I've been shopping to replace my ancient DS413j. I use my NAS for home file storage and media streaming. Until now I've been keeping my PC on 24/7 running streaming software with my NAS just as a storage device. I've been wanting to run the streaming app on my NAS. I bit the bullet last month and purchased the discontinued DS920+ even though I had to pay $150 USD over MSRP for it. I think I made the right choice as it best meets my present needs. I like some of the future proofing features of the DS923+ but it is less capable for what I want to do today. NASCompares has been very helpful in my decision making.
Ive' been on the fence with adding a Synology to my collection. I guess I never new about the trans-coding with integrated video for streaming directly from the NAS and that helped a lot. Thanks for the in depth review. I've been a very long time fan of the channel and appreciate your efforts.
Would i benefit from having the integrated graphics (ds423+) if i’m streaming to my iPhone 13 over the internet? Or would I benefit from the faster file reading of the AMD cpu? (ds923+) Pls help! Clientside… Encode… transcode… i dont know what that is or if an iPhone can do that.
Feedback from a new person to the channel: it's hard to listen to your video as a podcast, without visuals, because you do not always mention verbally which of 3 NAS models you are currently talking about. Like: "In terms of value for money this one is the most value, and this one comes really close". This one - which one? :) Since I mostly watch UA-cam on the go during walking would appreciate if you mention the model numbers more often.
You are too kind. The move from Intel for the 923+ means it is still borne for me. The 920+ is simply fantastic and great value for money. The 423+ is a bet meh as well. And for more money than the 920+. Fortunately I am not likely in the market for another NAS for a good while. I hope Synology sales reflect this and they realise the consumer market should be given a decent option without having to buy into am enterprise level system.
Useful info, thanks. As a photographer with half a million image files, I’m currently using a DS920 with 40TB to store them securely. However, the move to 10Gb with the 923 will speed up the system when editing in Lightroom plus the memory expansion will help I’m sure. But I’m not sure whether your points concerning the lack of integrated graphics on the 923 is relevant in the case of Lightroom image storage and editing rather than the video streams case. Any info/suggestions on this?
Do drives that sit in an expansion unit perform slower than those sitting in the main unit (because of all that cabling between the units)? I.e. do expansions come with a performance hit relative to housing all your drives inside the main unit? I.e. is buying a bigger main unit up front better than counting on expanding it later (if money is not an issue)?
Good and interesting review. I have a DS1821+ with 32Gb RAM, 10Gb board, running DSM-7.1, and I am very satisfied. I may be wrong, but the problem with our review when you talk about the possibility to create a Storage Pool on NVMe drives, is that you must buy the very expensive Synology branded NVMe sticks !! Unless I have been told something wrong, you can't use third party NVMe sticks, and this is a VERY bad news ! I am not going to pay the huge extra cost just to get a synology sticker on the NVMe drives, so unless somebody finds a hack, I will look to another brand, just because of this problem artificially created by Synology... and I would prefer to stay with Synology (so hackers are welcome !)
Couldn't agree more. Freedom to use any NVMe is critical to the overall decision. Any Synology accessories come at a pretty steep cost, not sure why. Crucial NVMe's work just fine.
@@richardturkson5916 "They come at a pretty step cost", just because Synology makes huge margins on them ! I love Synology, but O will go to another brand if I cannot use third party devices, particularly NVMes Storage Pools.... I hope that the Rddit hack will solve this issue.
2-core "upgrade" of the 923 is a joke, and claiming it's "enterprise" focused is outright laughable. The benchmarks are pretty clear too, the R1600 is ≈5% faster, because of single core performance alone, which is honestly counterproductive compared to what you'd want in server/NAS environment, running multiple processes. And ofc as you'd expect it's gets completely slaughtered by the J4125 in multi-core performance.
I would swap "enterprise" with "cheapest crap we could possibly cobble together and put in a box and markup to the absolute highest point and then nickel and dime end users to death with by forcing them to buy our stuff", do you think that is too wordy though?... lol. Agreed you could buy a real/full Intel processor NAS for the money it costs you to add memory, ssd, and 10gbe in the 923. Synology has drank their own cool aid too long. We are comparing NAS's that all have 1999 tech NIC's in them, 2018 USB, 2019 CPU's (minus the 923 bargin bin special AMD). Their products no longer make any sense, oh well back to the cool aid...
@@km3481 Agreed. Synology need to pull their heads outta their asses, for their products to be relevant again. However I think given the recent "branded" HDD BS, soft-locks and now this nerfed NAS generation, in addition to other shenanigans from them, it may be a long time before they wise up, if ever.
I think about the ds423+ Two questions: 1. Is it possible to use any (kind of) nvme ssd for volumes? Or only on synology nvmes? 2. Can you make a test about how much mem i can really install? Usually in this cases it is possible to add some extra memory like 8GB instead of 4GB. What do you think? Thanks. Great video like always
So can we conclude that given the fact that the value of the 920+ is really close to that of the 923+ Synology has accomplished next to nothing in three years time in terms of hardware? Are they already on the path of saying goodbye to their NAS-boxes to focus solely on future versions of DSM?
Good point, I don't expect a miracle from them with hardware at this late in the game. My guess is that they want to keep in hardware, just want to squeeze every penny they can out of their stuff and if people keep buying it, they will keep making it. Shame because they destroyed their own brand in doing so... The 923 isn't a good value at all imho it is the cheapest junk they could cobble together, put their memory, their 10gbe, and their SSD in it and your paying a absolute ridiculous amount for just mediocre hardware and a mediocre solution experience, you could buy a full intel box nas with real capabilities that would make a real difference to the need it served for similar money. For all the hype around DSM it is so late to the party and it doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up. Sign... It could have been a real different story if they didn't squander a tremendous opportunity in the market.
@@km3481 Well I don't know if they will destroy their brand. I think they could be pretty succesful doing DSM only in the future, because for me DSM is a really great piece of software. But it would be nice if they would be honest about it. Their loyal customers that supported them for all these years deserve it.
