I’ve been wondering how exactly the $799 5 Drive Bay Synology DS1512+ compared with the new $569 5 Drive Bay Drobo 5N. And since no one else has done the comparison, I decided to pony up the cash and test them myself!
I purchased the exact same drives for both of these 5 bay systems (3TB Seagate Barracuda), and one of each of the devices. After that I installed them in my home network, duplicated a variety of data including several terabytes of media files, photos and documents, and began to interchangeably use each of them at home for a period of several weeks to ensure there were no immediate failures, etc.
Take a look at the video, and keep reading below for the full review…
After the burn in period I brought both units back to the Geek Beat Studio and set them up in a very specific lab environment to run the battery of tests which you see below.
Methodology
In order to remove as many variables as possible, the test system was deployed as follows:
- An Asus RT-N66U router served as the Gigabit switch and LAN for all devices. There is NOTHING else on the LAN.
- A Windows 7 based Razer Blade notebook is included for testing, connected via Ethernet.
- A MacBook Air is included for testing, connected via Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter.
- The Drobo 5N using current firmware, connected via single ethernet.
- Synology DS1512+ using current firmware, connected via single ethernet.
- All Ethernet cables from identical manufacturer, CAT6, same length, opened and first used for this test.
One other very important point to cover. The Synology 1512+ offers dual ethernet ports, which does indeed have at least two specific advantages:
- Redundancy in case of the failure of one port.
- The potential to serve two connected machines each using a GigE port.
The third advantage which Synology claims, and which may be true, can only be achieved in very, very limited situations and as a result I’m discounting it altogether.
Synology claims that their link aggregation feature will turn the dual Ethernet ports into essentially one big fat double sized port. But what they fail to mention are a few things:
- The network switch must be configured specifically for aggregating the exact ethernet ports the Synology 1512+ is plugged into – which is NEVER going to happen on any consumer router, only a big ass pro switch like a Cisco (and then you aren’t going to be using this NAS device).
- The single ethernet connection on whatever machine is accessing the Synology 1512+ through the network is going to still be limited to single Gig-E speed.
- Even if you set up and bond ports on the Synology, the switch, and a dual NIC desktop machine, it would be a huge pain to ever change things.
So we’re ignoring that feature completely. In the rare case that it benefits you, you’ll know for certain…
Raw Specifications
Ok, lets get down to brass tacks. First of all, I broke out the laser thermostat, noise meter, and current meters and did some baseline data gathering so we could once and for all figure out how much noise, heat and power these things are generating and consuming. Here’s how my measurements stacked up.
| Drobo 5N | Synology DS1512+ | ||
| Power when Off | 1 watt | 1 watt | Power consumption when off is negligible. |
| Power when On | 46-52 watts | 55-62 watts | Drobo consumes ~15% less power. |
| Boot time | 2:10 | 1:45 | Synology boots somewhat faster. |
| Shutdown time | :10 | 2:00 | Drobo shuts down almost instantly. |
| Loudness | 48db @ 1in. | 50db @ 1in. | The Synology is slightly louder. |
| Temperature | 79 degrees | 79 degrees | Desk surface was 75 degrees. |
| Dimensions | 7.5″h x 6″w x 10.5″d | 6.2″h x 9.75″w x 9.25″d | Synology takes up 16% more space. |
| Weight | 16 pounds (loaded) | 16 pounds (loaded) | Identical weights. |
The relative sizes and measures on these units are unlikely to make much of a difference in the selection criteria, with one noticeable difference – rack mounting.
Although neither unit is designed for rack mounting, they are often deployed in small enterprises by being mounted on a shelf within the telco or networking rack. In this case you should note the following:
- The Drobo 5N requires over 4U of height if standing, or 3.5 on its side. Either way, there is room to fit 2 units to a single shelf, with several inches of extra room between.
- The Synology 1512+ requires over 3U of height, and due to its width only one unit can be placed on a shelf.
- In 10U of rack space you could only fit two Synology 1512+ units, vs. four Drobo 5N units.
Performance Measurements
Speed is always one of the biggest things we want to test when it comes to storage. In my testing, the Synology edged out the Drobo by 10-20% in various speed tests.
BlackMagic Disk Speedtest
BlackMagic makes a standard speedtest for Mac which you can download here. Each time the application cycles it comes up with a different result, so I allowed it to run for many cycles and then stopped it after a while and took a screen capture where it seemed to be fairly average for that device.
