It's been a little over four years since I reviewed my first Synology product, the humble CubeStation CS407e, which supported 2TB of network storage using four 500GB hard drives at a cost of around $120 per drive. Back then I concluded that the CS407e was the best four-bay NAS device available. Over the last few years, we've also examined the DiskStation DS409+ and the budget-minded DS410j, both of which ranked favorably among the competition.
Synology's portfolio has since grown to include hefty 5 to 12-bay devices, which we find intriguing having only reviewed one NAS beyond 4 bays, the 8-bay QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo. At $1,700, the TS-809 Pro Turbo was, and still is the most expensive product QNAP makes with the exception of rack mount hardware. Considering we tested the TS-809 Pro Turbo over a year and a half ago, Synology has been slow to respond with a device that meets or exceeds the TS-809's storage capacity.
Adhering to a "better late than never" outlook, Synology finally countered last June by unleashing its XS Series 12-bay DiskStation DS3611xs and 10-bay RackStation RS3411xs/RS3411RPxs for large scale businesses. The DiskStation DS3611xs supports a dozen hard drives, four Gigabit Ethernet ports and can be scaled up to support 100TB of storage. But as imposing as that sounds, we don't think the DiskStation DS3611xs will be embraced by home users considering its steep $2,500 price tag.
Consumers typically require something more affordable, and that's where the Synology DiskStation DS2411+ comes into scene. Although the DS2411+ is still considered a business-class NAS device suitable for SMB users, the $1,700 asking price makes it a little more feasible when compared to the DS3611xs. The price reduction means that a few network controllers have aborted ship, while the DDR2 memory capacity has been halved and a slower processor is being used.
Those familiar with Synology's products will find that the DS2411+ is a larger version of the DS1511+, which was essentially a larger version of the DS411+II. Given that the 4-bay DS411+II costs $700, the new 12-bay DS2411+ seems like decent value, even at $1,700 – and that doesn't include the storage drives. That's well beyond the grasp of the average user, but we're confident those who require such radical storage solutions will find a lot to appreciate in the DS2411+, so let's move on...