Synology 2-Bay DiskStation DS723+ (Diskless)

Product Information

The Synology DiskStation DS723+ network storage works very quietly in the test. Silent mode” is set in the DSM ex works. This setting means that only the magnetic disks are somewhat audible. The power consumption of the Synology DiskStation DS723+ shows that high performance drives up the energy demand. So, first things first! Here are five reasons why the Synology DS723+ NAS might well be exactly the private desktop server that you have been waiting for. The 10GbE Upgrade on the DS723+

I feel like Synology is the Nvidia of NAS. 8GB of Vram 500€ GPU anyone? No… it’s the max 6GB 1Gbe NAS

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Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) – An intuitive hypervisor that supports Windows, Linux, and Virtual DSM virtual machines. Its powerful disaster recovery tools help users achieve maximum service uptime. I'd recommend maxing out its RAM and getting a 10GbE E10G22-T1-Mini module. The NVMe storage is always a bonus though that's not a must unless you intend to run virtual machines, such as a Windows server, within it. Scalability and expandability do not stop there though, with the DS723+ also having the option to add a network adapter upgrade module (the E10G22-T1-MINI) to increase your network bandwidth to 10GbE. This is going to be incredibly useful for users who plan on taking advantage of SSDs or plan on having a much busier network environment between the NAS and multiple users and tasks at any given time. Such absolutely pointless decisions on their part. Ah well. I should have held off longer and waited for a USB 4 storage option as this unit is a complete and utter disappointment! Read our review on MIGRATING FROM GOOGLE WORKSPACE TO SYNOLOGY MAILPLUS if you’re actively looking for an alternative to Google. And if you missed our review on setting up Plex on a Synology NAS, head over to https://technoyard.com/2021/09/17/setting-up-a-plex-server-on-synology-nas/ which guides you all the way through.

I like how easy this is to install (zero case deconstruction) and it is a very well-designed component (not just a rebadged card with a logo). The 10G upgrade is only available in copper (RJ45/10GBASE-T) currently, but I would not be surprised if Synology roll out an SFP/SFP+ version down the line. As much as I would like to see this port and it’s utility get expanded (2.5G/5G, Dual port?), realistically this is still a PCIe 3×2 slot (so maximum 2,000MB/s to play with and that’s without network/hardware friction) and the physical space here is pretty small. It is also worthing keeping in mind that you technically do not need to actually make a choice between these M.2 NVMe SSD Bays as storage pools. This is because the system has two 2280 M.2 NVMe bays and you can opt to use one SSD for a storage pool (for your higher performance needs in databases, VMs, etc) and the other can still be assigned as a read cache drive in it’s own group, which can be assigned to the HDD or SSD storage pools if you choose. Currently, Synology DSM 7.1 does not support ‘write only cache pools’, but I can definitely see this as a feature in future DSM updates, as it is an often requested feature. Synology Drive – Host your own private cloud behind the safety of your NAS with 100% data ownership and no subscription fees. Drive has become one of the premier applications of DSM and allows uses to create intelligent shared team folders that support versioning, file streaming+pinning, encryption, Windows AD support (soon) and native file system support with Windows and macOS. The biggest selling point for Synology is the software. While TerraMaster and ASUSTOR offer better hardware in this category, their software efforts don't come close to what you get with Synology. The DS723+ runs DSM 7.1, and it features an exhaustive list of software features. the number of connections that can be maintained when the recommended number of hosted files was reached)

Synology SNV3400 series M.2 NVMe SSD drives can be installed through the built-in M.2 slots to enable SSD caching or create SSD storage pools. Drives are sold separately. Nevertheless, it is still great to finally have the support of M.2 NVMe SSDs as storage pools in a Synology NAS, especially when you roll in that optional support of 10GbE. It’s worth highlighting though that, as this feature has only JUST been added to DSM on the DS723+/DS923+ NAS, it arrives with a few limitations at this time (ones we assume/hope will change in future DSM 7.2 and above updates). For a start, you cannot initialize the DS723+ and install DSM on the M.2 NVMes as a boot drive. If you try to boot the DS723+ first time without any HDDs installed, but with the 2x M.2 NVMe Bays populated, the system will not recognize them as suitable for initializing DSM on the NAS. See below: The Synology DS723+ NAS hardware is an interesting mix of the expected and unexpected (both internally and externally) and I think it is safe to say that this will divide opinion at the home and prosumer tiers considerably. At the small/medium business (SMB) tier of course it will be a different story, as the hardware architecture here is very competent and if the DS723+ will likely outperform the DS720+ in most other respects in/outside of DSM, so it will be very popular! Let’s discuss the potential software capabilities of the DS723+ NAS in DSM 7.1 onwards. The Synology DS723+ NAS Software Specifications