Synology DiskStation DS2015xs review

Synology’s DS2015xs makes 10GbE storage networks even more affordable

IT Pro Verdict

With its SFP+ ports and Annapurna SoC, the DS2015xs is a bit of an odd-ball NAS appliance. IP SAN write performance isn’t great but it has no problems with NAS operations and you won’t get dual 10GbE ports as standard for less than this

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Very good value; dual 10GbE SFP+ ports; Good NAS performer; Feature-rich DSM software

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    10GbE transceivers increase price; Alpine SoC delivers poor iSCSI write performance

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Synology makes a break from tradition as its DS2015xs is the first NAS appliance on the market to use an Annapurna Labs Alpine AL-514 ARM-based SoC. Netgear and Qnap have recently launched appliances with Alpine SoCs but they've gone for the lower end dual-core chips.

The AL-514 is a quad-core model turning over at 1.7GHz and supporting up to 8GB of non-ECC DDR3 memory. However, what really makes the DS2015xs unusual is the SoC has dual embedded 10GbE SFP+ ports.

Pricewise, the DS2015xs looks good value with a diskless unit hovering around the 800 ex VAT mark. A close competitor is Netgear's ReadyNAS 716 which provides dual 10GBase-T ports but it only has six bays and a diskless unit costs over 1,000 more.

Even including the additional cost of 10GbE transceivers, it still beats Netgear hands down with the Intel and Avago short-range 10GBase-SR transceivers we use in the lab costing around 120 apiece. If you have other transceiver plans, we recommend checking Synology's compatibility list as there aren't many other models on it.

Disk groups or volumes? Choose carefully as IP SAN features are different for each type

Dave Mitchell
Dave Mitchell

Dave is an IT consultant and freelance journalist specialising in hands-on reviews of computer networking products covering all market sectors from small businesses to enterprises. Founder of Binary Testing Ltd – the UK’s premier independent network testing laboratory - Dave has over 45 years of experience in the IT industry.

Dave has produced many thousands of in-depth business networking product reviews from his lab which have been reproduced globally. Writing for ITPro and its sister title, PC Pro, he covers all areas of business IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, network security, data protection, cloud, infrastructure and services.

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