The Synology 1512+ was routinely clocking in around 95-100MBps in both the read and write cycles.
The Drobo 5N was clocking in around the 80-90MBps sustained ranges, after a notible burst well into the 120+Mbps initial period where the SSD Accelerator was obviously doing its thing.
File Transfer Testing
Disk tests are always interesting, but what I really notice is the amount of time it takes to transfer files to and from a machine. So I used a stopwatch and grabbed a batch of 5 videos weighing in at 4.23GB and moved them around. Here’s what I saw:
- Synology 1512+ to MacBook Air – 39 seconds
- MacBook Air to Synology 1512+ – 49 seconds
- Drobo 5N to MacBook Air – 55 seconds
- MacBook Air to Drobo 5N – 63 seconds
So, based on both automated test data and my own first hand observations, the Synology 1512+ is speedier when it comes to data transfer than the Drobo 5N. Probably averaging in around 20% faster at moving data around.
Application Support
Applications on the Synology 1512+
When it comes to comparing what the Drobo and Synology can actually do in terms of running applications, there is no comparison.
If you are looking for a machine to essentially act like a server on your network and take over a number of tasks, that is exactly what the Synology is designed for – and why you pay the extra 40% price premium.
The Synology 1512+ will allow you to:
- Install a Plex media server app! The best thing since sliced bread if you want to watch your own media collection on your TVs or even on the go.
- Support Active Directory and LDAP for user authentication services.
- Serve files on the network, or via FTP on the Internet.
- Network backups with free Windows app as well as Mac support.
- Apple and Android apps to remotely access various types of media.
- iSCSI support for mapping virtual drives and use with virtualization platforms such as Citrix.
- High Availability mirroring with identical units. In case one fails, the copy takes over.
The Devil’s in the Details
The big thing to keep in mind is that every single one of these features is going to involve several steps to enable, some of which can be extremely complex or literally impossible for the average users. So, its important to consider how many of these things you need, and whether you have the ability to actually deploy and support each feature.
Also of note, certain features will not run while others are installed. For example, for High Availability you can’t be running the DHCP Server, Zarafa, or Symform. So if you are comfortable with doing a lot of app installation, tweaking and experimentation the Synology is going to give you plenty of things to play with – much, much more than the Drobo.
How to Install Synology Apps
In order to install or update applications on the Synology 1512+ you log into the Web-based control panel and navigate to the Package Center. That can be a real problem if you forget how to actually access the control panel! So here’s a pro tip:
There is a free app called FING for iOS that will scan every device on your network and tell you the IP address and a description. Get it, run it, and look for the Synology. Access the control panel by typing in the IP address into your Web browser.
When I log into the interface for some reason I always look for it in the Control Panel, but its not there! Its right on the desktop. Here’s how to install or update packages.
Application Support on the Drobo 5N
Although Synology has a very significant lead on Drobo in the Applications space, Drobo has also begun releasing apps that run on the Drobo 5N. Most importantly (in my opinion) they have a Plex app available!
In case I didn’t mention it earlier, I love Plex. You can get Plex for smart TVs like Samsung which will let you play any media on your network that is cataloged in a Plex Media Server – which is what runs on the Drobo now (and the Synology). So what I mean is – get a Samsung TV, put your movies on one of these storage drives, and play them on your TV directly through your network!
On top of that, you can download Plex apps for your iOS or Android devices and access all of your media from anywhere you have an internet connection. How cool is that?
Anyway, Drobo has also released a second application which allows for direct integration with the Copy.com cloud storage service. This app lets you select which data you want to have mirrored to the Copy.com cloud so you can keep your most valuable data in multiple places.
Drobo is unlikely to ever release apps allowing you to run a mail server, DHCP server, FTP server or other hard core services. But I’m hopeful that in the future there is a complete replication option that would allow a second Drobo 5N at an offsite location to keep a continual disaster recovery copy. They have also promised a number of other apps, but we do not know what is coming just yet.
How to Install Drobo Apps
There might not be many apps to install for Drobo, but the ones they do have are a breeze to install. This is partly due to the fact that there is no Web based configuration system. You pull up the Drobo Dashboard app, and once it locates your Drobo you simply need to put a checkmark by the apps you want to install.
Although the Copy app is currently the only application available for install, I have personally used the soon to be released Plex app, and it is going to work identically to how it works on every other platform.