@@jasperverkroost I agree they should have been honest. Perhaps your also right, destroying the brand brand is a tough, although many of their clients dumped Synology for either QNAP or TrueNAS... Those users will not easily come back to the brand once they invest in another. But whatever they do now, it is real late to the party for me to use Synology. They should have started it years ago. DSM is a great OS for sure, but it is weird that it really not a good enterprise level system and it is overkill for entry level and for prosumer/smb they fit very specific uses only. I'm at a point, I never go into the NAS OS's anymore, I want the fastest experience that hits the prosumer/smb ticket that I never want to think about. QTS is clunky and not nearly as slick as DSM, but I really don't care because I only log into their OS's once a month maybe, I just want it to fly on the network and handle media and deliver vm's, QTS (or TrueNAS) does that flawlessly and faster than DSM (because of the hardware direction). The use case and cost isn't with them anymore sadly... I'm a loyal customer as long as I don't feel like I'm being dumped on and squeezed all the time.
Hi, I bought DS923 and just to say for info that everything is running great, very smooth. I made upgrade to 32GB ram, 2x4TB WD RED (personal files) , 1x 8TB RED (Plex), 1TB SSD (Business, VM, etc) and M.2 256GB cashe. I use Plex with OpenVPN and it runs very nice. Very different if you use it without OpenVPN... and If there are 4K movies in some cases, not that often, but there is a client that can handle it. At the end I am very satisfied with DS923+ from the business side (Backup, security, Snapshot, Virtual machine, etc.) and from a personal side (Photos, Plex, etc.). In the beginning I thought that I will have some problems but I organised everything how will be in use and now I am satisfied. 👍
I always had fomo for buying the 923 bc of “integrated graphics” but this video makes it clear that I don’t need it. I’d rather use client side transcoding (if ever needed) and faster file transfer any day.
Great review - BUT a wish for improvement: I don't watch whole videos actively, I often wash dishes or don't concentrate fully on the video while watching videos (that are not purely visual). And you always point on a NAS and say 'this is better than this' or 'in this case you want this'. Now if someone listens more to the audio - he won't understand which one you refer to. Saying '923 is better than 920' or 'in that case you want the 920' - would be a sooooo much better. Thanks and keep up the great work.😊
The AMD R1600 may have a clock speed advantage, but I wonder why they didn't look at going with something like an embedded V1605B which has 4 cores and 8 threads as well as Vega 8 graphics for the video encode/decode while maintaining a TDB between 12-25W. It would be far superior to both the R1600 and J4125 in every way.
Since HW transcoding has been dropped in DSM7.2.2, the DS423+ has no advantages over the DS923+ anymore - so I went for the DS923+! Too bad we have to install a plugin for photos on the browser now, not so user friendly as it used to be...
@@Joooooohan nothing too resource intensive. Just PiHole, Vaultwarden, iperf3, and watchtower. Always interested to see what other home users are using docker for. I’m not into Plex or any home automation though.
I have a question wheter or not the 923+ is the NAS for me. I am also looking at the 423+ and QNAP TS-464. I shoot a lot of footage with my drone in MP4 format. So will the 923+ do the job for me if I play this on my PC or on my tablet?
Okay.. If not 920+, which one of these two? My use case is: Streaming remux mkv. to my home theater, back up, photo alnum stuff and a bit of surveillance. Thanks in advance
Conclusion the models x23+ are total failed for Synology. Most of the devices at home are using 1GB network, so it gives you zero improvement and need to spend more money for additional card. USELESS! CPU has only 2 real core instead of 4 real cores on the previous model, a little bit faster on single thread but it is not a home PC, again BIG FAILED! If I need to expand I will go at the beginning with bigger model with 8 disks or so, to eSATA is USELESS too. Ni IGP, so advantage of the CPU when you use it for video decoding. Conclusion, get the old model and wait next models of Synology 426+ or 926+
I have a much older DS1019+ with 5 bays and 2 NVME slots. A couple of things are common. If you are only going to use the NVME as cache then 2x256GB NVME is big enough. I use Raid 1 on my cache. I bought 2 1TB NVME but the Synology never seems to need more than 256GB. I can have different size drives in my DS1019+ but the amount of storage is roughly equal to 4 smallest drives of the 5. In the case in the video it would be the 3 smallest drives of the 4. I like the storage pool idea that mine doesn't have, I would probably use it because of my big 1TB NVME flashes. Being able to transcode is handy but I have a Ryzen 9 CPU and an Intel I9 with an older GTX1080. The internal AMD graphics seem to encode just a hair faster than the GTX1080. It helps to read and write to fast SSDs. I like synology software. I have their router two and the software looks and feels similar.
423+, 920+ or stick to 918+ that's my question? Hi all, I was one of those who desperately waited to upgrade to a 923+. Since transcoding is essential, I'asking myself which option to pick. DS920+ brand-new is 699€ in DE (the rest out of stock). DS423+ (520€) downsides are very good explained in the video. Both options technically are not what I expected. So wait for the DS925+ and stick to the DS918+?
Please explain, why would anyone need to transcode video? Every player, every stick or tv plays everything you throw at them, why loose quality and resources for streaming? This is for in-home use only question.
@@HappyBuddhaBoyd not true. i have firestick, two different xiaomi tv boxes, even old wd tv box and they all play everything you through at them. firestick plays 100gig avatar movie with no problem. i dont know where you get this) it was true may be 15-20 years ago
You only need transcoding if you are streaming HDR and 4k content or anything above 108P. Plex will transcode for you if you have the paid service other services will not.
I have roughly 75 tb of music & videos combined (both are in the MP3 & MP4 formats) . I've been doing a lot of research over the past year or so. Do you have any recommendations on which model you'd recommend? I'm interested in having it set up as.... -A RAID 5 or 6 (from my understanding, the major differences are the amount or drives that can fail at once). If my understanding is correct, then the cinfig will be RAID 6. As a better, more secure solution. - 6 - 8 bays (with expandability) - so one of the Plus model's - Filled with 20 or 22 tb Seagate Drives - I will also be maxing out the M . 2 slots with the highest expandability **STRICTLY for Caching only** - Preferably 10 gb ports, with expandability options up to 25 or even 40 gb read speeds. Or whatever will be the fastest to stream a 1080p music video, with having the only limitations be the remote user's connection. I would like to set this up as a place where I can access the entire collection in all one place, similar to a media server like spotify or youtube, but just with my own content. I will also be purchasing a Plex pass.
In the light of synology`s poor hardware "upgrades" for 2023 variants, then I have kept my good old 1520+ to serve the needed apps as cloud and survaillance station etc. It has been left to mind its own business in a corner... -And then I build an UNRAID server with an intel 12700 on a board with a 2.5 Gbit nic.... thats gives much better options as a combo than upgrading to a newer synology!
