Synology DiskStation DS1621+ review – a compact NAS with power-packed performance

• Network-attached storage (NAS) is a great way to enjoy the benefits of cloud storage without incurring the monthly charges.
• NAS also gives you complete freedom and control over your data, which is an important aspect to consider if you are conscious about your privacy.
• The Synology DiskStation DS1621+ is aimed at small offices, promising seamless file backup and access.
• Does it deliver on its promise and is it worth the money? Read the full review to find out.

The Synology DiskStation DS1621+ is a network-attached storage (NAS) solution that tries to combine power and abundant storage in a compact package, promising to deliver plenty of functionality for those who need it.

NAS solutions have become popular over the past few years for various reasons, one of them being the fact that you have complete control over your data and you can manage and access it remotely, any way you want to.

Whether you need a solution for your entire family to back up photos and videos from their phones, or provide a storage server for small offices and businesses, NAS solutions prove to be very useful.

The Synology DS1621+ is another powerful solution from the company, with theoretical support for storage up to a whopping 108 terabytes and 32GB of memory. This makes the DS1621+ an excellent solution for file storing and server solutions for small offices, among other things.

But before we dive into the Synology DS1621+ review, let’s first understand what NAS is.

Understanding NAS

As the name suggests, NAS is storage that is attached to the network – in this case, your local network or the internet.

Connecting storage to a network allows you to remotely access it. So, for example, if your NAS is at your home and you are on a vacation, you can transfer your files and photos to the NAS remotely and not worry about running out of storage on your phone.

Likewise, for offices, NAS is capable of serving files securely, without having to rely on third-party storage services.

Synology DS1621+ price and availability

The Synology DS1621+ is available for purchase on Amazon.in for ₹1,00,367.

It is worth pointing out that you will have to purchase storage separately since the package does not include hard disks or SSD.

Synology DS1621+ features and specifications

The Synology DS1621+ is powered by a quad-core AMD Ryzen V1500B processor, clocked at 2.2GHz. While each core supports two threads, the processor misses out on hardware transcoding, so for higher-end video needs, you will have to look at a different NAS solution.


In terms of memory, the DS1621+ supports up to 32GB RAM, but it comes with a single 4GB memory stick installed out of the box. In terms of storage, you can max out the capacity at a whopping 108TB.

How much can you store in 108TB space, you ask? Here’s a rough estimate:


With scalability being one of the unique selling points of the Synology DS1621+, you can start low and expand storage as and when you need it, so you don’t have to buy all the storage in the beginning.

Apart from this, the DS1621+ also has two M.2 NVMe slots, allowing you to attach up to two NVMe solid state drives (SSD), but this is used only for file caching, not storage. What this means is that you can cache most accessed files for quick retrieval, instead of relying on the slower hard drives.


Connectivity options include three USB 3.0 ports and four gigabit LAN ports which allow you to plug in up to four internet connections and aggregate them for much faster speeds, boosting the performance beyond gigabit.

Setup

Setting up a Synology NAS is a simple process. All you have to do is plug in the hard drives into the storage bays in the NAS, plug in the power cord and hit the power button. You also have to connect the NAS to your router using the bundled LAN cable so that the NAS can be discovered on your local network.


Once this is done, open a web browser on your computer and enter find.synology.com. The web app will discover your NAS and allow you to access it from thereon.

Synology has a useful video to walk you through the setup, which you can checkout below.


You can also check out a wide range of apps available in Synology’s Package Center, once the setup is complete.

Since the DS1621+ is targeted at small businesses, file backup is one of the important things to consider in this case. Synology has a dedicated app called Active Backup for this use case – it is a centralised data backup solution that supports backing up computers, physical servers, virtual machines and cloud storage like Google and Microsoft 365.


That said, local network backups are the easiest to perform and are much more straightforward. I tried backing up several computers and laptops on a local network and noticed that the process was seamless.

Performance

To test the Synology DS1621+, I employed two 8TB drives without M.2 NVMe cache, coupled with 4GB of RAM to begin with. The NAS was connected to a gigabit network during the testing, making it a breeze to upload and download large files.

The overall performance was flawless, with the DS1621+ hardly missing a beat despite backing up multiple devices and phones.


The in-use running noise is noticeable, though, especially when backing up data for the first time. The NAS is fairly power efficient, consuming up to 75W power in use, but idling under 40W otherwise.

Overall, the performance was excellent and there’s no room for complaints.

Conclusion – who is this for?

If you have a small office and want data resiliency, and complete control over your data, the DS1621+ can serve as a perfect tool with abundant storage, easily usable apps in a powerful and compact package.

The Synology DS1621+ is a very versatile drive, even if your usage is a mix of file and media backup.
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