Applications Bottom Line
If you are a network administrator looking to consolidate several machines into a single do-it-all unit to support a small business, the Synology wins hands down.
If you’re a home user, or just looking for simplicity, and media serving and basic backup capability are all you really need, you can’t beat the Drobo’s simplicity.
Installation and Configuration
Where the Synology shines on application support and advanced configurations, the Drobo steals the show when it comes to setup and deployment.
Starting at the very process of setting up the unit, the Drobo by far makes it simpler to get things going. Initial setup involves simply plugging drives into the Drobo 5N the same way you would insert a CompactFlash or SD media card into a card reader. Take the drive, slide it into the bay, and you’re done.
The Synology on the other hand uses a tray for each drive. (This isn’t unusual since Drobo has a patent on their mechanism. Every other storage vendor uses a tray.) In order to set up the unit each tray must be removed by pushing in the bottom lid on the tray so that it pops out, then sliding the tray out of its bay.
At this point, each drive should be mounted using four mounting screws. A simple process, that takes a few minutes to complete along with some manual dexterity for the very small screws.
Expandability and Redundancy
Synology 1512+ Expansion
If you find that you are running out of capacity on the Synology 1512+, its possible to add another unit via a physical eSATA connection and expand the number of drives the unit can hold. The Synology DX513 sells for $499 and will allow another 5 drives to be installed.
When an addition DX513 is added to the 1512+, the 1512+ takes over control via the single Web interface. This is an excellent feature so that users don’t have to manage them as multiple devices. Drawback to this method of expansion are as follows:
- Drives in RAID sets must always match. So if you are full of 3TB drives, you must continue adding 3TB drives. No larger, and no smaller.
- It’s also always recommended to stick to identical drives whenever possible when using traditional RAID sets. Meaning you should buy all the drives you need at one time, in one batch.
- Every additional drive added requires a manual expansion of the storage.
The steps for expanding capacity could be safely performed by someone with medium technical competence who is alert and paying attention. My mother, however, could never dream of doing it. Also, an over worked, under slept, network administrator needs to pay close attention when managing the RAID sets.
Drobo 5N Expansion
The Drobo 5N uses a different type of RAID technology that allows for some very unique features. Two of the most important are demonstrated in this video. Namely:
- The ability for a Drobo to automatically sense and repair failures or expansions without human intervention.
- The ability to install mis-matched drives at any time, including the ability to expand future capacity without upgrading the physical machine.
Bottom Line on Expansion
Because of the core technology differences between these machines, it is much easier to physically link additional storage using the Synology 1512+ by purchasing additional hardware – but it is much easier to upgrade storage within the Drobo 5N with no new infrastructure required.
For example, lets say we’re in a future where 6TB drives exists (we have 4TB available as of this comparison) and we have a Synology 1512+ filled with 3TB drives with storage running low. In order to expand, we would purchase a DX513 for $499 (or the going rate, or the updated version of machine assuming there still is one) as well as a few more 3TB drives to add to our RAID set. We could buy bigger drives, but it would be a waste because only 3TB would be used. As we plug in each drive we would add it to our RAID set manually, allowing it to ingest the additional capacity and expand. We will do this sequentially at a rate of around 1 every 24 hours until reaching the new capacity.
By comparison, if using the Drobo 5N we could purchase new 6TB drives and then eject the old 3TB drives from the 5N one at a time, replacing each with the new 6TB drive. Each replacement will also need about a 24 hour rebuilding period, but upon completion the available storage will increase automatically within the same individual chassis.
For this reason, the Drobo 5N has a perpetual aggregate storage advantage over the Synology 1512+.
UPDATE: Several of you guys pointed out to me that Synology offers another method of configuration using their Synology Hybrid RAID feature which will allow for similar expansion like Drobo. Although its a painful manual process, you CAN add different drives.
BUT YOU MUST SELECT SYNOLOGY HYBRID RAID UP FRONT OR ELSE YOU CAN NEVER CHANGE IT!!!
So, the fact that I didn’t know about needing to do that in advance is why my 1512+ can’t be upgraded now. If you choose one please pay attention to this detail when you are setting it up initially!
When Disaster Strikes!
As you can see from the accompanying video review I did for this test, at the end I yanked a drive out of each of the Synology 1512+ and Drobo 5N units, with extremely varied results.