@@christianh8073 yes, you could do that if you really need transcoding. What I meant is that you shouldn’t be transcoding since that is just a waste of resources. You should just save money and use a device that can direct play.
Honestly this vid is actually useless for some people. First of alle the prices in the EU are different. The DS 920+ is the worst with 1300€ + for only the case compared to 500€ + for the DS 423+ and 600€ + for the DS 923+. The price for the DS 423+ is cheaper and it comes with slower cores but 4 instead of 2 and iGPU. For everyone that want to do more with the NAS like docker, VMs and Plex/Jellyfin Server the DS 923+ is a really bad option. The DS 423+ is the only current model that I really like. I know only 2 GB of RAM but you can buy a 16 GB RAM stick is like 50-60€ (don’t trust Synology that only 4 GB is possible) and you are running the DS 423+ with 18 GB of RAM. Correct me if I‘m wrong. But I’m still pissed that the hardware is like 2019/2020 from a 2023 model.
Thanks for sharing, so If I understand correctly, for DS Video, the DS423+ could be a better option, specifically if I would need transcoding. I need to upgrade my aging DS 412+, the heavy lifting application running on this besides the File sharing servers, is DS Video, clients are AppleTV 1080p, Amazon Fire TV, sometimes iPads/iPhones. Everything is running fine on the DS412+ but that unit is 10 years old and should be refreshed. I think the DS423+ would be a better choice, am I correct ? Thanks !
So I'm looking for an upgrade for my old ds 215j, and i know now a lot more about NAS since then.. But I forgot an important thing before buying it... Research and looking for what I really wanted 😮... But today I am a bit wiser 😂 and I know which choice would be better..🎉 then 512mb Ram and dual-core arm Processor 😂 Realizing the Meaning of Slow 🐌 Anyway I forgot another important thing.. To get a part of your channel, due to a subscription and thumbs up 👍 for your good work and videos.❤ Thx Mate and greetings from Germany
I've got and use a 918+ with 4 x4Gb drives. and its full to upgrade i can get the 5 bay expansion for £470 or a new 923+ for £570 with all the advantages that gives. The expansion is so close to the price of a new nas It's hard to go for the expansion
Why I dont recommend synology if you're a linux user - you cant do basic things like give ssh keys for use with SCP unless you make every server_user in admin group - what idiotic snot at synology came up with that???? sure, you can use rsync and scp to their respective shares, all good - BUT - you have to run the trhings manually because some idiot decided non admin users cant ssh in - to setup keys...... or do synology think its more secure by allowing every server including remotes, to be added as an administrator!
Great video. How would the DS918+ compare with these? I know it's older but the reason I'm asking is that it's become available refurbished from Synology at a very decent looking price.
All, just stumbled upon this video and recently purchased a 923+. I got (3) 16TB Seagate drives in RAID 5 and am considering getting a Samsung 970 Evo Plus for caching. Anyone have any input in this? I know it isn't in the HCL, but some people said it works fine for caching? Do you need to install in pairs?? TY!
jus some help, if I am only interested in running PLEX, from the presentation, the 423 sound like the better unit. Even if i am using a Samsung that the PLEX app is built into the TV. would this be correct ?
I bought the DS923+ and installed 32GB RAM and took a WD RED 1TB SSD for the system. The main data is stored in RAID1 on 2x WD RED Plus 14TB and an 18TB WD Ultrastar as a data grave. Photos, Plex, Docker and VMM run great and I am very satisfied. Thanks here for the great and informative videos. Keep up the good work.✌👍
Just curious how to compare the performance of different CPUs? It seems that the new version have less cores but have higher frequency. How to tell the new one is a big jump?
I need at least 400 mb/second for 4k video editing. Would be nice to not have to upgrade models (obviously), and I need around 30 terabytes of storage, probably more in the future. Should I go for a 4 bay or 5 bay?
They look exactly the same, you talk about them and point at them without saying the model number (After the intro) and now I need to try and guess which one is which... a small sticker on each one will have made this video much easier to understand. Other than that a very good comparison for users looking for a NAS.
I have the QNAP TS-1655 and want to know what is the most important upgrade to purchase? I run Plex from it now so I am wondering if I'd best get an add on GPU or upgrade the RAM? I was also wondering if a GPU has to be a certain kind or can this support any GPU installed? I just started following you. Great reviews! Thank you
Hi, love your work. Can you do a video doing an extension (DX517?) to add 5 more disks. I wish i could find that prices. I'm from Portugal and the lowest price i found was 600€. Any advice were to buy cheap? thanks for you job. Best regards.
@@GajodeAlfama I think Synology stopped the distribution of the 920+ so only the ones that are still left in stock from various retailers will be sold now.
Here's a talking head video idea, Whats Synology's history with how long DSM support extends, and when will update support end? Is there a year, or an age, or level of NAS that will not be able to receive DSM 7.2, as support will have timed out? Personally I am running a 918+. Even though I am not worried at all about this 7.2 update or any update soon after that from being able to be updated on my NAS ... when can I assume I will be unable to install an update? What's Synology's history here. And is there a difference between software update support timelines and security update timelines ... like Windows, which will stop updating and supporting certain Windows versions, but will still throw security updates at us for a few years. Is Synology been operating like that? And finally, obviously a running personal home based file server and Plex NAS does not need the same level of ongoing critical security updates that a Windows Operating System needs to remain safe ... that said, is it actually problematic to run a home NAS like this (obviously not an enterprise or security conscious business use) beyond the time of manufacturer security update death? Can I literally run this thing for years, even using occasional online file access, when we are out? And as an extension; do other NAS manufacturers have different approaches to this issue?
I have a Synology DS-109+ and DSM 4.2-3259 is as far as it will go, No DSM-7 at all. The DS-713+ I have is still being updated, I am running DSM 7.1.1-42962 Update 5 now.
@@HappyBuddhaBoyd Well we were thinking about editing, but alternatively it would be an option to just store finished projects on the NAS and work on the projects on our PCs
I recently bought a DS1522+ and did not realize it had an AMD chip. Most of my 4K video also has 1080p versions. How likely is it that using devices like tablets and phones, we are going to see some lag, and should I consider looking at one of the two Celeron based units as an additional device to stream from.
