You probably could opt for a simple external hard drive, but you get a lot more functionality when you consider a network attached storage (NAS) solution. This way, everyone on your home (or work) network can access the files and functionality offered by the NAS.
While most NAS enclosures get a little bit on the bulky side of things, the Synology Disk Station DS409 Slim is about as compact as it gets, especially when you consider that it houses four hard drives in total. It also comes with a number of handy features that you may not find elsewhere.
Main Features and Highlights
The Synology Disk Station DS409slim is designed to work with four 2.5-inch hard drives. This may hurt the performance compared to 3.5-inch drives, but it also helps to lower the overall power consumption and noise.
While other NAS enclosures typically have to be opened up for you to access the drives, the DS409slim gives you direct access to the drives from the back. It’s not exactly a “hot swap” solution, but it’s about as close as it’s going to get.
For tech specs, you get a 1.2GHz processor, one 60mm fan, 128MB memory, and DLNA support. You can choose to set it up as basic, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 5+Spare, or RAID 6. While you could install some software on your computer, the vast majority of the interface can be done through a web browser instead. Connectivity is provided by a single gigabit ethernet port.
Included in the Box
While it would certainly be nice if something like this came with the storage included, that’s never really the case. The DS409slim has four bays to take on 2.5-inch hard drives, so you’ll need to invest in four drives of your own.
Aside from the actual Synology NAS enclosure itself, the box doesn’t come with that much in terms of accessories. You get the power supply brick and a power cable and an ethernet cable. There’s also the basic set of instructions and an installation CD, as well as a small stand.
Smaller Than a GameCube
You want small? The Synology Disk Station DS409slim is even smaller than the Nintendo GameCube, which was already pretty small in its own right. The DS409slim is almost cube-shaped, measuring 120 x 105 x 142mm. It’s also roughly the size of one of those really big coffee mugs that you see some people using. This is quite the tiny footprint for a fully featured NAS.
Snapping In New Drives at Will
I’ve been using a Synology DiskStation DS207 as my primary NAS for some time and it’s been able to do its job, but it is a pain that I have to take it apart to get at the physical drives. Such is not the case with the DS409slim. Each of the four 2.5-inch drives take on a hotswap-like configuration, each getting loaded onto its own tray that can then be pulled directly out of the back.
You probably don’t want to do this while the NAS is still turned on, but it does mean that you don’t need any screws to take out a drive or two as needed. If you’re using the RAID5+Spare configuration, for example, you can yank the fourth drive and everything will continue to hum along as normal.
For the purposes of our review, we will be using a set of four Seagete Momentus 320GB 5400.6 2.5 Inch notebook hard drives. The DS409slim will support up to 500GB drives like the Seagate Momentus 500GB 7200.4 drives.
Power Consumption and Performance
Another claim to fame for the DS409slim is its quiet and efficient operation. The single 60mm fan does a good job with keeping the temperature at a reasonable level. Using an infrared thermometer, I got an average of about 34 degrees Celsius for the surface with a maximum in the 38 degree range after extended file transfer use.
According to the official spec sheet, the DS409slim is supposed to use about 12 watts while idle and up to 19 watts while under load. Using a simple power meter, I found that intermittent access resulted in a peak maximum of 23 watts of power consumption. That’s higher than claimed, but still quite low compared to other NAS options using full sized desktop drives.
Your mileage will vary when it comes to performance though. For my highly unscientific test, I pushed a 100MB folder of MP3 files to and from the NAS over an 802.11g network via a D-Link router. Transferring from the NAS to my laptop took 108 seconds (0.9MB/sec) and from the laptop to the NAS took 124 seconds (0.8MB/sec). When I hardwired my notebook into the router, I got times of 11 seconds (9.1MB/sec) and 13 seconds (7.7MB/sec), respectively.
For a proper benchmark, I utilized the Intel NAS Performance Toolkit. The test for copying a large file to and from the NAS yielded average throughputs of 11.543MB/sec and 11.163MB/sec, respectively. The test for copying directories to and from the NAS yielded average throughputs of 1.251MB/sec and 5.627MB/sec, respectively. It’s clearly no match for a larger NAS loaded with desktop platters however, it would be interesting to see one of these loaded up with solid state drives once prices become more affordable.
Expanding with eSATA or USB
As with other Synology offerings, the DS409slim can also act as a server for your network printer. You also get a Download Station for BitTorrent, an Audio Station for streaming music, an iTunes Server to share music, and a Data Replicator to backup your computer.
You’ll also notice that it has USB and eSATA expansion ports. Anything that is plugged into these ports can then be accessed over the network as if it were a folder on the NAS hard drives. There’s also a “quick copy” button on the front that quickly copies the contents of a flash drive onto the NAS for quick file sharing. This could be handy if you’re transferring photos from a card reader.
Speaking of expansion, for those of you that like to upgrade things, we regret to inform you that the 128MB of memory onboard is soldered on. We checked. It’s not upgradeable.
Web-Based User Interface for Everything
After you have gone through the initial setup process, you don’t really need to have any more software on the computers that access the NAS. Instead, everything is done through a web-based interface. You just plunk in the IP address of the NAS into Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or whatever browser you prefer.
Using Synology Disk Station Manager 2.1, you can activate and deactivate the various features offered by this NAS. As mentioned, you can use it for file sharing, as an FTP server, a music server, and more. The activated features will be displayed on the main menu.
In addition to being a great place to store music and videos for the Xbox 360 Media Player and other similar devices, the Synology DiskStation DS409slim also has its own BitTorrent client. This is great for letting it download your favorite content without hogging up resources on your computer.
All you do is copy and paste the URL of the torrent file and the Download Station 2 will take care of the rest. This is a full-fledged BitTorrent client, so you can see the progress, the current download speed, and all that other good stuff.
Final Thoughts
Retailing for $400 or more, the Synology Disk Station DS409slim isn’t exactly the cheapest NAS enclosure on the market, but it does offer a lot more than what you’d find in something cheaper. The hot swap configuration for the hard drives is very handy and I really like the tiny footprint. It would be an asset for anyone wanting to put a NAS in an office with cramped quarters. The small size would also make it easy to take with you on the road.
The low power consumption and minimal noise are definite perks too, as are all the additional functions and applications offered by the Disk Station Manager 2.1. The one touch backup can come in really handy and the web-based interface is easy to navigate and understand.
On the downside, 2.5-inch hard drives are pricier, slower, and smaller than their 3.5-inch counterparts, but that’s a trade-off that you take to get the quieter operation and smaller size. I’m sure that as the price of Solid State Drives drop, the performance factor should tilt in this product’s favour. All in all, the DS409slim is a solid NAS that offers plenty of punch in a uniquely small package.
Pros
- Powerful web-based user interface
- Convenient hot swap disk tray design
- Low power consumption
- Multiple RAID configuration support
Cons
- Quite pricey at $400+
- 2.5-inch hard drives are slower, smaller, and more expensive
Overall Rating: 8.0/10.0
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Synology Disk Station DS409slim NAS Enclosure Photo Gallery