Synology 1512+ Hard Drive Failure
After removing a good drive from the Synology 1512+ to simulate a failure we had to wait about half a minute in order to get some notification from the device about the error. The first indication came with a notification in the Web based interface that the unit was operating in a degraded state, followed immediately by a blinking status light on the unit as well as an intermittent beeping.
Reinserting the drive did not remedy the problem, although all of the data was still present on the fully functional drive. The Synology Storage Manager does not automatically rediscover and ingest the drive. Instead, manual intervention is required by first finding the Storage manager application in the Web interface, and then selecting the degraded Volume to Manage.
I found it unintuitive to do, especially when after choosing to Manage the drive it prompted me to erase the data on the drive I ejected. This seems counter-intuitive when what I’m attempting to do is add that drive back into the volume. The entire process left me very nervous – or at least it would have had this been my only copy of all of that data.
Two things Synology could do to improve this process would be:
- Change the ATTENTION message into a clickable link directly to the Storage Manager so users don’t have to find it.
- Offer a Wizard to walk users through common issues, such as a simple drive swap or reinsertion into a volume.
Once the drive had been erased and reclaimed into the Volume, the Synology began the process of rebuilding the data on the drive. This process occurred at a recovery rate of about 3% per hour, so each ejection of a perfectly working drive would require a full day to recover after the drive was manually added back to the RAID Volume it came from. I have no idea why that is the case…
Drobo 5N Hard Drive Failure
The simulated drive failure on the Drobo 5N was an entirely different experience. In fact, maybe it was even TOO easy. I could see people wanting to show this off to their friends, which probably isn’t the best thing to be doing…
Upon ejection of one of the installed drives, the Drobo immediately began flashing all lights yellow on the device to warn of the degraded state. A message also appeared on the Drobo Dashboard alerting the user of the situation, and visually demonstrating where the problem drive was located. It prompted the user to reinsert a drive, and after a few minutes the Drobo must have recognized that everything was OK again and just went back to an entirely normal state.
The REAL Bottom Line!
The world would be so beautiful and orderly if I could simply point to ONE of these machines and tell you its the clear cut winner – but I can’t. And anyone else who does so without understanding your exact needs and desires is an idiot and should not be listened to!!!
The Synology 1512+ holds several distinct advantages over the Drobo 5N.
- Its faster.
- It has a LOT of apps.
- It allows for extreme customization.
Meanwhile the Drobo 5N has several distinct advantages over the Synology 1512+.
- It’s completely automated.
- Its far easier to expand and repair.
- It costs less, uses less power and takes up less space.
Now it’s up to you to determine what kind of user you are and which will best fit YOUR needs. The Drobo 5N offers about 80% the speed at 60% of the cost of the Synology 1512+. It sacrifices a lot of app functionality, but exchanges it for ease of use and expandability. Which one do you prefer?
By the way, wanna do me a favor? When you make your decision how about Tweeting me to let me know? Better yet, Tweet Synology or Drobo and tell them I’m the one who helped you make a decision! :-)
(PS – I MAY have missed a detail or gotten something wrong. If so, just let me know below and I’ll add or append to the review. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know what you think for sure!)
Interestingly, some asked about Jumbo Frames. I’ll come at this from left field: we use a different product (Thecus), but did extensive Jumbo Frame testing.
What we found: Jumbo Frames provide zero advantage, as long as you’re using an efficient networking protocol. And the majority of people today ARE using efficient networking. Key: SMB2 vs SMB1. Modern Windows etc OS’s, including Samba, use SMB2. We get as close to 100% of theoretical network bandwidth as you can imagine, on a gigabit LAN, using a fast device at each end.
Above you eluded to the Drobo mSATA SSD Accelerator feature; it’s difficult to find “compatible” mSATA cards out there based on the Drobo website (i.e. the information there is a few years old and the cards are now EOL).
Which mSATA card did you use and/or do you have one you could recommend? Perhaps the 120GB Samsung EVO 850 mSATA card?
I have a Drobo5N, and while the product hardware wise is fantastic, the service from Drobo I’ve received over the years (I’ve had a few of them) is just awful. For future reviews, I’d encourage you to do a test service call for both. Upgrades with the Drobo have never gone smoothly, and more often than not have turned into nightmares. I’m in the process of dumping Drobo for Synology, because I’m running out of space, and I’m too afraid to touch the Drobo.
Thanks for your review.
I have been considering the options for a small business that require simple file sharing and time machine backup. For this reason, I will be recommending the Drobo, for ease of drive replacement, variety of drive sizes, and reduction in manual intervention for maintenance.
