Earlier this summer, Synology reached out to me to discuss the possibly of turning in some long term evaluation NAS equipment in return for some hands-on time with the very new Synology 1522+ featuring AMD Ryzen and ECC memory capability. Naturally, I said yes, especially since they were offering this evaluation unit to arrive near it's June 29th product launch! Be sure to also have a look at this little 5 bay NAS's product page at Synology DiskStation DS1522+:
Image from DS1522+ Datasheet.
Flexible data management for homes and small business
The 5-bay Synology DiskStation DS1522+ is easy to scale and expand as your needs change, with optional support for up to 15 drives, 10GbE networking, and NVMe SSD caching. Powered by Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM), it offers a flexible all-in-one solution for data sharing, synchronization, backup, and surveillance.
Another reason I jumped at the chance was that Synology was no longer as supply chain constrained, so thankfully this time around they were able to equip my 5 bays with matching 8TB Synology HDDs. But wait, there's more, they also sent me these very tantalizing tool-free-installation add-ons:
I run VMware vSphere 24x7 in my compact and efficient home datacenter. Having shared NAS storage across the cluster storage for VM backups is blessing for any vSphere home datacenter like mine, and is especially handy for testing iSCSI and/or NFS too. I also really needed more Windows compatible network shares for my growing 4K video production for growing my YouTube Channel.
Synology has been known to sponsor NAS giveaways at many VMUG (VMware User Groups), and it's a good move given the IT Professional audience who could always use a bit of extra resilience and protection in their labs.
Disclosure - While these items were provided at no charge to TinkerTry.com, LLC, there were no stipulations about what I could write or record video about, other than to share my experience with the DS 1522+, and those 5 HAT5300-8T drives. This is not a sponsored post, nor is the video. No preview of this article or video were provided to Synology in advance of publication. TinkerTry.com, LLC may earn a modest commission from readers who use the shopping links below.
Did you know that NAKIVO Backup and Replication can be installed directly on many NASs including most of Synology’s models? This new DS1522+ is one of the many NASs listed as compatible by Synology here. Awesome!
Synology Active Backup Suite
Having backup software installed directly on the NAS can make a lot of sense for small businesses or home lab enthusiast who wants to separate their backup storage from their compute cluster. This allows for easy recovery from host/server disasters, since the backup server is running on the NAS itself, not on a VM that has went offline.
See also Synology Active Backup Suite, which I have not yet had a chance to test:
Active Backup centralizes backup tasks for VMware, Hyper-V, Windows endpoints, Microsoft 365 and G Suite to Synology NAS – and lets you manage from one simple console. Fast and reliable recovery delivered to keep running services, VMs, and files instantly available.
As of Aug 16 2022, only this first video in the series has been recorded and produced. I'm hopeful that subsequent testing goes well, and that time and reader/viewer interest warrants my continuation of this series.
I like the new disk tray design overall, and I carefully compare and contrast it with the latching mechanism on the 6 bay
I'm alright with the LEDs no longer being on the drives, instead, they're off to the right-side of the front bezel
I'm not thrilled with the external power supply connector, but it's a decent trade off for desk space savings
I don't want to say any more, it'll spoil the many moments and observations contained throughout the video. After watching, please feel free to drop me a comment below this article or below the video. Thank you for your readership/viewership!
My measurement of roughly 57 watts after boot at idle (seen in my video above) is impressive for 5 8TB drives, 2 SSDs 10G, and an AMD Ryzen CPU! This relatively miserly watt use makes it well suited for 24x7 home office use. For comparison purposes, humans put out about 100 watts worth of heat at idle. In my home, I'll likely locate this in an unconditioned area of my basement, which is quite alright given it's a headless unit meant to be operated and used remotely over my network. Even better, over my 10G network, using my Netgear S708T-100NES. Hopefully my largely resolved 10G challenges on Xeon D-1500 don't resurface, or maybe I can get my hands on some new Xeon D-1700/Xeon D-2700 gear this year, we'll see.