I have been out of the loop for a couple of years and notice it's still the same with Synology. You get a nice looking box for way too much money with everything agonizingly capped. I have 3 and I am fairly pleased with them (they do the job) but them being so cheap and scarce on EVERYTHING remains hard to swallow. I would recommend anyone considering a NAS to look further. It's just too insulting what they're playing hardware-wise, they're yerking the consumer around.
It would be great if in some DSM update M.2 can be used with another models, companies, not just from Synology. That is insane... just from Synology and limit of their storage. If they make some upgrade like as motherboard can use different memories...not just from synology.
WTF are you talking about? Are you suggesting that only Synology brand SSDs, HDDs, or M.2 sticks have to be used? Synology NAS systems will run any brand. I use dual Intel M.2s 1TB sticks, and 4 Ironwolf Hdds. As for internal, I use some offbrand RAM chip.
I got a 1522+ last month. Chose it over the 923+ because it was only $100 more and it has 8GB memory instead of 4GB and has 5 bays vs 4 bays. I have been very happy with it and use it for storage, backups, Plex and much more! Very happy with it. I use all 4 1gbe connections in LAG setup. Another plus, compared to the 2 connections on the 923+ Don’t have to worry about multiple computer file transfers and Plex clients slowing transfers down when they are all happening at the same time.
@@tama47_ Not sure why so much is made of transcoding these days, if you are streaming to a phone made in the last 5 years, Windows, Linux, A firestick 4k, Nvidia shielf, Ps5, xbox, then surely it's not a concern, If you aren't streaming to once of those, then get a FireStick.... Of course it's possible i'm missing something, but i don't think so....
Was so mad when I bought a DS918+ in March 2020 only for the 920+ to come out four months later. Now I’m glad I have the 918+ because I can almost justify upgrading to a 923+ now.
Yeap, the 923+ is the NAS for me to upgrade to. I can use my current 8TB drives in my DS216j when I move to the 923+. Adding in 2 18TB or higher drives will give me the added storage I need before adding a NVME drive for a storage pool. I may just use one for storage and the other for writes to the hard drives. $600 to start seems fair in these turbulent times. I am saving up for this one, unless they release a 5 bay version, lol. Thanks for this!
@@kardy12 Yes, but it lacks the NVME drive pools, it's NVME caching only. It will take whatever their "New" model is with the same HW but "now" with NVME drive pools enabled for more $.
@@jerrywatson1958 I seem to recall a video here on Nascompares suggesting that since they have the same hardware it’s likely to have this enabled - though I’m not sure how much that is based on guesswork.
Just hopping in this chat real quick. The m.2 NVMe bays on the DS1522+ WILL have storage pools enabled in DSM 7.2. Indeed, it's already enabled in the DSM 7.2 beta for the DS1522+, DS1621+ and DS1623XS+.
@@nascompares Just seen this in the nick of time!!! Was about to compremise and take a DS923 as want the M2 Drive Pool in the future. 40years in IT tells me dont touch AMD Processors!!!!
Synology is going backwards for media server users. Shame
What did you mean? I was getting one for streaming
@@nickquikthe media server power users hate that hardware gpu encoding is not shipping on some of these new units
I've been shopping to replace my ancient DS413j. I use my NAS for home file storage and media streaming. Until now I've been keeping my PC on 24/7 running streaming software with my NAS just as a storage device. I've been wanting to run the streaming app on my NAS. I bit the bullet last month and purchased the discontinued DS920+ even though I had to pay $150 USD over MSRP for it. I think I made the right choice as it best meets my present needs. I like some of the future proofing features of the DS923+ but it is less capable for what I want to do today. NASCompares has been very helpful in my decision making.
Ive' been on the fence with adding a Synology to my collection.
I guess I never new about the trans-coding with integrated video for streaming directly from the NAS and that helped a lot.
Thanks for the in depth review. I've been a very long time fan of the channel and appreciate your efforts.
Would i benefit from having the integrated graphics (ds423+) if i’m streaming to my iPhone 13 over the internet? Or would I benefit from the faster file reading of the AMD cpu? (ds923+)
Pls help! Clientside… Encode… transcode… i dont know what that is or if an iPhone can do that.
Feedback from a new person to the channel: it's hard to listen to your video as a podcast, without visuals, because you do not always mention verbally which of 3 NAS models you are currently talking about. Like: "In terms of value for money this one is the most value, and this one comes really close". This one - which one? :) Since I mostly watch UA-cam on the go during walking would appreciate if you mention the model numbers more often.
I feel the same. I have to pay a lot attention to figure it out when listening as podcast
So pay attention?
You are too kind. The move from Intel for the 923+ means it is still borne for me. The 920+ is simply fantastic and great value for money. The 423+ is a bet meh as well. And for more money than the 920+. Fortunately I am not likely in the market for another NAS for a good while. I hope Synology sales reflect this and they realise the consumer market should be given a decent option without having to buy into am enterprise level system.
when do you think Synology will start using the new AMD processors with intergrated onboard graphics
Even AMD processors with graphics don't do quicksync.
Because Quicksync is Intel only, AMD has their own VCN encoder.
Useful info, thanks. As a photographer with half a million image files, I’m currently using a DS920 with 40TB to store them securely. However, the move to 10Gb with the 923 will speed up the system when editing in Lightroom plus the memory expansion will help I’m sure. But I’m not sure whether your points concerning the lack of integrated graphics on the 923 is relevant in the case of Lightroom image storage and editing rather than the video streams case. Any info/suggestions on this?
Not relevant at all.
I wish there was an overlay saying which one was which, had to keep rewinding back.
Do drives that sit in an expansion unit perform slower than those sitting in the main unit (because of all that cabling between the units)? I.e. do expansions come with a performance hit relative to housing all your drives inside the main unit? I.e. is buying a bigger main unit up front better than counting on expanding it later (if money is not an issue)?
Thanks, I’m thinking about buying 4 bay NAS.
Good and interesting review.
I have a DS1821+ with 32Gb RAM, 10Gb board, running DSM-7.1, and I am very satisfied.
I may be wrong, but the problem with our review when you talk about the possibility to create a Storage Pool on NVMe drives, is that you must buy the very expensive Synology branded NVMe sticks !!
Unless I have been told something wrong, you can't use third party NVMe sticks, and this is a VERY bad news !
I am not going to pay the huge extra cost just to get a synology sticker on the NVMe drives, so unless somebody finds a hack, I will look to another brand, just because of this problem artificially created by Synology... and I would prefer to stay with Synology (so hackers are welcome !)