It does concern me that in the event of device failure, that data on the drives cannot be accessed from another device, however from the various reviews, it seems that Drobo offer this service, if you have purchased the DroboCare support.
Thanks for covering a large amount of information, and time taken to analyse the various options.
@GeekEvangelist
For those people wanting to have a secure network enviornment and a secure NAS, forget about Drobo, you can’t use any form of encryption, Synology, you can use standard 256-bit AES encryption, performance will drop, but all encrypted storage suffers from a performance loss compared to non-encrypted storage.
One huge disadvantage with Drobo that the review did not mention: if you ever (god forbid) you need data recovery out of Drobo disks, you are at the mercy of Drobo (the firm), while with Synology (and other NASes utilizing ext4) there are numerous tools (and people) able to do data recovery.
I was also a Drobo customer up to 2.5 years ago, with the original 4-bay Drobo. After big problems and bad support, I switched to Synology and a DS1511+ and it was like seeing the light of day after being my whole life in the dark, both for functionality as well as speed.
As for link aggregation, I find it very easy to configure (any 70 year old who knows how to handle a smart phone or Facebook should find it easy) and a big difference in speed, even with only one PC.
I called Drobo re: Drobo Dashboadr upgrade that failed on my Mac.
Answer: The upgrade is for the newer Drobos and I should move to a newer device.
My question: Could you talk about the vendors’ support of their product and how long they provide the same support?
Thanks
You are wondering why Synology can’t recover quickly when you plug the disk back in…
I am wondering why you expect it to just work…
It’s not a use case, it’s a test you’re doing that no one will do in normal conditions.
Now, when a drive fails, you remove and replace it. New drive is verified and then used to increase reliability of the raid volume. By removing and adding the same drive, you’re just pretending something happened when it did not. Synology would have to have special code path that detects the drive is still in same state as before removal, and you’d have to have no mutation to the remaining drives while doing so. (mutations to the volume could still work, but would mess with balance of volumes)
Then eventually it could say nothing happened. All this would serve almost no purpose.
Supporting this ‘feature’ is most likely possible, just wasn’t a priority for Synology I guess.
Well Christophe, the reason I expect it to be quick is that Drobo will detect and recover from a disk being removed almost instantly. You pull out a good disk, put it back in, and it doesn’t have to go through an entire rebuild process.
It might not have been a priority for Synology, but it just works with the Drobo.
I agree with you completely. But Drobo did think of it and doesn’t share this weakness.
And as to why this might happen? How about accidentally bumping the front of the drive and it popping out? Or how about removing the drives for transport or inspection? There are many valid reasons, but with the Synology you better think twice…
I bought a Drobo FS several years ago and populated it with 3TB drives (the largest then available). About a year and a half later I added a Drobo 5N pupolated with 4TB drives. About six months ago I added a second Drobo 5N & 4 TB drives. Absolutely no problems at all with either drives or Drobos, which I use for backups, file storage, and media streaming. I really appreciate the ease of setup. I tried using Plex but apparently I’m not experienced enough to get it to work, so I use PlayOn on a dedicated laptop, which works for me as the app is available for Roku boxes. I seriously considered a Synology, but after reading your article I’m glad I didn’t. It’s just more than I (70-year old who doesn’t like hassles or frustration) want to deal with. Now that 6TB drives are out, I can add 6TB drives, one at a time, to any of my Drobos and they will merely integrate it into the stack without any fuss. Best thing about your article is that I won’t be considering Synology any more. My next NAS will be either another Drobo 5N or a Drobo 800FS. Thanks for making that decision easier.
I fel more security with Synology DS1813. I love it with WD RED Disk.
I have tried many different NAS systems over the years and Synology is by far my favourite. I have an expansive home Media collection comprising of DVD, BluRay, 3D-BluRay, CDs and Photos which are all stored in uncompressed format as quality matters more to me than space. Before selecting a NAS I do a LOT of research to see what is currently the best out there.
My most recent purchace was the Synology DS1813+ which beats the Drobo equivalent by miles. Yes the Synology costs more but you get an awful lot more NAS for your money.
One point that you make in your review is that the Link Aggregation is only available on expensive switches and difficult to set up so you are ignoring the feature. I’m sorry I completely disagree, you have just ignored a huge feature out of hand through what seems like lack of research.