Introducing Synology® DiskStation DS1522+ for versatile data management
Specifications
Bellevue, Wash— June 29, 2022—Synology today announced the new 5-bay Synology DiskStation DS1522+, the latest compact solution in its Plus line of all-in-one storage devices. It assists users of all sizes to protect data, IT infrastructure, and physical assets professionally and securely while supporting a host of business, IT administration, and productivity applications.
"DS1522+ is a versatile solution fit for a wide range of usage needs and environments," said Peggy Weng, product manager at Synology Inc. "The new 10GbE upgrade option plus scalability for 10 additional drives makes the DS1522+ cost-effective and a solution that can easily grow with any team."
Compact solution, boundless possibilities
DS1522+ integrates thoroughly as the primary storage solution for smaller setups or as an edge node for multi-site deployments. Powered by DiskStation Manager (DSM) 7.1, it features robust data management capabilities, comprehensive file sharing, collaboration, and video surveillance capabilities.
Scalable up to 15 drive bays with two DX517 expansion units, a fully expanded DS1522+ can reliably host massive amounts of data while taking up minimal desktop or shelf space. A new network upgrade slot enables anytime 10GbE upgrades, while two built-in M.2 2280 NVMe slots can be used to speed up storage performance significantly.
Beyond file storage
Synology storage systems can easily be configured to become a cross-platform private cloud while still giving users complete control over their data. Synology Drive enables intuitive file management and synchronization between platforms like Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, ensuring users' data is accessible no matter where they are.
Synology Photos enables hobby photographers looking to manage their growing collection to quickly pull and back up media from their phones, sort and organize pictures, and make them easily shareable with robust permissions control.
Keep businesses running
Keeping business endpoints, emails, and critical data secured and backed up is more necessary than ever with continuous and emerging cybersecurity threats. The DS1522+, once set up, will automatically conduct data backup, snapshot, and replication automation to ensure files and LUNs stored on it can be backed up to other devices including cloud services.
Synology's Active Backup Suite allows IT infrastructure, such as Windows systems, Hyper-V/VMware VMs, and Microsoft 365/Google Workspace accounts, to be safely backed up onto the DS1522+ and easily restored when needed.
Compact surveillance and application server
The DS1522+ also functions as a full-fledged video management system that provides full local data ownership. Synology's Surveillance Station is a powerful VMS designed for businesses and is already implemented and protecting over 500,000 sites. Flexible ONVIF support and more than 8,300 validated IP cameras make deployment simple and easily suited to each location's requirements.
Surveillance Station makes it easy to set up and manage up to 40 cameras on the DS1522+ with a modern and customizable interface. For larger or multiple building environments, add in floor plans and overlay Google Maps or OpenStreetMap for maximum situational awareness. Retain important footage and increase resiliency with support for backup recording servers, multi-device management (Central Management System), and even support for end-to-end encrypted, simultaneous dual recording to C2 Surveillance.
Featuring a compact 5-bay build, the Synology DS1522+ is highlighted by its AMD Ryzen R1600 processor. The biggest change of all though is the addition of an expansion port on the back of the NAS to allow users to add a single-port 10GbE interface for greater network performance.
The brand still features numerous solutions that are targeted toward home, value and prosumer users, but it is undeniable that Synology has been giving a great deal of attention to top-tier business and enterprise above all else in 2022. So far, the new Synology DS1522+ NAS is a solution that on the face of it is something a little bit more SMB and Prosumer, arriving in a 5 Bay desktop chassis and mid-range server CPU form.
TinkerTry - PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency and more, including virtualization. My opinions here, not my employer's.
After 6 successful years testing then shipping well over 1,000 Xeon D Bundles, Wiredzone had to stop selling them in mid-2021 due to cost, supply, and logistics challenges. So far, Xeon D-1700/2700 (Ice Lake D) was a minor refresh for 2023, with Xeon D-1800/2800 (Granite Rapids D) refresh looking a little better for 2024. More cores, but still just PCIe Gen4 and DDR4. Looking ahead, I'm glad it's Pat Gelsinger at Intel's helm. I'm also grateful to have had the honor of working at VMware when Pat was the CIO there. I'll leave it at that, given the whole Broadcom thing.