Couldn't agree more. Freedom to use any NVMe is critical to the overall decision. Any Synology accessories come at a pretty steep cost, not sure why. Crucial NVMe's work just fine.
@@richardturkson5916 "They come at a pretty step cost", just because Synology makes huge margins on them !
I love Synology, but O will go to another brand if I cannot use third party devices, particularly NVMes Storage Pools....
I hope that the Rddit hack will solve this issue.
Pro Tip: Don't say "This one" say what the model is.
2-core "upgrade" of the 923 is a joke, and claiming it's "enterprise" focused is outright laughable. The benchmarks are pretty clear too, the R1600 is ≈5% faster, because of single core performance alone, which is honestly counterproductive compared to what you'd want in server/NAS environment, running multiple processes. And ofc as you'd expect it's gets completely slaughtered by the J4125 in multi-core performance.
I would swap "enterprise" with "cheapest crap we could possibly cobble together and put in a box and markup to the absolute highest point and then nickel and dime end users to death with by forcing them to buy our stuff", do you think that is too wordy though?... lol. Agreed you could buy a real/full Intel processor NAS for the money it costs you to add memory, ssd, and 10gbe in the 923. Synology has drank their own cool aid too long. We are comparing NAS's that all have 1999 tech NIC's in them, 2018 USB, 2019 CPU's (minus the 923 bargin bin special AMD). Their products no longer make any sense, oh well back to the cool aid...
@@km3481 Agreed. Synology need to pull their heads outta their asses, for their products to be relevant again. However I think given the recent "branded" HDD BS, soft-locks and now this nerfed NAS generation, in addition to other shenanigans from them, it may be a long time before they wise up, if ever.
I think about the ds423+
Two questions:
1. Is it possible to use any (kind of) nvme ssd for volumes? Or only on synology nvmes?
2. Can you make a test about how much mem i can really install? Usually in this cases it is possible to add some extra memory like 8GB instead of 4GB. What do you think?
Thanks. Great video like always
Hey, great questions ! Have you found an answer ?
IGNORED
@@cipritom 1. yes. it works for me.
2. no answer. sorry.
So can we conclude that given the fact that the value of the 920+ is really close to that of the 923+ Synology has accomplished next to nothing in three years time in terms of hardware? Are they already on the path of saying goodbye to their NAS-boxes to focus solely on future versions of DSM?
Good point, I don't expect a miracle from them with hardware at this late in the game. My guess is that they want to keep in hardware, just want to squeeze every penny they can out of their stuff and if people keep buying it, they will keep making it. Shame because they destroyed their own brand in doing so... The 923 isn't a good value at all imho it is the cheapest junk they could cobble together, put their memory, their 10gbe, and their SSD in it and your paying a absolute ridiculous amount for just mediocre hardware and a mediocre solution experience, you could buy a full intel box nas with real capabilities that would make a real difference to the need it served for similar money. For all the hype around DSM it is so late to the party and it doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up. Sign... It could have been a real different story if they didn't squander a tremendous opportunity in the market.
@@km3481 Well I don't know if they will destroy their brand. I think they could be pretty succesful doing DSM only in the future, because for me DSM is a really great piece of software. But it would be nice if they would be honest about it. Their loyal customers that supported them for all these years deserve it.
@@jasperverkroost I agree they should have been honest. Perhaps your also right, destroying the brand brand is a tough, although many of their clients dumped Synology for either QNAP or TrueNAS... Those users will not easily come back to the brand once they invest in another. But whatever they do now, it is real late to the party for me to use Synology. They should have started it years ago. DSM is a great OS for sure, but it is weird that it really not a good enterprise level system and it is overkill for entry level and for prosumer/smb they fit very specific uses only. I'm at a point, I never go into the NAS OS's anymore, I want the fastest experience that hits the prosumer/smb ticket that I never want to think about. QTS is clunky and not nearly as slick as DSM, but I really don't care because I only log into their OS's once a month maybe, I just want it to fly on the network and handle media and deliver vm's, QTS (or TrueNAS) does that flawlessly and faster than DSM (because of the hardware direction). The use case and cost isn't with them anymore sadly... I'm a loyal customer as long as I don't feel like I'm being dumped on and squeezed all the time.
Hi, I bought DS923 and just to say for info that everything is running great, very smooth. I made upgrade to 32GB ram, 2x4TB WD RED (personal files) , 1x 8TB RED (Plex), 1TB SSD (Business, VM, etc) and M.2 256GB cashe. I use Plex with OpenVPN and it runs very nice. Very different if you use it without OpenVPN... and If there are 4K movies in some cases, not that often, but there is a client that can handle it. At the end I am very satisfied with DS923+ from the business side (Backup, security, Snapshot, Virtual machine, etc.) and from a personal side (Photos, Plex, etc.). In the beginning I thought that I will have some problems but I organised everything how will be in use and now I am satisfied. 👍
Make the comparisons on graphs and show the differences in value. The waving hand is a bit boring.
I paid $475 for the DS923+ brand new on Amazon 😂
Regret cancelling my order…
During Prime day!
Ds920+ still kicks ass! Synology’s hardware still makes no sense.
I always had fomo for buying the 923 bc of “integrated graphics” but this video makes it clear that I don’t need it. I’d rather use client side transcoding (if ever needed) and faster file transfer any day.
Great review - BUT a wish for improvement: I don't watch whole videos actively, I often wash dishes or don't concentrate fully on the video while watching videos (that are not purely visual). And you always point on a NAS and say 'this is better than this' or 'in this case you want this'.
Now if someone listens more to the audio - he won't understand which one you refer to.
Saying '923 is better than 920' or 'in that case you want the 920' - would be a sooooo much better.
Thanks and keep up the great work.😊
The AMD R1600 may have a clock speed advantage, but I wonder why they didn't look at going with something like an embedded V1605B which has 4 cores and 8 threads as well as Vega 8 graphics for the video encode/decode while maintaining a TDB between 12-25W. It would be far superior to both the R1600 and J4125 in every way.
Probably cost base is cheaper?
because they need sell xs+ series. you can see DS1823+ has use it.
Does the GPU on the DS423+ also come into play when indexing and viewing photos? Would this unit perform better than the DS923+ for photos?