I have both a DS1512 and a DS1813, the 1512 has dual port link aggregation and the 1813 has quad port link aggregation. Both of these NAS are plugged into a Netgear GS716Tv2 16 port Switch which was less than £150 you can get this in an 8 port model for around £70 which I consider cheap for a good quality switch. Setting up the Link Aggregation was as simple as clicking the 4 ports on the switch that the NAS was connected to and adding them to a Link Aggregation Group (LAG), it wasn’t exactly rocket science. If you are connecting on a single machine you may not see much difference but start connecting multiple media devices to it and you very quickly see the difference!!! I am streaming 3D video from this NAS to 2 TVs and HD content to a further 2 TVs with no sign of performance issues, I can have all 4 TVs streaming content, all 4 Iphones streaming music and the 2 ipads streaming video and not a single stutter, try that on a single port connection and see how far you get.
The only reasons anyone should consider the Drobo over the Synology are
a) you are on a tight budget
b) you are technophobic and need everything to be done automatically for you (in which case is a NAS really the right thing for you to own?)
c) you live in a cupboard under the stairs where space is of an ultimate premium that a couple of centimetres really matters.
I would strongly recommend Synology as the way to go for anyone serious about their data storage, if you have a high end media system like we do then you want a NAS to be able to keep up the pace and for me it was worth every penny.
You make very good points, and my suggestion that Link Aggregation was not easily accessible may not seem like rocket science (and you’re right, its not) it does require active participation to make it work. And I can tell you that 98% of people won’t know that, or won’t take the time to set it up, which was the only basis of that comment.
At our office we use Link Aggregation and it is great! But its also been my experience that the kind of people who are comparing Drobo against Synology, QNAP, Thecus or any other NAS are not exactly the kind who know as much as those who simply are experienced enough to buy a more complex NAS and be done with it. ;-)
Cheers,
John P.
Thanks for the thorough review!!
I was recently in the market for a high-end NAS device to serve the house media and handle daily backups from a couple of servers. I ended up with a Synology DS1813+, two big things sold it for me, firstly was Drobo’s proprietary RAID software which would tie me into their ecosystem for as long as I didn’t have enough drives to duplicate my content away. Second was their failure rate, I’ve read a lot of horror stories over the years about Drobo reliability.
The icing on the cake is Synology’s DSM software and available packages. My server has been running 24/7 for around 5 months now with zero issues whatsoever. Do not regret my decision in any way.
You forgot to mention that the Drobo5N can withstand an immediate power failure with it’s internal battery. I forget how long it will last, but it will certainly be able to shut itself down gracefully once AC power is lost. IIRC I actually set mine up with the power disconnected for a little while, so it definitely runs without AC power and I’ve witnessed the auto shutdown kick in on more than one occasion, so that does work properly.
One important issue: Synology does not support Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system, so it can’t be used with iPhoto/Aperture image libraries! I bought a DS1512+ for photos and was not aware of this :-(.
You forgot to mention that the Drobo5N can withstand an immediate power failure with it’s internal battery. I forget how long it will last, but it will certainly be able to shut itself down gracefully once AC power is lost. IIRC I actually set mine up with the power disconnected for a little while, so it definitely runs without AC power and I’ve witnessed the auto shutdown kick in on more than one occasion, so that does work properly.
Thanks for the great review. Would have liked to see Windows results, though…
Plex also runs on Synology NAS units quite well. Having owned products from both companies there is absolutely NO comparison. I will never ever buy another Drobo product again. Their support when the first started up was great. It has since plunged into the depths.
You mention about link aggregation:
“The network switch must be configured specifically for aggregating … which is NEVER going to happen on any consumer router”
However, there are consumer routers that offer link aggregation these days, such as the netgear prosafe GS108T, which is < $100.
It's not something that most purchasers would need, but it's not true that link aggregation is "only [on] a big ass pro switch like a Cisco."
Other than that, I found this a useful review; thanks.
So, interesting review. I meant this to be a short post, but it’s become a long one …
I think there are some key things that are not getting called out :
1. Setup of these connections in Windows (network drive? SMB?) or Mac was ignored. What is the protocol used to transfer files to/from the devices ? SMB vs NFS vs FTP vs SFTP vs FTPS vs HTTP vs HTTPS ? Notably the windows stack should provide better performance over SMB than Mac which gets it from Samba. These will give you noticable different results simply in how these are architected. Most notably the RTT of connections between the devices and file sizes chosen. Simple ping tests should indicate which is speedier in processing packets. Exposing these across VPN or through a port forward offers different challenges for those on-the-go — notably that Asus router offers some cool options to marry together these. The (lack of?) security would be interesting to see here.
