During our Computex 2018 visit to Synology’s showcase, we saw a unique product. The Synology RS1219+ is a 12-inch mounting depth NAS designed for tight spaces. At STH, we do quite a few short-depth compute, storage, and networking reviews. Short-depth chassis are popular when one is deploying in compact 2-post racks. These are common in places such as small offices and retail locations where there is little room for a full-sized rack. While there are a number of short-depth compute and networking options available, there are few storage solutions that address these space requirements. At Computex 2018 in Taipei, we got to see a new foray into this space from Synology. Dubbed the Synology RS1219+ the solution measures only a 12-inch depth making it ideal for spaced constrained installations.
Synology RS1219+ Short-Depth Rackmount NAS
At its heart, the Synology RS1219+ is a 2U 8-bay NAS that supports 3.5″ and 2.5″ drives. The drives are arranged in two rows and four columns. One can expand this to 12 drives using an expansion unit.
Above the drives is a motherboard that utilizes an Intel Atom C2538 quad-core CPU. This is an older generation CPU that we hope gets updated to the Atom C3000 series in the next generation since the new gen offers 10GbE networking, USB 3.0, PCIe 3.0, and about 60% more performance per core.
Onboard there are four 1GbE ports powered by the Intel Atom SoC. The base spec is for 2GB of RAM but this can be expanded via a second SODIMM slot for up to 16GB of memory. 10GbE can be achieved via a low profile PCIe gen 2 port to the right rear of the motherboard.
Final Words
Overall, we like this foray into a unique market segment. Given we are seeing other vendors, especially in the lower-end rackmount NAS segment support 10GbE out of the box, we would love to see Synology move from a 2013 era Atom C2538 CPU to the newer generation “Denverton” SoCs launched last year that have 10GbE capabilities out of the box. At the same time, there are many edge deployment scenarios where 10GbE is not available and so we understand why Synology decided on the previous generation. This is a segment where there has been a dearth of solutions so we hope that Synology is successful with this line and brings more diverse offerings in a future short-depth product line expansion.
C3000 and 10g plz. This is 2018. Synology was so close to a good product. They charge enough of a premium that they need to absorb $20-30 in BOM costs for way better functionally
Yeah, i have to agree. I’m moving away from Synology simply because of the power. They have a fantastic product, but I can’t keep using these old slow tech for anything other than backups. Why would they come out with a “19+” model that should last through next year as being an up to date model, and yet it comes with inferior hardware? And so the “20+” model will get the C3000 and there will yet again be better hardware we desire. Bye Bye Synology. I truly will miss your amazing and fantastic interface.
Over priced sup-par hardware is the reason Xpenology exists…