Since HW transcoding has been dropped in DSM7.2.2, the DS423+ has no advantages over the DS923+ anymore - so I went for the DS923+! Too bad we have to install a plugin for photos on the browser now, not so user friendly as it used to be...
My 920+ is still going strong! I wouldn’t run any VMs on it, but it’s great for Docker containers.
@@Joooooohan nothing too resource intensive. Just PiHole, Vaultwarden, iperf3, and watchtower. Always interested to see what other home users are using docker for. I’m not into Plex or any home automation though.
I have a question wheter or not the 923+ is the NAS for me. I am also looking at the 423+ and QNAP TS-464. I shoot a lot of footage with my drone in MP4 format. So will the 923+ do the job for me if I play this on my PC or on my tablet?
Okay.. If not 920+, which one of these two? My use case is: Streaming remux mkv. to my home theater, back up, photo alnum stuff and a bit of surveillance.
Thanks in advance
HE WONT RESPOND
Synology is big regret becarefull there is no good services and support !!! Bad work team...
Conclusion the models x23+ are total failed for Synology. Most of the devices at home are using 1GB network, so it gives you zero improvement and need to spend more money for additional card. USELESS! CPU has only 2 real core instead of 4 real cores on the previous model, a little bit faster on single thread but it is not a home PC, again BIG FAILED! If I need to expand I will go at the beginning with bigger model with 8 disks or so, to eSATA is USELESS too. Ni IGP, so advantage of the CPU when you use it for video decoding. Conclusion, get the old model and wait next models of Synology 426+ or 926+
I have a much older DS1019+ with 5 bays and 2 NVME slots. A couple of things are common. If you are only going to use the NVME as cache then 2x256GB NVME is big enough. I use Raid 1 on my cache. I bought 2 1TB NVME but the Synology never seems to need more than 256GB. I can have different size drives in my DS1019+ but the amount of storage is roughly equal to 4 smallest drives of the 5. In the case in the video it would be the 3 smallest drives of the 4. I like the storage pool idea that mine doesn't have, I would probably use it because of my big 1TB NVME flashes. Being able to transcode is handy but I have a Ryzen 9 CPU and an Intel I9 with an older GTX1080. The internal AMD graphics seem to encode just a hair faster than the GTX1080. It helps to read and write to fast SSDs. I like synology software. I have their router two and the software looks and feels similar.
Boring with talking, you’d better make some slides.
423+, 920+ or stick to 918+ that's my question? Hi all, I was one of those who desperately waited to upgrade to a 923+. Since transcoding is essential, I'asking myself which option to pick. DS920+ brand-new is 699€ in DE (the rest out of stock). DS423+ (520€) downsides are very good explained in the video. Both options technically are not what I expected. So wait for the DS925+ and stick to the DS918+?
I bought today a 423+ for $525 in Ukraine. Same price as the two-disk 723+. Used 720+ and 920+ are too expensive.
Please explain, why would anyone need to transcode video? Every player, every stick or tv plays everything you throw at them, why loose quality and resources for streaming? This is for in-home use only question.
Those Smart TV's and ROKU / Fire sticks do not recognize alot of types. For instance, most people use MKV files and those won't recognize that.
@@HappyBuddhaBoyd not true. i have firestick, two different xiaomi tv boxes, even old wd tv box and they all play everything you through at them. firestick plays 100gig avatar movie with no problem. i dont know where you get this) it was true may be 15-20 years ago
You only need transcoding if you are streaming HDR and 4k content or anything above 108P. Plex will transcode for you if you have the paid service other services will not.
I'm in the process of getting a new NAS. This video was very helpful to understand what to look for. Thanks!
I would probably have to get the 1522+. Would also need 10 gbe.
Great comparison video. I have a DS920+. Thus, the DS923+ is probably my best option for a seamless fail over solution.
I have roughly 75 tb of music & videos combined (both are in the MP3 & MP4 formats) . I've been doing a lot of research over the past year or so. Do you have any recommendations on which model you'd recommend?
I'm interested in having it set up as....
-A RAID 5 or 6 (from my understanding, the major differences are the amount or drives that can fail at once). If my understanding is correct, then the cinfig will be RAID 6. As a better, more secure solution.
- 6 - 8 bays (with expandability) - so one of the Plus model's
- Filled with 20 or 22 tb Seagate Drives
- I will also be maxing out the M . 2 slots with the highest expandability **STRICTLY for Caching only**
- Preferably 10 gb ports, with expandability options up to 25 or even 40 gb read speeds. Or whatever will be the fastest to stream a 1080p music video, with having the only limitations be the remote user's connection.
I would like to set this up as a place where I can access the entire collection in all one place, similar to a media server like spotify or youtube, but just with my own content. I will also be purchasing a Plex pass.
Raid 5 for 4 drives is best.
Wow, just what we need a comparison of the top Synology drives for home or SMB use. Thanks for this.
In the light of synology`s poor hardware "upgrades" for 2023 variants, then I have kept my good old 1520+ to serve the needed apps as cloud and survaillance station etc. It has been left to mind its own business in a corner... -And then I build an UNRAID server with an intel 12700 on a board with a 2.5 Gbit nic.... thats gives much better options as a combo than upgrading to a newer synology!
Not gonna touch the 923 with a 10ft pole. No graphics = DoA.
Good luck being stuck with 1 GBE for the next 10 years with slower cpu. If you need transcoding, you’re doing it wrong anyway.
Right? So disappointing
Tama, would you suggest NAS just for storage and a miniPC for Jeelyfin etc that can do transcoding? What do you mean with doing it wrong?
@@christianh8073 yes, you could do that if you really need transcoding. What I meant is that you shouldn’t be transcoding since that is just a waste of resources. You should just save money and use a device that can direct play.
@@tama47_Right! 😂 Transcode degrades video quality
Ok, so DS423+ is what's I'll be looking for.
Honestly this vid is actually useless for some people. First of alle the prices in the EU are different. The DS 920+ is the worst with 1300€ + for only the case compared to 500€ + for the DS 423+ and 600€ + for the DS 923+. The price for the DS 423+ is cheaper and it comes with slower cores but 4 instead of 2 and iGPU. For everyone that want to do more with the NAS like docker, VMs and Plex/Jellyfin Server the DS 923+ is a really bad option. The DS 423+ is the only current model that I really like. I know only 2 GB of RAM but you can buy a 16 GB RAM stick is like 50-60€ (don’t trust Synology that only 4 GB is possible) and you are running the DS 423+ with 18 GB of RAM. Correct me if I‘m wrong. But I’m still pissed that the hardware is like 2019/2020 from a 2023 model.