2. Overhead in accessing files from the local machine would be good. The choice of protocol would likely drive this decision. Notably, that lightningbolt adaptor is probably chewing on your CPU if it works anything like USB. The hardware specs between those beast laptops are seriously different, so this would need to be done 2x, 1 for each laptop type. Picking the really new hardware is cool and I know this is consumer focused, but a network tap would be the way to measure these blips and streaming content.
3. “auto discovery” is a nice tool, but when you’re not using it then it’s announcing on your network. A security hazard if anyone gets by the weak password you put on the wifi network. Does Drobo shut off this auto-discovery after it’s been contected by the config tool ? Detecting the IP address by using the ROUTER is the better approach here, using Fing is like using a sledgehammer to your network and requires an Android or iOS device — but would usually work since people don’t have consistent interfaces to routers, don’t know about nmap and generally have no idea what an arp table is. The extra device seems lazy. You’ll see which DHCP lease it’s picked up at the router or a quick ping on the subnet will find the device. You should also note that choosing not to assign a specific IP address to the MAC of the device may result in the device “moving” to another IP on the network. A troubling issue for newbies if DHCP leases move around on you, things power on/off, etc.
4. Would have loved to see more rigor here with SNMP tracked statistics, might have made your life easier too :-). Integration into existing SNMP monitoring solutions (note that the Asus can act as a monitoring aggregator with a bit more config). These NAS devices probably have temp sensors available to tap into too.
5. There’s some bias to the Drobo from the start. I suspect that was because it was easier to setup.
6. The addition of an “always running” application on the accessing device seems like a waste of CPU to me. Is it the only way to manage and access the Drobo ? How about usage stats here ? It’ll likely chew into laptop battery performance over the long haul.
7. Do either of these devices reach out to their respective parent companies and ask for updates ? If so, what do they pull down and what do they upload at the same time ? (system stats? versions ? any info about the files stored ? access habits? )
8. “Apps” is a funky term I think you’re adding a lot of creedence to. Given the OS that these are running makes one easier or harder to develop for, it appears they’re both based on Linux and their applications from one should work almost seamlessly on another given a bit of elbow grease from either company’s perspective. An interesting choice (dropbear for both?)
9. Given that these devices purpose to be RAID, then we’re missing a “power failure” test here. What kind of data loss occurs during a transfer test when the power is pulled ? Which proprietary RAID solution writes or recovers what you’ve sent to the array ? Any RAID5 write hole to watch out for here ? (any ZFS-like or BTRFS like properties?) Is it any better than my own roll-your own array + battery backup is what I’m getting to.
10. How about snapshot support for the filesystem, to support incremental backups to another device ? Do either make it easy ?
11. Probably not one for all consumers, but running jumbo frames would likely have upped your performance significantly. Any thoughts to giving that a flip on the interfaces by hand or having the router announce it for all devices on the network (DHCP has this feature)? Should noticably reduce the CPU load at both ends in processing all those small packets during file transfers.
I have a Drobo at home and a synoloy 1516 in my office. both are great.
on the drobo I had a drive crash. I replaced it and after about 16 hours all my data was restored without any action from my side. I also had access to all my files during this time. I didn’t loos one single file. It was all there. i love it. If a second drive would have crashed i woudl have lost data. But on the N5 you can choose for the option of 2 drives crashing and not loosing data. (it works on the synology as well).
On the other side, Im only a power user and not a pc/mac expert. So I had to invest serious time to get the synolgy running on several machines and the remote access on my data is not always working as it should. a can fully agree with all the facts stated in this review.
Synology gives more options, but you need to be good at pc/mac. not only a user. If you want things to work right out of the box. get a drobo.
I’d be curious of the performance differences in Synology when using hybrid raid and not. Dealing with different sized disks can make underlying storage decisions a touch slower. This could account for part of the performance difference between drobo and Synology, though not all of it.
The Synology, SHR is the default selection when creating a volume. The extra effort is required for selecting a standard RAID volume. Also, the expansion devices such as the DX513 are features of the DS1512+ over the Drobo as it increases the 5 drive capacity of the DS1512+.
