TinkerTry Home Lab Testing of Synology DS1618+ and DS1621xs+.DSM 6.2.x at left, DSM 7.x at right. Click/tap twice to zoom in.DSM 7 has made getting started even easier.
which generated many reader comments where it became evident that others felt much as I did. We wanted a version of this NAS where we didn't have to choose between 10G or M.2. Instead, we want to have both! See also at TinkerTry:
I now have a DS1621xs+ in the TinkerTry home lab to test as well! Stay tuned for more information on how my initial tinkering is going. My valued readers and I would love to read your comments dropped below this article, particularly regarding your thoughts and experiences with the new DSM 7.0.
Disclosure- I now have a Synology DS1621xs+ provided by Synology for long-term evaluation at no charge. Synology exerted no influence over the content of this article, and no stipulations. Synology has not advertised on TinkerTry via BSA. "TinkerTry.com, LLC" may earn a small income from readers who use the shopping links below.
Disk Station Manager 7.0-41882 Release Candidate download.
DSM 7 is one of the largest overhauls Synology DSM (Disk Station Manager) has ever had, and is claimed by Synology to be more responsive too.
Tonight, I had a look for myself, using DSM 7.0 Release Candidate on my DS1618+, recording some footage of me informally kicking the tires, comparing DSM 7 to the DSM 6.2 UI on my DS1621xs+. According to the press release below, the final generally available bits will appear on June 29 2021, but for my XS series DS1621xs+ NAS, I'll need to wait until Q4 2021 until I can run DSM 7 on it too. Once Synology has a generally available DSM 7 for both my NASs, I'll start putting some of my important data back on them, hopefully having a chance to test VMware VM backups using NAKIVO, Veeam, and Synology.
I can safely say that DSM 7 is different enough that much of the existing documentation on setting up NFS or iSCSI for use with VMware is now somewhat obsolete. This is a pretty dramatic usability boost too, with considerable workflow streamlining from any prior DSM release. My initial impressions are favorable, as you'll hear me express in my very first lab test featured in my DSM 7.0 upgrade and configuration video below, where'll see just how straight-forward and easy it has become to create my first storage pool and volume.
I enjoy informal usability testing, especially when I've heard the UI has been optimized to actually be faster than prior releases, even on older systems. This is generally no easy task as feature sets grow, check out the videos below.
Synology DSM 7 features an even faster UI with improved ease-of-use, initial testing/overview
Synology DiskStation DS1618+ NAS unboxing, initial watt burn measure, and firmware update testing
Before updating, your Synology NAS should be running DSM 6.2 or above versions.
Reserve extra time to complete DSM 7.0 update. The DSM update takes 10 to 20 minutes, while package update may take more than an hour. The actual time depends on the computing power of your model, the number of media indexing files, and the number of packages installed.
If you're performing a clean installation, make sure to complete the installation with find.synology.com or Synology Assistant 7.0-50029 or above.
I've pulled together some highlights from today's Synology Press Release below, choosing the sections that detail the new DSM 7.0 UI, since that's the focus of this article.
Taipei, Taiwan—June 23, 2021—Synology today announced the imminent release of DiskStation Manager (DSM) 7.0 and a massive expansion of the Synology C2 platform with four new cloud services. Focusing on enhancing security, system management capabilities, and improving data collaboration, DSM 7.0 is an enormous step forward for Synology's NAS and SAN product lines.
Close to the source, how Synology edge solutions solve data management challenges
...
Over eight million of Synology's data management solutions have been deployed worldwide1, each powered by the DSM operating system. As the world's largest NAS OS, DSM uniquely combines storage interoperability, backup and data protection capabilities, and robust synchronization and collaboration solutions together to address increasingly distributed workplaces and sources of data. Synology-developed add-ons, such as Synology Drive, Active Backup suite, and more, feature more than six million monthly downloads.
DSM 7.0, the next leap forward for the platform, will be released on June 292. Launching together with the massive new update includes brand new hybrid-cloud services, such as Active Insight, a large-scale device monitoring and diagnostics solution, Hybrid Share, which combines C2 storage flexibility and synchronization capabilities with on-premises solutions, and C2 Identity, a hybrid cloud directory as a service to simplify cross-site domain management3. Together with platform improvements such as supporting up to 1 PB volumes for super-large tasks, DSM 7.0 also introduces security improvements in the form of Secure SignIn. This brand-new authentication system makes two-factor effortless and straightforward to use.
Availability
New C2 solutions and DSM 7.0, which has concluded over 7 months of public testing, will be available soon.
Source: Synology sales metrics across all markets.
For select Plus, value, and J series products. XS, SA, and FS series devices will receive updates later in Q4 2021.
New C2 services will gradually roll out starting from July 13.
Active Backup centralizes backup tasks for VMware, Hyper-V, Windows endpoints, Office 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. ...
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.