You are a mind reader, I was struggling to understand what was the difference between these - legend.
Thanks for sharing, so If I understand correctly, for DS Video, the DS423+ could be a better option, specifically if I would need transcoding. I need to upgrade my aging DS 412+, the heavy lifting application running on this besides the File sharing servers, is DS Video, clients are AppleTV 1080p, Amazon Fire TV, sometimes iPads/iPhones. Everything is running fine on the DS412+ but that unit is 10 years old and should be refreshed. I think the DS423+ would be a better choice, am I correct ? Thanks !
So I'm looking for an upgrade for my old ds 215j, and i know now a lot more about NAS since then..
But I forgot an important thing before buying it...
Research and looking for what I really wanted 😮...
But today I am a bit wiser 😂 and I know which choice would be better..🎉 then 512mb Ram and dual-core arm Processor 😂
Realizing the Meaning of Slow 🐌
Anyway I forgot another important thing..
To get a part of your channel, due to a subscription and thumbs up 👍 for your good work and videos.❤
Thx Mate and greetings from Germany
I've got and use a 918+ with 4 x4Gb drives. and its full to upgrade i can get the 5 bay expansion for £470 or a new 923+ for £570 with all the advantages that gives. The expansion is so close to the price of a new nas It's hard to go for the expansion
Why I dont recommend synology if you're a linux user - you cant do basic things like give ssh keys for use with SCP unless you make every server_user in admin group - what idiotic snot at synology came up with that???? sure, you can use rsync and scp to their respective shares, all good - BUT - you have to run the trhings manually because some idiot decided non admin users cant ssh in - to setup keys...... or do synology think its more secure by allowing every server including remotes, to be added as an administrator!
Great comparison! Thank you 👍
are WD Red Pro HDD compatibility on DS923+?
Synology Compatibility list for the DS-923+ only shows Synology HD's at about twice the price!
Great video. How would the DS918+ compare with these? I know it's older but the reason I'm asking is that it's become available refurbished from Synology at a very decent looking price.
Same as the newer ones. The DSM updates are the only difference, as the new ones come preloaded. Just update it.
All, just stumbled upon this video and recently purchased a 923+. I got (3) 16TB Seagate drives in RAID 5 and am considering getting a Samsung 970 Evo Plus for caching. Anyone have any input in this? I know it isn't in the HCL, but some people said it works fine for caching? Do you need to install in pairs?? TY!
USB-C 2.5, 5, 10 GB adapters are supported via opensource drivers if you can follow a slightly technical reddit guide.
My DS920+ is running with 12GB RAM, with an additional 8GB Stick. I used it to takeover from my DS412+
no hard drive, no 10gbe port , no nvme drive, ram to be upgrade, 600 dollars for a box, very soon we will be working in synology factory
jus some help, if I am only interested in running PLEX, from the presentation, the 423 sound like the better unit. Even if i am using a Samsung that the PLEX app is built into the TV. would this be correct ?
i have buffering with the 423+ in plex when transcoding 4k hdr movies with tone mapping transcoding enabled.... :/
No integrated graphics / 2 core CPU = poor value for money
Which nas does have all those things?
@EvilTurkey maybe they want to use it as a transcoding plex server
@@samhubble6147 ok but there is no intel 4 core plus gpu and 10gbit port nas available atm
Thanks for compare this products!
I bought the DS923+ and installed 32GB RAM and took a WD RED 1TB SSD for the system. The main data is stored in RAID1 on 2x WD RED Plus 14TB and an 18TB WD Ultrastar as a data grave.
Photos, Plex, Docker and VMM run great and I am very satisfied.
Thanks here for the great and informative videos. Keep up the good work.✌👍
Hey, is that SSD in the sata bay? I think i want to do similar to you, i heard doing that makes the unit quieter as DSM is on SSD ? is that true?
@@Eliotrw Hi, yes it is a WD RED 1TB SSD 2,5" in Sata Bay. Works very good, fast and quiet.
Do you transcode videos?
Just curious how to compare the performance of different CPUs? It seems that the new version have less cores but have higher frequency. How to tell the new one is a big jump?
I need at least 400 mb/second for 4k video editing. Would be nice to not have to upgrade models (obviously), and I need around 30 terabytes of storage, probably more in the future. Should I go for a 4 bay or 5 bay?
They look exactly the same, you talk about them and point at them without saying the model number (After the intro) and now I need to try and guess which one is which... a small sticker on each one will have made this video much easier to understand. Other than that a very good comparison for users looking for a NAS.
Bro your memory is that poor. The cheap one, the expensive one, the old one all you need to remember
I have the QNAP TS-1655 and want to know what is the most important upgrade to purchase? I run Plex from it now so I am wondering if I'd best get an add on GPU or upgrade the RAM? I was also wondering if a GPU has to be a certain kind or can this support any GPU installed? I just started following you. Great reviews! Thank you
Good luck finding the 920+. I had to buy mine from Japan for almost twice it's original release price.
Hi, love your work. Can you do a video doing an extension (DX517?) to add 5 more disks. I wish i could find that prices. I'm from Portugal and the lowest price i found was 600€. Any advice were to buy cheap? thanks for you job. Best regards.
I never understood why people would buy an extension instead of a new NAS, so that would Indeed be an interesting video.
On your description i can't find the Stores that sell the DS920+... (except Amason that is expensive).
@@GajodeAlfama I think Synology stopped the distribution of the 920+ so only the ones that are still left in stock from various retailers will be sold now.
@@jasperverkroost any recommendation?
@@GajodeAlfama As was mentioned in the video, the 423+ and 923+ come closest to the 920+ so any of these two.
If you have seedbox and connect with ftp client on synology can remote from your phone if you not are home ?
How faster AMD CPU can run 4K Plex video ?
DS920+ was the best purchase I ever made.
Here's a talking head video idea,
Whats Synology's history with how long DSM support extends, and when will update support end?
Is there a year, or an age, or level of NAS that will not be able to receive DSM 7.2, as support will have timed out?
Personally I am running a 918+. Even though I am not worried at all about this 7.2 update or any update soon after that from being able to be updated on my NAS ... when can I assume I will be unable to install an update? What's Synology's history here.
