Synology 2-Bay DiskStation DS723+ (Diskless)

Product Information

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. Synology Drive – Host your own private cloud behind the safety of your NAS with 100% data ownership and no subscription fees. The external connectivity of the Synology DS723+ and DS720+ NAS are, at least on day 1, near enough IDENTICAL! Both arrive with two-gigabit ethernet connections (a little disappointing in 2022/2023, but lets move on), two USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gb/s) ports for storage and supported accessories and an eSATA port that is used for attaching the official Synology DX517 expansion chassis (mentioned earlier). Now, after that, we can discuss the big, BIG difference between the DS723+ and DS92+ NAS: How do the Synology DS720+ and DS723+ NAS Compare in their Ports and Connections? NAS Model

Synology Video Station – Manage all your movies, TV shows, and home videos. Stream them to multiple devices or share them with friends and family. ECC Memory has appeared on lots of Synology NAS’ over the years (with pretty much ALL devices higher than ‘mid-high business having it as standard now), so it is great to see it here on this 2-bay diskstation model. In other good news, whereas the DS720+ had 2GB of memory that was soldered to the main controller board and could be upgraded to 6GB with 1 free slot, the Synology DS723+ has two slots available (one prepopulated with the initial module) and can be upgraded to a massive 32GB. This again is thanks to that R1600 CPU being used. Although Synology still maintains quite a tight compatibility/whitelist on supported memory modules (stating that you can/should ONLY use their own first-party modules), I cannot fault the choice of memory and its upgradability here! Synology Chat – Aimed at businesses, Synology Chat is an IM service that transforms the way users collaborate and communicate. 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 Ideal for teams of professionals, small businesses looking to step into the world of centralized storage, or as an edge node in distributed deployments, the DS723+ can scale up to 7 drive bays with a DX517 expansion unit when more capacity is needed.Both the Synology DS720+ and DS723+ NAS support AI-powered photo recognition to a very high degree with the Synology Photos Application NOTE – Video Review is ‘In Progress’ and will include the 10GbE and DSM 7.1 Testing, which will also be added to this review shortly afterwards. Apologies for the delay. Synology has switched to AMD hardware in lieu of Intel, and I'm all for it. The Ryzen R1600 that powers the DS723+ is a dual-core model with four threads, with a base frequency of 2.60GHz and 3.10GHz boost. The best part about the switch is that there's significantly more power here than the Celeron J4125-powered DS720+ and DS920+, making the DS723+ a true powerhouse. applies to files indexed or hosted by Synology Drive. For file access through other standard protocols, refer to the File Services section above)

Both units feature x86 64bt processors (from AMD and Intel) to provide a good price vs hardware balanceIt would have been nice if the DS723+ NAS had arrived with 10GbE on board (even if it meant increasing the price a bit, many would feel) or greater than gigabit on those default ethernet ports, but there is no avoiding that the DS723+ CLEARLY wins in terms of network connectivity, as it has the exact ports as the DS720+, but allows the scalability up to 10Gb/1,000MB/s bandwidth down the line. The Synology DS723+ vs DS720+ NAS – Software Performance Note – You can READ the full article that details all the tests and results of the Synology DS1522+ NAS and WD Red Pro 22TBs over 10GbE HERE. Alternatively, you can watch my YouTube video on these tests (with 5GbE testing too) here on the NASCompares YouTube Channel. Synology DS1522+ with 4x 22TB WD Red Pro RAID 5/10GbE Test – 64MB When it comes to Hard Drive compatibility, the compatibility lists of the DS723+ and DS720+ are a little different. The DS720+ features several more compatibility drives (eg the likes of the WD Red 14TB Red Pro or Seagate Ironwolf Pro) that do not appear on R1600-powered 22/23 gene systems like the DS1522+. Now the DS723+ full HDD/SSD compatibility list is still unavailable, but newer generation devices from Synology released in the 2022 series and afterwards have been having an odd habit of not listing many 3rd party drives above 16/18TB (including their own HAT5300 drives and 3rd party Surveillance drives such as WD Purple and Skyhawk, and the enterprise tiered drives). Now, the argument could easily be that testing and certification are not full completed yet, but there is no avoiding that, as it stands, the DS720+ is seemingly compatible with more drive types. We have performed ALOT of tests on the DS1522+ (same architecture as the DS723+ and DS923+, but 5 Bays) with WD Red/Gold 18TB, 20TB and 22TB drives and found them to work perfectly, yet they do not feature on a compatibility list, so when you install them in your DSM 7.1 (DSM 7.2 in Q1 2023), you might see a brief alert from your system about using non-compatible drives on your Synology. Again, this is a very small point and every possibility that it will iron out in the messaging from the brand as the DS723+ establishes itself, but it is certainly a point worth highlighting. The Synology DS723+ vs DS720+ NAS – Ports and Connections

Synology Office – Create documents, spreadsheets, and slides in a multi-user environment. Real-time synchronization and saving make collaboration a breeze. Synology Surveillance Station – Safeguard your business, home, and other valuable assets with reliable video surveillance tools. With improved AI services being accessible thanks to Synology BC500 and TC500 Cameras arriving in 2023. Additionally, you can connect this platform with Synology’s cloud platform to use ‘C2 Surveillance’ and bolster the odds of recordings being maintained in the event of accidental/malicious damage to your surveillance system. There is no avoiding that the CPU choice inside the Synology DS723+ NAS is going to split opinion the tiniest bit. Until now, this 2/7-bay expandable product family has been exclusively Intel-based and integrated graphics equipped (Celeron, with a brief dance with Pentiums in 2016) which all benefited from particularly good multimedia & graphical handling when it comes to server-side transcoding/conversions, especially with more complicated and dense media formats such as HEVC/H.265. This is why the DS720+ (and DS718+ and DS716+ predecessors) were so popular for use as a Plex Media Server, Synology Video Station, Surveillance Station and even Virtual Machine deployment. The new Synology DS723+ NAS on the other hand is the latest system that has jumped ship from Intel over to AMD, with the DS723+ being built on AMD architecture, with a Ryzen Embedded Dual Core R1600 processsor. Now, it is worth highlighting that the R1600 IS a very good CPU. It is the same processor that is in the DS1522+, which we demonstrated could saturate 10GbE in a RAID 5 (more on this later) and also the DS1522+ NAS performs well in Plex at 1080p and native (non transcoded/convereted) 4K too, so the switch by Synology from an Intel to this AMD is not without merit. Before we dig deeper though, let’s discuss the specifications that we know about the DS1522+ NAS, alongside educated guesses we can make that are based on the CPU, product family and Synology’s past with the diskstation series:The traditional data handling of the R1600 is very good, as seen in our DS1522+ testing earlier in 2022. As far as DSM (the Synology software) is concerned it will be able to run EVERYTHING! Additionally, the general file handling and throughput internally are going to be great too, so all good news. Then you have the advantage of the newer gen CPU in the DS723+ over the DS720+ supporting PCIe3 lanes, affording greater bandwidth to the rest of the hardware (i.e those M.2 slots being higher bandwidth and enabling that network upgrade slot), all the while with the CPU having the potential to hit 3.1Ghz of power when needed. It is genuinely a good CPU and there are lots of reasons why Synology have opted for this CPU, but it is by no means perfect and some specific user setups and their concerns do have merit.