I have to wonder at this point if the 5/8-bay NAS market is dead. Synology hasn't updated theirs in 2.5 years, Drobo hasn't updated theirs in as long (or longer, in the case of >5-bay). What's a home user with a lot of data to do? (No, I'm not building it myself - my time has value.)
Synology updates their units every 3-4 years. Their 3 and 8 bays came out in 2015, so expect 2018 or early 2019 at the earliest for a new generation of products.
Just go on eBay and buy a 4U server with 20 drive cages. It could be had semi complete (without drives) for well under a grand with a decent raid controller and probably an intact COA for Windows Server. Could be up and running as fast as a NAS, and many of these servers have a single low-power 35-watt Xeon.
Synology is about to release DS1817(+) and DS1517(+) maybe along DSM6.1 release, they need these since are the models user wants for DSM virtualization and its about the same DS916+ hardware, also its possible they release a desktop FlashStation , RS817(+) also is about to get launched . Synology updates these models every 2 year (DS1513+,ds1515+...)
in the market for a 4 bay & cannot find a word on what they have in store for 2017 if at all. not sure how to plan to hold or just refresh the storage & reinstall my current 2-bay. which i would prefer to avoid as i have growing needs
This! Wanting to buy a 4 or 5 bay NAS and can't find anything for new models :( Quite reluctant to spend money on one when the new ones are coming, just no info about them :(
They do mild refreshes most years on the 2 & 4 bay models. Whenever you buy there'll be a new one out shortly afterwards. Is there something in particular you're waiting for from a NAS, or something that the current models can't do? If not just buy one and don't worry. It'll sit there and you'll likely never notice the difference.
DS1916+ is really not that old and a good unit. I'd get it now but I want an 8 bay model and refuse to buy the DS1815+, which is 'par of the way to being 3 years old unit with a nearly (2013) 5 year old Atom C2538 cpu..
Going to keep this next one for 5 years.. don't want to start with it already being way out of date.
no new desktop 4Bay nas frm synology on 2017, only new 4bay unit will be RS817(+), but soon wil be available the 5bay DS1517(+) a better choice than DS916
The RT2600ac contains the same radios and switch ICs as the Netgear R7800 (Nighhawk X4S). Old hardware on a "new" product. This Synology is a downgrade as it only features 8MB of flash and 256MB RAM. The Netgear has 128MB flash and 512MB RAM.
Sorry, it is 512MB. It has 8MB flash and 4GB eMMC. I guess if you wanted to store a TV Show on it you could, but how useful is 4GB on a wireless router?
For anyone who's got a Synology router, how is their firmware support? I've got a Netgear now, and they dropped firmware updates almost as soon as the next year's model came out.
On the other hand, I've got a Synology NAS that's about five years old and still has the latest DSM on it. If they do the same with their routers, I'm in for one.
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diamondsw - Tuesday, January 31, 2017 - link
I have to wonder at this point if the 5/8-bay NAS market is dead. Synology hasn't updated theirs in 2.5 years, Drobo hasn't updated theirs in as long (or longer, in the case of >5-bay). What's a home user with a lot of data to do? (No, I'm not building it myself - my time has value.)Solidstate89 - Tuesday, January 31, 2017 - link
Synology updates their units every 3-4 years. Their 3 and 8 bays came out in 2015, so expect 2018 or early 2019 at the earliest for a new generation of products.timgjr - Friday, February 3, 2017 - link
Eh? no.. consistently updated their DS15xx+ and DS18xx+ every 1 to 2 years..NOT 3-4..
DS1511+, DS1512+,DS1513+ and DS1515+.. (last 2 numbers indicate year)
Not sure where you got 3-4 years.