And is there a difference between software update support timelines and security update timelines ... like Windows, which will stop updating and supporting certain Windows versions, but will still throw security updates at us for a few years. Is Synology been operating like that?
And finally, obviously a running personal home based file server and Plex NAS does not need the same level of ongoing critical security updates that a Windows Operating System needs to remain safe ... that said, is it actually problematic to run a home NAS like this (obviously not an enterprise or security conscious business use) beyond the time of manufacturer security update death? Can I literally run this thing for years, even using occasional online file access, when we are out?
And as an extension; do other NAS manufacturers have different approaches to this issue?
I have a Synology DS-109+ and DSM 4.2-3259 is as far as it will go, No DSM-7 at all. The DS-713+ I have is still being updated, I am running DSM 7.1.1-42962 Update 5 now.
Thank you Robbie. I have had a DS 920+ for about a year. Cracking machine.
When working primarily with Video Files, is the DS923+ a bad choice since it has no integrated Gfx?
Editing or viewing video files? I use the DS920+ for home entertainment and it runs 1080P and 4K flawlessly over my gigabit system.
@@HappyBuddhaBoyd Well we were thinking about editing, but alternatively it would be an option to just store finished projects on the NAS and work on the projects on our PCs
Does the 923+ have integrated GPU like the 423+ ?
no
Very useful - exactly what I needed. Thank you!!
Could you guys at NASCompares do a video about what hardware you would put inside a 4-bay Synology NAS (let's say a 924+) if you could design one?
usually they release a new NAS every 2-3 years, so it's more likely to me 926+...
I recently bought a DS1522+ and did not realize it had an AMD chip. Most of my 4K video also has 1080p versions. How likely is it that using devices like tablets and phones, we are going to see some lag, and should I consider looking at one of the two Celeron based units as an additional device to stream from.
@DJ Fooba if I've got 1080p versions as well, would not Plex use that and transcode that if it needed?
@DJ Fooba Don't know if you already had the 920, but if you didn't have any of them, which of these ones would you get in the video?
Is it possible to install on DS423+/DS920+ memory ECC? Thanks
Impossible
Wow that was amazing, thanks for the vid! I really enjoyed the granular breakdowns.
Very helpful insights, thanks
I have been out of the loop for a couple of years and notice it's still the same with Synology. You get a nice looking box for way too much money with everything agonizingly capped. I have 3 and I am fairly pleased with them (they do the job) but them being so cheap and scarce on EVERYTHING remains hard to swallow. I would recommend anyone considering a NAS to look further. It's just too insulting what they're playing hardware-wise, they're yerking the consumer around.
I think you are very confused. Synology is the most user friendly NAS on the market....and nothing is over priced.
Very good Video, thank you. 👍
Thanks bud. Appreciated
Will all these drives take any Sata hdd?
Synology Compatibility list for the DS-923+ only shows Synology HD's at about twice the price!
It would be great if in some DSM update M.2 can be used with another models, companies, not just from Synology. That is insane... just from Synology and limit of their storage. If they make some upgrade like as motherboard can use different memories...not just from synology.
WTF are you talking about? Are you suggesting that only Synology brand SSDs, HDDs, or M.2 sticks have to be used? Synology NAS systems will run any brand. I use dual Intel M.2s 1TB sticks, and 4 Ironwolf Hdds. As for internal, I use some offbrand RAM chip.
great review!
I got a 1522+ last month. Chose it over the 923+ because it was only $100 more and it has 8GB memory instead of 4GB and has 5 bays vs 4 bays.
I have been very happy with it and use it for storage, backups, Plex and much more! Very happy with it.
I use all 4 1gbe connections in LAG setup. Another plus, compared to the 2 connections on the 923+
Don’t have to worry about multiple computer file transfers and Plex clients slowing transfers down when they are all happening at the same time.
If you have seedbox and connect with ftp client on synology can remote from your phone if you not are home ?
Got the DS923+ and super happy with plex as well. All my clients device can direct play, which is better than some shitty transcoding anyways.
@@tama47_ Not sure why so much is made of transcoding these days, if you are streaming to a phone made in the last 5 years, Windows, Linux, A firestick 4k, Nvidia shielf, Ps5, xbox, then surely it's not a concern, If you aren't streaming to once of those, then get a FireStick.... Of course it's possible i'm missing something, but i don't think so....
@@tama47_ So the 923+ would be worth it if I have a Shield, Apple TV or a Zidoo player?
@@DA-bc8wg yes, any modern device that can direct play will have no issue.
Was so mad when I bought a DS918+ in March 2020 only for the 920+ to come out four months later. Now I’m glad I have the 918+ because I can almost justify upgrading to a 923+ now.
only half the head but still the YT controls over the tech data when stopping the video to read them...
Yeap, the 923+ is the NAS for me to upgrade to. I can use my current 8TB drives in my DS216j when I move to the 923+. Adding in 2 18TB or higher drives will give me the added storage I need before adding a NVME drive for a storage pool. I may just use one for storage and the other for writes to the hard drives. $600 to start seems fair in these turbulent times. I am saving up for this one, unless they release a 5 bay version, lol. Thanks for this!
Isn’t the 1522+ pretty much the same hardware in a 5-bay version?
@@kardy12 Yes, but it lacks the NVME drive pools, it's NVME caching only. It will take whatever their "New" model is with the same HW but "now" with NVME drive pools enabled for more $.
@@jerrywatson1958
I seem to recall a video here on Nascompares suggesting that since they have the same hardware it’s likely to have this enabled - though I’m not sure how much that is based on guesswork.
Just hopping in this chat real quick. The m.2 NVMe bays on the DS1522+ WILL have storage pools enabled in DSM 7.2. Indeed, it's already enabled in the DSM 7.2 beta for the DS1522+, DS1621+ and DS1623XS+.
@@nascompares Just seen this in the nick of time!!!
Was about to compremise and take a DS923 as want the M2 Drive Pool in the future. 40years in IT tells me dont touch AMD Processors!!!!
I'm pretty sure that 923+ is the only one that has Docker.
Thanks!
Really heard Intel Sauron processor :P
Your videos are too long. You can cut it down by half and get more views
Right. Videos less than 10 mins will give u 10 times the views you getting.
@@gagan1523 You' sarcasm is stupid. Try it again.
I even do watch. just reading your comments is enough😂
@@jeromeli159Right!