total to 11TB. Please note that if the drives are of different sizes, it will round down to the smallest drive size, so 1 4TB and 1 2TB SHR'd will be the same as 2 2TB drives. There are a slew of cool YouTube videos that can help you understand things better. br>After you've finished creating your disk group, go to the Volume tab and select "Create" from the menu at the top. Then you'll want to look at that storage right away (it's performing a disk check, but the space is available right away). Create a new share by launching File Manager. You're ready to go now that you've set up the name, security, and everything else. br>br>I have a lot of juggling to do, but I'll do some speed tests as soon as I can. Volume to Volume tests appear to be extremely fast so far, which is fantastic, but I'm not sure that will be the primary access use case. br>Take a look at the DS918 user interface reviews to see what people are saying about it. I'm happy with the expansion overall.

Giovanni Davidson

| May 18, 2021

Synology products have always appealed to me due to their ease of use and durability. However, when I used my DS218 with the DX517, it gave me an unpleasant surprise: after each reboot, it "loses" the first hard drive; reinserting it restored it, but I had to run volume repair for a few days. And everything appears to be in good working order. until the following reboot Hard drive was replaced, and a thorough SMART test was performed to ensure that the new hard drive was working properly. same pattern of behavior Similar complaints about DX517 have been found on the internet. It's a real drag.

Memphis PRITCHARD

| Jan 18, 2021

You will not be able to get this or any other Synology product repaired after the warranty period has expired. You'll have to get rid of it and get a new one. In the United States, they do not have any facilities. To fix their small business and enterprise products, they turned to A. Support told me:br>br>"For some clarification on repairs, we are unfortunately not equipped or staffed to do repairs at this time. " Any hardware refurbishment is handled at our Taiwan headquarters, so shipping back and forth would cause significant delays, on top of which there would be shipping costs. br>br>This means that the cost of ownership has just skyrocketed. Because of this issue, I would strongly consider other NAS options. This is a pity because I believe their products, on the whole, have reasonable features and capabilities.

Lucille Burch

| Dec 06, 2021