I agree. I just set up my Synology NAS yesterday. Synology Hybrid RAID allows using drives of different capacity and upgrading by swapping out a smaller drive for a larger one. And it’s not that technical, but to get the most out of it I will need to lean heavily on the Synology tutorials, which I find pretty good.
I just watched your review. Which one did you get after the review ?
Thank you for the best review of these devices I have seen so far – well done!
One thing I do find could be added is that Drobo claims that their SSD technology can improve loading speed significantly for example for showing photo-thumpnails and similar which are loaded repeatedly. You write yourself that there is an initial burst of ~120MB per sec, does this have any practical possitive effect or should one forget about the SSD altogether? I think this is an interesting point since the SSD makes the whole system somewhat more expensive, but maybe worthwhile due to the speed improvement? Also I have read elsewhere that it’s easier to add the SSD in the beginning, so many users would want to know what the improvement it gives right away.
As said – otherwise hands down super review! Agree 100% on the link aggregation topic… just reviewing what it would take to make it work took me a while to find out…
Best regards,
STJ
I am very interested in finding the result of this comparison. I have been using a Drobo FS worked great for two years and has been had constant problems for the last 6 months. I am looking at the Synology DS1512+ as a replacement. DroboCare (care not would be a better name) , says purchasing the Drobo 5N would be the answer to my prayers.
I see from the original post is has only been a month is there any early remarks you would like to post?
Well the DS1513+ is now out and still no review. :(
Depending on the tests conducted you might want to use the new DS1513+ or at least get a memory upgrade for the DS1512+ since it will soon be history.
I saw on their Facebook that Decrypted Tech has one started. Check it out on Synology Facebook, looks really nice. That’s what I’m getting!
I had a similar experience w/ my Drobo FS-5. ONly worse. During my DroboCareless warranty, they were unable/uninterested in addressing a problem I had. This is in addition to the unit being embarrassingly slow and constantly dis-mounting. Didn’t matter if I used the Drobo App or Mac OSX to mount. Made using the unit for TimeMachine useless. During my warranty, the only thing they were sincerely interested in doing was getting me to purchase a 5N. The discount they were offering me for my FS-5 trade in (only months old) was as insulting as their customer service. And this is DURING my warranty.
I have googled so many times to see if there was such a review available. Good stuff!
Remember to test if an MSATA disk in the DROBO 5N makes a difference or not!
It seems to make a significant change to the Drobo 5d, but I have not been able to find anyone who have tested the MSATA effect on the 5N. That is – if for example commonly read files, such as picture thumpnails, load more quickly after a while. I presume it’s a bit difficult to test, but would indicate the real-world performance better I suppose.
Keep up the good work!
Hi John.
In order to do some serious testing and benchmarking I would suggest you to give a try to the free Intel NAS Performance Toolkit (NASPT) which is specifically designed to enable direct measurement of network attached storage performance.
Even though it is declared as end-of-life and therefore no longer supported it still is (imho) a nice piece of software.
The only one drawback is that the software is only WinXP compatible, so either you have an active WinXP OS-based machine or you can virtualize one.
That being said, I think it is worth a try:
http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-nas-performance-toolkit/
I am very anxious to see this, as i need to buy one of them.
Drobo appeals with its simple interface, however i have used the single bay synology before and loved the DSM options etc.
When do you think you will be able to post the update?
Thanks!
Looking forward for this. I have a DS1512+ which I am selling to get a Drobo 5N.
I had a Drobo N before but was too slow.
The DS1512+ is faster, but nowhere as fast as the advertised speed without Link Aggregation. Synology also told me that speed depends on the size of files being transferred. 100 files of 1Mb each will transfer fastest than 10 files of 10Mb each, which makes speeds even slower in my workflow. I wish I new that before I bought.
People rave about their customer service but i found it lacking. They took several days before I got a reply, and a couple of days for a follow up reply. Their latest DSM4.2 also broke my TimeMachine backups, and wasted a lot time in communication and sending logs before they admitted it was a bug in DSM, and have to wait for an update…. and in the meantime TimeMachine cannot reliably work. That triggered the ditching of both my Synology NASes and go back to Drobo.
I am very interested in this comparison! This will be very interesting.
I was first looking at the Drobo 5N but then got interested in the DS1512+. I was just about to buy the DS1512+ until I heard of the DS1513+ announcement. Still can’t get a date for the release of the DS1513+ so I’m holding off.
Can you also test out the QNAP 569 Pro? :)
Yeah this is going to be awesome!
Cant wait for this one, cool test and unique one.