Test Methodology
Client
| CPU | 3.2GHz Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition |
|---|---|
| GPU | Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1,024MB |
| Motherboard | ASUS P6X58D Premium |
| Memory | 2GB Corsair DDR3 |
| Memory timings and speed | 7-7-7-20 1T @ 1,066MHz |
| Network connectivity | Marvell Yukon 88E8056 GbE |
| PSU | Corsair HX1000W |
| Monitor | Dell 30in 3007WFP - 2,560x1,600px |
| Disk drive(s) | Corsair Nova V128 SSD |
| Operating system | Windows 7 Ultimate, 64-bit |
Network-attached storage configurations
| Synology DiskStation DS210+ | Synology DiskStation DS411+ | Thecus N4200 | Armari BrontaStor 4TE | QNAP TS-439 Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (without HDDs) | £300 | £490 | £515 | £497.99 | Discontinued |
| CPU | 1.06GHz Freescale MPC8533E (single-core, 256KB L2 cache) |
1.66GHz Intel Atom D510 (dual-core, 1MB L2 cache) |
1.66GHz Intel Atom D510 (dual-core, 1MB L2 cache) |
1.60GHz Intel Atom 330 (dual-core, 1MB L2 cache) |
1.60GHz Intel Atom N270 (single-core, 512KB L2 cache) |
| Memory | 512MB DDR2 | 1GB DDR2 | 1GB DDR2 | 2GB DDR2 | 1GB DDR2 |
| Disk drives | 2x 1TB Samsung HD103SJ | 4x 1TB Samsung HD103SJ | 4x 1TB Samsung HD103SJ | 4x 2TB Hitachi 7K2000 | 4x 1TB Samsung HD103SJ |
| RAID mode | RAID 1 | RAID 5 | RAID 5 | RAID 5 | RAID 5 |
| Network connectivity | Gigabit Ethernet | Gigabit Ethernet | Dual Gigabit Ethernet | Dual Gigabit Ethernet | Dual Gigabit Ethernet |
| Firmware | 3.0-1285 | 2.3-1167 | 3.02.01 | S3115 R1.01 | 3.2.6 Build 0423 |
Software
| Benchmarks | Iometer v2008.06.18-RC2 Intel NAS Performance Toolkit v1.7.1 File copy test (8.83GB) Power draw |
|---|
Notes
Synology's DS210+ is the first two-bay NAS to pass through our new benchmark suite, and the first to be tested in a RAID 1 configuration.
You'll want to see RAID 1 comparisons, but we had to start somewhere, right? We'll endeavour to add other two-bay solutions into the mix in the very near future, but in the interim, we've opted to include comparison numbers for a quartet of four-bay NAS alternatives.
This clearly isn't an apples-to-apples comparison; the four-bay units are all configured in RAID 5.
All five configurations offer protection against single-disk failure, and each NAS box is tested using a single Gigabit Ethernet link with Jumbo frames disabled, connected to our client and network via a Netgear GS108 switch.
Iometer, a familiar benchmark in our test suite, is an I/O subsystem measurement tool. For the purpose of our NAS testing, we set a queue depth of 16 (outstanding I/Os) and run the following four benchmarks:
- 64KB transfer, 100% sequential, 100% read
- 64KB transfer, 100% sequential, 100% write
- 64KB transfer, 100% random, 67% read and 33% write
- 1MB transfer, 100% sequential, 100% read
Our second benchmark - the NAS Performance Toolkit, developed by Intel - is a file-system exerciser specifically designed to provide performance comparisons between NAS devices. Intel's utility focuses on user-level performance using real-world workload traces gathered from typical digital home applications such as HD video playback and record. Intel NASPT reproduces the file-system traffic observed in these traces onto a chosen storage solution and records performance in MB/s.
Taking a look at a simple usage scenario, our file copy test involves copying a mixed assortment of files totaling 8.83GB in size from our client to the NAS. The result is recorded in time taken to complete.
Last but not least, we measure NAS power draw during three states; under load, idle and standby mode if applicable.
