Comparison Synology DiskStation DS418play RAM 2 GB vs Synology DiskStation DS918+ RAM 4 GB

The number of M.2 connectors provided in the design of the NAS server.

The M.2 connector is used to connect various internal peripherals, mostly miniature form factor. Note that two electrical (logical) interfaces can be implemented through this connector — SATA 3.0 and PCI-Express, and each individual M.2 socket on the board can support both of these interfaces at once, or only one of them. These nuances should be clarified before buying, since the possibilities for using M.2 directly depend on them. So, with support for SATA 3.0, such a connector is intended exclusively for drives, and the speed of SATA is noticeably lower than that of PCI-E; so this M.2 variant is mostly used by inexpensive SSD modules. In turn, PCI-E is somewhat more expensive, but it is faster and more versatile. Support for this interface allows you to connect both high-end SSDs and various expansion cards (for example, sound cards or internal wireless adapters) to the NAS server.

The number of eSATA connectors provided in the design of the NAS server.

eSATA is a specialized interface for connecting external drives, primarily hard drives. It provides data transfer rates up to 2.4 Gbps — half that of USB 3.2 gen1, but significantly more than USB 2.0. And the clear advantage of such an interface is that it allows you to leave free USB ports that may be required for other devices. At the same time, eSATA drives are not very common nowadays, therefore, connectors of this type are provided in NAS servers quite rarely (and mostly in an amount of less than one).

The model and specifications of the processor installed in the NAS server. The speed of the device largely depends on these characteristics, primarily the clock frequency. However, in fact, this parameter is often more of a reference value: simple everyday tasks (say, FTP and print servers, see "Software Features") do not require high computing power. But for working with extensive databases (see ibid.), a “faster” processor may be useful.

The number of cores provided in the processor of the NAS server.

Initially, each core is a computing module designed to execute one sequence of instructions. Accordingly, multiple cores make it possible to work simultaneously with multiple data streams, which improves flow Rate - especially when processing multiple tasks at the same time. Also, in modern CPUs, multithreading technologies are increasingly being used, which allow loading each core with two sequences of commands at once. During the inevitable pauses in the execution of one of the threads, the kernel does not idle, but works with another sequence. As a result, the total number of threads in such processors is twice the number of cores; this scheme of work even more noticeably improves flow Rate.

It is also worth remembering that the overall capabilities of the processor are highly dependent on a number of other characteristics - microarchitecture, clock speed, support for special functions, etc. This means that a large number of cores does not in itself guarantee high flow Rate: for example, an inexpensive mobile processor on 4 cores may well be "weaker" than an advanced desktop chip with only 2 cores. However, if we are talking about a CPU with a similar specialization and clock speed, then a solution with a large number of cores ( 6 cores, 8 cores, or ev...en more) and multithreading support usually turns out to be more productive.

Clock speed of the processor installed in the NAS server.

The clock frequency is the frequency of the built-in oscillator, according to which all operations performed by the processor are synchronized. The higher this frequency, the more operations per second the CPU can perform and the easier it is to provide high computing power in it. However, note that the actual speed of the processor depends on many other features — the number of cores (see above), microarchitecture, volumes of the built-in cache memory, etc. So, only chips with similar characteristics and purpose can be directly compared by clock frequency ( desktop/mobile) and price category.

Processor clock speed achieved in TurboBoost or TurboCore "overclocking" mode.

Turbo Boost and Turbo Core technologies are used by different manufacturers (Intel and AMD, respectively), but they have the same principle of operation: load distribution from more loaded processor cores to less loaded ones to improve performance. The "overclocking" mode is characterized by an increased clock frequency, and it is indicated in this case.

For more information about clock speed in general, see the relevant paragraph above.

The amount of RAM on the NAS server. Along with the processor, it is one of the indicators that determine the speed of the system — the more memory, the higher the computing power. However, in fact, it does not always make sense to chase large amounts of "RAM", which can reach 4 GB, 8 GB and even higher; see "Processor" for details.

The maximum amount of RAM that can be installed on the NAS server. It depends, in particular, on the type of memory modules used, as well as on the number of slots for them.

The noise level produced by the device during operation. These data will be useful, first of all, to those who are trying to reduce the noise level as much as possible and, as they say, “fight for every decibel”. However, it is worth noting here that manufacturers can cheat and indicate the noise level for different modes.