edward1987 - Friday, March 24, 2017 - link
They have now announced new 17 series. Everyone seems to be upset finding out they will use that old faulty CPU in DS1517+ and DS1817+Samus - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
Just go on eBay and buy a 4U server with 20 drive cages. It could be had semi complete (without drives) for well under a grand with a decent raid controller and probably an intact COA for Windows Server. Could be up and running as fast as a NAS, and many of these servers have a single low-power 35-watt Xeon.Murloc - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
that's not much different from building your own NAS, you still have to install OS and configure RAID and stuff, and he doesn't want to do that.Mago - Thursday, February 2, 2017 - link
Synology is about to release DS1817(+) and DS1517(+) maybe along DSM6.1 release, they need these since are the models user wants for DSM virtualization and its about the same DS916+ hardware, also its possible they release a desktop FlashStation , RS817(+) also is about to get launched . Synology updates these models every 2 year (DS1513+,ds1515+...)timgjr - Friday, February 3, 2017 - link
well, every 1-2 years.. they did have DS1511+,DS1512+,DS1513+ then skipped a year to DS1515+Really wondering whats up now.. they released the last one (DS1515+) in Sept 2014.. so, much longer we are looking at 3 year gap.. :/
shaunvis - Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - link
Is this a guess? Or do you know for sure?I've been holding our for a new DS15xx+ model.
edward1987 - Friday, March 24, 2017 - link
Actually Drobo has just released their new NAS 5N2 with dual LAN ports for redundancy or double speed. Price is not yet available https://www.span.com/product/Drobo-Drobo-5N2-DRDS5...at80eighty - Tuesday, January 31, 2017 - link
in the market for a 4 bay & cannot find a word on what they have in store for 2017 if at all. not sure how to plan to hold or just refresh the storage & reinstall my current 2-bay. which i would prefer to avoid as i have growing needsxunknownx - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
same here, in the market for a 4 bay, but havent heard or read anything new.HolyPT - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
This! Wanting to buy a 4 or 5 bay NAS and can't find anything for new models :(Quite reluctant to spend money on one when the new ones are coming, just no info about them :(
MattMe - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
They do mild refreshes most years on the 2 & 4 bay models. Whenever you buy there'll be a new one out shortly afterwards.Is there something in particular you're waiting for from a NAS, or something that the current models can't do? If not just buy one and don't worry. It'll sit there and you'll likely never notice the difference.
timgjr - Friday, February 3, 2017 - link
DS1916+ is really not that old and a good unit. I'd get it now but I want an 8 bay model and refuse to buy the DS1815+, which is 'par of the way to being 3 years old unit with a nearly (2013) 5 year old Atom C2538 cpu..Going to keep this next one for 5 years.. don't want to start with it already being way out of date.
sincarne - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
They just recently released the DS916+. I doubt they will release another 4-bay plus model so soon.Mago - Thursday, February 2, 2017 - link
no new desktop 4Bay nas frm synology on 2017, only new 4bay unit will be RS817(+), but soon wil be available the 5bay DS1517(+) a better choice than DS916antumbra - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
mid-Febraruary?Pirate months? ;)
mooninite - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
The RT2600ac contains the same radios and switch ICs as the Netgear R7800 (Nighhawk X4S). Old hardware on a "new" product. This Synology is a downgrade as it only features 8MB of flash and 256MB RAM. The Netgear has 128MB flash and 512MB RAM.sincarne - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
People don't buy Synology products for the hardware.mooninite - Thursday, February 2, 2017 - link
I don't buy Netgear for the software. DD-WRT and LEDE (OpenWRT) support the R7800.Mr Perfect - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
The RT2600AC's data sheet linked to in the article states it has 512MB RAM too.They don't say what the flash is though...
Mago - Thursday, February 2, 2017 - link
it has 4GB Flashhttp://routerchart.com/synology/synology-rt2600ac-...
mooninite - Thursday, February 2, 2017 - link
Sorry, it is 512MB. It has 8MB flash and 4GB eMMC. I guess if you wanted to store a TV Show on it you could, but how useful is 4GB on a wireless router?https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Synology_RT2600ac
Mr Perfect - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
For anyone who's got a Synology router, how is their firmware support? I've got a Netgear now, and they dropped firmware updates almost as soon as the next year's model came out.On the other hand, I've got a Synology NAS that's about five years old and still has the latest DSM on it. If they do the same with their routers, I'm in for one.
sincarne - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
As far as I can tell it gets as many updates as DSM- a lot. https://www.synology.com/en-us/releaseNote/RT1900a...Mr Perfect - Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - link
Security patches once or twice a month? That beats the pants off of the Netgear.